Region 1

BY SKIP HOCHREICH

Let me start by saying I misspoke in my last report. The Massachusetts State Council elected Tom Tucker as VP Central during its June meeting. Art Cole was the outgoing VP Central.

Massachusetts Chapter 111 awarded a scholarship to Hanna Hicks, who wrote a great essay on patriotism. Massachusetts Chapter 866, working with other veterans groups, has been active in several areas. It paid for a new water heater for a veteran in need; she is a Vietnam War vet in a tough situation. It also donated to the NEEDS dog program, participated in several local veterans’ ceremonies, and continues to fund three outreach centers.

On July 11, I was part of a motorcycle escort with my club, Combat Veterans Motorcycle Assn. and the Patriot Guard Riders, along with others, that brought the Wall That Heals from Worcester to its display location in Fitchburg, Mass. My niece is the veterans’ agent in town and worked long hours to put it all together. The turnout was tremendous, with forty motorcycle police leading the way and folks lining the entire route. Great job by all concerned.

The Leadership Conference in Palm Springs was very informative, and much time was dedicated to the working groups studying the future of VVA. Working Group I is looking into the legalities and time frame of dissolving VVA at a date TBD. Working Group II is studying various methods of reorganizing with a new organization and charter that opens VVA up to the current crop of veterans in order to maintain our legacy. Discussions will continue, and you can also ask questions of either working group by email. The National Convention next July will be extremely important.

In the meantime, we must maintain our revenue stream as we have many financial obligations. We cannot let the public think VVA is dying as people will stop supporting us. We need to pass on not only our wealth of knowledge and contacts in D.C. and the VA, but also our financial well-being.

The BOD discussed a proposal to lower life member dues. That has been tabled until the October meeting to obtain more accurate numbers and demographics.

As always, I’m only an email or phone call away. Send me your chapter’s goings-on and remember to check out our website, vvama.org

BY TED WILKINSON

Congratulations and welcome to Michael Quilty, the newly elected president of the New Jersey State Council. And a big thank you to Past President Herb Worthington for his many years of leadership and dedication.

Members from Region 2 were not deterred by the long trip to California and were well rewarded with an outstanding Leadership & Education Conference. The sky was blue with no rain; still, most members chose to stayed inside and attended the extremely educational seminars. There was also evening entertainment with live music performances.

National awards presented at the Conference to Region 2 members:

• Membership Growth Award (600-700 Members) went to Chapter 77 of Western New York.
• National VVA Benefits Program awarded a Certificate of Appreciation to Dee Garcia, our Chief Service Officer in Buffalo.

Plan to join us for the 2019 VVA National Convention in Spokane, Washington, July 16-29, 2019.

Delaware: www.delawarevva.org
New Jersey: www.njscvva.org
New York: www.nyvietnamvets.org
Pennsylvania: www.vva-pa.org

BY SARA McVICKER

Welcome to two new chapters in Region 3: Chapter 1135 in the Jessup, Md., Correctional Institution and Chapter 1136 in Hickory, N.C. And congratulations to Chapter 628 in Princeton, W.Va., for the Membership Growth Award it received at the Leadership Conference.

As we continue to form new chapters and welcome new members, VVA is again discussing its future. Our membership criterion means that eventually VVA will have to shut down or morph into some other entity. The two working groups charged with addressing these issues gave preliminary reports during the Leadership Conference. A roadmap and tentative timeline for what will need to be done to shutter VVA was presented, as was the idea of creating a new organization to continue our work on veterans’ issues.

The idea of mentoring younger veterans to pass on our knowledge about how we accomplished our many achievements is appealing—but not at the expense of starving VVA of resources that we will need to continue for as long as we can and not without seeing evidence that any new organization will have support and legitimacy within the younger generations, that it can survive on its own, and that it is not just a creation of VVA.

We tried this before with Veterans of Modern Warfare, and there should be some lessons learned from that experience. We should remember that we have always advocated for, and brought attention to, issues of concern to the veterans who came before and after us and that many of the programs and benefits available today came from the work VVA has done.

To me, that is our real legacy.

There will be lots of questions as this discussion continues. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. The average age of our members is now 72, but we need to be sure that we do not leave some of our own generation behind if we base decisions on the presumption that we are all aging at the same rate. We need to closely examine any proposed timeline and determine whether using VVA resources to start a new organization might force an earlier demise than is actually necessary.

