IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Release	July 11, 2007	No. 08-016   Contact: Mokie Porter 301-585-4000, Ext. 146
VVA National Leadership Conference Opening Event: Wreath Laying at Greenville County Vietnam Veterans Memorial
(Washington, D.C.)--The first formal event of Vietnam Veterans of America’s biennial National Leadership Conference in Greenville, South Carolina, will take place on Tuesday afternoon, July 15, at 3 o’clock when VVA’s four national officers and members of the Board of Directors join with members of the South Carolina VVA to lay a wreath at the Greenville County Vietnam Veterans Memorial, located in Greenville’s Cleveland Park. The ceremony is open to the public. “It’s traditional for VVA to honor local Vietnam War dead before we get on to the business of our National Leadership Conferences and National Conventions,” said VVA President John Rowan. “It is something we take very solemnly and seriously. It is our honor to recognize those Americans from the Greenville area who paid the ultimate price in Vietnam.” Rowan will be joined in the ceremony by National Vice President Jack Devine, Secretary Barry Hagge, Treasurer Alan Cook, Region 3 Director Bruce Whitaker, Region 9 Director Dick Southern, and AVVA President Mary Miller. The Conference’s Opening Ceremonies will take place on Wednesday morning, July 16, at 8:45 am. The Leadership Conference will bring together some four hundred Vietnam veteran advocates from around the nation. They will take part in four days of seminars, meetings, and other activities. VVA=s supporting organization, the Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America, will hold its biennial convention and national elections, and the Veterans of Modern Warfare (VMW) will have its founding National Convention concurrently with the Leadership Conference.
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families.  VVA's founding principle is “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”