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Chapter Board Meeting: 1st Tuesday, 7:00 PM Chapter Membership Meeting: 3rd Tuesday, November 18 - Rev. Bill McDonald will talk about his Vietnam projects and new book. ROSEVILLE MEMORIAL HALL, Royer Park ***AWARD WINNING NEWSLETTER*** |
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CAPITOL CITY |
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Newsletter for Sacramento Valley's Chapter 500 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. |
| "We remember!" November, 2003 "Be Proud" |
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A Veteran is any person in the service during American warfare. A
Veteran is anyone who waits to see if he/she will be called up from reserves or National
Guard. A Veteran is anyone waiting to move from state side support
forces to war side forces. A Veteran is anyone waiting to go to the
frontline and indeed finding themselves in the blood and guts of war.
These are Veterans and proud of it and would be proud to do it again or
support any of our loved ones' choices to support his or her country.
Since the War of Independence to the battlefields of today Veterans have
been the pride of our country. God bless us all. It's good to be an American Veteran. CHAPTER 5OO EVENTS FOR VETERANS DAY
Saturday - 11/8 - 9:30AM
(Assembly time) - All Chapter 500 Veterans are to assemble for the
Veterans Day Parade hosted by the Veterans Affiliated Council in
downtown Sacramento. Assembly area and parking lots will be around
13 & O. This is the first Veterans Day Parade in downtown Sacramento
in several years. So let's have a really good turn-out. WE WILL
HAVE TRANSPORTATION FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT WALK. CALL AND
LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE COMING. VVA500 will also have a table in Capitol
Park after the parade. We could use a volunteer or two for help at the
table. Make the traditional visit at the "Bunker" (The Torch Club)
after all of the activities to meet and greet old friends. For more
information call 916-481-6020.
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CURRENT NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS The General Meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 18, at 7PM. Directions to the Hall are on page 4. Speaker will be the Rev. Bill McDonald who will inform the Chapter of the various Vietnam projects he is involved in.
VETERANS DAY A day to honor all Veterans, past, and presently serving.
FOR THE VETERANS DAY EVENTS CALENDAR
Friday - 11/7 - 6:30PM -
Howe Elementary School located at 2404 Howe Ave. is hosting a Veterans Day
Ice Cream Social. The plan is to invite as many local veterans from
all branches of the military and their families to have an ice cream
social that will be attended by the children of the school and their
families. Veterans and their families will sit down with the children and
their families and share conversation and ice cream. This is to
hopefully inspire the kids and families to feel a connection with local
veterans. If you are interested in attending, call the teacher
Vickie at 955-4049 or 566-2181to let her know you will be coming.
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THE CAPITOL VETERAN.........NOVEMBER,
2003....Page 2
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VETERAN BENEFIT UPDATES
One of the more recent benefits
gained by Sacramento area benefits was the opening of the new 55 bed
inpatient tower at the VA Medical Center at Mather. The tower opened
in June, but the dedication was held Thursday, October 30. DISASTER PREPARATION
We don't think much about any
disaster hitting home until it is too late. When you think about
building a kit for emergencies, it is a bit overwhelming, so we put it off
for another day, or month, etc. So, let's do it step by step, and
make it a little easier. This month we will begin a series on what
your Disaster Kit should contain. The following items are
recommendations from the American Red Cross. Before we start, let's
all take a moment and remember the victims of the fires in the South and
to thank all of the brave fire fighters........................... |
LEGISLATION and GOVERNMENT ISSUES Washington D.C. - It looks like Congress and the Bush Administration has made some compromise on the Concurrent Receipt issue for retired Veterans. As it stands now, approximately 200,000 disabled retirees that have 20 or more years of service will see their incomes rise. This includes the reserve and National Guard. This will be a $22.1 billion deal that will have a 10 year phase-out of the old ban on Concurrent Receipt. A limited ban will still remain for the retirees without combat related disabilities. Qualified Retirees should start seeing their retired offset phased out automatically, starting January, 2004. The bill has not been signed yet, but all parties seem to be in agreement that it will. The problem is this only serves Veterans rated 50% or more. It still leaves out far too many Veterans who deserve their Retirement plus Disability funds. Veterans' Day Events, continued.....
Sunday - 11/9 - 3PM -
The Annual Veterans Day Concert held at the Sacramento Memorial
Auditorium at 1515 J Street. Veterans get in free, tickets for
others are $17.50 for adults, $13. for seniors, $8. for students.