I have grave concerns about curtailing VVA activities in order to fund a new organization and how that might affect both VVA’s membership and its funding sources. Among the major questions yet to be answered are how this will be presented to the National Convention—as Constitutional Amendments that may lock us into decisions, as Resolutions that may allow for more flexibility, or in some other form—and whether the delegates will have the ability to modify whatever will be presented to them.

Reports from the working groups are included in this issue of The Veteran, and I strongly encourage you to read them, discuss them in your chapter and state council meetings, and most importantly, provide your questions, concerns, and ideas to the working groups as they continue refining proposals to be presented to our membership.Ω

BY TOM BURKE

I arrived early at the National Leadership Conference in Palm Springs so I could take in several early events, including the National Board of Directors meeting. Opening ceremonies were held on Wednesday, July 24.

The first thing out on the agenda was the debut of Working Groups I and II’s long-awaited progress reports. The groups are charged with considering two different courses for the future. But this is the planning stage. Nothing will be implemented until or unless a plan is approved by the membership in Convention.

Ideas center on plotting a course that would best allow VVA to pass all of its knowledge and know-how to a new group and at the same time preserve VVA’s legacy. That course may be decided by a vote of the membership at the Convention next year in Spokane. All information by the working groups was videoed and will be uploaded to www.vva.org Additional information will be forthcoming in The Veteran. Watch for it.

As Chair of the Veterans Service Program, I attended the Top Gun session of Veteran Service Officers. Many in the audience questioned some of our best about general information related to their claims. Later that afternoon, Ned Foote, New York State Council President and Chair of the Finance Committee, and I presented a 90-minute seminar to a large crowd entitled “What it Takes to be a President.” We covered many facets of being president at the state council and chapter levels. We reviewed the rules, regulations, reports, and IRS filings—all of which are available on VVA’s website under “Resources.”  If you are a SCP or chapter officer, do yourself a favor and get copies of these guides.

We also covered at length the proper procedure to file a 990N report with the IRS. Copies of screen shots from the IRS filing site are in the Conference Book. Reading the screens on the IRS site as you go through the filing is critical to filing correctly. We had many questions. But it’s become obvious that too many people try to rush through the screens of the IRS site. That, my friends, is where you get into trouble. Be patient. Read the fine print. It will make your life less stressful.

We had Service Officer Advanced Training all day Friday. Much information was disseminated. The entire program will be made available to all service officers on VVA’s website in the near future.

During Saturday’s Closing Ceremonies I presented the Service Officer of the Year awards to three deserving people. The top award went to Richard Carman of Louisiana. Two other service officers also were honored: Chuck Byers of Arizona and Delores “Dee” Garcia of New York. All of our service officers across the country do outstanding work. These three were recognized for service above and beyond their normal duties.

Saturday night brought the Conference to a close with our Awards Banquet. Several from stage and screen were with us that night, including Wayne Newton, Mr. Las Vegas himself. I was able to chat with him for several minutes before the banquet. He is a very gracious man. I can tell you that his respect for our organization is very high. Having done shows for thousands of veterans over the years, he was a well deserving VVA award recipient.

All I can say is, if you were not there, you missed something special. Don’t miss Spokane or you will be saying to yourself, “If I only….”

BY BOB GRABINSKI

It’s time to get on with the business of helping veterans. For those who have stepped forward to accept an office in VVA at the chapter or state level, thank you. I wish you well. 

The National Leadership Conference and the Region 6 Conference are history. I hope they met your expectations. You learned, relaxed, and enjoyed being with fellow VVA veterans.

While reading the most-recent issue, what really jumped out at me was “Taps” by Fr. Phil Salois. There were twenty-one individuals listed from Region 6. I could not stop wondering if any of these individuals were helped (while on active duty) by one of the medical personnel listed below.

We can never thank our military medical personal enough for their service and what they did for us. Here’s a listing of some doctors, nurses, and medics who are members of Region 6.

Iowa: Ron Langel, 25th Infantry Division; Ed Gaudet, Combat Medic, Big Red One; Rod Kjersten, 12th USAF Hospital Corpsman; Bob Behm, Great Lakes, Corpsman.

