MEMBERSHIP NOTES
Chattanooga, Tennessee, Chapter 203 displayed a replica
of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as part of its Vietnam War
display on Presidents Day at the Northgate Mall. The replica
Wall listed the names of the 1,291 Tennesseans who perished
in the Vietnam War. “Never again will one generation
of veterans abandon another,” Chapter President Charlie
Hobbs told the Chattanooga Times Free Press, echoing VVA’s
Founding Principle. “Here we are, producing another
generation of veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Philadelphia
Liberty Bell Chapter 266 held its annual Easter Food Drive
on March 15 at two local supermarkets: the Mayfair Shop-n-Bag
and Pathmark. Members put together food baskets and delivered
them the next day to needy families. More than a few employees
of both businesses also participated in the chapter’s
2007 Christmas Food Drive.
Louisville, Kentucky, Kentuckiana
Chapter 454 President
Bob Keller and Chapter member Chet Needy attended a Tet Lunar
New Year celebration sponsored by the local Vietnamese community
at Iroquois High School on February 10. Also in attendance:
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky’s Third Congressional
District.
San
Diego, California, Chapter 472 has added an excellent feature
to its web site: video welcoming messages from board members.
The messages are heartfelt and professionally done and make
great advertisements for the chapter and for VVA. See for
yourself at http: //www.vva472.com
Bob Barber of Peacedale, Rhode
Island, Chapter 325 is stepping down as chapter president
after twelve years. During that time the chapter has, among
many other things, awarded high school scholarships each
year, placed two benches at the Vietnam Memorial at the Rhode
Island Veterans Cemetery, and made annual trips and donations
to the Rhode Island Veterans Home in Bristol.
More than one hundred
members and friends of Savannah, Georgia,
Chapter 671 took
part in the huge annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in that city, wearing
shirts and badges with the names of those who did not come home from the war.
The chapter members were greeted with sustained cheers from the enormous crowd
of revelers lining the entire parade route. “You would not have believed
how straight and tall the 50- and 60-year old Vietnam vets became” as they
heard the crowd roar, said chapter member Bob Barry. “Shouts of ‘Welcome
Home’ and ‘Thank You’ rang out from the thousands who lined
the route. The emotional sensation was both overwhelming and exhilarating and
went on for miles.”
Leavenworth, Kansas, Chapter 344 adopted a family through
the Leavenworth Assistance Center, a local emergency food
program, for Christmas last year and donated $300 toward
that effort. The chapter also organized a donation of used
and outgrown clothes to the Dwight D. Eisenhower VA Medical
Center in Leavenworth.
The executive board of Mansfield, Ohio, Correctional Institution
Chapter 616 recently received a Letter of Recognition from
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland to honor the Chapter’s community-service work and what the Chapter does to honor
veterans and the military. Buckeye State Council President Tom Burke was on hand
for the presentation.
Sacramento Valley, California, Chapter
500 tried to celebrate
the dedication of its Veteran Outreach and Drop-In Center
on March 30. The center, one of the chapter’s long-time goals, will serve all veterans in several
areas: with compensation claims, employment, housing, homelessness, and services
for the disabled. The center also will be a place for educational seminars for
veterans and their families, a meeting place for Chapter members and other veterans,
and the Chapter’s official office. The opening ceremonies did not take
place because of a bureaucratic mess involving the city of Sacramento and building
permits, but Chapter members are hopeful the situation will be resolved and that
the center will be open in the near future.
Western New York Chapter 77 in Tonawanda
continued its strong support for the patients at the Buffalo
VA Medical Center in 2007. The Chapter donated more than
$8,000 worth of food and gift cards during the holiday season.
Welcome Home to
the newest VVA Chapter, 1006 in South
Shore, Kentucky, which
recently received its VVA Charter from Kentucky State Council
President Darrell Martin.
Bill Bohuslaw and Len Ignatowski of Northern
Virginia Chapter 227 recently delivered $300 worth of Burger King meal coupons
and a shopping bag full of Girl Scout cookies to the Vet
Center in Alexandria, Virginia, which is located near Fort
Belvoir. The coupons will be distributed to needy veterans;
the cookies will be used at group counseling sessions. Walt
Chuda, the vice president of a group of local Burger Kings,
contacted the chapter, offering to provide the coupons and
a steep discount.
South Bay Chapter 53 in Redondo Beach,
California, recently
donated a total of $1,259 to the following organizations:
Fresno Chapter 933 for its September Stand Down; Merced Chapter
691 for its upcoming Stand Down; the Employment Development
Department’s South Avalon Office Career Day;
and the California Benefits Fund. In March, Chapter members cleaned the Hermosa
Beach Veterans Memorial, helped out at Bingo night at the Long Beach VA Medical
Center, and participated in a meeting with the staff at the Green Hills Memorial
Park to plan the opening ceremonies for the Moving Wall’s visit over Memorial
Day weekend.
