Vietnam Veterans of America looks out for one another

"Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another." With that guiding principle, the Vietnam Veterans of America organization is looking out for veterans, and locally, the organization is growing tremendously.

Just this spring, VVA Chapter 891 in Wasilla was formed, making it the first of its kind in Alaska. Quickly, it grew to 70 members, and then Anchorage Chapter 904 was born. And now, Palmer Chapter 903 is being formed -- a sure sign that the veteran population in the Valley is alive and well.

"There were several attempts to form a chapter before, but there was no agenda and no organization," said Bob Moore, president of 891. "We're making it work now because we have a real good bunch of combat veterans. A lot of Vietnam veterans and Vietnam-era veterans."

Nationally, the organization has been around since 1978. There are more than 50,000 members in 43 state councils, with more than 525 local chapters.

Now that Alaska has three local chapters, it can form a state council, and, as Moore said, "get a voice at the national level."

According to the national organization's Web site, the "VVA goals are to promote and support the full range of issues important to Vietnam veterans, to create a new identity for this generation of veterans and to change the public perception of Vietnam veterans."

Those goals are carried out through a multitude of programs and initiatives the organization sponsors and encourages.

"Our goal is to support the Vietnam veteran or the Vietnam-era veteran. We can get him turned into the right direction with counseling or help him settle claims he may not even know he had. We have a legal department at the national level that can help," Moore said. "We can even help with medical issues."

The key is getting Vietnam veterans to join, and that's not always an easy sell.

"We've found that the Vietnam veteran is not much for joining things or signing up for things," Moore said. "He came up here because of the remoteness of Alaska, and doesn't want to be bothered."

So far, however, veterans have responded well in the Valley.

The idea to form the group in the first place came when a bunch of veterans were sitting around the Veterans' Center in Wasilla.

"A couple of guys said we should get it started, and so in a matter of three weeks, we got it up and running. We got organized and chartered," Moore said. "There was a lot of support for it."

The group has members from Talkeetna to Anchorage. There are monthly meetings, and the organizations work with other veterans groups, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.

"We're all veterans," Moore said. "We've posted flyers and have contacted news media. We've had a lot of word of mouth too."

Veterans helping veterans is a fundamental principle of the organization.

At the national level, VVA work with homeless veterans to help get their lives turned around, it has established the Vietnam Veterans of America Assistance Fund to help everything from local chapters to the national organization, as well as sponsor legislation and work to empower veterans from Vietnam.

According to the organization's Web site, "In 1983, VVA took a significant step by founding Vietnam Veterans of America Legal Services (VVALS) to provide assistance to veterans seeking benefits and services from the government.

By working under the theory that a veteran representative should be an advocate for the veteran rather than simply a facilitator, VVALS quickly established itself as the most competent and aggressive legal-assistance program available to veterans."

Local members have to opportunity to take advantage of many programs, Moore said.

The first big event for the local VVA organizations is the coordination of the Veterans' Day celebration at the Veterans' Wall of Honor, at Mile 33.5 Parks Hwy. Leo Kaye has organized the event for years, but this year, he stepped down and offered the event to the VVA.

"Being a new organization, and it being something that Leo has done before, we said we'd definitely take it over for him," Moore said.

The event begins at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11. There will be a number of speakers and presentations, including a U.S. Air Force flyover at the Veterans' Wall of Honor.

Gov. Tony Knowles has accepted the invitation to speak at the ceremony as well, organizers said.

For information on how to join the local chapters of the Vietnam Veterans of America, interested people can contact Moore at 376-1052 or Bill Kelder at 373-2268.