Vietnam Veterans of America to hold 13th
Biennial National Convention
WASHINGTON, July 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --
Vietnam Veterans of
America
will hold its 13th biennial National Convention
July 18-22 at the Prairie Capital Convention
Center in Springfield, Illinois. Some 700
delegates from VVA chapters across the country
will join hundreds of other Vietnam veterans and
guests in Springfield.
The delegates will set the organization's course
for the next two years, hear from an array of
speakers, attend information sessions, and take
part in special events, including a star-studded
Awards Banquet on Saturday night, July 21.
"VVA is proud to be returning to the heartland
of America for our
unique and spirited National Convention," said
VVA National President John Rowan. "Unlike other
national veterans service organizations, VVA's
leaders have come together every two years since
our founding Convention in 1983 to set our
priorities and elect our national leaders. The
Conventions are lively gatherings in which much
serious work gets done, but we also set aside
time for special events, including our Golf
Tournament fundraiser for our national
scholarship program and the Saturday Night
Awards Banquet."
The always-stirring Opening Ceremonies on
Wednesday morning, July 18, will feature
performances by country music stars Big &
Rich, as well as by the singer Lee Greenwood
who will perform his classic "God Bless the
U.S.A."
Pulitzer-Prize-winning Chicago Tribune
columnist Clarence Page, who served in the
U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, will
deliver the Keynote Speech.
Nancy Sinatra, who entertained the troops in
Vietnam, and Bill Nelson,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Home Box
Office and a Vietnam veteran, will receive
Excellence in the Arts Awards at the Saturday
Night Awards Banquet. The banquet also will
feature a first-time reunion of the Ding-a-
Lings, a four-woman singing group that
entertained the troops in
Vietnam.
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the
nation's only congressionally
chartered veterans service organization
dedicated to the needs of
Vietnam-era veterans and their families. VVA's
founding principle is "Never again will one
generation of veterans abandon another."
