|
MEMBERSHIP NOTES
New City, New York, Chapter 333 celebrated
its 20th anniversary June 2 with a fund-raising barbeque
that drew more than 300 people, including New York State
Council President Ned Foote and Vice President Grant Coates.
The proceeds of $8,000 were donated to care for three-year-old
Olivia Taylor, the niece of chapter Past President Buddy
Gibson. The child suffers from a rare progressive brain disorder.
Chapter members commemorated Memorial Day with Watchfires
at four locations in Rockford County. In May, Chapter 333
Life Member “Doc” Bernie
Duff presented his painting, “Welcome Home,” commemorating
Operation Baby Lift, to the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand
Rapids, Michigan. Steve Ford, the President’s son,
was on hand to accept the painting as were Phil Wise, a survivor
of the C5A that crashed while taking off from Saigon, and
Tia Keevil, one of the many orphans who escaped.
Western New
York Chapter 77 in Tonawanda sponsored the Buffalo/
Niagara to Baghdad Concert on June 15. The sold-out fund-raiser
was held at the Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel Events Center
in Niagara Falls, New York, and featured performances by
the Marine Band and the USO Troupe from New York City, as
well as an appearance by Steve Schirippa, who played Bobby
on The Sopranos. The following day, Chapter 77 held an open
house at the chapter’s Vietnam War Museum, which contains
an extensive collection of pictures, artifacts, and documentary
films on the Vietnam War. The open house also included a
display of the art work of chapter member Ralph Sirianni.
Broward
County Chapter 23 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, held
its second annual Fourth of July Barbeque at the Alexander “Sandy” Nininger
State Veterans’ Nursing Home in Pembroke Pines. “Our
words cannot express our feelings,” Recreation Therapy
Supervisor Oscar Correale wrote to Chapter President Connie
Christensen after the event. “We thank you and all
involved in giving us one of the best times for the residents,
veterans, family, and staff. The food was out of this world.
And thanks to the deejay who filled the room with great music
and set the tone with memories, the sing-along, and dancing.”
Delaware
County, Pennsylvania, Chapter 67 once again played
a major role in the Philadelphia Stand Down, which was held
September 7-9 at the National Guard Armory. Chapter members
went to work on The Stand Down, the largest such homeless
veterans event in the nation, on September 4, and worked
for six straight days, concentrating on twenty-four hour
security.
Richard “Wheels” Swoszowski, the President
of Michael K. Wathke Chapter 761 in
Orlando, Florida, received
the President’s Volunteer Service Award, the highest
national honor offered in recognition of volunteer service,
in June from Florida’s Governor’s Commission
on Volunteerism and Community Service, at the Florida State
Council meeting in Orlando.
Grafton, Ohio, Correctional Institution
Chapter 559 in June donated $500 to
the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation in Independence, Ohio, and
$200 to Cuyahoga Falls Chapter 34.
A float, dubbed “America
Supports You,” put together
by Lawton, Oklahoma, Chapter 751 took first prize in its
category at the Armed Forces Day Parade, the nation’s
largest, in Lawton and Fort Sill. The red, white, and blue
float consisted of two large hands with a flag motif and
it carried uniformed veterans of the Vietnam War, Operation
Desert Storm, and the current war in Iraq. The veterans were
saluted by a freestanding Uncle Sam. The float also featured
a huge Vietnam Service Ribbon. The chapter’s bagpiper
and members marched in front of the float. Shouts of “Welcome
Home” greeted them the entire length of the parade.
Region
4 Director Carol Schetrompf, a member of Hinesville,
Georgia, Chapter 789, coordinated a fund-raising effort in June to
purchase aid-and-comfort items for firefighters who had been
working for months on the Florida-Georgia border. The VVA
Disaster Relief Task Force contributed $750, the Chapter
sent $250, and Schetrompf purchased the supplies and took
them to the official drop-off point run by Daylight Ministries
in Blackshear, Georgia.
Yauco, Puerto Rico, Chapter 483 organized
the first Memorial Day Parade in Yauco this year. “This
activity,” Chapter
President José R. Valentin says, “is to become
an annual event, thanks to Vietnam veterans.”
