History of the League's POW/MIA Flag

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In 1971, Mrs. Michael Hoff, an MIA wife and member of the National League of Families, recognized the need for a symbol of our POW/MIAs. Prompted by an article in the Jacksonville, Florida Times-Union, Mrs. Hoff contacted Norman Rivkees, Vice President of Annin & Company which had made a banner for the newest member of the United Nations, the People’s Republic of China, as a part of their policy to provide flags to all United Nations members states. Mrs. Hoff found Mr. Rivkees very sympathetic to the POW/MIA issue, and he, along with Annin’s advertising agency, designed a flag to represent our missing men. Following League approval, the flags were manufactured for distribution.

On March 9, 1989, an official League flag, which flew over the White House on 1988 National POW/MIA Recognition Day, was installed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda as a result of legislation passed overwhelmingly during the 100th Congress. In a demonstration of bipartisan Congressional support, the leadership of both Houses hosted the installation ceremony.

The League’s POW/MIA flag is the only flag ever displayed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda where it will stand as a powerful symbol of national commitment to America’s POW/MIAs until the fullest possible accounting has been achieved for U.S. personnel still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
On August 10, 1990, the 101st Congress passed U.S. Public Law 101-355, which recognized the League’s POW/MIA flag and designated it "as the symbol of our Nation’s concern and commitment to resolving as fully as possible the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, thus ending the uncertainty for their families and the Nation".

The importance of the League’s POW/MIA flag lies in its continued visibility, a constant reminder of the plight of America’s POW/MIAs. Other than "Old Glory", the League’s POW/MIA flag is the only flag ever to fly over the White House, having been displayed in this place of honor on National POW/MIA Recognition Day since 1982. Passage by the 105th Congress of Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act requires that the League’s POW/MIA flag fly six days each year: Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, National POW/MIA Recognition Day and Veterans Day. It must be displayed at the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Departments of State, Defense and Veterans Affairs, headquarters of the Selective Service System, major military installations as designated by the Secretary of the Defense, all Federal cemeteries and all offices of the U.S. Postal Service. By law passed in 2002, it must fly year-round at the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the World War II Memorial.

Freedom Flight's POW / MIA Message From Above

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Jim Tuorila’s most memorable hot air balloon flight comes with a small bit of irony attached to one of its more prominent elements—altitude. The veteran balloon pilot and co-founder of Freedom Flight, Inc., a non-profit organization that raises awareness as well as hot air balloons, had flown hundreds of times. But when one of his passengers requested that he take his distinctive black balloon with the easily recognizable POW/MIA logo to 5,000 feet, Tuorila acquiesced with little enthusiasm.

“I don’t like to fly high,” he said, laughing. “I’m afraid of heights. I can’t lean over the side of a tall building and feel comfortable. I probably wouldn’t be flying this balloon if it weren’t for the issue.”

But the POW/MIA issue and the balloon are inseparable. The striking black craft with its three 30-foot high POW/MIA logos is like no other and is easily spotted even in a sky like Albuquerque’s in October, when mass ascensions at the Albuquerque International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta might number more than a thousand colorful balloons in all shapes and sizes gliding over the city.

Tuorila’s three guests that day came with special significance. So he opened up the balloon’s gas burners and the black craft rose into the air. His passengers were women married to men still listed as MIA from the Vietnam War. He doesn’t remember which one asked that he fly to 5,000 feet, but Tuorila has been a psychologist at a VA Medical Center in Minnesota for 20 years; he was curious to see what would happen when they reached that altitude. Balloon flights generally skim the earth, the better to see and be seen. At 5,000 feet, people on the ground are barely able to see the balloon. He couldn’t imagine why his passenger wanted to climb that high.

He said that the moment they reached the requested altitude will stay with him forever.

“We get up there and she says this is the altitude the military said her husband was at when he ejected from his plane over Vietnam,” he said. “She wanted to see what the world looked like when he ejected. It touched me so deeply that I’ll never forget that flight with those women.”

Freedom Flight, the POW/MIA Hot Air Balloon Team, has flown in more than seven hundred events since its first flight in November 1989. The non-profit now has three balloons that attend 35 to 45 events a year, staffed entirely by volunteers. The organization grew out of Tuorila’s vocation—psychology—and his avocation—hot air balloons.

In 1981, while attending graduate school at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, he worked with a group of World War II ex-POWs called the “Lost Battalion,” all of them survivors of more than three years in Japanese prison camps. That work inspired Tuorila to write his doctoral dissertation on the effects of captivity, especially regarding the work of Victor Frankl and his famous writings following his own imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps.

While doing his doctoral internship at the Topeka, Kansas, VA Medical Center, Tuorila and his wife volunteered to crew for a hot air balloon. When he went to work in Minnesota, they saw a balloon in flight one day and decided to volunteer again.

In 1987, he appeared on a local TV program to talk about the emotional difficulties families face when a loved one returns after years of captivity. On the program he met the daughter of a Navy pilot shot down and declared MIA. The daughter told him that the government story of her father’s disappearance was very much at odds with the story told by her father’s wingman, who made a point of finding the pilot’s family to tell them the true story of the incident.

By then, Tuorila and his wife were crewing on a balloon flown by a Vietnam veteran who had been encouraging him to set up a non-profit with an eye toward calling attention to the POW/MIA issue.

Then one day at work, his professional life and his weekend life coalesced.

“I told my co-therapist, ‘You know, I’ve been flying and working with balloons for five years now. What about a black POW/MIA balloon? What kind of attention would that get?’ “

The co-therapist and co-founder of Freedom Flight, Vietnam veteran Bill Nohner, thought it was a great idea. A year later, Freedom Flight, Inc., obtained status as a non-profit educational organization.

In 1989, the first flight went up. Its first passenger was Henry Sha, a World War II veteran and ex-POW who happened to stop his car when the balloon landed nearby. Invited onboard, he didn’t hesitate.

Now in its sixteenth year, Freedom Flight continues to attract attention, sometimes through a little luck. At the 2005 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Tuorila volunteered to give rides to the media. A Voice of America camera crew making a documentary on the balloon fiesta accepted his offer. When the crew members found out who they were flying with, a new angle for the documentary emerged.

“When they found out what we were doing with the balloon, I think the program changed to include Freedom Flight and everything we were doing,” Tuorila said.

The change was in keeping with how Tuorila describes the past sixteen years. “The reception we’ve gotten over the years make the hair on the back of my neck stand up,” Tuorila said. “It’s been incredible. I’ve had what I assume to be a Vietnam veteran come up, put $100 in my pocket and say, ‘Keep it up,’ then walk away. I’ve had family members of the missing come up to me with tears in their eyes. I’ve had ex-POWs come up and thank us. Everywhere we go, the reception has been positive and overwhelming, and that keeps us flying.”

For more information on Freedom Flight go to www.freedomflight.org or call Jim Tuorila at 320-252-7208.

The purpose of Vietnam Veterans of America's national organization

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The purpose of Vietnam Veterans of America's national organization, the state councils, and chapters is:

* To help foster, encourage, and promote the improvement of the condition of the Vietnam veteran.
* To promote physical and cultural improvement, growth and development, self-respect, self-confidence, and usefulness of Vietnam-era veterans and others.
* To eliminate discrimination suffered by Vietnam veterans and to develop channels of communications which will assist Vietnam veterans to maximize self-realization and enrichment of their lives and enhance life-fulfillment.
* To study, on a non-partisan basis, proposed legislation, rules, or regulations introduced in any federal, state, or local legislative or administrative body which may affect the social, economic, educational, or physical welfare of the Vietnam-era veteran or others; and to develop public-policy proposals designed to improve the quality of life of the Vietnam-era veteran and others especially in the areas of employment, education, training, and health.
* To conduct and publish research, on a non-partisan basis, pertaining to the relationship between Vietnam-era veterans and the American society, the Vietnam War experience, the role of the United States in securing peaceful co-existence for the world community, and other matters which affect the social, economic, educational, or physical welfare of the Vietnam-era veteran or others.
* To assist disabled and needy war veterans including, but not limited to, Vietnam veterans and their dependents, and the widows and orphans of deceased veterans.

