Membership Notes

	Wallkill Valley Chapter 1002
	Firebase (Florida) Chapter 594
	5th Battalion, 60th Infantry Reunion

IN SERVICE

Ottawa, Kansas, Five Star Chapter 912 held its third annual Homewood Rest Area Coffee Break over the Labor Day weekend on Interstate 35. “It’s amazing how many lives we touched, even for a brief moment, as people from all over the nation stopped by for coffee, water, baked goods, fruit, etc.,” said Chapter Chaplain Ron Kimes. “I had some of the most rewarding conversations with some of those travelers, be they veterans or not, and we did have a large group of Vietnam and Korean War veterans.”

Liberty Bell Chapter 266 in Philadelphia recently treated seventeen wheelchair-bound veterans at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center to a day of fishing. “They had fun, caught some fish, and got away from the hospital for a day,” said Chapter President Stephen Uchniat. The chapter also sponsored a movie and pizza night at the VAMC and donated $500 to the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

Sanford, Maine, Chapter 1044 made a special flag presentation at a public ceremony on September 29 to the Southern Maine Veterans’ Cemetery Committee. The gift consisted of an American flag, a Maine state flag, a POW/MIA flag, and the military service branch flags. The flags will go on permanent display in the lobby of the cemetery’s visitors center. 

Dean K. Phillips Memorial Chapter 227 in Northern Virginia recently donated $500 to the Care Package for Troops program; $250 to the America’s Adopt a Soldier program, which works with the chapter to provide household items and furniture to homeless veterans and their families in the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program; $40 directly to a homeless veteran to pay for a GED test; and $317 to a HUD-VASH veteran to cover his apartment security deposit.

Thomas P. Coughlin Memorial Chapter 72 in Brooklyn, New York, recently used the proceeds raised at several street fairs to make donations of $1,000 each to the Wounded Warriors Project and to Fisher House at the Walter Reed National Military Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The chapter also will be donating a widescreen TV and DVD player to Ward 15 West at the Brooklyn VA Medical Center in December at the annual holiday party that the chapter sponsors.

South Bay Chapter 53 in Redondo Beach, California, recently donated $500 to the Fisher House of Southern California and $253 to the Compton Homeless Veterans Stand Down.

Mike Orban, a member of Kettle Moraine Chapter 448 in Newburg, Wisconsin, has developed a presentation called “Exposing Combat PTSD,” which he has given at the local Vet Center and a public library. The most recent program took place on September 19 at the Milwaukee County War Memorial. “My primary goal is to get soldiers and veterans to heal as quickly as possible so they can get on with their lives,” Orban said. “My goal is to help soldiers and veterans overcome the stigma of combat PTSD and find answers for their healing.”

Quad Cities Chapter 299 in Rock Island, Illinois, recently donated $400 each to the Sisters of Humility, a group that provides housing for veterans; to the Alley Cats Boxing Club for its youth services programs; and to the Assistance Care Rescue Mission, which provides veterans services. A donation of $800 each was made to a chapter member in need and to a local fire victim’s family.

POW/MIA

Members of Major Louis F. Guillermin Chapter 436 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, took part in the internment ceremony on October 5 of the chapter’s namesake. Guillermin, a member of an A-26A Invader crew in the U.S. Air Force’s 609th Air Commando Squadron, went missing in Laos in April of 1968. Guillermin, who was born and raised in West Chester, Pa., was navigating the aircraft on a night mission to disrupt supply deliveries on the Ho Chi Minh Trail when the plane disappeared. His remains were identified in May of this year.

VVA chapters across the nation commemorated National POW/MIA Recognition Day on September 20. What follows is a rundown on some of those commemorations:

Jackson, Michigan, Chapter 109 held its annual POW/MIA Remembrance Day vigil in Withington Park, also known as Veterans Park, in downtown Jackson. Chapter members set up a POW/MIA table in the afternoon and manned the post for twenty-four hours. “It’s more for the community, to be aware of what it is,” Chapter President Bob Wilkinson told a local newspaper. “We want to give back to the people who didn’t come back, not just in Vietnam but in any war, whether it’s the one now, or World War I or II. That’s why the Vietnam vets do it.”

Liberty Chapter 789 in Hinesville, Georgia, held its annual POW/MIA Ceremony at the Vietnam War Memorial at the Fort Stewart Museum in Fort Stewart. The memorial’s centerpiece is a restored UH-1 Huey helicopter that flew in Vietnam and is mounted on a raised base. Active-duty troops at Fort Stewart helped with the event, and the 3rd Infantry Division Band performed.

For the sixth consecutive year Austin, Texas, Chapter 915 conducted a POW/MIA Recognition Ceremony at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. This year’s keynote speaker was Karoni Forrester, the daughter of Vietnam War MIA Marine Captain Ron Forrester. Victor Flores of El Paso, Texas, Chapter 574 conducted the POW/MIA Table Ceremony at the event. Members of Tim Stem Memorial Chapter 863 in Kerrville, Texas, offered a 21-gun salute, and Chapter 863 members Brian Ward and Kevin Lawson played Echo Taps.


Dawson County, Georgia, Chapter 970’s commemoration included a reading of the names of Vietnam War MIAs from Georgia with the help of the Dawson County Junior ROTC. The event also included a Missing Man Table and Ceremony.

 Daytona Beach, Florida, Chapter 1048 held its second annual POW/MIA Recognition Day Flag Retirement Ceremony. Among the special guests: Edward Izbicky, a World War II POW and the commander of the Central Florida Chapter of the American Ex-Prisoners of War.

Nicholas J. Cutinha Chapter 1046 in Jacksonville, Florida, hosted its POW/MIA Luncheon and Ceremony at the Five Star Veterans Center in Jacksonville. 

Queens, New York, Chapter 32 sponsored a POW/MIA Recognition Day Candlelight Memorial Service at Memorial Park in Maspeth, New York. The chapter honor guard led a POW/MIA service, and Chapter President Paul Narson paid tribute to all prisoners of war and missing in action.

Gateway Chapter 776 in Bettendorf, Iowa, hosted a POW/MIA Recognition Day event at the Bettendorf Veterans Memorial Park. The guest speaker was William J. Hampton, a former member of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. Chapter Vice President Roger Granbois coordinated the event.

Members of Rochester, New York, Chapter 20 took part in two events: a POW/MIA Candlelight Remembrance Ceremony on September 14 at the local Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and POW/MIA Remembrance Day Ceremonies September 20 at the Charlotte Beach Memorial near Lake Ontario.

Kentuckiana Chapter 454 in Louisville, Kentucky, hosted its annual Candlelight Service on September 29 at the Final LZ Memorial at Highland Gardens in Mount Washington.

MEMORIALS

Suffolk County, New York, Chapter 11 has just broken ground on The Wall of Wars, a memorial at the VA Medical Center in Northport, New York, that will rise in the Center’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Garden. The Wall will include twelve granite monuments, each one depicting a period of U.S. history, from the Revolution to today’s wars. It also will include audio narratives and smart phone applications. The Wall is part of “our continuing mission to honor, educate, and heal,” said Chapter Vice President Clarence Simpson. For more information, go to www.wallofwars.com