BY JUSTIN LATINI

Let me begin by expressing my deepest sympathy to those affected by the recent hurricanes. I know chapters and state councils have sent much-needed funds to those in need, and I hope that our brothers and sisters affected will reach out for help if needed.

As an elected officer of VVA, one of the most difficult duties I have is closing a chapter or state council. As we are aging, some chapters cannot retain enough members or, although they may have large numbers of members, the chapters are no longer able to function due to very low attendance at membership meetings. While still-active members could transfer to other chapters, it is not always easy to do so, as the nearest chapter is sometimes several hours away.

I have encouraged chapters that do close to hold coffee hours that are open to all veterans at churches or veteran halls, including city and town Council on Aging buildings. This allows members of closed chapters to maintain communication and contact with other local veterans.

In Region 1, chapters are celebrating milestone anniversaries and continue to do good work in their communities. Rhode Island Chapter 273 recently celebrated its 38th anniversary. Rhode Island State Council Vice President Brian Carn and President Ernie Boisvert presented the 1st place $2,500 VVA ROTC scholarship on October 25 at the Rhode Island State House. Rep. Sam Azzinaro, who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee, helped present the check to JROTC Cadet Isaiah Matheu.

Chapters throughout the region are submitting their National VVA election and financial reports in a timely manner so that they remain in good standing.

As we prepare for the 2025 National Convention, it is important to make sure that your voices are heard, and I encourage you to stay in contact with VVA, whether through your chapter, region, or the at-large Board of Directors.

BY TED WILKINSON

Greetings from Region 2. I hope everyone had a great Veterans Day. Even though I couldn’t make it to Washington this year, I celebrated in my own way: I showed off my ‘64 GTO, which I have dedicated to veterans, at several community events. The responses of people moved my heart, with many sharing personal reflections about what the word “veteran” means to them.

Throughout Region 2, our chapters celebrated Veterans Day in unique ways. In Delaware, veterans and other community members supported the Delaware Veterans Memorial Ceremony in New Castle by staging a Stars and Strides 5K run in Newark to benefit veteran charities. They also staged an open house with military history tours at the Fort Miles Museum in Lewes, Delaware.

VVA members in New York took part in the big New York City Veterans Day Parade, which is the nation’s largest, and again drew throngs of people who lined up along Fifth Avenue. The parade commemorated veterans who served in all wars and highlighted Vietnam War veterans. In New Jersey, many VVA chapters participated in wreath-laying and other Veterans Day ceremonies.

Philadelphia’s Veterans Multi-Service Center held a food drive in front of the National Constitution Center in the City of Brotherly Love. The food that people donated was then distributed to needy veterans. Visitors also toured the center and participated in a poignant ceremony honoring all veterans. Indiantown Gap National Cemetery flew its Avenue of Flags display—made up of casket flags donated to the cemetery by veterans’ families—at the cemetery throughout Veterans Day week. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, and I wish everyone a joyful holiday season. I look forward to seeing everyone next year.

BY SPENCE DAVIS

The recent hurricanes, Milton and Helene, were a national story, but the impact for those of us in Regions 3 and 4 was much more personal. The west coast of Florida experienced back-to-back hurricane landfalls within a two-week period, causing major damage, extensive flooding, and significant loss of life. The storms proceeded to create a path of destruction through Georgia and continued north into Region 3.

I live about 50 miles north of the Florida line and roughly 65 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, which turned out to be directly in the path of Helene. While the rain wasn’t extreme, the winds whipped through our area at 80-100 miles per hour. Trees were uprooted, roads were blocked, power lines were downed, and cell towers were inoperable.

For many, the power was out for more than two weeks, leaving tens of thousands without basic needs such as refrigeration, air conditioning, and the ability to cook. Additionally, there was no way for many of those affected to communicate, request help, or get information. It will be months, if not years, before life fully returns to normal.

I would love to see us all reach out to support our affected members with whatever assistance we can. To do so, contact Florida’s State Council President Gary Newman at 904-269-1857 and Georgia State Council President Bill Martin at 706-809-2973.

These storms reminded me of the ones Puerto Rico has experienced in recent years and the fact that many people on the island are still struggling to get back to normal. Our veteran family in Puerto Rico recently lost a Vietnam War hero, Jorge Otero Barreto, who served five tours of duty in the warzone. His awards included five Purple Hearts, three Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars. Barreto died in his hometown of Vega Baja. We send our condolences to his family and friends.

On a brighter note, VVA membership continues to grow with new chapters forming across the country, including one in Hayden, Alabama. In October, Chapter 1036 in The Villages, Florida, celebrated becoming VVA’s largest chapter.

BY JOHN H. RILING, III

At the National Leadership Conference in Reno, I attended workshops on parliamentary procedure and state presidents’ leadership, as well as engaging sessions such as, “Ask a Top Gun VSO.” These seminars are instrumental in maintaining and enhancing our organizational knowledge and operational excellence.

In September, I represented the Michigan State Council at the Kokomo Reunion in Indiana, working at the booth and connecting with veterans and their families. In October, I took part in the Holly Veteran Resource Center’s open house in Holly, Michigan, as well as the VVA National Board meeting in Silver Spring, during which the Board addressed the future of the organization.

The Board also decided to revoke the charters of six Region 5 chapters—one in Illinois and five in Michigan. Unfortunately, these chapters had been inactive, failed to submit election and financial reports for more than two years and had no officers to continue operations. Members of these chapters will be transferred to at-large status, and the State Council presidents are focusing on restoring nonprofit corporation status where needed.

