VVA Clermont County Chapter 649 June 2020 Newsletter

June 11th Membership Meeting and Election 7:00 PM

VVA 649 Meetings

VVA 649 meets the second Thursday of every month.

NEXT MEETING: June 11th

LOCATION Union Township Civic Center

Amphletheater

4350 Aicholtz Road Eastgate Exit of I-275 Meeting at 7:00 PM

AVVA Membership Associates of Vietnam Veterans

Members actively participate and work in supporting VVA.

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The mission of Chapter 649 of the Vietnam Veterans of America is to provide fellowship, advocacy, education about veter-an benefits, as well as financial assistance, as appropriate, to veterans of all eras, pursuant to the founding principle of the Vietnam Veterans of America, “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”

Notice Of Chapter Elections

This is your official notification for Chapter 649 annual meet-ing and elections to be held at the June 11th meeting at 7:00 PM at Union Township Civic Center - Amphitheater.

Elections will be held for the following positions: President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Treasurer, Secre-tary, and five positions on the Board of Directors, plus 6 Dele-gates.

Individuals interested in running for office or for delegate should submit a Letter of Intent indicating the position they intend to run for. Letters of Intent may be submitted to any cur-rent officer for forwarding to the Nominating Committee prior to June 11, 2020. Letters may be sent via email to: mnewman.vva.649@gmail.com or snail mailed to VVA 649 Election, PO Box 426, Batavia Ohio 45103.

Union Township has given us permission to hold our Annual Meeting and Election in the Am-phitheater directly behind Union Township Civic Center. Bench seating is provided. We will

start promptly at 7PM and end at 8PM and will observe social distancing rules with masks. This meeting is for the purpose of holding our annual election. No food, guest speaker or other regular business will be conducted. In case of rain we can meet on the covered stage. To get to

the Amphitheater, park on the far-right end of the Union Township Civic Center and follow the walking path down to the outside theater. The buildings will not be open.

June is PTSD awareness month. Remem-ber that those who have PTSD may be im-

pacted by the additional stress of the Covid-19 virus situation. Pray for our leaders, our military and all our members.

Until next time, God Bless All. Chaplain Bill Graybill 513-316-5515.

Chaplain’s Corner Hello Everyone, Covid-19 is still with us. Please keep all our doctors and nurses in pray-er as they work on the front lines caring for the sick.

Memorial Bricks The price of the Memorial bricks was scheduled to increase to $50 on May 1st. Because of busi-ness closings it was not possible to get the new brochures printed and the old ones removed from retail locations. If you delayed ordering, we will still honor the $30 price until July 1st.

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June Birthdays

VVA 649 Schedule of 2020 Activities

June 6: Bingo at Georgetown Ohio Veterans Home 1:30 - 3:30 PM. CANCELLED

June 11: VVA/AVVA 649 Annual Membership Meeting and Elections

June 14: Flag Retirement Ceremony. CANCELLED

June 14: Flag Retirement Drop off 9:00 AM to Noon at Everything Bagels. See Page 3

June 28: Walmart Eastgate Meet and Greet (Sunday) 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM

July 18: Buckeye State Convention and Election. All Chapter 649 delegates attend.

July 14-19: National Leadership Conference in Dayton Ohio CANCELLED

Sept 12: VVA649 Annual Golf Outing at ELK’s Run Golf Course.

06 / 04- Mike Culbertson

06 / 05- Robert Murphy

06 / 07- Danny Miller

06 / 07- Jeffery Jones

06 / 09- Michael Monahan

06 / 12- Danny Gilkison

06 / 12- Gerald Bridges

06 / 12- Jerry Kratzer

06 / 12- Bruce Griffis

06 / 13- Steve Barnhard

06 / 13- Sammy Mock

06 / 14- Gene Wilt

06 / 14- Thomas Cooper

06 / 15- Dale Patchell

06 / 15- Martin Webster

06 / 19- Dennie Robinson

06 / 21- John Osterling

06 / 21- John McFarren

06 / 21- Lynn Burger

06 / 22- James Lasley

06 / 23- William Carkeek

06 / 24- Danny Bare

06 / 25- Richard Holland

06 / 27-David J. Petrus

06 / 28- Stephan Murray

06 / 30- Dan Bowman

Scholarship Committee Report

The Scholarship Committee Chairman, Phil Dodge, reported that the committee reviewed five applications and decided that the following students will receive $1,000 scholarship awards

