A publication of Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. ®
An organization chartered by the U.S. Congress
October 2001/November 2001
Membership Committee Report
Blazing New Trails
By Bill Meeks, Jr., Chair
As the new chair of the Membership Affairs Committee, it is a privilege to serve the membership of Vietnam Veterans of America and a challenge to justify the decision VVA President Tom Corey made to entrust this huge task to a new kid on the block. Assembling the committee was very simple: All I had to do was un-circle the wagons, saddle up the horses, and start my nationwide roundup for "A Few Good Men and Women."
My vision was for the committee’s representation to transverse the country, add a few former committee members to provide stability, and add enough new members to develop fresh approaches to increase recruitment and retention of members. My only requirement was regular attendance at committee meetings. That meant travel to the National Board meetings at no cost to National. I did mention that if they couldn’t leap tall buildings in a single bound, they would after trying to keep up with this committee’s assigned tasks. All kidding aside, there were 21 members who submitted their names for consideration. It made my decision pretty tough, but the task is finally done.
Now that I have the horse in the barn, it’s time to "saddle up and move out" and you better hang on to the saddle horn, because we’re off at a gallop, blazing new trails. We need to give our image a touch-up. We have all the tools already in place, but the same old wrinkles are obstructing our vision. Unless we rearrange in some areas, we are doomed to stumble about without a clear view of our future.
We have got to shout the fact that we are more than a VSO, we’re family. By being bold, we will expand the perimeters of this organization. Being from Texas, I can assure you that I have played a little poker and standing pat doesn’t always mean you have the best hand.
Our former committee chair, Charlie Montgomery, would like to thank all VVA and AVVA members and the national staff for making the Memorial Day event this year in Washington such a big success. I thank everyone for the messages of congratulation. The condolences will just make me work a little harder. Remember: "One Veteran at a Time," and our membership ranks will grow before you know it.
E-mail us at TheVeteran@vva.org