The Northern Virginia Dean K. Phillips Memorial Chapter 227 celebrated its 40th anniversary at the chapter’s October membership meeting. Active-duty Army Major Gen. Edward J. Chrystal, an Iraq War veteran and the director of the USA 50th Commemoration of the Vietnam War, was the guest speaker.

Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell Chapter 266 held its annual reading of the names on October 25 at the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial on a perfect fall day. Chapter members and friends and family members of those who are memorialized on the black-granite wall read all 648 names. A bell sounded after each name was read. Chapter members also placed an American flag and a candle in front of the memorial’s 32 panels. The memorial was dedicated on October 26, 1987, and the chapter has been doing annual name-reading events there for more than 25 years.

Franklin, Tennessee, Chapter 1140 hosted a benefit concert organized by chapter President Rich Kresja and Board member Morley Levine in October for the family of USAF Capt. Bryce Bishop, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq during his Air National Guard service as a medic with the 187th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. Bishop died in April, six weeks short of 20 years’ military service. The concert—featuring musician/composer Eric Genuis, violinist Shreya Sachev, cellist Nathanial Hoyt, and singer Devin Davidson— raised $6,000 for his widow and three children; chapter members contributed an additional $3,000.

Courtesy Chapter 458

Wapakoneta, Ohio, Chapter 1126 held a Gold Star Mothers Family Day program September 28 on the grounds of the city’s Gold Star Families Memorial Monument in downtown Wapakoneta.

Columbus, Texas, Chapter 1127 took home the third-place award for the chapter’s float in the parade that opened the 47th annual Colorado County Fair and Rodeo on September 13.

Members and AVVA members of Toledo, Ohio, Chapter 34 helped organize the chapter’s second annual Veterans Appreciation Night event at Clay High School prior to a home football game on September 12. Veterans who attended the ceremonies received free tickets to the game, as well as submarine sandwiches and soft drinks.

Courtesy Chapter 392

Clinton Township, Michigan, Chapter 154, which runs a large food pantry out of the chapter’s Veterans Support Center in Clinton, Mich., reports for the month of August they provided canned goods and other food items for 133 people in 52 deserving families. The food pantry is supported by donations from chapter members and by individuals and businesses in the community.

Wilmington, North Carolina, Chapter 885 reports that five chapter members are working weekly four-hour volunteer shifts at the Wilmington VA Clinic. Three of the members—KC Jones, Artie Johnson, and Floyd Palmer—have earned VA 1,000-Hours-of-Service lapel pins. The chapter volunteers provide a range of services to VA patients and guests, including greeting and giving information to those entering the clinic and transportation for patients to and from the parking lot.

Southwest Montana Chapter 788 held its 15th annual Hope & the Holidays charity golf scramble and silent auction for kids on September 5 at Bridger Creek Golf Course in Bozeman. Hope & the Holidays is a local nonprofit that helps families in need all year round, but primarily during the holiday season. In 2024, the organization donated toys and gifts to more than 1,500 children, distributed 295 Christmas food baskets, and otherwise helped 626 families in Southwest Montana.

Courtesy Wayne Reynolds

New Jersey Shore Area Chapter 12, which has long been a pioneer in working with veterans’ cremains, held a Veteran Interment Service for the cremains of 20 veterans and two family members at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown on October 15. Some of the cremains had gone unclaimed at funeral homes for decades.

Valencia, California, Chapter 355 co-sponsored a 250th anniversary of the U.S. armed forces fundraising event on October 4 in Bella Vida, Calif. The event, which included music and dinner, was held to raise funds for the chapter’s new Veterans Relief Fund. The fund will “help veterans out with things like utility bills,” said Chapter Secretary Jerry Rhodes. “We started [it] as a not-for-profit organization, and we have channeled funds to go directly into a separate account that we made for the Veterans Relief Fund. We have always tried to contribute to veterans if they need help.”

Courtesy Chapter 463

Staten Island, New York, Thomas J. Tori Chapter 421 hosted its annual POW/MIA Ceremony September 23 at the city’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park, which the chapter dedicated in 1988 and continues to maintain. The small park, on the grounds of the Staten Island Armory, honors the 85 Staten Islanders who perished or remain missing in the Vietnam War.

Green Bay, Wisconsin, Chapter 224 and its AVVA members held their annual POW/MIA Remembrance Ceremony on September 19 outside the historic Brown County Courthouse in Green Bay. “The families of these men who never came home think about them daily, as all Americans should,” said Chapter President Ken Juza. “These men gave their lives for our county and should never be forgotten.”

Savannah, Georgia, Chapter 671, held its POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the city’s historic Emmet Park. The memorial, dedicated in 1991, commemorates the 106 U.S. servicemembers from Chatham County, Ga., who died in Vietnam or are still missing, along with some 25,000 veterans from coastal Georgia who served in the war. Hunter Army Airfield Garrison Commander Lt. Col. Derick Taylor was the guest speaker on September 19.

Athens, Alabama, Chapter 511 has begun raising funds to erect memorials honoring local veterans who lost their lives in World War I, World War II, and the post/911 conflicts at the Alabama Welcome Center in Ardmore along I-65 in Elkmont. The welcome center currently contains pillars with plaques honoring Vietnam War and Korean War veterans. Those who perished in the other wars “walked the grounds of Limestone County, and they worked the crops, got the harvest in,” said Chapter 511 President Derril Robertson, “and then they went and gave their last measure of devotion for the freedom of the country. So, it just stands to right we should honor them with memorials.”

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