ANNOUNCEMENTS
     Please contact the office when you have a change of address,  phone or e-mail.  Save us some postage and be able to be reached with announcements in between newsletters.

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1-866-241-8387 (TOLL FREE)
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CHAPTER INFORMATION
OFFICERS:  President:  Gregory C. McNeill
      Vice President:  Stan Bollinger
              Secretary:  Robert Jordan
                               Treasurer:  Dennis "Doc" Kauffman
CHAPTER ADDRESS:  Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc.
      Chapter 500
              P.O. Box 255484
                         Sacramento, CA 95865
TELEPHONE:  916-481-6020
E-MAIL:  vva500@sbcglobal.net
CHAPTER WEBSITE:  www.norcaltrav.com/vva500.htm
FOR INFORMATION:  Call or e-mail, Executive Director,
             Mary Lou McNeill
NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS:  Mail to Chapter address or
  e-mail information.  Please send pictures in jpeg form.
VVA Chapter 500 is a non-profit organization, #68-0208305, CT#75945, United Way #12583.  All donations to support our projects such as our Scholarship Fund, Helping Hands Fund, and Honor Guard will be gratefully appreciated.  You may earmark your donation to the project you wish to support.
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UPDATE ON THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL

      PROGRESS!  The flag pole is now down.  While it's down, all of the lighting wiring will be checked out and arrangements will be made for repair. Practically all of the lighting wiring areas were found to be filled with water, resulting in serious corrosion to the wiring and therefore most of the lights are out at this time.

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

"A Continuing Tradition"

   Rebecca Lee                  916-501-8788
  Call Rebecca for the Special Discounts available for Veterans
Many East Lawn locations in the Sacramento area
Pre-Arrangement Plans are also available.

43rd & Folsom Blvd., P.O. Box 19334, Sacramento, CA 95819
East Lawn Insurance Services, Inc. License #0747585
www.eastlawn.com

 

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HELP YOUR BUSINESS AND SUPPORT THE VVA
Advertise in the Capitol Veteran.  Reasonable Rates!!!
One issue, business card size is $5.00.  Get one month free by advertising for 6 months at $25.00.  Call the office for more information or submit your copy with a check to VVA by mail.
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           "BY DUTY BOUND, A Story of Survival and Redemption in a time of war."
by: Brig. Gen. Ezell Ware, Jr. (CA. Ret)

     "Perhaps no challenge proved greater than the one he encountered when his helicopter was shot down over the jungles of Vietnam.  He saved the life of his injured commanding officer, a former grand dragon in the Ku Klux Klan.  Despite their different pasts, the two men survived together until they were rescued" ...Sacramento Bee
     Below are the photos taken of General Ware at his book signing at Barnes and Noble, Arden Fair Mall March 8.  General Ware was in town for a whirlwind couple of days for book signings and readings at various bookstores in the area. He spoke to an overflow crowd in Barnes and Noble.  Many of his old friends dropped by to visit with him.

President McNeill having his book signed by Gen. Ware.

General Cervantes and General Ware at the Book-Signing

        PHONE CARDS TO SERVICEMEN & WOMEN
VVA500 is sending phone cards to servicemen & women who are in VA hospitals because of injuries and those serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.  If you know personally of any service man or woman that can make use of a phone card, please contact the office with their full name and address at 916-481-6020 or you can e-mail at vva500@sbcglobal.net.  VVA500's Board has also committed to giving two large cans of coffee and two phone cards for hospitalized Veterans at Mather each month for the VA Volunteer Service Program.

AFTER ACTION REPORT

3/1 - VVA500 Board Meeting
3/8 - President McNeill and E.D. McNeill attended the book reading of member Brig.Gen. Ezell Ware at Arden Fair Mall.
3/8 - Vietnam Veterans Day in CA.  However, the state forgot about it.  No flags were lowered.
3/9 - Commander McNeill presided over the VAC meeting.
Other VVA members attended.  Gus Kanelos, Unaffiliated Veterans was the speaker.  Carol Katalbas from EDD updated the members on programs provided by EDD.
3/12 -VVA500 hosted a "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day" at the Bunker. 
3/14 - ED McNeill attended the Stand Down Board Meeting.
3/15 - ED McNeill attended the City Council Legislative Meeting re:  the Parade Ordinance.
3/17 - Several VVA500 members marched in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Old Sacramento.
3/18 - President McNeill and E.D. McNeill attended the funeral of "Little John", who had been in charge of the security for the Stand Down for many years. and afterward attended the reception at the VFW Hall in Fair Oaks.
3/21 - E.D. McNeill attended the Stand Down Task Force Meeting at the VA Mather.
3/29 - E.D. McNeill attended the Open House for newly elected Congresswoman Doris Matsui.

