A publication of Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. ®
An organization chartered by the U.S. Congress
December 2001/January 2002
Region 3 Report
Spotlight on Chapter 628
By Richard Labarre
In an ongoing effort to recognize the great chapters and members of Region 3, I would like to showcase West Virginia Chapter 628. Dave Simmons, the chapter’s Public Affairs Committee chair, has provided the following information.
Princeton, West Virginia, is the home of VVA’s Blue-Gray Chapter 628. With about half of its members living in West Virginia and half in Virginia, the chapter’s emblem shows the Union and Confederate soldiers on either side of the VVA logo. This thriving chapter has a long history of service to America and its community.
One of the first projects the chapter tackled was building a monument honoring the men and women from four southern West Virginia counties and four southwestern Virginia counties who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. The chapter raised funds in 1999 to bring the Moving Wall to southern West Virginia for the first time. In October 2000, the chapter provided funds for a trip by more than forty veterans to Washington, D.C., to wash The Wall.
This year, Chapter 628 was asked by the North Carolina State Council to provide security at the National Convention in Greensboro. Eight chapter members donated a week to this effort. Each year on Veterans Day, with the financial support of the community and other veteran service organizations, members of Chapter 628 provide manpower to host the Veterans Day Dinner. This annual event at the National Guard Armory in Brushfork, West Virginia, provides a full course, sit-down dinner free of charge to more than five hundred veterans and their families.
On Veterans Day 2001, Route 460, a major highway which runs throughout southern West Virginia and southernwestern Virginia, was
renamed Veterans Memorial Highway as a result of Chapter 628’s efforts.
Region 3 is made up of seven states and the District of Columbia. The Appalachian Mountains bind us together. Chapter 628 is in the heart of those mountains.
E-mail us at TheVeteran@vva.org