What Needs to Be Done to Secure VVA's Legacy  

BY TOM BURKE

At the National Board meeting in January, I addressed the elephant in the room: VVA’s future. That topic also will be examined during seminars and presentations at the 2026 National Leadership Conference this summer. I thank the VVA members who have taken the time to write with ideas and comments about VVA’s future—keep them coming. Be assured that I read every letter and email you send.

Some of you suggest VVA can last thirty more years and become a last-man-standing organization. But last-man-standing means we fade away—and with that fade, our accomplishments of the past fifty years risk fading, too. We need to think big. We are now referred to as one of the nation’s “big three” VSOs; we used to be one of the “big six.” I believe that, in the future, we will be remembered for what we have accomplished.

What we are attempting is unprecedented: to create an organization that will live beyond our own lifetimes. Our legacy can be rock-solid if we plan smartly today for a lasting tomorrow.

Everyone knows we must do something. We cannot remain as we are and expect to move into the future. We must move forward. The plan we develop should involve reorganization or restructuring—a path that allows our mission to continue for generations, securing VVA’s legacy. I am committed to that work. We are a unique organization. We are Vietnam veterans—now and always.

In recent years, we’ve brought on younger staff members at VVA national headquarters. We need to create or continue jobs for them—and for the staff who have been with us for many years.

If possible, the new organization will retain the name Vietnam Veterans of America. Everywhere I go, chapters tell me they will not go away. I hear that loud and clear.

However, as our General Counsel has advised, we may have to look at organizations to join with us. We may have to consider a merger that gives us strength in numbers and makes both organizations stronger.

To accomplish these goals, our Constitution and bylaws will need to be changed. The Officers cannot do this alone. We need the membership to come together now. We need consensus. We need to agree on a plan for the future.

As we navigate these decisions, let’s keep our eyes on the mission and resist distractions. The task before us is not easy, but it is worthy of our history and our values.

We cannot abandon ourselves because of inaction or arguments that lead nowhere. As I noted in the last issue, VVA General Counsel Dominick Yezzo created an eight-page document titled, “VVA Chapter Transition Strategy.” I hope all of you have obtained and read it. You can get it from your State Council President, and it also appears in this issue online. I assure you that you will want this document for your files—and most likely for forthcoming action.

The Transition Strategy outlines: dissolving a chapter; board and membership decisions; plans for dissolution and asset distribution; legal filings; IRS final filings and record-keeping; and guidance for continuing operations if you decide to stay on as a State Council or Chapter. Depending on your situation, you may need additional information to decide how to move forward. This material is a useful tool to help you make those decisions.

Another reader wrote that a majority of our members do not support Veterans Voices of America. Let me clarify: Vets’ Voice was created by VVA four years ago. The VA has made clear that—even if an organization ceases to exist—veterans represented under power of attorney (POA) cannot be abandoned. One organization tried to walk away; the federal government stepped in and said, in effect, you will not do this to your veterans. They were required to return to active status and arrange for other groups to assume their veterans’ cases.

Nothing is impossible if we work together. It does us no good to argue over semantics. The task before us is not easy. Many things must be done for us to move into the future—together. Remember: Together then, together now, together always. Never Again Will One Generation of Veterans Abandon Another.

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