FROM  MOM TO IRAQ

     Stan Atkinson, former Channel 3 Newsman, and a great friend of VVA500 and all Veterans passed this on to us.  Stan has a grandson, Lance Cpl. Brian Atkinson, USMC,  serving in Iraq.  Brian is a Humvee driver among other duties and had expressed his fears about being there to his Mom.  But, he also told her about a 1st Sgt. who gave him a "fatherly" talk and gave him a Psalm to lean on.  Mom rewrote the Psalm 31:3-5 for him in Marine Style.

Psalms 31:3-5 (The Message) Psalms 31:3-5 (Marine style)
You're my cave to hide in,         You're my Humvee to hide in
my cliff to climb.                          my desert to cross.
Be my safe leader,                       Be my safe CO,
be my true mountain guide.       be my GPS.
Free me from hidden traps;      Keep me from IED's;
I want to hide in you.                   I want to hide in you.
I've put my life in your hands.   I've put my life in your hands.
You won't drop me,                      You'll cover my back,
you'll never let me down.            you'll never let me down.

            SUPPORT FOR THOSE COMING HOME
If you want to take an active part in helping those Veterans and their families transitioning from military to civilian life or you may be a loved one or family of a Veteran coming home, check out the organization "Veterans and Families".  They are addressing Psychological, Medical, Employment and many other issues of the returning Veteran.  Weekly meetings are held at 6:30PM at the American Legion Post 61 on 2531 Rio Linda Blvd. For information call:  916-395-4054.                

VVA COMMITTEES

     The following is a listing of committees established by the National VVA. A detailed description of each committee will be provided at the April meeting.  If you wish one sent to you, contact the office.  The only committee that the Chapter is obligated to elect individuals for is the Nominating Committee, which handles the business of nominations and elections.  If there is an interest in any of the committees below, please let the office know.  Discussion on the committees will also be brought up at the Annual Meeting.  The elected President for the 2005-06 year will appoint the chairs for the committees.  The chairs may choose members for their committees.  All committee chairs and members should be in place by the May General Meeting.
A.  Membership Affairs Committee
B.  Public Affairs Committee
C.  Government Affairs Committee
D.  Veterans Affairs Committee
E.  Employment, Training and Business Opportunities
F.  Minority Affairs Committee
G.  Constitution Committee
H.  Veterans Benefits Committee
I.  Finance Committee
J.  Women Veterans Committee
K.  POW/MIA Committee
L.  Agent Orange/Dioxin Committee
M.  Veterans Incarcerated Committee
N.  Community Services Committee
O.  Health Care Committee
     The Chapter has three standing committees of it's own.  They are:  Helping Hands, Veterans Services, and Scholarships.

                                  CALL TO ACTION
The Nor Cal Unit, Young Marines, located at B.T. Collins Reserve Base, is looking for Active, Reserve and former Marines, as well as Veterans of other services, and adult non-veterans, to serve as Registered Volunteer Adults, Officers, Unit Staff and Personal Support Assistants.  Some officer positions needing to be filled include Paymaster and Training Officer.  Personal Support Assistants will work with staff officers and instructors.  For more information, please call Commanding Officer, Robert Sullivan, evenings at 429-2263 or Executive Officer Karen Winnett, afternoons or evenings, at 481-8056.

SICK CALL

Ron Titus  broke his ankle, but is recovering well.
Rev. Bill McDonald is on the mend from heart surgery.
Joe Feirl is going for back surgery April 7.
Gen. Robert Cervantes recovering from heart surgery.

     We were also saddened to hear that Diana Titus's brother, a Vietnam Veteran passed away last month in Idaho after a long illness. John "Little John" Rouse, member of the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club and long time head of security for the Stand Down also passed away.  They are now at peace.  