Greater
Hartford, Connecticut, Chapter 120 President Paul Barry,
Jr., was nominated in June by the Mayor of East Hartford
to become a member of the newly established East Hartford
Veterans’ Affairs Commission. The Chapter also donated
$500 to the Connecticut Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which
is located in Hartford, and pledged to match individual members’ donations
of up to $50.
Charlie Becker, Todd Cavan, and John “Bootsy” Shreffler,
members of Philadelphia Chapter 590, received awards for
patriotism and service at a recent ceremony honoring Vietnam
War veterans from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The event
was sponsored by State Sen. John C. Rafferty, Jr., and was
held at Spring Ford Senior High School in Royerford. Each
awardee received a gold medallion, flag pin, and certificate
of recognition.
Several members of Nassau County,
New York, Chapter 82 have been honored for their community-service
accomplishments in recent months. Veterans Service Officer
Frank Tobani was awarded the Town of Hempstead Veteran’s
Medal; Chapter Treasurer Connie Steers received the Town
of Oyster Bay’s
Veteran’s Lifetime Achievement Award; Chapter AVVA
Liaison Cheri Steers received Oyster Bay’s Veteran’s
Non-Veteran Volunteer of the Year Award, along with the 2007
AVVA Member of the Year Award. Chapter Treasurer Walter Schmidt
was named liaison with the Veterans of Modern Warfare, Nassau
County, and is helping organize a local VMW chapter.
Santa
Rosa, California, Chapter 223 runs a Homeless Outreach program
at the Redwood Gospel Mission, which provides emergency subsistence
services, long-term recovery services, and educational efforts
to the homeless in Santa Rosa and Sonoma County. Members
Richard and Pat Jones and Rod Sidbeck lead the effort, showing
up to work at the mission just about every Sunday.
Texarkana
Area Chapter 278 in Texarkana, Texas, held its 20th annual
POW/MIA Vigil on August 31 and September 1 at the city’s
Korea/Vietnam Memorial. The event included opening, candlelight,
and closing ceremonies, a POW meal, a “Ride to Remember,” and
a balloon release.
Members of Genesee County, Michigan,
Chapter 175, including Don Dale, Larry Edwards, Ed Nelson, Gary and
Marilyn Huber, Del and Debbie Irwin, Joe Mishler, and Don
Lada, helped out at the formal dedication ceremonies June
3 of the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan.
VA Secretary Jim Nicholson was among the dignitaries on hand
for ceremonies at the 544-acre cemetery, which has been accepting
burials since October of 2005.
Columbia, South Carolina,
Chapter 303 sponsored a cookout for the homeless veterans
and staff who live at the Alston Wilkes Veterans Home in
June. Chapter members Darrel Smith, Paul Ruh, Russ Allen,
Jim Testor, and Frank Weick provided much-needed support
for the event.
VETS CONNECT
Thomas Burford, a member of Marin County,
California, Chapter 547 created Operation Triple H (Helping our Heroes from Home)
in 2003, an effort that has shipped more than a ton of care
packages to the R&R Center in Qatar, which supports American
military personnel who visit the facility to take a break
from their duties in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has received
much-needed logistical help from the Marin Rod and Gun Club
and American Storage, which has donated a giant container
to facilitate the processing of materials sent to the troops.
Beaver
County, Pennsylvania, Chapter 862 co-sponsored, with the
Chippewa United Methodist Church, a Support Our Troops Rally
on June 30 in Beaver. Participants were encouraged to bring
donations for care packages to American troops serving overseas.
SCHOLARSHIPS
The Florida State Council awarded four $500 scholarships
at the quarterly State Council Meeting in June in Orlando.
The recipients, all of whom are students at four-year colleges,
community colleges, or trade schools with at least a 2.5
grade-point average, are: Caitlin Lehr of Tampa, Renee M.
Kamauf of Fort Myers, Damin Bradley of Lawrenceville, Georgia,
and Susan Gaidosh of Clearwater.
