Vietnam Veterans of America

Founded in 1978, Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is now one of our nations most respected and successful veterans service organizations on the national, state, and local levels. In FY24, membership and meeting participation returned to pre-Covid levels of service activities. VVA membership grew by 1.67 percent, totaling 91,285 members, and one new chapter was chartered.VVAs 47 State Councils and 519 chapters are located in all 50 states, as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and the Virgin Islands. VVAs national activities are closely coordinated with the work of the chapters and state councils; victories gained at the national level are implemented locally. Our affiliated, supporting organization, the Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America, has over 10,000 members. In keeping with our founding principle, Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another, VVAs theme of Vets Connect enables to reach out to our newer veterans. VVA is committed to ensuring that adequate healthcare services are available for all our returning troops as well as for Vietnam veterans. VVAs Veterans Benefits Program exists to assist disabled veterans and claimants, no matter when or where they served. This is our way of ensuring that we live up to our founding principle, Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another. Thanks to the efforts of the more than 240 VVA Veteran Service Officers, approximately $1.17B in benefits were paid out to over 45,000 veteran claimants in FY24. Our Government Affairs Department works with key officials in the Administration, with leaders in Congress, and with senior staff in the Department of Veterans Affairs to move VVAs legislative agenda. This year, VVA celebrated a victory with the enactment of the Korean American VALOR Act, which expands VA healthcare eligibility to over 4,000 veterans of the South Korean armed forces who served in Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975. VVA tackled a wide range of issues in FY24, including monitoring the PACT Act implementation; championing research on burn pits in Vietnam; and pushing for the expansion of healthcare access for veterans (Blue Water Navy, ROK) and their descendants who have suffered due to their toxic exposure. VVA fought claims sharks, wrote legislation to reintroduce a review period to improve claims outcomes, and vigorously advocated for the Major Richard Star Act. On the homelessness and healthcare front, the team monitored housing in West LA and addressed the healthcare needs of rural veterans in Puerto Rico. In FY24, VVA conducted multiple outreach events and programs, including exhibits on the National Mall in conjunction the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day; an oral history program focusing on the contributions of women veterans in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam Womens Memorial; a roundtable for VSOs and MSOs interested in reinvigorating the POW-MIA issues public awareness; a benefits forum for the veterans of Puerto Rico with chair of the Board of Veterans Appeals. After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, VVAs Veterans Initiative program resumed its operations in Vietnam in May, marking the 30th year of an unwavering commitment to the recovery of those still missing from the war. The program has yielded fate-clarifying information, which, in turn, has resulted in the recovery of some 1,200 former enemy combatants. This goodwill and dedication have also fostered an increased willingness on the part of the Vietnamese to share additional information about American MIAs. While in Hanoi, the VVA team learned the Department of Defense and USAID had launched their own Veterans Initiative programs, modeled on VVAs. VVA continues to expand its reach with the use of electronic media. On the web, VVA can be found at www. vva.org. Our newsletters, the Web Weekly and In Service, provide our members and supporters with the latest news and chapter activities, veterans health and legislation. Our YouTube channels, Facebook pages, and use of Twitter are further expanding our reach, and our numbers of followers continue to grow. Now in its 44th year, The VVA Veteran, our award-winning bimonthly news magazine, continues to educate and energize our membership while broadcasting to the outside world what VVA does.