Strategic Plan - VVA's Roadmap to the Future

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VVA, like most service organizations these days, is in a period of transition. This is not unusual since change or evolution is natural, and historically VVA has been a catalyst for change within the veterans service community. What is different today is the rapid pace and complexity that these changes have and will continue to have on VVA's ability to be a relevant factor both to ourselves and to society as a whole. The VVA leadership recognized that VVA would need a method or process to address the multitude of opportunities to emerge and to meet the challenges it would encounter in this fast-changing "reality" that is taking us into the 21st century.

In earlier years, VVA utilized a strategic plan that was developed and approved by the national board of directors in 1989. A review indicated that indeed this plan had actually served VVA very well as it focused the entire organization on the issues and concerns that were relevant and important during that time period. Many of VVA's successes and victories can be traced back to the clarity of purpose that the plan brought forth to the entire organization. What the plan lacked was a process that continued its implementation and kept the plan alive as the dynamics of VVA leadership at all levels evolved and changed.

The need to create a comprehensive process or methodology for the development and implementation of a new strategic plan for VVA was recognized by the VVA national president James L. Brazee, Jr., and a Strategic Planning Committee was established for this purpose.

The president appointed VVA national treasurer Jack McManus to chair the new Strategic Planning Committee, and he, in turn, appointed committee members that represented the diverse interests of the various constituencies and organizational levels within VVA. It is important to recognize that the committee was intentionally structured to include representation from large and small chapters, large and small state councils, the VVA staff, VVA associates, non-BOD committee chairs, national BOD members, minority and women veteran members, and elected national officers.

The reasoning behind having such diversity in the committee makeup was ultimately the plan would need to reflect the real differences of interests within the organization at each level. The intent was to be truly representative of our memberships' interests so that the individual members could embrace and own the plan. The committee believes that if the entire organization claims ownership in the Strategic Plan, then the implementation of the various elements of this plan will be more successful at all levels.

Core Values

Advocacy:

We are committed to unrelenting advocacy for fairness in the treatment of veterans so that never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.

Meaningful Achievement:

We want to make a difference, focusing on issues that stand as critical barriers to a fulfilling life for veterans and all Americans.

Integrity:

We tell the truth and take responsibility.

Compassion:

We care about comrades and others in needs.

Camaraderie:

We support each other and feel we're all members of one family.
Vision & Mission Statements

Vision:

We are leading the challenge to do what is right for America and its veterans.

Mission:

Using the shared vision of our membership:

· we aggressively advocate on issues important to veterans;

· provide programs and services that improve the well-being of all veterans and their families;

· and serve our communities.

Goals, Rationales, and Strategies

Membership Goal:

To proactively recruit, retain, and develop an informed and personally effective membership dedicated to VVA's values, mission, and goals.

Membership Rationale:

The operative phrases in the membership goal are: Informed, personally effective, and dedicated membership who embrace VVA's values, mission, and goals. In other words, as we seek to expand our membership, we offer opportunities for increasing personal effectiveness to those who share our values and commitment. The new strategic plan will let prospective members know the kind of organization they are joining. Vigorous pursuit of the goals and strategies by chapters offer many opportunities for the full use of prospective members' talents according to the interests. The strategy calls for an effective external communications program to aid recruitment, combined with training to promote personal and professional development for members through their participation in chapter activities.

Membership Strategy:

Develop and implement a comprehensive master plan, which includes all levels; a targeted effort to recruit members (using professional and personal contact and face-to-face marketing resources); and a program to retain them.

Advocacy Goal:

Identify and prioritize legislative and administrative objectives to focus our energy and resources as an effective catalyst for the retention and improvement of veterans benefits.

Advocacy Rationale:

America has an "unfinished agenda" for public policy and funding of programs affecting veterans. Health care looms large at all levels of government. Other issues range from protecting and improving service-connected compensation benefits and veterans employment preferences to advocating research and/or programs addressing Agent Orange, PTSD, and homelessness as well as specialized programs relating to women, minority, and incarcerated veterans. In an age of government downsizing, veterans benefits across the board are at risk. There is an enormous educational job to be done among Vietnam veterans, public policymakers and the general public.

When it comes to passionate and powerful advocacy, VVA is clearly a leader in the veterans community, and the situation is ripe for action. More and more Vietnam veterans are being elected at all levels of government. In short, the Vietnam generation is in charge. But there are many challenges: Advocacy goals are not focused sufficiently to establish a clear agenda in order to concentrate efforts to achieve it. Not all VVA members accept a "political" role for the organization; veterans service organizations have competing legislative and administrative agendas; and VVA's own advocacy efforts are often scattered. Thus, there is a need to establish key legislative and administrative priorities in VVA and among veterans service organizations.

Advocacy Strategy:

Identify and prioritize legislative and administrative objectives, consolidate existing VVA advocacy functions and focus our energy and resources to most effectively advocate for the advancement of veterans' concerns.

Direct Services Strategy:

Maintain, expand, and support our network of veteran service representatives nationwide. Publicize direct service information and conduct training on how to build community-based coalitions. Offer the tools necessary; information and training for providing direct services and for building community-based coalitions to meet the needs of veterans and their families.

Direct Services Rationale:

VVA seeks to assure a decent, positive lifestyle for veterans by working at two levels: Actually providing VVA-sponsored services and by building the community's commitment and capacity to provide essential services to veterans and their families.

VVA has a strong base expertise in veterans benefits and provides representation for veterans to receive benefits due them. As our population ages, new concerns ranging from long-term health care to career upheavals and retirement need to be anticipated. While we continue to provide direct services, we need to help members understand the complexity of emerging needs. And we need to train members in how to build community-based coalitions to address these needs.

Direct Services Goal:

Participate in providing direct services needed by veterans and their families.

Community Service Goal:

Enable VVA members to their community and promote positive social change.

Community Service Rationale:

Creating safe and viable communities, whether rural, urban, or suburban, is high on America's agenda. The opportunity to provide meaningful service to his/her community is an important reason for any veteran to become and remain involved in a VVA chapter. VVA has a history of community involvement-chapters have conducted a wide variety of creative, effective programs attacking gang warfare, drug addiction, family strife, homelessness, help to the elderly and disabled, and education on the Vietnam War at various academic levels.

However, these efforts are largely isolated. There is no organized network for communication among community service efforts, no mentoring program, and no designated responsibility at any level of VVA. Therefore, the first step is to document how chapters are serving their communities and to organize a mentoring program among chapters to inspire continued innovation.

Community Service Strategy:

Create a database of current and past community activities and develop and implement a commmunity mentor program, which stimulates community service activities.

Financial Goal:

Continuously expand the financial base to assure adequate resources to support VVA's mission at all operational levels.

Financial Strategy:

Develop and implement a comprehensive Financial/Funding Master Plan that provides a diversified funding base for all operational levels of the organization. The plan would include: A description of the current situation, needs and priorities, existing and potential resources, training needs, opportunities and methods at all levels, restrictions, allocation formulas, and means for monitoring and evaluating achievement of goals.

Financial Rationale:

VVA has tremendous potential for fundraising. Members recognize the need to devote energy to obtaining resources. The VVA name is well established, and we have a record of success. Moreover, many Vietnam veterans who are nearing their peak earning years in successful careers represent an important and largely untapped source for financial support.


On the other hand, we lack a comprehensive approach, relying too heavily on funding from just a few sources. We need a plan based on modern fundraising techniques plus training and technical assistance to enable chapters, state councils, and the national office to participate in a well-coordinated effort. The plan should also describe how resources will be shared to support national, state, and local operations.

Communications Goal:

Create a clear communications system/structure identifying responsibility throughout VVA, effectively using new and existing technology.

Communications Rationale:

Effective, two-way communication inside VVA and with various publics is critical to our success. VVA wants to be the authoritative voice and clearinghouse for information on topics of interest to veterans. The information age is producing increasingly accessible technology for inter-personal communication through the Internet and for mass media. VVA may not be taking full advantage of these channels. Some of the technology has not reached every chapter or member. Most important, responsibility for conveying information and providing feedback has not been established throughout VVA. Hence, the need to create a clear strategy for communicating with external audiences and to establish a system and structure that defines responsibility at all levels for our internal communications.