Kansas: Ron Davis, U.S.S. Enterprise, Navy Corpsman

Minnesota: Bob Lenz, HM3, 3rd Marine Amphibious Force/CAP Plt., 1969; Darrell Frykman, HM, Marine Corps 3/7/K, 1970; Ken Colgrove, Spec.4, 438th Medical Evacuation, Qui Nhon, 1966-67; Joe Merickel, Surgeon, D3150, 25th Div., Chu Chi 12th Evac Hospital, 1970; Phil Ringsrom, Hospital Corpsman, Nurse Corps; Julie Elliott, Col., AN, Health Service Command, Walter Reed Army Medical Center; David Peik, 9th Marines, Corpsman HM3, 1965-67; Bob Lutz, Orderly, 25th Medical Unit, 1969-70

Missouri: Leo Flory, B2/501, 1968-69; Dave Reinheimer, B2/501, 1968-69; Ray Hubbard, Bn. Medic, 4th Inf. Div., 1st Bn., 8th Inf. Div.; Susan Dewitt, 1968-69; Kenneth Kleinberg, Corpsman; Tom Berger, Navy Corpsman, 3rd Bn., 3rd Recon., 1966-68

South Dakota: Roger Papka, Medical Corps, 95th Evac., Da Nang, 1969

Wisconsin: Jerry Smith, Special Forces Medic

Thank you for what you do for VVA and veterans.

BY ALLEN MANUEL

I attended the meeting of new Chapter 1131 in Alexandria., La., and was impressed by the progress they’ve made in so short a time. I was impressed, too, that the chapter included members of the old Chapter 192. In just a short period they have raised a lot of money and are focused on the future. They ask every member to bring a new member to meetings, and it’s working great. I hope they continue this approach.

I spoke to them about what National is doing and also answered many questions about the state and the region. They want to be very educated about the organization, and I hope they can sustain this enthusiasm. Back in the early 1990s the old Chapter 192 was huge until the air base closed. But I expect 1131 to be there before long.

I attended the Arkansas State Council meeting in Pine Bluff, and there were a lot of members for a small state council. State President Joe McIntyre had decided not to run again. Jerry Corrigan was elected to take his place. I promised him that I would be there to help at all times. Larry Robinson always gives the best service report. Afterward, he fielded questions from members to see if they needed help. Arkansas always holds short meetings but provides plenty of info to their members.

I attended as many seminars as I could at the Leadership & Education Conference in Palm Springs, especially the ones about the future of our organization. Group I gave a clear presentation on what to expect in our future and I was very happy with them. It’s going be very tough for us. Group II gave its presentation the next day, but I was left not knowing too much about what’s happening. I hope we can get answers as the time comes around. More information will be presented at the October Board meeting. Not many Region 7 members attended the Conference due to high transportation costs.

All the seminars had great speakers, and attendees left with plenty of information to take back to their chapters. The Conference Book, packed with info, was great—though I suspect it weighed several pounds.

BY FRANCISCO F. IVARRA

I want to thank all the Region 8 presidents and their alternates who attended the National Leadership & Education Conference in Palm Springs. I had the opportunity to meet with each one and ask their perspectives on how things are going in their states. Region 8 serves its veterans and families well. This can only be attributed to the effective leadership that they provide their communities and the membership they represent.

In addition to the usual suspects attending the Conference and the Board meeting, this time we were joined by two representatives from Alaska: John Siller and Bob Patterson. We welcome our brothers from the Northern Lights and the commitment made to have Alaska State Council President Craig Wade attend the October board meeting in Silver Spring.

Washington Chapter 165 held a successful Car Show July 22 in Bellingham. The show included vintage, classic, and muscle cars from all eras. They had 254 cars and raised nearly $15,000. I was extremely impressed with all the work Chapter President David Loomis and his team did to make this event a total success.

In addition to the Car Show, on August 21 Chapter 165 hosted a banquet to honor Korean and World War II veterans. We congratulate Loomis and his members for reaching out to those heroes who came before us.

We thank Jaycee Newman from Oregon for distributing a great book, This Is What Hell Looks Like: Life as a Bomb Disposal Specialist during the Vietnam War by Stuart Allan Steinburg. This is a topic related to difficult duty in Vietnam and seldom read about.

The Committee on the Vietnam War Memorial reports that ten of thirty-six Oregon county commissions have formally endorsed the project. Band of Brothers has donated $1,156 to the memorial, and commemorative coins are being sold to raise additional funds. More information is posted at here. For copies of the updated Memorial Fund brochure, contact Steve Bates at 503-663-6271.

August 4, I attended the annual Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans event hosted by Washington Chapter 1109 President and State Vice President Ande Mitchell and his working group. It was a beautiful day, and once again it was an excellent event. The number of attendees increases every year. Approximately two hundred veterans and their families attended this year. We also honored Mitchell’s wife, Lucy, who lost her brother in Vietnam.