Free to children Ages 12 & under. The Sacramento Youth Symphony
performs. Tickets are available from the Community Center Box Office
at 916-264-5181. SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY
This will be the last in our
series of essays written by our three 2003 scholarship winners. This
month's essay was written by Kimberly Miller. Kimberly lives in El
Dorado Hills and graduated from Oak Ridge High School. She is
attending the University of California in Irvine and wants to become a
biology major and a veterinarian. |
THE CAPITOL VETERAN...........NOVEMBER,
2003.........Page 3
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ANNOUNCEMENTS HELP SUPPORT OUR SCHOLARSHIP FUND ******** CHAPTER INFORMATION
VAC meeting will be held
November 12th at 7PM. Location is VFW Post #67 at 2784 Stockton
Blvd. The speaker for this month will be Senator Deborah Ortiz.
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PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS
HELP YOUR BUSINESS AND SUPPORT THE
VVA
MISSING
A lady called us from Minnesota.
She is looking for her Vietnam Veteran brother. He was last known to
be in the Sacramento area, and she would really like to re-establish
contact with him. He was in the Army and in Nam in 1969. His
name is William James Paye. If anyone has any information regarding
William, please call the office. |
THE CAPITOL
VETERAN................NOVEMBER,
2003........Page 4
NOVEMBER- 2003
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Visually disabled Vets may now join a new organization
specifically for them. Meetings are on the first Monday of the month
at 6PM at the Society for the blind. Call Jesse Garcia for
information at 879-2589 Nov 1-30 is National American Indian Heritage Month |
MORE NOVEMBER 11 EVENTS▼▼▼ 10AM - Roseville Vet Mem Hall - POW/MIA Ceremony, patriotic music and light lunch. Veterans/families invited. 11AM - VFW Post #85 - Open House - Chili and hot dogs served. Showing Bob Hope in Vietnam Videos 10:15AM - Riverboat Cruise, luncheon, Military Museum tour and lecture afterward. |
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DIRECTIONS to the Roseville Veterans Memorial Hall. From I-80. Take the Douglas West exit. Go to the third light which is Folsom Rd. Turn right, go to the second stop sign, which is Sutter, turn left, follow the curve, you will see a sign on the right that says "Royer Park", turn left there. You will immediately see the hall to the right and the parking lot. That's it. In the hall, from the main door, follow the VVA sign to the meeting room. When you leave, the street is one way, so you will go the the right. You will then come up to Douglas Blvd., left will go back to the freeway and whichever direction you need to go from there.
THE CAPITOL
VETERAN................NOVEMBER,
2003........Page 5
RECENT ACTIVITIES OF VVA CHAPTER 500 AND FRIENDS
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OCTOBER ACTIVITIES
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THE FLAG FLOWN OVER IRAQ
We will have more pictures of the
Get-A-Way next month. |
THE CAPITOL
VETERAN................NOVEMBER,
2003........Page 6
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KIMBERLY'S ESSAY
The "Wall" is a monument, dedicated to the
men and women that gave their lives for our country during the Vietnam War.
That being the government definition, it must mean much more to the Veterans
that served during this time. From what I've read and been told about
the Vietnam War, it was very different for the returning, "vets", than from
the previous wars. There were no "parades" or fanfare involved for the
returning heroes. |
I hope that the "wall"
provides not only recognition to the many Vietnam Veterans, but also
provides guidance and clarity to the people and government of the USA about
what was endured by the Vietnam Veteran, not only during the war, but in the
period following the war, as much can be learned to help the future young
men and women that are fighting and will fight future wars for our country.
As an 18 year old, it was hard for me to put myself in the place that many
of the teenage names on the wall represented. I can only imagine what
it must have been like to have been involved in the Vietnam War. As to
answer "what the wall means to Vietnam Veterans", I would only guess that it
provides great satisfaction to some, but also was "too little too late" to
others. SPECIAL THANKS We want to give member Buck Parham special thanks for presenting VVA500 with a special flag at the Annual Chapter Get-A-Way. The certificate accompanying the flag reads: "This flag was flown into combat over IRAQ for VVA Chapter 500, Sacramento, CA, on 9 February 2003 during Operation Southern Watch from Prince Sultan Air Base Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Flown by Capt Maxwell Callsign "Pistol 33" F16CJ Aircraft 886." See the picture of the certificate on Page 5. Buck has returned safely from active duty at Prince Sultan. The flag and certificate will be on display at the next General Meeting. |
Vietnam
Veterans of America, Inc.
Chapter 500
P.O. Box 255484
Sacramento, CA 95865
916-481-6020
vva500@gosaccity.com
OPEN PROMPTLY, CONTAINS TIME SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION!!!