Communications Strategy:

Establish effective communication channels and assign responsibility at all levels. Make effective use of new and existing technology to assure accurate information exchange within these channels and encourage use and feedback between all levels.

Organizational Effectiveness Goal:

Continuously improve the ability of VVA at all levels to service a growing membership.

Organizational Effectiveness Rationale:

Assuring a positive future for VVA requires an ongoing effort to continuously improve the effectiveness of the organization itself. Success depends on: a) commitment to VVA's values and vision, b) cooperation in the pursuit of clear goals and strategies c) agreement on roles-who gets to do what d) constant, accurate feedback from VVA's members and external audiences to anticipate needs and to measure accomplishment and e) effective leadership. Making this happen is not a one-shot project. It is an ongoing process, requiring constant attention and resources. Equipping VVA's leaders for continuous improvement of the organization begins by helping them to explore implications of the strategic plan through planning with their constituencies. Feedback from these discussions about VVA's directions and ways to implement the plan at national, state, and local levels will provide the basis for designing a systematic, continuous improvement process to keep VVA strong. There must also be an ongoing, periodic review of VVA's organizational and committee structure to make VVA's operations as efficient and effective as possible and to ensure that VVA's structure changes appropriately as the organization j evolves. Additionally, VVA's resource allocation must be constantly geared to making the best possible use of limited fiscal and staff resources. Doing so will necessitate prioritizing national convention and board resolutions and directives so that VVA's priorities will be determined by a deliberate process and not by reactions to emerging and changing events.

Organizational Effectiveness Strategy:

Develop and implement a process to address the purposes, roles, and responsibilities of each organizational element within VVA and define the means for the leadership of element within VVA and define the means for the leadership of each organizational elements to measure and reward accomplishments.

Implementation Roles

Role of the Board:

Approve the strategic plan; act as spokesperson for VVA's vision, values, and strategic directions; provide policy; and prioritize resources for plan implementation.

Role of Committees:

Review strategic plan; adjust agendas/objectives to support the strategies; develop work plans to measure achievement of objectives.

Role of State Council:

Review the strategic plan; develop objectives for state-level activities; provide technical advice and support to chapters.

Role of Chapters:

Review national and state strategies and objectives; decide how they are able to support them; implement appropriate activities.

Role of Conference of State Council President:

Act as advisory and leadership development resource amongst state council presidents, providing knowledge, evaluation, and feedback on the various objectives and activities implemented to fulfill the plans' goals and strategies from VVA's chapters and state councils.

Role of National Staff:

Internally - develop and implement objectives in support of the strategic plan, report to the board on implementation.

Externally - provide resources, training, and technical support to state councils and chapters to support their strategic planning and evaluation processes.

Methodology

VVA's Strategic Plan provides a roadmap for building a positive future for our organization. The strategic plan spells out the core values we share, affirms our fundamental purposes through our mission statement, and establishes a framework of goals and strategies to focus our energies and resources. The plan presents a simple and necessarily concise framework for subsequent planning and actions that must take place at all levels.

To assist the committee, we engaged Mr. Dwight Fee, a well-respected expert in strategic planning and organizational development to act as the facilitator for the planning process and to keep the committee focused.

The committee utilized the illustrated planning model as a guide through this Strategic Planning process. In addition, the Strategic Plan from 1989 was utilized from the perspective of "lessons learned," building upon the fine work of that earlier plan.

Further, the committee conducted a survey of VVA members and leaders-from chapter and state council presidents to the BOD, the national officers, and staff. The survey asked them to identify trends in society likely to affect VVA and its members. It also asked them to suggest how VVA may need to change.

The utilization of this survey data assured the committee that the "voice of the membership" was also fully recognized and incorporated into the planning process.

The committee also examined the strengths and limitations of VVA, seeking to match our strengths to the emerging opportunities in the world around us.

Strategic Plan provides a roadmap for building a positive future for our organization. The strategic plan spells out the core values we share, affirms our fundamental purposes through our mission statement, and establishes a framework of goals and strategies to focus our energies and resources. The plan presents a simple and necessarily concise framework for subsequent planning and actions that must take place at all levels.

To assist the committee, we engaged Mr. Dwight Fee, a well-respected expert in strategic planning and organizational development to act as the facilitator for the planning process and to keep the committee focused.

The committee utilized the illustrated planning model as a guide through this Strategic Planning process. In addition, the Strategic Plan from 1989 was utilized from the perspective of "lessons learned," building upon the fine work of that earlier plan.

Further, the committee conducted a survey of VVA members and leaders-from chapter and state council presidents to the BOD, the national officers, and staff. The survey asked them to identify trends in society likely to affect VVA and its members. It also asked them to suggest how VVA may need to change.

The utilization of this survey data assured the committee that the "voice of the membership" was also fully recognized and incorporated into the planning process.

The committee also examined the strengths and limitations of VVA, seeking to match our strengths to the emerging opportunities in the world around us.

This exhaustive examination not only informed our planning, it also yielded some important implications for the way we operate.

The single most important conclusion is that merely producing a strategic plan will not be sufficient to move VVA successfully into the 21st century. What is required is a planning and evaluation process that cascades through all levels of the organization to align our energies to implement the plan. Without such a process, supported by members skilled in facilitation, meaningful implementation is highly unlikely.

A second overarching conclusion is that implementing our roadmap for the future depends on empowering people at all levels through strong leadership, clear responsibility and authority, sufficient resources, and above all, a new level of cooperation among all elements of the organization.

Like every organization these days, VVA is in transition. To grow and remain relevant, we must change in order to respond to changes occurring around us. The new global economy, the march of technology, and the maturing of our membership are just a few of the forces already impacting us. Not only do we need to change, we need to change fast just to stay up.

The core values expressed in the plan are those things that our members believe are why they joined VVA and what needs to be here for them to remain committed to VVA. The committee utilized these core values to guide its decision-making during the planning process and are important to be considered when implementing the plan.

The vision statement is how we want the organization to be viewed by our members, our staff, and the public at any ideal point in the future.

The mission statement: simply addresses how and what we do as an organization based upon rethinking our basic purposes.

The goals define areas from our mission statement where we can achieve specific results.

The rationale is a summary analysis of the forces likely to effect the achievement success of the stated goal.

The strategy for each goal defines in a broad sense what should be accomplished to attain specific achievements.

Objectives and workplans committees at all levels, including chapters and state councils and the national staff, are asked to establish objectives and work plans for each goal and strategy, including measurable outcomes. This will require the committee and national staff to rethink their work and shift their resources and energy to align their work with the Strategic Plan.

Chapters and state councils should undertake an assessment of their respective entity to determine how they can best align their objectives and activities to best support this Strategic Plan.

The roles identify the responsibilities that each entity within the organization could be expected to perform for the successful implementation of the Strategic Plan.

Follow-up a continuing effort will be undertaken by leaders of VVA to: Communicate the values, mission, goals, and strategies throughout VVA; support committees, national staff, state councils, and chapters in their efforts to achieve the goals; and measure and recognize achievement.

The Proposed Strategic / Operational Planning Model

* The model is constructed from the bottom up.
* After the plans are completed, one can easily check the consistency of current activities with agreements made in preceding blocks.
* Thus, the strategic plan serves to keep the organization on course: in pursuit of its mission-consistent with realities in the environment- and aligned with the core values of its members.

Workplans - Action plans of individuals responsible for achieving the objectives.
Objectives - Major results needed to implement the strategy in certain time.
Roles - Who gets to do what to align resources and people with the plan.
Strategies -The grand design for achieving each goal.
Goals - Four of five "chunks" of the mission (area for achievement).
Mission - The "match" between the core values and the realities of the environment
determines the core business of the organization.
SWOT Analysis - Organization's strengths and weaknesses, plus anticipated opportunities and threats in the environment.
Core Values - Specific aspirations members hold for the organization.