Their generosity is beyond words. The event is held on their property and the only requirement is attendance. Everything is complimentary, including food, entertainment, speakers that included a Vietnam War POW, military vehicles, and equipment from World War II and the Vietnam War.

During October and November I will attend the Board of Directors meeting, as well as Region 8 State Council meetings.

BY DICK SOUTHERN

That was a great Leadership & Education Conference at Palm Springs. It was a little bit warm and smoky, but it was a dry heat. The California State Council was excited to host the Conference and was responsible for the South Bay Chapter 53 Color Guard at the Opening Ceremonies, and Orange County Chapter 1024 did the POW/MIA Table Ceremony. Chapter 1106 from Denver received a Growth in Membership award in the 50-100 member category. Now we are looking forward to the October National Board of Directors meeting and the 40th anniversary celebration in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Since the Palm Springs event, I attended the New Mexico State Council meeting in San Antonio where chapter representatives elected past Vice President Bill Garcia as the new State Council president. The California State Council meeting featured three guest speakers covering the topics of legal assistance and cyber security.

September saw me attending the Colorado State Council meeting in Castle Rock and the Utah State Council meeting in St. George with Chapter 961. Utah Chapter 1079 recently dedicated a permanent replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Layton. Next was the Nevada State Council meeting.

Just before the National Board of Directors meeting will be the Arizona State Council meeting in Phoenix.

Membership in VVA continues to grow; each month the numbers increase. As Vietnam War veterans transition into retirement, most of them are looking for ways to help their communities. VVA is the best way for them to reconnect with veterans and serve in their communities. We all have to reach out to our fellow veterans to get them to join the organization and become a part of VVA.

In closing, I want to encourage you to keep up your recruiting and retention of members. It is the best time for us to keep adding numbers to our membership. You can contact me at dsouthern@vva.org with questions or concerns.

BY DOTTIE BARICKMAN

Choice Care, or Care in the Community, is gaining momentum. For example, a veteran patient may be put into the Care in the Community queue to be treated outside of the VA healthcare system in a timelier manner. However, this process requires a lot of back and forth between the coordinator, the patient, and the community facility. These layers would not be needed under a private health care system

Improving VA treatment and private health care treatment begins with educating providers about the identity of the patient as a veteran. It’s as simple as insisting that a note be placed in patients’ files indicating that they are veterans, and containing their dates of service, location of service, and if they have any service-connected conditions. With this information the health care provider better understands the patient and may be able to link symptoms to a military event and better treat the veteran. Few private health care systems gather this data. It is up to veterans to insist on the recognition of their service.

Typically, identification is required to be treated at any medical facility and a good start would be to have a driver’s license that notes military service. If your state does not have this provision for a driver’s license, ask for it.

Cost estimates to change the VA health care system to a privatized system (single payer) vary wildly and are often used as a political tactic with the veteran as a pawn. This will remain a taxpayer expense and should be carefully considered, keeping veterans’ health care above all cost. It is critical that veterans stay informed and involved with any laws that may affect their health care.

Some care is unique to veterans. For example, medical treatment for PTSD, amputations, and burns—if treated the same as any other illness under the privatized system—could compromise the current care and experience of VA providers.

For years we have heard that veterans need to be treated by providers who only treat veterans because of a common diagnosis and that they gain expertise when treating a collective group of veterans. Does this mean that Dr. Smith at the VA is more skilled that Dr. Jones at the city hospital who treats diabetics? I am not sure this is a valid assessment. Studies are scare and inconsistent.

Comradery connects veterans with veterans at the VA, and staff often attempt to recognize a veteran and thank him or her for their service. This may be lost, unless the veterans’ medical record is flagged and the patient is recognized as a veteran.

Some downsizing to the current VA health care system is planned under the Point of Service program, which means that you have a primary care provider who as a gatekeeper determines when a specialist is required. You often hear the phrase, “We are told to be conservative with our treatment.”

Another downside to using the VA health care system is that appointments may require an additional level of care that cannot be handled on the same day as the initial treatment date. Additional appointments are left to the veteran to navigate through phone calls, on hold calls, or call backs and delays in rapid treatment.

As plans for privatization proceed, veterans must educate all their medical providers of their veteran status and the importance of proper, speedy health care.

If you have any comments or concerns, contact me at dbarickman@vva.org or 712-314-1808. It is a pleasure to be of service.