CONSEQUENCE OF SOLDIERING
by:  Ronald D. Waterbury

     Mission before welfare is what NCO's would always say.  Old soldiers never die, 'they only mark time in place', in their own special way.
     Soldiers were programmed to perform a given roll.  Serving in Viet Nam meant possible sacrifice as a toll,
     As communists lurked in dark shadows far and near.....Perpetrating injury and death, leaving our brain stems gripped by fear.
     No knowing Asia's 'symphony of destruction' was orchestrated by profiteers that were left financially amused, While American soldiers were only 'expendable pawns' in a 'cruel game to be used'.
     Like 'cannon fodder' their feet no longer young and light, tugged at the soggy earth, in search of the elusive enemy to fight.
     And still,  decades later our war continues as anger within drives us to unknown emotional limits as if your feelings were in a 'treacherous sea of futility' controlled by riptides of 'mood oscillations' when pondering about America's entrance into Asia's conflict on the 'pretense of democracy', and all the time -- big business, along with elements of political nobility defined (freedom) as a "profit"; this euphemism worked quite well 'for these condescending traitors during America's entanglement in Viet Nam, in fact, soldiers of the United States were only a 'sacrificial offering' by these tin god capitalists'.  Now, with a 'heavy heart', sorrow is unrelenting in the face of surviving only to be dishonored by such 'tainted stigmas' as -- (drunks, dopers, sexual deviates, baby killers, and the common label:  cry babies): 
                if we show emotion, it is because we care
                 if tears emerge, it is because of our pain
                    if we appear withdrawn, it is because
                              we wish your forgiveness
     Viet Nam was a psychological war that has veterans sensitized to life itself, and left with an imaginary world as thought drift without warning -- suddenly -- I can hear deep chopping sounds echoing from a 'fire dragon' hovering over thick green landscape in an attempt to extract a (K.I.A.); rotor blades warn (Victor Charlie) to be very cautious, emotions are frenzied, breathing and heart quicken, adrenalin starts to rush as I become boldly assertive and deliver sardonic yells in several impetuous expletives regarding this 'Asian tourist trap' as smells of diesel mixed with human waste quickly aggresses one's nostrils; then my attention is distracted because of soft footsteps from a pathless tree line, with a short interval of time -- I wake abruptly to find the body drenched in sweat, only to realize that another 'internal murderous rage' visited during this night.

     Ron is a member of Chapter 500.  We hear there is a book in the works with memories and commentaries on Vietnam.  He truly has a talent for expressing those feelings that many Vietnam Combat Veterans only think about.
     VVA500 is certainly blessed with many talented writers in our chapter as well as good friends of our Chapter.   We'll be publishing more of their works in future issues.

Ted Adams instructs the Vietnam Veterans as to what will take place in the ceremony at the Memorial on March 12.

Rev. Bill McDonald blesses the day with former Assemblyman Dick Floyd standing by.

Salute for the Fallen on the Wall

President McNeill thanks Torch Club owner, Marena Texeira for her support of Vietnam Veterans

 

The "Cat McCarthy Gang" entertains the crowd

Viewing the names on the "Bunker" Wall

Old Timers at the Bunker

VVA500 gets ready to march in the St. Patricks Day Parade in Old Sacramento on March 17.

    MUSICIANS IN OUR MIDST

     Well, if you were at the "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans" event you had to be impressed with the "Cat McCarthy Gang", the band that played and sang all of that great era music for us. Some of you even danced.  But, you may not have realized that the leader, of the band and bass player are our very own VVA500 member, Karen Winnett and AVVA member Kris Hollinger.  They and lead guitarist Kris Martinson, and Laurie Kneppel make quite a foursome. So, if you are ever in need of a band, here are the details:  "The Cat McCarthy Gang" is a Sacramento area band specializing in the rock' n roll, pop music and blues of the 1960's.  The band has been featured at such venues as, Creek Week, Perkins Road and Granite Bay Rotary events, Lincoln Clayfest, MS-WALK(s), Fair Oaks C.O.C. Fiesta and Franklin Concerts in the Park, Sacramento Brewery Oasis and many other events and clubs in, around and out of the Greater Sacramento area.  The band is fully self-contained with sound systems appropriate for large outdoor events, night clubs and private parties.  Fees are negotiable. For booking information, call "CAT" at
916-481-8056

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!              
     April:  Joe Feirl - Navy♫♫♫Monty Montoya - Army♫♫♫Adrian J. Garcia - Marines♫♫♫Ken Nelson - Marines♫♫♫Herbert Cowan - Air Force♫♫♫John Madri - Army♫♫♫Jesus Ramos - Air Force♫♫♫Simon Salugsugan - Army♫♫♫Alfred Trejo - Army♫♫♫Stanley Tucker - Army♫♫♫Ray Case - Marines
 If your birthday is in April and you don't see your name here, the Chapter does not have a copy of your DD214.  National VVA has it.  If you have a copy, send us one for our files and we can wish you Happy Birthday too!  AVVA members we also need your Birthday Dates !!!

WELCOME HOME NEW MEMBERS AND TRANSFERS
Barry Holland, Donald K. Bell, AVVA - Janet Kay Kauffman, Sharon "Lil Red" Brookshire, and Francis Kehoe