Jackpot! VVA's Twelfth Biennial Convention

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Any way you look at it, VVA’s 12th biennial National Convention, which was held Aug. 10-13 at the Silver Legacy Hotel and Casino in Reno, Nevada, was a huge success. A record number of Convention delegates, 736 from across the nation, rolled up their collective sleeves and spent three and a half days debating and enacting a series of resolutions that will guide the organization through the next two years. On Friday, the delegates cast their votes for VVA’s four national officers and nineteen members of the Board of Directors. More than a thousand delegates and guests—including some 125 AVVA members taking part in the organization’s National Leadership Conference—took in the stirring opening ceremonies that kicked off the Convention and the moving (and rocking) Saturday Night Awards Banquet, which ended the event.

“We did ourselves proud in Reno,” said outgoing VVA President Tom Corey, who stepped down after two terms. “The delegates showed a seriousness of purpose that we have come to expect at VVA Conventions. The election campaigns were hard fought. And after the votes were counted, we came together in support of our new national leaders who will guide us through another two years. I look forward to working with them.”

John Rowan of Middle Village, New York, the New York State Council president who had served as the chair of VVA’s Conference of State Council Presidents and three terms on the Board of Directors, was elected VVA’s sixth national president, defeating former VVA Vice President Ed Chow. Jack Devine of Dimondale, Michigan, a former VVA Board member who chairs VVA’s Project 112/SHAD Task Force, was chosen as national Vice President. Barry Hagge of Boyertown, Pennsylvania, the long-time chair of VVA’s Constitution Committee, was elected national Secretary, and Alan Cook of Castro Valley, California, won re-election as national Treasurer.

“It’s a great honor to serve as VVA’s national President,” Rowan said. “We have a great team in place to run this great veterans’ service organization for the next two years. I am looking forward to working with VVA members all across the nation on every level to support Vietnam veterans and their families In Service to America.”

The Convention got off to an exuberant start at 9:00 on Wednesday morning with the Opening Ceremonies, which began with rousing renditions of the Vietnam-War-era songs “Run Through the Jungle” and “Fortunate Son” by an uncannily realistic John Fogerty (of Creedence Clearwater Revival) impersonator as black and white war-time images were displayed on four huge video screens. The ceremonies also included moving tributes to former VVA National President George Duggins (who died just a week before the Convention) and other VVA members lost in the previous year, as well as warm welcomes from Nevada State Council President Virgie Hibbler, Jr., Reno Mayor Robert Cashell, and AVVA President Mary Miller.

Most of those on hand agreed that the highlight of the morning was the powerful Keynote Speech delivered by VVA member Allen Hoe, a former Americal Division medic from Honololu who today is one of Hawaii’s most prominent attorneys—and whose son, U.S. Army Lt. Nainoa Hoe, was killed in action in Iraq in January.

“I have stopped trying to understand why the events in my life have come to me in the manner they have and at the times they had,” Hoe said. “Sayings like ‘there but for the grace of God’ have true meaning in my world. I learned many lessons on the battlefields of Hiep Duc and Que Son Valley—when all is lost, you need to remember: someone else has it twice as bad as you.”

The delegates put in long hours on the Convention floor on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and during evening caucuses with the officer and board candidates. On Thursday, the delegates heard from Deputy Secretary Gordon Mansfield, the No. 2 person in the VA. On Friday, the delegates honored Tabeatha Allen, a security guard at the hotel who all week had been thanking VVA members for their service. When members learned that Allen was a twice-wounded veteran of the war in Iraq, she was prevailed upon to come onto the Convention floor and be introduced. What followed was a thunderous ovation, as Convention delegates showed their allegiance to VVA’s founding principle: “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”

With the work of the Convention complete by noon on Saturday, nearly everyone joined in the autographing and book-signing event featuring Raquel Welch, who signed photos for more than two and a half hours. Also taking part was John Hulme, who directed the acclaimed HBO documentary, Unknown Soldier: Searching for a Father, the story of his quest to learn about his father, U.S. Marine Lt. Jack Hulme, who in 1969 was killed in action in Vietnam when John Hulme was three weeks old.

Raquel Welch, who made a Bob Hope tour trip to Vietnam in 1967, and John Hulme received the VVA President’s Award for Excellence in the Arts at the Saturday night Awards Banquet, which was emceed by VVA member Troy Evans, the veteran Hollywood character actor best known for his recurring roles on China Beach and ER. Evans, in fact, reprised one of his China Beach bits, “Sarge’s Rules for How to Stay Alive in Vietnam” on stage. That included the old chestnut: “When you’ve secured an area, don’t forget to tell the enemy. They may have other plans.”

Also receiving an Excellence in the Arts Award: Wayne Karlin, the author of—among many other acclaimed works—the novel Lost Armies and the memoir Rumors and Stones. Karlin, a former Marine helicopter doorgunner, is one of the finest, most accomplished, and most honored writers to come out of the Vietnam War.

The Awards Banquet concluded with a tribute to retiring VVA President Tom Corey, who said that while he was stepping down as President, he would continue to be an active veterans’ advocate and work with VVA for years to come.

History of the League's POW/MIA Flag

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In 1971, Mrs. Michael Hoff, an MIA wife and member of the National League of Families, recognized the need for a symbol of our POW/MIAs. Prompted by an article in the Jacksonville, Florida Times-Union, Mrs. Hoff contacted Norman Rivkees, Vice President of Annin & Company which had made a banner for the newest member of the United Nations, the People’s Republic of China, as a part of their policy to provide flags to all United Nations members states. Mrs. Hoff found Mr. Rivkees very sympathetic to the POW/MIA issue, and he, along with Annin’s advertising agency, designed a flag to represent our missing men. Following League approval, the flags were manufactured for distribution.

On March 9, 1989, an official League flag, which flew over the White House on 1988 National POW/MIA Recognition Day, was installed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda as a result of legislation passed overwhelmingly during the 100th Congress. In a demonstration of bipartisan Congressional support, the leadership of both Houses hosted the installation ceremony.

The League’s POW/MIA flag is the only flag ever displayed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda where it will stand as a powerful symbol of national commitment to America’s POW/MIAs until the fullest possible accounting has been achieved for U.S. personnel still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
On August 10, 1990, the 101st Congress passed U.S. Public Law 101-355, which recognized the League’s POW/MIA flag and designated it "as the symbol of our Nation’s concern and commitment to resolving as fully as possible the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, thus ending the uncertainty for their families and the Nation".

The importance of the League’s POW/MIA flag lies in its continued visibility, a constant reminder of the plight of America’s POW/MIAs. Other than "Old Glory", the League’s POW/MIA flag is the only flag ever to fly over the White House, having been displayed in this place of honor on National POW/MIA Recognition Day since 1982. Passage by the 105th Congress of Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act requires that the League’s POW/MIA flag fly six days each year: Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, National POW/MIA Recognition Day and Veterans Day. It must be displayed at the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Departments of State, Defense and Veterans Affairs, headquarters of the Selective Service System, major military installations as designated by the Secretary of the Defense, all Federal cemeteries and all offices of the U.S. Postal Service. By law passed in 2002, it must fly year-round at the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the World War II Memorial.

Freedom Flight's POW / MIA Message From Above

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Jim Tuorila’s most memorable hot air balloon flight comes with a small bit of irony attached to one of its more prominent elements—altitude. The veteran balloon pilot and co-founder of Freedom Flight, Inc., a non-profit organization that raises awareness as well as hot air balloons, had flown hundreds of times. But when one of his passengers requested that he take his distinctive black balloon with the easily recognizable POW/MIA logo to 5,000 feet, Tuorila acquiesced with little enthusiasm.

“I don’t like to fly high,” he said, laughing. “I’m afraid of heights. I can’t lean over the side of a tall building and feel comfortable. I probably wouldn’t be flying this balloon if it weren’t for the issue.”

But the POW/MIA issue and the balloon are inseparable. The striking black craft with its three 30-foot high POW/MIA logos is like no other and is easily spotted even in a sky like Albuquerque’s in October, when mass ascensions at the Albuquerque International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta might number more than a thousand colorful balloons in all shapes and sizes gliding over the city.