On February
12, Quad Cities Chapter 299 in Rock
Island, Illinois, made
its first quarterly visit of the year to the Iowa City, Iowa,
VA Medical Center to visit hospitalized veterans. The trip
was organized by Chapter member Paul “Frenchy” Eaves.
He was accompanied by Chapter members Brent Cobb, Ron Staes, and Harry Hansen,
along with Art Heyderman of Bettendorf, Iowa, Gateway Chapter 776. The group
distributed fruit, valentines, energy bars, patriotic hats, and Chapter 299 pins
to about twenty long-term patients. Through the first two months of the year
the Chapter’s Charities Committee had donated $2,850 to local charitable
organizations.
VETS CONNECT
Plymouth/Canton, Michigan, Chapter
528 late last year
donated $7,000 to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which
supports the men and women of the armed forces and their
families. The Fund’s newest mission is developing a
project dedicated to supporting veterans who suffer from
traumatic brain injury.
Council Bluffs, Iowa, Chapter 798 recently presented a check for $350 to the Iowa Cookie Crumbs,
a non-profit women’s group that makes and sends boxes
of homemade cookies and other items to our troops overseas. The contribution
will cover postage for shipping more than a thousand cookies. The Iowa Cookie
Crumbs shipped more than 62,000 cookies to the troops last year. They also send
other snacks, magazines, playing cards, socks, and bootlaces in each shipment,
along with a letter from the volunteer bakers. For more info, email Iowacookiecrumbs@hotmail.com
Members
of Western Massachusetts Chapter One
Eleven and their spouses put
in many hours last November and December working for the Heroes at Home Project,
which helps families of military personnel and veterans with home repairs and
renovations. Chapter members manned a booth at the Holyoke Mall every weekend
from Thanksgiving to New Year’s outside a Sears store (Sears spearheads
the project) collecting funds.
During that time, the Chapter took in more than
$5,000. Chapter member Josh Morin put the effort together,
aided immeasurably by Barbara Kunze, wife of chapter member
Chuck Kunze, and a Sears employee.
The
members of Washtenaw County, Michigan,
Chapter 310 voted at their March
meeting to donate $500 to chapter member Don Behm, who has been traveling around
the state at his own expense to meet with National Guard troops suffering from
PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injuries and their families and working with them to
help get the support and counseling they deserve without repercussions from their
employers or the Guard. The Chapter held its second annual Support Our Troops
fundraising event on April 22 at the SideTrack restaurant in Ypsilanti.
A few
days after Christmas, members of Rochester,
New York,Chapter 20 gathered
to assemble and ship gift boxes to the troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan. At the end of the day, the chapter sent out 83 boxes in cooperation
with the U.S. Postal Service. Within weeks, letters of appreciation started pouring
in. “I could
definitely tell that the desires and needs of soldiers deployed
are still fresh in [Chapter members’] minds with what was packed,” Capt.
Charles Lewis, the XO of B/3-320th FA wrote. “The box was excellent
and very well received by myself and the soldiers down here
at Patrol Base Lutifiyah.”
Members
of Beaver County Chapter 862 in Freedom,
Pennsylvania, were
on hand, along with the Chapter’s AVVA contingent, April 1 at Pittsburgh International
Airport to welcome home Paul “P.J.” Gennaro, who was wounded in Iraq
and had spent several months in a military hospital in Texas. Members “were
there to meet him, shake hands and hugs, and to thank him for his service to
America,” said Chapter President Skip Haswell. “This is just another
reason why I love VVA and AVVA.”
POW/MIA
Members of Genesee County, Michigan,
Chapter 175 took part
in a ceremony in March at the Central Elementary School
in Mount Morris, Michigan, honoring Michelle Paquet, a
teacher there who had worn the POW bracelet of USAF Capt.
Edward Alan Brudno, who was shot down in Vietnam in 1965
and who died soon after his return to the United States.
Chapter members carried in the colors and President Don
Dale presented Paquet with a POW flag and a copy of the VVA’s book, The
Wall. Also taking part in the ceremony were chapter members John Lovelady, Bill
Eplett, Gary Amerling, Gary Huber, Jack Neely, Del and Don Webb, and John Freeman.
MEMORIALS
Kent County, Delaware, Chapter 850 is nearly finished building
a Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Dover. The memorial includes
the VVA logo, our founding principle (“Never Again Will
One Generation of Veterans Abandon Another”), VVA’s
motto (“In Service to America”), a list of a dozen
names of those who perished in the war, as well as the words: “Not
all wounds are visible. In honor of the men and women who served
during Vietnam and have returned home with broken bodies, minds,
and spirits. May God have a special place in His heart for
you.”
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©2006-
2008, Vietnam Veterans of America. All Rights Reserved. 8605 Cameron
Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910