Vietnam Veterans of America Orange County Chapter #140

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1 Vietnam Veterans of America Orange County Chapter #140 January/February 2015 From the President s Desk Hello to all in Chapter 140, I would like to start off by saying Happy New Year to All. Upcoming Events January 19 th - E-Board Meeting 6pm I would like to let everyone know that Middletown is having a meeting about taxes for the community. It is important that we attend to show how our numbers and how important it is to get the vet tax accepted, not only in Middletown, but in other towns throughout our community. All the vet organizations must tell their members to attend, to show that we care, and to achieve this. I think it is important to all of us. We also as a chapter will need help from all members for up coming events and anything we do. Unfortunately, we always have the same people, I would like some new and different people to start showing up. If anyone has questions please bring them up at the meetings and we all can discuss it. Also bring a friend to join so we can have some new blood. -Ron January 27 th - Chapter Meeting 7pm February 16 th - E-Board Meeting 6pm February 24 th Chapter Meeting 7pm Nomination of Officers March 23 rd - E-Board Meeting 6pm March 31 st - Chapter Meeting 7pm Nomination of Officers April 18 th - Chapter 140 s 30 Year Anniversary Celebration at the Erie Trackside Manor in Port Jervis, NY. April 20 th E-Board Meeting 6pm April 28 th - Chapter Meeting 7pm Elections

2 Chapter Meetings Last Tuesday of the Month Held at the American Legion 185 Waywayanda Avenue, Middletown, New 7PM Officers President Ron Mercurio st Vice Pres Bob Dall nd Vice Pres Tom Jablonski Secretary Edward Lee Zamot Treasurer Vince Gallipoli Chaplain Lou Ferrara Sgt. at Arms Artie Steinkamp Year Director Charlie Czochanski Year Director Abe Escobar Year Director Leo Ortiz Year Director Don Wells Year Director Jim Licardi Year Director Mike Aiello Newsletter Articles To: dalindogan@hotmail.com Debbie Alindogan Keep in touch with your fellow members at: Chaplain Lou Ferrara: Louismarine1942@citlink.net or Committees Scholarship Abe Escobar Bob Dall Fund Raising Leo Ortiz Supply Officer Fran Ortiz Constitution Abe Escobar Membership Ed Pavlich Finance Vince Gallipoli Parades/Color Guard Cory Kilvert Nominating Com. John Thompson Charlie Clark Pancake Breakfast Ed Pavlich Sonny Hanewich MIA/POW Leo Ortiz Jose Cortez Veterans Benefits John Thompson Edward Lee Zamot Coin Toss Leo Ortiz Bob Dall Raffles Mike Aiello Soup-a-thon John Reuter January January 2 nd Edward W. Vross January 7 th Mary Dall January 12 th Mike Krzeszewski January 16 th Charles Brink January 17 th Cindy Daly January 17 th Art Steinkamp January 20 th Edward Novak Sr. January 20 th Harry Brown January 22 nd Cory Kilvert January 22 nd Dave Parliman January 25 th Ron Mercurio February February 1 st Bob Caridi February 4 th Donald Ellison February 8 th Lee Zamot February 11 th Al Bull February 20 th Howard Aiello February 25 th Bob Fabrizio (Just $10 a year helps off-set our costs for the newsletter) Everett L. Jones 25-Months (07/14) Jose & Liz Cortez 24-Months (07/15) Bob & Mary Dall 60-Months (03/19) Barbara Bedell 100-Months (01/18) William R. Rejmaniak 120-Months (03/24) Douglas & Josephine Kent 50-Months (03/17) James Licardi 20-Months (12/15) Ed Pavlich 12-Months (03/15) Patricia Lockwood 10-Months (07/14) Tammy Morse 10-Months (03/15) Al & Rea Norgaard 60-Months (05/19) Burt Irwin, Jr. 120 Months (06/24)

3 From Cory Kilvert I was on YouTube recently and came across a video trailer on a new documentary titled "Last Days In Vietnam". Produced by Rory Kennedy, daughter of the late Robert Kennedy, it covers the final days as Saigon falls in April, Just under 90 minutes, one of the subjects covered is the humanitarian effort by the crew of the USS KIRK FF Originally a Destroyer Escort, converted to a Frigate, the ship found itself a haven for South Vietnamese helicopters off Vung Tao in the closing moments. The crew quickly devised an efficient system on how to push Huey's off their landing pad, into the South China Sea, as more helo's stacked up waiting to land. Once the evacuation ended, the ship was ordered back to the Vietnam coast to escort the remaining South Vietnamese Navy back to Subic Bay, Philippines. Never before seen footage acquired from a former crewmember is seen in the film. Retired Army Colonel Stuart Herrington, an intelligence officer who was stationed in Saigon, is interviewed, and gives his recollections on getting out key Vietnamese he worked with. The film had it's first screening in August and was in our area in Nyack in September. The official release is scheduled for 28 April 2015 on PBS at 9pm, the 40 year anniversary of Operation Frequent Wind (29-30 April 1975). The documentary has been getting rave reviews. My only hope is the american public will take the time to watch and understand the Vietnam Experience we all know about. We all did a lot of good over there, and it shouldn't go unnoticed. -Cory Kilvert

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9 Howard Aiello Debbie Alindogan Ron Alindogan Floyd Babcock Robert Beemer Lenny Brown James Bruno Bob Caridi Charlie Clark Jose Cortez Bob Dall Elizabeth Dall Dan Daly Keith Davis Sue Dawson Abe Escobar Bob Fabrizio Walter Feller Louis Ferrara Mike Fisher Fray Fuller Vincent Gallipoli Paul Gibson Don Hitt Jessy Hogancamp Tom Jablonski Tom Karabec Douglas Kent Cory Kilvert Jim Licardi Bill Long James Masi Ron Mercurio Louis Morse Jay Noble Harry Nolte Jr. Dan O Hagan dohd2@yahoo.com Leo Ortiz lortiz1@hvc.rr.com Dave Parliman mrparliman@yahoo.com Ed Pavlich fireman6@citlink.net John Reuter jreuter1@hvc.rr.com Raul Rivera rrivera@hvc.rr.com Pat Schraa patschraa@senate.ny.us Charlie Schwarz cschwarz@hvc.rr.com Art Steinkamp kffk52@aol.com Jim Stevenson jimmymac68@frontiernet.net Jim Sweikata swike43@gmail.com Don Wells comm17@hotmail.com Samuel Weiss samuelweiss@aol.com Wilbur Wesselius wesselius@singerequipment.com Donna Yennie dyennie@msn.com Howard Young how077@att.net Lee Zamot ezamot@hvc.rr.com