Let the Good Times Roll

BY Marc Leepson

VVA’s 22nd biennial National Convention in New Orleans was memorable and historic. Memorable, in that hours of sometimes contentious floor debate on Wednesday and Thursday led to the delegates overwhelmingly voting down a proposed Resolution “relating to the Plan for Dissolution”—AKA, “The Plan.” That resolution, approved by the Board of Directors in April, would have dissolved the National organization on March 1, 2028, and turned over most of its assets to a successor organization, the Vietnam Veterans of America Legacy Society.

And historic, in that following VVA President Jack McManus’s decision to withdraw his nomination for a third term less than two weeks before the Convention, the delegates on Friday voted in three new National officers who ran from the floor: former three-term National Vice President Tom Burke as President; former Region 3 Director and Michigan State Council President John Riling III as Vice President; and former At-Large Board Member and Finance Committee Chair Dottie Barickman as Treasurer. Secretary Bill Meeks was re-elected to his eighth term as Secretary.

Ken Williamson/The VVA Veteran

Three new At-Large members—Liz Cannon, Fred Gasior, and Charlie Stapelton—were elected to the Board of Directors, as were three new Region directors: Marc Goodell, Gary Estermyer, and Chuck Revenier.

The Convention’s Opening Ceremonies on Wednesday morning, August 6, featured a STRAC presentation of the Colors and service flags by the Chattanooga, Tennessee, Chapter 203 Color Guard and a decidedly upbeat parade through the floor by one of New Orleans’ parading and costumed second lines, augmented with AVVA members sashaying down the aisles and tossing beads into the crowd. AVVA also held its 13th National Convention during the VVA Convention.

Another highlight: A stirring Keynote Speech by Bill Broyles, the acclaimed journalist and screenwriter (and VVA member) who served with the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam in 1969-70. He’s best known for creating the Vietnam War prime time TV series China Beach; his Hollywood screenwriting, which includes the script for the Golden Globe award-winning Tom Hanks film, Cast Away; and his pioneering 1984 book, Brothers in Arms: A Journey from War to Peace, about his 1984 return trip to Vietnam.

Ken Williamson/The VVA Veteran

Broyles gave a powerful speech that centered on what every Vietnam War veteran in the room had in common. “We were there then; we are here now,” he said, “we’re all short timers.” His words “brought me back to Vietnam,” one delegate said after the speech. Another told Broyles that he was so moved by the speech that he “teared up a couple of times.” Before Broyles left the stage, Jack McManus presented him the VVA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Following a recess after the Opening Ceremonies, McManus introduced The Plan. Constitution Committee Chair Leslie DeLong led the debate on The Plan which followed, and the debate became contentious at times and resulted in the delegates making a change in wording but choosing to wait to vote on the entire Plan. The session ended at 12:30 so delegates could have time for lunch and that afternoon’s three tiers of committee meetings.

When the Convention reconvened on Thursday morning – more heated debate. It ended when the question was called and the delegates voted overwhelmingly not to adopt The Plan. The general sentiment was that members (and their delegates) believed that the organization is not ready to close up shop and that a plan to do so in three years was premature.

As delegate Vicky Clay of the Alaska State Council put it: “We all want to keep VVA alive.”

The delegates later voted down a proposed plan-related Constitutional Amendment that would have abolished the 10 at-large seats on the Board of Directors following the 2027 Convention.

Ken Williamson/The VVA Veteran

In the leisure department, the Convention included the traditional Welcome Home Party Tuesday evening and entertainment on Friday. And delegates, AVVA members, and friends had plenty of time to sample the New Orleans French Quarter’s restaurants.

The biennial VVA awards were presented on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, (see the list of recipients on p. 21). And the delegates heard presentations from—among others—Tony Cordero, president of Sons and Daughters in Touch, along with ten other SDIT members; Deputy VA Secretary Paul Lawrence; Rocky Gillette, the director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency; and Benjamin Bryant of the Vietnam War 50th Anniversary Commemoration, which had a booth in the Veterans Mall.

Ken Williamson/The VVA Veteran

The Saturday night Awards Banquet included three Excellence in the Arts Awards, which went to Vietnam War veterans. They went to the author, veterans advocate, and college instructor Doug Bradley, who has specialized in writing about the music of the Vietnam War in his books—including We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War; Tobias Wolff, the former U.S. Army ARVN Advisor who is among the most honored and accomplished Vietnam War veteran writers, best known for his memoirs, This Boy’s Life and In Pharoah’s Army; and Dan Lauria, the veteran TV, film, and stage actor and veterans advocate who served in the Marine Corps aboard a Navy helicopter assault ship in the South China Sea in 1972, and gained fame for his role as Jack Arnold in the Emmy Award-winning TV series The Wonder Years.

The NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath received the President’s Award for Supporting the Troops in Vietnam in recognition of his visit to wounded troops in military hospitals in Japan, Okinawa, and the Philippines in 1969, just days after he led the New York Jets to victory in the Super Bowl. Namath received the award in March and his recorded acceptance speech was shown at the Banquet.

Comcast NBC/Universal received the President’s Award for Supporting America’s Veterans in acknowledgement of the company’s extensive efforts to support its employees who are veterans and National Guard and Reserve servicemembers, as well as military spouses. The presentation of the award included a showing of “The Aviators,” a short film directed by Academy Award winner Kathryn Bigelow that looks at the emotional reunion of four former Vietnam War military pilots. Three of the pilots—Jim “Zeke” Lloyd, Jack “Razor” Gillet, and Bill “Offender” Moyer—were on hand for the event.

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