Once again we are trying to get a newsletter out to let the members know what is happening with the Chapter. We had our first Chapters Board of Directors Meeting for 2008, the first of January where a schedule of events for 2008 were made. A suggestion was made to visit the four Nursing Homes on monthly bases and to deliver our personal items bags during Memorial and Veterans Day weeks. The Board also is now working with the Downtown Association. Our advertisement will be in 20,000 maps of the downtown Galax area. This will help let people know where we are located.

The month of January the inside of the building got a new face lift. The ceiling, walls, and flooring got a new paint job. A lot of hard work went into this project. Everything should be back to normal by the February Business Meeting. Plans for the Car Show and Memorial Day Services will be beginning. So come out and join us with this.

Also we have a store with military hats, pins, and patches, flags, windsocks, throw blankets, 25th Anniversary Commemorative Books “The Wall”, new Chapter shirts in the colors of red or white, and knives. The store is open on Tuesday 9:00 till 3:00pm,Thursday Evening at 5:00pm till 8:00pm, Friday and Saturday 10:00 till 4:00pm, when we don't have a weekend fundraiser. We need more volunteers to help make this work.

We've got a quilt to raffle. The quilt was handmade and donated by the Troutdale Country Quilter from Troutdale, VA. Tickets are a $1.00 donation if you would like to help us by selling tickets contact Vickie Cummings 276-236-6591 or come by the Chapter building.

Veterans Benefits
As of February 1 the 2008 appropriations act provided funding for VA to increase the beneficiary travel mileage reimbursement rate from 11 cents per mile to 28.5 cents per mile for eligible veterans to travel to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities. This is the first increase in mileage reimbursement in 30 years.

Veterans Affairs
Valor is a government contractor for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and operates VA Community Based Outpatient Clinics. Each VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic offers Primary Care Services and Mental Health Services. All physicians providing care in our VA Clinics are board certified in either Internal Medicine, Family Practice, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants are nationally certified. On-site x-ray and laboratory are offered to accommodate the veterans enrolled in the clinic. Although appointments are pre-scheduled, each VA Clinic is able to see veterans as “walk-in” appointment when clinically indicated.

All psychiatrists working in our VA Clinics are board certified in psychiatry. All clinical psychologist have a Ph. D. and are licensed Clinical Psychologists. All Social Worker have a Masters Degree and are also licensed as Clinical Social Workers. The mental health services include both individual therapy and group therapy sessions. PTSD groups meet weekly in each of the VA Community Based Mental Health Clinics.

For questions concerning enrollment and setting appointments please call 1-800-310-5001. LOCAL HILLSVILLE NUMBER: 276-779-4220.

Events for 2008
May 3 Car Show Hillcrest Baptist Church Hwy 89 South 9:00am
May 23-26 Orange Clover Donations at Wal Mart
May 25 Memorial Service at Monta Vista Memory Gardens 2:00pm
May 26 Memorial Day Service at the Vietnam Memorial in Hillsville 11:am
May 26 Dedication of the Chapter to Charles B. Morris, Congressional Medal of Honor of the Vietnam War 2:00pm
June 6-7 Leaves and String Festival
July 4 Parades Independence 10:00am
Fries 1:00pm
Galax 4:00pm
July 11-12 Smoke on the Mountain – BBQ Cookoff
July 11-13 Shot Tower Flea Market
August 4-9 Galax Fiddler Convention
August 29 – September 1 Orange Clover Donation at Wall Mart
October 31 Galax Halloween – Trick or Treat for kids
November 7 – 9 Orange Clovers Donations at Wal Mart
November 9 Veterans Parade at Floyd

Veterans Memorial
The America Legion Post 245 in Galax is in the process of getting a Veterans Memorial built at the Vaughan Memorial Library to honor all veterans. Sharon Plichta will be the chair person for this project. She will be getting in touch with all area veterans groups to help sponsor the memorial. Sharon and her husband Frank will be at our Chapter Business Meeting Thursday February 7 at 6:00pm to explain the details and show a draft of what the Memorial will look like. Please be at the meeting and help support this project.

A few Facts About Vietnam
-9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era (Aug. 5, 164 – May 7, 1975).
-3,403,100 (including 514,300 offshore) personnel served in the Southeast Asia theater (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, fight crews based in Thailand, and sailors in adjacent South China sea waters).
-7,484 American women served in Vietnam. 6,250 were nurses.
-8 nurses died – 1 was killed in action.
-Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation.
-240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during Vietnam era.
-Hostile deaths: 47,378
-Non-hostile deaths: 10,800
-Missing in action: 2,338
-POW's: 766 (114 died in captivity).
-Wounded in action: 303,704
-Severely disabled: 75,000
– 23,214 were 100% disabled:
--- 5,283 lost limbs:
--- 1,081 sustained multiple amputations.

-Primary source: “Myth vs. Reality” By B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley

Presidents Corner
Another year has gone by or I should say flown by, time passes so quickly anymore. But once again it's time to start a new year. The Chapter has a lot of projects and fundraisers planned for this year. We all need to work together to do our part so it's not hard on anyone. If each member would volunteer just a few hours of his or her time a month, we could do so much more. It would help take some of the load off the ones that work at every event or fundraiser all year long. It seems as though the same few people pull the entire load for the Chapter. I would love to see some new volunteers this year. Remember folks, as a member, this is your Chapter. So come on out and help us make this Chapter one of the best in the state of Virginia, one that we all can be proud of.

As some of you may or may not know we have been fixing up the inside of our Chapter building. Bill Edwards and I have spent the entire month of January, putting in about 160 Hours each, painting the walls, ceiling, and floors. We hope to be finished by February business meeting. It's been rough on just the two of us working 8 or 10 hours a day sometimes 7 days a week, but we've almost got it whipped. Jeff Evans and Ron Cummings helped plaster the holes and cracks in the sheetrock so the walls would look smoother. Jeff is a good plaster man.

I would like to Thank Jerry Cooper for attending our products sales store every Tuesday for the past several months. I would like to have it open more often this year. If anyone could do this for the Chapter please let me know. Friday and Saturday is when we need it open. Thanks to everyone that helped make last year a success and let's make this year a better one.

Frank

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