Tuorila’s three guests that day came with special significance. So he opened up the balloon’s gas burners and the black craft rose into the air. His passengers were women married to men still listed as MIA from the Vietnam War. He doesn’t remember which one asked that he fly to 5,000 feet, but Tuorila has been a psychologist at a VA Medical Center in Minnesota for 20 years; he was curious to see what would happen when they reached that altitude. Balloon flights generally skim the earth, the better to see and be seen. At 5,000 feet, people on the ground are barely able to see the balloon. He couldn’t imagine why his passenger wanted to climb that high.

He said that the moment they reached the requested altitude will stay with him forever.

“We get up there and she says this is the altitude the military said her husband was at when he ejected from his plane over Vietnam,” he said. “She wanted to see what the world looked like when he ejected. It touched me so deeply that I’ll never forget that flight with those women.”

Freedom Flight, the POW/MIA Hot Air Balloon Team, has flown in more than seven hundred events since its first flight in November 1989. The non-profit now has three balloons that attend 35 to 45 events a year, staffed entirely by volunteers. The organization grew out of Tuorila’s vocation—psychology—and his avocation—hot air balloons.

In 1981, while attending graduate school at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, he worked with a group of World War II ex-POWs called the “Lost Battalion,” all of them survivors of more than three years in Japanese prison camps. That work inspired Tuorila to write his doctoral dissertation on the effects of captivity, especially regarding the work of Victor Frankl and his famous writings following his own imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps.

While doing his doctoral internship at the Topeka, Kansas, VA Medical Center, Tuorila and his wife volunteered to crew for a hot air balloon. When he went to work in Minnesota, they saw a balloon in flight one day and decided to volunteer again.

In 1987, he appeared on a local TV program to talk about the emotional difficulties families face when a loved one returns after years of captivity. On the program he met the daughter of a Navy pilot shot down and declared MIA. The daughter told him that the government story of her father’s disappearance was very much at odds with the story told by her father’s wingman, who made a point of finding the pilot’s family to tell them the true story of the incident.

By then, Tuorila and his wife were crewing on a balloon flown by a Vietnam veteran who had been encouraging him to set up a non-profit with an eye toward calling attention to the POW/MIA issue.

Then one day at work, his professional life and his weekend life coalesced.

“I told my co-therapist, ‘You know, I’ve been flying and working with balloons for five years now. What about a black POW/MIA balloon? What kind of attention would that get?’ “

The co-therapist and co-founder of Freedom Flight, Vietnam veteran Bill Nohner, thought it was a great idea. A year later, Freedom Flight, Inc., obtained status as a non-profit educational organization.

In 1989, the first flight went up. Its first passenger was Henry Sha, a World War II veteran and ex-POW who happened to stop his car when the balloon landed nearby. Invited onboard, he didn’t hesitate.

Now in its sixteenth year, Freedom Flight continues to attract attention, sometimes through a little luck. At the 2005 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Tuorila volunteered to give rides to the media. A Voice of America camera crew making a documentary on the balloon fiesta accepted his offer. When the crew members found out who they were flying with, a new angle for the documentary emerged.

“When they found out what we were doing with the balloon, I think the program changed to include Freedom Flight and everything we were doing,” Tuorila said.

The change was in keeping with how Tuorila describes the past sixteen years. “The reception we’ve gotten over the years make the hair on the back of my neck stand up,” Tuorila said. “It’s been incredible. I’ve had what I assume to be a Vietnam veteran come up, put $100 in my pocket and say, ‘Keep it up,’ then walk away. I’ve had family members of the missing come up to me with tears in their eyes. I’ve had ex-POWs come up and thank us. Everywhere we go, the reception has been positive and overwhelming, and that keeps us flying.”

For more information on Freedom Flight go to www.freedomflight.org or call Jim Tuorila at 320-252-7208.

The purpose of Vietnam Veterans of America's national organization

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The purpose of Vietnam Veterans of America's national organization, the state councils, and chapters is:

* To help foster, encourage, and promote the improvement of the condition of the Vietnam veteran.
* To promote physical and cultural improvement, growth and development, self-respect, self-confidence, and usefulness of Vietnam-era veterans and others.
* To eliminate discrimination suffered by Vietnam veterans and to develop channels of communications which will assist Vietnam veterans to maximize self-realization and enrichment of their lives and enhance life-fulfillment.
* To study, on a non-partisan basis, proposed legislation, rules, or regulations introduced in any federal, state, or local legislative or administrative body which may affect the social, economic, educational, or physical welfare of the Vietnam-era veteran or others; and to develop public-policy proposals designed to improve the quality of life of the Vietnam-era veteran and others especially in the areas of employment, education, training, and health.
* To conduct and publish research, on a non-partisan basis, pertaining to the relationship between Vietnam-era veterans and the American society, the Vietnam War experience, the role of the United States in securing peaceful co-existence for the world community, and other matters which affect the social, economic, educational, or physical welfare of the Vietnam-era veteran or others.
* To assist disabled and needy war veterans including, but not limited to, Vietnam veterans and their dependents, and the widows and orphans of deceased veterans.

Strategic Plan - VVA's Roadmap to the Future

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VVA, like most service organizations these days, is in a period of transition. This is not unusual since change or evolution is natural, and historically VVA has been a catalyst for change within the veterans service community. What is different today is the rapid pace and complexity that these changes have and will continue to have on VVA's ability to be a relevant factor both to ourselves and to society as a whole. The VVA leadership recognized that VVA would need a method or process to address the multitude of opportunities to emerge and to meet the challenges it would encounter in this fast-changing "reality" that is taking us into the 21st century.

In earlier years, VVA utilized a strategic plan that was developed and approved by the national board of directors in 1989. A review indicated that indeed this plan had actually served VVA very well as it focused the entire organization on the issues and concerns that were relevant and important during that time period. Many of VVA's successes and victories can be traced back to the clarity of purpose that the plan brought forth to the entire organization. What the plan lacked was a process that continued its implementation and kept the plan alive as the dynamics of VVA leadership at all levels evolved and changed.

The need to create a comprehensive process or methodology for the development and implementation of a new strategic plan for VVA was recognized by the VVA national president James L. Brazee, Jr., and a Strategic Planning Committee was established for this purpose.

The president appointed VVA national treasurer Jack McManus to chair the new Strategic Planning Committee, and he, in turn, appointed committee members that represented the diverse interests of the various constituencies and organizational levels within VVA. It is important to recognize that the committee was intentionally structured to include representation from large and small chapters, large and small state councils, the VVA staff, VVA associates, non-BOD committee chairs, national BOD members, minority and women veteran members, and elected national officers.

The reasoning behind having such diversity in the committee makeup was ultimately the plan would need to reflect the real differences of interests within the organization at each level. The intent was to be truly representative of our memberships' interests so that the individual members could embrace and own the plan. The committee believes that if the entire organization claims ownership in the Strategic Plan, then the implementation of the various elements of this plan will be more successful at all levels.

Core Values

Advocacy:

We are committed to unrelenting advocacy for fairness in the treatment of veterans so that never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.

Meaningful Achievement:

We want to make a difference, focusing on issues that stand as critical barriers to a fulfilling life for veterans and all Americans.

Integrity:

We tell the truth and take responsibility.

Compassion:

We care about comrades and others in needs.

Camaraderie:

We support each other and feel we're all members of one family.
Vision & Mission Statements

Vision:

We are leading the challenge to do what is right for America and its veterans.

Mission:

Using the shared vision of our membership:

· we aggressively advocate on issues important to veterans;

· provide programs and services that improve the well-being of all veterans and their families;

· and serve our communities.

Goals, Rationales, and Strategies

Membership Goal:

To proactively recruit, retain, and develop an informed and personally effective membership dedicated to VVA's values, mission, and goals.

Membership Rationale:

The operative phrases in the membership goal are: Informed, personally effective, and dedicated membership who embrace VVA's values, mission, and goals. In other words, as we seek to expand our membership, we offer opportunities for increasing personal effectiveness to those who share our values and commitment. The new strategic plan will let prospective members know the kind of organization they are joining. Vigorous pursuit of the goals and strategies by chapters offer many opportunities for the full use of prospective members' talents according to the interests. The strategy calls for an effective external communications program to aid recruitment, combined with training to promote personal and professional development for members through their participation in chapter activities.