In Windsor, Ontario, on October 23, I joined the Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial Association to recognize the contributions of the 40,000 Canadians who served in the Vietnam War. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the war’s end, we’re also preparing for the 30th anniversary of the dedication of the North Wall in Windsor, where 173 Canadians killed or missing in action are honored.

Our team has launched an initiative to locate surviving Canadian Vietnam War veterans. We encourage everyone to attend the July 5-6, 2025, memorial service in Windsor and participate in the Be Counted survey. For details, go to www.canadiansinvietnam.com or contact Keith Tracy at itroop196467@gmail.com or C.J. Scott at cjscott.cangen@gmail.com.

Finally, a reminder that the Illinois State Council will host a 2025 Preconvention Conference on June 20-21 at the Holiday Inn Rock Island Hotel & Conference Center. More information will follow as we approach the event.

BY JOHN MARGOWSKI

The National Leadership Conference, held in Reno in August, was a great success. Greg Paulline, my Alternate Director, and I have prepared summaries of several of the many excellent seminars. I am in the process of obtaining those summaries and will send them out to the Region 6 Presidents as soon as possible.

The VVA National Board Meeting took place October 17-20, where unfortunately 33 chapters had charters revoked as they had not filed Financial and Election reports in 2023 and 2024.

Get your state council and chapter reports in to National, as Life Member Sharing will require all chapters to be in good standing by March 2025 to receive a check. This is a once-a-year payment. The address to send the reports is: PO Box 49030, Baltimore MD 21297-4930.

Furthermore, for a chapter member to be eligible to register as a delegate for the National Convention in New Orleans in August, those same reports must be in by July 15, 2025. VVA membership is now at 92,126. This includes 1,475 women veterans. AVVA is at 11,159. All VVA members should consider a dual membership in AVVA.

If your state does not have a Service Officer program and you want to know who in the National Benefits office is available to help with claims, call 301-585-4000, Ext. 1112 or email Benefits@VVA.org.

BY FRANCISCO F. IVARRA

Region 8 was well represented at the National Leadership & Education Conference in Reno. I am extremely proud that a delegation from every state in the region attended. Here are some updates from each state and the important work they are doing for VVA and their fellow veterans:

Alaska: President Craig Wade informed me that another VVA VSO has been added to the growing program in Juneau. The distance between cities in Alaska remains a serious obstacle, but these VSOs are determined to help Alaskan veterans and their families. Twenty-four veterans were selected to take part in the Alaska Honor Flight program which took place October 1-5. Alaska scheduled its state council meeting for November 12-13 in Anchorage.

Idaho: President Paul Sherman reports that Chapter 1025 has been successful in raising funds to help veterans and their families in crisis through the chapter’s Joining Forces coalition with other veterans groups and local businesses.

Montana: On September 18, I had the honor of joining MSC President Chuck Renevier in a visit to the Eastern Montana Veterans Home in Glendive, where we enjoyed a barbeque with Chapter 234 in celebration of their 40th anniversary. President Rick Berg said that his chapter has made several contributions to improve the home for veterans, including for construction projects.

Oregon: Steve Tobiason invited members, veterans, and their families to the newly designated Oregon Gold Star Families Memorial Highway. The highway honors the families of 6,000 Oregonians who made the ultimate sacrifice during the five major wars from World War I to the present. The dedication took place on September 2. Chapter 392’s Legacy Committee is supporting sculptor Libby Carruth’s “A Soldier’s Return,” which depicts the return home of Vietnam veterans; and is scheduled to be unveiled on November 22 during the groundbreaking of the first phase of the Vietnam War Memorial at the State Capitol Grounds in Salem.

Washington: VVA member John Henderson reported to me that Chapter 423 held its annual Purple Heart barbeque August 11 at Silver Lake in Everett. The event was well attended and recognized 18 VVA members for their service to veterans.

On October 8-10, Jeannie Ebert, the Chief Washington State VVA Service Officer, held a training session at Ocean Shores. All of Washington VSOs attended and Ebert provided excellent information for all in attendance.

President Michael Routt and Chapter 879 took part in the dedication of the new Veterans Memorial at Balfour Park on May 24. They also participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremonies of the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center Community-Based Out Clinic in October.

Chapter 102 members and President Joel Ware participated in the Auburn Veterans Day Parade on November 9 and Chapter 1109 President Ande Mitchelle served as Grand Marshal at the Skagit County Veterans Day Parade on November 16. The Washington State Council meeting took place on October 12 and welcomed newly elected First Vice President Steve Pennington. I attended the Montana State Council meeting on October 25 and 26 and the Oregon State Council meeting on November 8 and 9th.

BY DICK SOUTHERN

With a membership of more than 10,000 in Region 9, it is a challenge to stay in touch with all the state councils, chapters, and members, but I make every effort to do so. Visiting the state councils is a very rewarding experience as I can try to help them be successful in their VVA experience. Recently I visited the state councils in California, Arizona, and Colorado. One of my goals for 2024 has been to have each state council in Region 9 increase the number of its chapters. This can be accomplished by recruiting new members. I am happy to report that two new chapters have been started, one in Colorado and one in California. We are also working on forming a chapter in Albuquerque.

Since VVA has a National Convention coming in 2025, increased emphasis is being placed on getting finance and election reports in on time so that state councils and chapter delegates can get credentialed and be seated at the Convention. I will continue to advocate for Region 9 veterans, their families, and their caregivers as I visit meetings throughout the region and attend National Board of Directors meetings and events.

I pray that you all stay safe and well and check on your buddies. And please get back in the habit of attending meetings and renewing efforts to recruit new members.

Best wishes to for a happy holiday season. In the meantime, I am available by email. You can contact me at dick.southern@gmail.comwith any questions or concerns.

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