VETERANS COLLECTIBLES
Is now
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Medals of America
114 Southchase Blvd.
Fountain Inn, SC 29644
Before the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
United States Senate Regarding VVA Legislative Priorities
for the 111th Congress
January 28, 2009
Good morning, Senator Akaka, Senator Burr, and other members
of this distinguished committee. On behalf of the members
of Vietnam Veterans of America and our families, I am pleased
to present to you VVA’s main legislative priorities
for the 111th Congress.
Too often, it seems to many that the government puts off
dealing with the healthcare problems of entire generations
of veterans. For instance, the Gulf War has been over almost
twenty years and the government is finally confronted with
evidence that is difficult to refute that there are real
maladies associated with military service, illnesses that
do not constitute as “syndrome” but are real
and debilitating nevertheless. The government’s actions
are unacceptable. Hence the need for legislative remedies.
What follows are priorities that, if enacted and enforced,
will, it is our belief and our hope, make the VA more efficient
in caring for our nation’s veterans.
Read
or Print Complete Testimony
The VVA Self-Help Guide to Service-Connected Disability Compensation for Exposure to Agent Orange
Click on the cover (above) to go to the guide
In Memoriam
Our VVA and AVVA membership both past
and present are utmost important to our organization and
the rich history they bring. Our members who have died have
not been forgotten and remain as integral part of the history
of Vietnam Veterans of America and Associates of Vietnam
Veterans of America. These men and women have made what VVA
and AVVA is today and continues to be. It in this vein, that
we want to honor their memory and legacy by publishing their
obituary narratives as they have been collected and written.
Some are more complete than others depending on the information
that was provided to the National Chaplain. It is the intent
of this site to post all the narratives that have been collected
since we started publishing the TAPS column. Please note
that we did not start TAPS column at the beginning of our
organization but only many years later and there will be
many whose names will not appear but their memory nevertheless
lives on. Please remember these men and women who have given
so much to make VVA and AVVA what it is today – “one
generation of Veterans not leaving another behind.”
Father Phil Salois, M.S.
VVA National Chaplain
[ visit the TAPS section on vva.org
]
“You can’t take it with you,” the old
saying insists, and it’s true, of course. But there’s
another way to look at the things you can’t take with
you. The things you leave behind can express the priorities
of your life, and how you want to be remembered. Leaving
those things to the people and causes you care about can
be one of the defining acts of your life.
And if you don’t do it yourself, a government bureaucracy
will do it for you.
To avoid that sad fate, many Vietnam members are creating
detailed wills. Vietnam Veterans of America is offering a
free Will Planning Guide, with a helpful Will Planning Checklist
to take the mystery out of the process. VVA has also recently
created a program called the Lasting Legacy Society to recognize
those veterans who include VVA in their wills.
VVA members and friends who remember
VVA in their will become members of VVA’s Lasting
Legacy Society and as a token of VVA’s appreciation
will receive a finely crafted clock of genuine black marble,
solid brass, and select American walnut. This handsome
timepiece stands 9” tall and will be a welcome addition
to any bookcase or fireplace mantel. VVA will proudly welcome
members to the Lasting Legacy Society and ship the exclusive
VVA Society clock to those who provide evidence, such as
a copy of the will or letter from their attorney, that
VVA is named as a beneficiary of their estate.
[ click to learn more and
to request the free VVA will planner & checklist ]
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