Membership Strategy:

Develop and implement a comprehensive master plan, which includes all levels; a targeted effort to recruit members (using professional and personal contact and face-to-face marketing resources); and a program to retain them.

Advocacy Goal:

Identify and prioritize legislative and administrative objectives to focus our energy and resources as an effective catalyst for the retention and improvement of veterans benefits.

Advocacy Rationale:

America has an "unfinished agenda" for public policy and funding of programs affecting veterans. Health care looms large at all levels of government. Other issues range from protecting and improving service-connected compensation benefits and veterans employment preferences to advocating research and/or programs addressing Agent Orange, PTSD, and homelessness as well as specialized programs relating to women, minority, and incarcerated veterans. In an age of government downsizing, veterans benefits across the board are at risk. There is an enormous educational job to be done among Vietnam veterans, public policymakers and the general public.

When it comes to passionate and powerful advocacy, VVA is clearly a leader in the veterans community, and the situation is ripe for action. More and more Vietnam veterans are being elected at all levels of government. In short, the Vietnam generation is in charge. But there are many challenges: Advocacy goals are not focused sufficiently to establish a clear agenda in order to concentrate efforts to achieve it. Not all VVA members accept a "political" role for the organization; veterans service organizations have competing legislative and administrative agendas; and VVA's own advocacy efforts are often scattered. Thus, there is a need to establish key legislative and administrative priorities in VVA and among veterans service organizations.

Advocacy Strategy:

Identify and prioritize legislative and administrative objectives, consolidate existing VVA advocacy functions and focus our energy and resources to most effectively advocate for the advancement of veterans' concerns.

Direct Services Strategy:

Maintain, expand, and support our network of veteran service representatives nationwide. Publicize direct service information and conduct training on how to build community-based coalitions. Offer the tools necessary; information and training for providing direct services and for building community-based coalitions to meet the needs of veterans and their families.

Direct Services Rationale:

VVA seeks to assure a decent, positive lifestyle for veterans by working at two levels: Actually providing VVA-sponsored services and by building the community's commitment and capacity to provide essential services to veterans and their families.

VVA has a strong base expertise in veterans benefits and provides representation for veterans to receive benefits due them. As our population ages, new concerns ranging from long-term health care to career upheavals and retirement need to be anticipated. While we continue to provide direct services, we need to help members understand the complexity of emerging needs. And we need to train members in how to build community-based coalitions to address these needs.

Direct Services Goal:

Participate in providing direct services needed by veterans and their families.

Community Service Goal:

Enable VVA members to their community and promote positive social change.

Community Service Rationale:

Creating safe and viable communities, whether rural, urban, or suburban, is high on America's agenda. The opportunity to provide meaningful service to his/her community is an important reason for any veteran to become and remain involved in a VVA chapter. VVA has a history of community involvement-chapters have conducted a wide variety of creative, effective programs attacking gang warfare, drug addiction, family strife, homelessness, help to the elderly and disabled, and education on the Vietnam War at various academic levels.

However, these efforts are largely isolated. There is no organized network for communication among community service efforts, no mentoring program, and no designated responsibility at any level of VVA. Therefore, the first step is to document how chapters are serving their communities and to organize a mentoring program among chapters to inspire continued innovation.

Community Service Strategy:

Create a database of current and past community activities and develop and implement a commmunity mentor program, which stimulates community service activities.

Financial Goal:

Continuously expand the financial base to assure adequate resources to support VVA's mission at all operational levels.

Financial Strategy:

Develop and implement a comprehensive Financial/Funding Master Plan that provides a diversified funding base for all operational levels of the organization. The plan would include: A description of the current situation, needs and priorities, existing and potential resources, training needs, opportunities and methods at all levels, restrictions, allocation formulas, and means for monitoring and evaluating achievement of goals.

Financial Rationale:

VVA has tremendous potential for fundraising. Members recognize the need to devote energy to obtaining resources. The VVA name is well established, and we have a record of success. Moreover, many Vietnam veterans who are nearing their peak earning years in successful careers represent an important and largely untapped source for financial support.


On the other hand, we lack a comprehensive approach, relying too heavily on funding from just a few sources. We need a plan based on modern fundraising techniques plus training and technical assistance to enable chapters, state councils, and the national office to participate in a well-coordinated effort. The plan should also describe how resources will be shared to support national, state, and local operations.

Communications Goal:

Create a clear communications system/structure identifying responsibility throughout VVA, effectively using new and existing technology.

Communications Rationale:

Effective, two-way communication inside VVA and with various publics is critical to our success. VVA wants to be the authoritative voice and clearinghouse for information on topics of interest to veterans. The information age is producing increasingly accessible technology for inter-personal communication through the Internet and for mass media. VVA may not be taking full advantage of these channels. Some of the technology has not reached every chapter or member. Most important, responsibility for conveying information and providing feedback has not been established throughout VVA. Hence, the need to create a clear strategy for communicating with external audiences and to establish a system and structure that defines responsibility at all levels for our internal communications.

Communications Strategy:

Establish effective communication channels and assign responsibility at all levels. Make effective use of new and existing technology to assure accurate information exchange within these channels and encourage use and feedback between all levels.

Organizational Effectiveness Goal:

Continuously improve the ability of VVA at all levels to service a growing membership.

Organizational Effectiveness Rationale:

Assuring a positive future for VVA requires an ongoing effort to continuously improve the effectiveness of the organization itself. Success depends on: a) commitment to VVA's values and vision, b) cooperation in the pursuit of clear goals and strategies c) agreement on roles-who gets to do what d) constant, accurate feedback from VVA's members and external audiences to anticipate needs and to measure accomplishment and e) effective leadership. Making this happen is not a one-shot project. It is an ongoing process, requiring constant attention and resources. Equipping VVA's leaders for continuous improvement of the organization begins by helping them to explore implications of the strategic plan through planning with their constituencies. Feedback from these discussions about VVA's directions and ways to implement the plan at national, state, and local levels will provide the basis for designing a systematic, continuous improvement process to keep VVA strong. There must also be an ongoing, periodic review of VVA's organizational and committee structure to make VVA's operations as efficient and effective as possible and to ensure that VVA's structure changes appropriately as the organization j evolves. Additionally, VVA's resource allocation must be constantly geared to making the best possible use of limited fiscal and staff resources. Doing so will necessitate prioritizing national convention and board resolutions and directives so that VVA's priorities will be determined by a deliberate process and not by reactions to emerging and changing events.

Organizational Effectiveness Strategy:

Develop and implement a process to address the purposes, roles, and responsibilities of each organizational element within VVA and define the means for the leadership of element within VVA and define the means for the leadership of each organizational elements to measure and reward accomplishments.

Implementation Roles

Role of the Board:

Approve the strategic plan; act as spokesperson for VVA's vision, values, and strategic directions; provide policy; and prioritize resources for plan implementation.

Role of Committees:

Review strategic plan; adjust agendas/objectives to support the strategies; develop work plans to measure achievement of objectives.

Role of State Council:

Review the strategic plan; develop objectives for state-level activities; provide technical advice and support to chapters.

Role of Chapters:

Review national and state strategies and objectives; decide how they are able to support them; implement appropriate activities.

Role of Conference of State Council President:

Act as advisory and leadership development resource amongst state council presidents, providing knowledge, evaluation, and feedback on the various objectives and activities implemented to fulfill the plans' goals and strategies from VVA's chapters and state councils.

Role of National Staff:

Internally - develop and implement objectives in support of the strategic plan, report to the board on implementation.

Externally - provide resources, training, and technical support to state councils and chapters to support their strategic planning and evaluation processes.

Methodology

VVA's Strategic Plan provides a roadmap for building a positive future for our organization. The strategic plan spells out the core values we share, affirms our fundamental purposes through our mission statement, and establishes a framework of goals and strategies to focus our energies and resources. The plan presents a simple and necessarily concise framework for subsequent planning and actions that must take place at all levels.

To assist the committee, we engaged Mr. Dwight Fee, a well-respected expert in strategic planning and organizational development to act as the facilitator for the planning process and to keep the committee focused.

The committee utilized the illustrated planning model as a guide through this Strategic Planning process. In addition, the Strategic Plan from 1989 was utilized from the perspective of "lessons learned," building upon the fine work of that earlier plan.