Dean K. Phillips Memorial
Chapter 227 in Northern Virginia donated $1,000 to the
Arlington County Public Schools High Intensity Language
Program in May. The money will fund scholarships that help
newly arrived immigrant students attend summer school to
continue their assimilation into mainstream America. The
chapter also presented its 11th Vince Kaspar Awards for
Excellence in the Arts in May. A total of 64 high school
students entered their art and poetry. The winners were Si
Si Li of McLean High School, Morgan Fletcher of W.T. Woodson,
Nejla Izadi of Chantilly High School, and Jennifer Tran of
Washington Lee High School for poetry, and Adriane Lea Champagne
of McLean, Ellen Falci of Herndon High School, Nicholas Taylor
of Fairfax High School, and Si Si Li for art. “These
two successful programs greatly enhance the Vietnam veteran
image in the community,” said Chapter Past President
Len Ignatowski, “especially among our youth whose major
exposure to our Vietnam Tour of Duty is Rambo.”
Racine/Kenosha,
Wisconsin, Chapter 767 presented $500 scholarships in June
to Michael Welch of Racine and Kortnie Edenhofer of Kenosha.
The chapter awards scholarships yearly to seniors from the
two cities who write an essay after interviewing a Vietnam
veteran and explaining how that interview influenced their
understanding of the Vietnam War. Essays are judged on originality,
composition, and content.
Leominster, Massachusetts, Chapter
116 presented scholarships to sons and daughters of chapter
members and other students who demonstrated a commitment
to the community and to veterans on July 10 at the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial in Leominster. The chapter has awarded
more than $50,000 in the eighteen years the scholarship program
has been in existence. This year’s winners: Jeffrey
R. Jollymore (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Emily Joseph
(College of Holy Cross), Matthew Ellam (University of Notre
Dame), Jocelyn Pierce (Otterbein College), Michael Hazzard
(Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts), and Loren Leblanc
(Legacy Scholarship, Leominster High School).
Kettle Moraine
Chapter 448 in Newburg, Wisconsin, awarded scholarships based
on essay writing to two high school seniors, Timothy Gorichanz
and Courtney Marks. Gorinchanz wrote about the military experiences
of his father and Marks about her grandfather.
MEMORIALS
Rochester, New York, Chapter 20 was instrumental in having
a stretch of Wilder Road in Parma dedicated in memory of
Monroe County residents who died in the Vietnam War. Chapter
members, including President Ken Moore, were on hand for
the official dedication last March. “Monroe County
is grateful for the sacrifices that our veterans have made,
and continue to make, in the name of freedom and democracy,” County
Executive Maggie Brooks said at the dedication. “I
want to thank County Legislator [Richard] Yolevich, Vietnam
Veterans of America Chapter 20, and the County Department
of Transportation for spearheading this effort.” Two
signs were placed on the road honoring the three Parma men
who perished in the war: David Lemcke, Gerry Wilson, and
John Waugh.
Pat Livingston, a member of Fort Madison,
Iowa, Chapter 947, was the driving force behind the new Veterans
Memorial that was dedicated in May in the small town of La
Grange, Missouri, a few miles south of the Iowa border. At
the dedication ceremonies on May 19, the town’s 175th
birthday, chapter members arrived from Fort Madison to take
part in the ceremonies, during which the names of La Grange’s
216 deceased veterans were read.
VVA National President John
Rowan was among those on hand on June 9 at a kick-off ceremony
for the planned Queens, New York, Vietnam War Memorial, which
will be built in a future park near the border of the towns
of Elmhurst and Maspeth. Queens Chapter
32 has been working
hard to build the memorial, and the Chapter Honor Guard—Ken
Trautman, Bruce Hadley, Harold Leong, Pete Garon, Steve Smith,
Ed Vacalierok, and Paul Narson—and Chapter President
Pat Toro also took part in the ceremonies.
Chapter 310 in
Washtenaw County, Michigan, which was named VVA Chapter of
the Year at the National Convention in July, has spent more
than $2,000 in its ongoing maintenance of the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial in Ypsilanti in 2007. Most of the cost has gone
toward upkeep of the memorial’s
lighting. In addition, chapter members spend from two-to-four-hours
a week at the memorial, cutting the grass and doing other
landscaping maintenance
|
Donate
©2006-
2008, Vietnam Veterans of America. All Rights Reserved. 8605 Cameron
Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910 