Further, the committee conducted a survey of VVA members and leaders-from chapter and state council presidents to the BOD, the national officers, and staff. The survey asked them to identify trends in society likely to affect VVA and its members. It also asked them to suggest how VVA may need to change.

The utilization of this survey data assured the committee that the "voice of the membership" was also fully recognized and incorporated into the planning process.

The committee also examined the strengths and limitations of VVA, seeking to match our strengths to the emerging opportunities in the world around us.

Strategic Plan provides a roadmap for building a positive future for our organization. The strategic plan spells out the core values we share, affirms our fundamental purposes through our mission statement, and establishes a framework of goals and strategies to focus our energies and resources. The plan presents a simple and necessarily concise framework for subsequent planning and actions that must take place at all levels.

To assist the committee, we engaged Mr. Dwight Fee, a well-respected expert in strategic planning and organizational development to act as the facilitator for the planning process and to keep the committee focused.

The committee utilized the illustrated planning model as a guide through this Strategic Planning process. In addition, the Strategic Plan from 1989 was utilized from the perspective of "lessons learned," building upon the fine work of that earlier plan.

Further, the committee conducted a survey of VVA members and leaders-from chapter and state council presidents to the BOD, the national officers, and staff. The survey asked them to identify trends in society likely to affect VVA and its members. It also asked them to suggest how VVA may need to change.

The utilization of this survey data assured the committee that the "voice of the membership" was also fully recognized and incorporated into the planning process.

The committee also examined the strengths and limitations of VVA, seeking to match our strengths to the emerging opportunities in the world around us.

This exhaustive examination not only informed our planning, it also yielded some important implications for the way we operate.

The single most important conclusion is that merely producing a strategic plan will not be sufficient to move VVA successfully into the 21st century. What is required is a planning and evaluation process that cascades through all levels of the organization to align our energies to implement the plan. Without such a process, supported by members skilled in facilitation, meaningful implementation is highly unlikely.

A second overarching conclusion is that implementing our roadmap for the future depends on empowering people at all levels through strong leadership, clear responsibility and authority, sufficient resources, and above all, a new level of cooperation among all elements of the organization.

Like every organization these days, VVA is in transition. To grow and remain relevant, we must change in order to respond to changes occurring around us. The new global economy, the march of technology, and the maturing of our membership are just a few of the forces already impacting us. Not only do we need to change, we need to change fast just to stay up.

The core values expressed in the plan are those things that our members believe are why they joined VVA and what needs to be here for them to remain committed to VVA. The committee utilized these core values to guide its decision-making during the planning process and are important to be considered when implementing the plan.

The vision statement is how we want the organization to be viewed by our members, our staff, and the public at any ideal point in the future.

The mission statement: simply addresses how and what we do as an organization based upon rethinking our basic purposes.

The goals define areas from our mission statement where we can achieve specific results.

The rationale is a summary analysis of the forces likely to effect the achievement success of the stated goal.

The strategy for each goal defines in a broad sense what should be accomplished to attain specific achievements.

Objectives and workplans committees at all levels, including chapters and state councils and the national staff, are asked to establish objectives and work plans for each goal and strategy, including measurable outcomes. This will require the committee and national staff to rethink their work and shift their resources and energy to align their work with the Strategic Plan.

Chapters and state councils should undertake an assessment of their respective entity to determine how they can best align their objectives and activities to best support this Strategic Plan.

The roles identify the responsibilities that each entity within the organization could be expected to perform for the successful implementation of the Strategic Plan.

Follow-up a continuing effort will be undertaken by leaders of VVA to: Communicate the values, mission, goals, and strategies throughout VVA; support committees, national staff, state councils, and chapters in their efforts to achieve the goals; and measure and recognize achievement.

The Proposed Strategic / Operational Planning Model

* The model is constructed from the bottom up.
* After the plans are completed, one can easily check the consistency of current activities with agreements made in preceding blocks.
* Thus, the strategic plan serves to keep the organization on course: in pursuit of its mission-consistent with realities in the environment- and aligned with the core values of its members.

Workplans - Action plans of individuals responsible for achieving the objectives.
Objectives - Major results needed to implement the strategy in certain time.
Roles - Who gets to do what to align resources and people with the plan.
Strategies -The grand design for achieving each goal.
Goals - Four of five "chunks" of the mission (area for achievement).
Mission - The "match" between the core values and the realities of the environment
determines the core business of the organization.
SWOT Analysis - Organization's strengths and weaknesses, plus anticipated opportunities and threats in the environment.
Core Values - Specific aspirations members hold for the organization.

Jackpot! VVA's Twelfth Biennial Convention

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Any way you look at it, VVA’s 12th biennial National Convention, which was held Aug. 10-13 at the Silver Legacy Hotel and Casino in Reno, Nevada, was a huge success. A record number of Convention delegates, 736 from across the nation, rolled up their collective sleeves and spent three and a half days debating and enacting a series of resolutions that will guide the organization through the next two years. On Friday, the delegates cast their votes for VVA’s four national officers and nineteen members of the Board of Directors. More than a thousand delegates and guests—including some 125 AVVA members taking part in the organization’s National Leadership Conference—took in the stirring opening ceremonies that kicked off the Convention and the moving (and rocking) Saturday Night Awards Banquet, which ended the event.

“We did ourselves proud in Reno,” said outgoing VVA President Tom Corey, who stepped down after two terms. “The delegates showed a seriousness of purpose that we have come to expect at VVA Conventions. The election campaigns were hard fought. And after the votes were counted, we came together in support of our new national leaders who will guide us through another two years. I look forward to working with them.”

John Rowan of Middle Village, New York, the New York State Council president who had served as the chair of VVA’s Conference of State Council Presidents and three terms on the Board of Directors, was elected VVA’s sixth national president, defeating former VVA Vice President Ed Chow. Jack Devine of Dimondale, Michigan, a former VVA Board member who chairs VVA’s Project 112/SHAD Task Force, was chosen as national Vice President. Barry Hagge of Boyertown, Pennsylvania, the long-time chair of VVA’s Constitution Committee, was elected national Secretary, and Alan Cook of Castro Valley, California, won re-election as national Treasurer.

“It’s a great honor to serve as VVA’s national President,” Rowan said. “We have a great team in place to run this great veterans’ service organization for the next two years. I am looking forward to working with VVA members all across the nation on every level to support Vietnam veterans and their families In Service to America.”

The Convention got off to an exuberant start at 9:00 on Wednesday morning with the Opening Ceremonies, which began with rousing renditions of the Vietnam-War-era songs “Run Through the Jungle” and “Fortunate Son” by an uncannily realistic John Fogerty (of Creedence Clearwater Revival) impersonator as black and white war-time images were displayed on four huge video screens. The ceremonies also included moving tributes to former VVA National President George Duggins (who died just a week before the Convention) and other VVA members lost in the previous year, as well as warm welcomes from Nevada State Council President Virgie Hibbler, Jr., Reno Mayor Robert Cashell, and AVVA President Mary Miller.

Most of those on hand agreed that the highlight of the morning was the powerful Keynote Speech delivered by VVA member Allen Hoe, a former Americal Division medic from Honololu who today is one of Hawaii’s most prominent attorneys—and whose son, U.S. Army Lt. Nainoa Hoe, was killed in action in Iraq in January.

“I have stopped trying to understand why the events in my life have come to me in the manner they have and at the times they had,” Hoe said. “Sayings like ‘there but for the grace of God’ have true meaning in my world. I learned many lessons on the battlefields of Hiep Duc and Que Son Valley—when all is lost, you need to remember: someone else has it twice as bad as you.”

The delegates put in long hours on the Convention floor on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and during evening caucuses with the officer and board candidates. On Thursday, the delegates heard from Deputy Secretary Gordon Mansfield, the No. 2 person in the VA. On Friday, the delegates honored Tabeatha Allen, a security guard at the hotel who all week had been thanking VVA members for their service. When members learned that Allen was a twice-wounded veteran of the war in Iraq, she was prevailed upon to come onto the Convention floor and be introduced. What followed was a thunderous ovation, as Convention delegates showed their allegiance to VVA’s founding principle: “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”

With the work of the Convention complete by noon on Saturday, nearly everyone joined in the autographing and book-signing event featuring Raquel Welch, who signed photos for more than two and a half hours. Also taking part was John Hulme, who directed the acclaimed HBO documentary, Unknown Soldier: Searching for a Father, the story of his quest to learn about his father, U.S. Marine Lt. Jack Hulme, who in 1969 was killed in action in Vietnam when John Hulme was three weeks old.

Raquel Welch, who made a Bob Hope tour trip to Vietnam in 1967, and John Hulme received the VVA President’s Award for Excellence in the Arts at the Saturday night Awards Banquet, which was emceed by VVA member Troy Evans, the veteran Hollywood character actor best known for his recurring roles on China Beach and ER. Evans, in fact, reprised one of his China Beach bits, “Sarge’s Rules for How to Stay Alive in Vietnam” on stage. That included the old chestnut: “When you’ve secured an area, don’t forget to tell the enemy. They may have other plans.”

Also receiving an Excellence in the Arts Award: Wayne Karlin, the author of—among many other acclaimed works—the novel Lost Armies and the memoir Rumors and Stones. Karlin, a former Marine helicopter doorgunner, is one of the finest, most accomplished, and most honored writers to come out of the Vietnam War.

The Awards Banquet concluded with a tribute to retiring VVA President Tom Corey, who said that while he was stepping down as President, he would continue to be an active veterans’ advocate and work with VVA for years to come.

Sen. Jim Webb to Romney: "A ‘thanks’ would have been nice"

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Jim Webb rebukes Mitt Romney on veterans

September 27, 2012 - The omission was all the more damning, Webb suggested, because Romney is of an age where he might have served in Vietnam but did not.

“If nothing else, at least mention some word of thanks and respect when a presidential candidate who is their generational peer makes a speech,” said Webb, a former Navy secretary and decorated Marine who served in Vietnam. Romney was exempted from the draft, first as a student and then as a missionary.

“This was a time when every American male was eligible to be drafted. People made choices,” Webb said. “Those among us who stepped forward to face the harsh unknowns did so with the belief that their service would be honored.” read more>>>

Senator Jim Webb addresses crowd in VB: His speech was as follows>>>

7,000plus On Hand

How Washington Screwed A Generation Of Vets

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Only a generation?

Better rethink that and better understand the 'government' are the people and Especially, where you are right, this past decade Nobody Has Paid A Dime For Not Only The Wars But The Results Of! That decade is added to the previous decades of underfunding the VA while cheering on wars of choice!! This time the surplus was gone and deficits rising on the rubber stamping Before 9/11, off the books till the present administration and Still All Borrowed!!!!!

Veteran Unemployment: IAVA, Vets Weigh In After Republicans Block $1 Billion Jobs Bill

09/27/2012 - Senate Republicans blocked a bill Wednesday that would have provided a billion dollars towards helping veterans find work. The reason? They cited the fact that the bill did not adhere to spending limits Congress had set in place last year. Democrats needed 60 votes to overturn this argument, according to the Associated Press, but were only able to get 58, losing the resolution by 2 votes.

With current unemployment rates at nearly 11 percent among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many say that it is time Washington step up to do more. HuffPost Live's Alicia Menendez discusses this issue asking why certain senators decided to block this bill.

"It shouldn't be surprising that Washington can't get anything done..." Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director and Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) told HuffPost Live. "When it came down to it, this critical jobs bill would have provided much needed support for not just the 10.9 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are unemployed, but really all veterans. The bottom line here is this bill died..." read more>>>

Now Blocking a COLA Increase for Disabled Veterans {UpDated}

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Not satisfied with killing the Veterans Jobs Act 2012 now blocking the cost of living increase for the disabled veterans! And whomever it is doesn't even have the moxie or courage to come out into the open and say why. And we have these people as our representatives and on our payrolls and people, including veterans, actually support them and will rehire!!

Senate Republican Blocks a Cost of Living Increase for Disabled Veterans

September 27th, 2012 - According to Sen. Patty Murray, an anonymous Senate Republican is blocking a cost of living increase for America’s disabled veterans.

A Republican senator is using an anonymous hold to block the traditionally bipartisan cost of living adjustment that is given to America’s disabled veterans and their survivors.

Sen. Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Veteran’s Affairs Committee said in a statement, “This is stunning. Particularly because we still don’t have any indication why someone would block a cost-of-living adjustment for veterans and their surviving spouses, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet. This adjustment for our disabled veterans is hard earned and well deserved. My hope is that whichever Senator has decided to hold up this bill will at least come forward to own up to it. That way we can move forward to overcome their opposition and get our veterans the support they need.”

The anonymous senator used an informal custom referred to as a hold, which allows any member of the Senate to stop legislation from coming to the floor for a vote by notifying and getting agreement from the party leadership for their intentions. read more>>>

UpDate: Burr's office is saying it isn't blocked.

“It has cleared our side, meaning there is no hold,” David Ward, a spokesman for Burr, said Thursday afternoon.

Trouble is that sounds like a Burr 'Huh', especially when a tad down from that we get this from the VA

With the Senate out of session until Nov. 13, the legislation will have to be passed immediately to provide the increase in time for January’s disability checks, according to Murray’s office.

The Department of Veterans Affairs said Thursday afternoon that for VA to pay the December adjustment as scheduled on Jan. 1, Congress would have to pass the COLA by Nov. 13.

“Should Congress pass the COLA after that date, VA would have to make complex programming changes to the system that could not be accomplished in time to pay the COLA increase on January 1,” the VA said in a statement. “Consequently, the December COLA increase would have to be paid retroactively.”

And once again I say, makes no dif, some a**hole apparently likes playing games like this, they've been doing so for a decade plus with these two wars of choice, ignoring the real needs from their rubber stamped wars of choice, and the other a**holes walk lockstep with same!!

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As Rachel talks about the level of attacks etc in Afghanistan, and why nothing from Romney, it all can be brought back to the Abandoning of the Main Missions for even sending troops into that region with the first drum beat pointed at Iraq.The very destructive occupation of Iraq raised the hate levels, not just towards our government policies but towards us all while Afghanistan festered and then grew with the easy recruiting tools handed to the Taliban and al Qaeda with the young fighters coming from all over. Not only festering but turned it into the destructive Quagmire it is today. Other factors play into but it all started with those war drum pounding at Iraq! Rachel talks about the hold at in about the last third of this segment clip.

Obama isn't going to Demand, the country should already have done that and through their representatives, that the Country Sacrifice, i.e. taxes, all they'll hear, especially the oh so 'patriotic', are 'taxes' and not Sacrifice, their responsibility.

This Executive Administration along with the other Cabinet Members and the Spouses of most have been doing what they can, according to the way the Government is set up. Actually they go well beyond, like embarrassing the corporate world into hiring, jobs that are needed by them but being locked by them for their investors. As to Romney, he's no different then any 'chickenhawk' especially, cheer on the power of war and the destructive machine, those sent are expendable and have no need for further help, just words, banners, cheers that die, of that 'patriotism' by the huge majority that don't serve the country at all so why should they Sacrifice!!

Supports Mental Health Providers Serving Veterans

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Online Toolkit Aims to Support Mental Health Providers Serving Veterans in the Community

WASHINGTON – September 27, 2012 - The Department of Veterans Affairs has developed a new online Community Provider Toolkit aimed at delivering support, therapeutic tools, and resources to community providers treating Veterans for mental health concerns.

“Many Veterans seek mental health care at VA, yet many also choose to go to providers in their community,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “VA is committed to helping Veterans wherever they may seek care. This toolkit will enable those community providers who treat Veterans to better understand the specific issues Veterans face and help them access VA resources.”

The goal of the Community Provider Toolkit is to further enhance the delivery of mental health services to Veterans through increased communication and coordination of care between community providers and VA. It not only provides information about accessing, communicating with, and, if needed, making referrals to VA, but also provides effective tools to assist Veterans who are dealing with a variety of mental health challenges. The Community Provider Toolkit also includes sections intended to increase providers’ knowledge about military culture. read more>>>