each from VVA 649: Sean Lyons from Milford, Kaila Nutter and Elijah Goad from West Cler-mont. As soon as we can resume our regular membership meetings, the recipients and their families will be invited to receive their certificates.

Checks will be issued to them and their college/university when we receive verification that

they have started attending classes in the fall. Thanks to all our members for participating in chapter fund-raising activities that make the scholarship program possible. Also, thanks to Buckeye State Council for a $1,000 scholarship grant and to the committee members Joel For-

man, Ed Karlis, Michael Newman, and Cathy and Steve Tam.

Scholarship guidelines are posted on our website. Applications for 2021 will be posted after the first of the year.

Birthday Information If your birthday has not appeared here this month or anytime this year, or if the date is not accurate, please contact Ken Williamson with the correct information. 513-260-6501

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Memorial Day 2020

Even though we could not hold our traditional ceremony, members of

the VVA649 Board were present at our memorial from 6 AM until 2 PM on Memorial Day to assist visitors with locating memorial bricks and to

answer questions about the memori-al. Board members volunteered for two-hour shifts.

All four television stations were present at various times throughout the day asking how this day was different with-out our ceremony. They were also there to interview a thir-ty-year-old retired Marine who was standing at attention near the Purple Heart Memorial.

When Steve Tam and Ken Williamson arrived at 6:00 AM they were approached by a surprise visitor in full dress uni-form. His name was Chris Ryan, a thirty five-year-old re-tired Marine veteran from Amelia. We soon learned that his mission was to stand at attention and salute the fallen for the next 12 hours.

He was there to honor all veterans and to raise awareness for The Special Operations Warrior Foundation’s enduring promise to provide full education scholarships to the sur-viving children of Special Operations personnel who lost their lives in the line-of-duty.

The news video produced by Fox-19 may be seen at the fol-lowing internet link: https://www.fox19.com/2020/05/25/tri-state-vet-gives-day-long-salute-fallen-memorial-day-tribute/

Flag Retirement (Ceremony) - Collection This year VVA Chapter 649 has had to cancel our annual flag retire-ment ceremony because of the Covid-19 social distancing rules. However, you can still retire your old and tattered flags at a special drive through collection event to be held at Everything Bagels in Eastgate on Sunday, June 14th from 9:00 AM until Noon.

The first ten people who bring a flag to retire will receive a new 3x5 foot flag compliments of Bill Graybill and Ohio Valley Flag. The second ten people who bring in a flag to retire will receive a

coupon for a free bagel from Everything Bagels. Brian Thomas will be promoting this event on 55 WKRC radio.

If you cannot attend, you may drop off your old flags at Union Township Civic Center, Yellow Rib-bon Center, Campbell’s Barn, all Union Township Fire Stations, the State Highway Patrol, PNC

Bank – Goshen, All American Outpost, Freddie’s Restaurant in Beechmont and Madisonville and Everything Bagels in Eastgate.

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Lost Contact

In the May newsletter we noted that some of our newsletters were being returned. One of our brothers took note and we were able to get an updated address for George Sloff. Thank you so much.

From the President Reaction to Covid-19 virus has certainly varied, going from what seems to be one extreme to another. It has been over three months now, as I write this and we still don’t know too much about it. We have been told to self-distance by six feet. We have been told not to wear a mask, then it reversed to wear a mask. We have been told not to assemble in groups of more than ten people. We have been told to wash our hands often and for at least 20 seconds each time. We have been told to sanitize surfaces. We have been told there are limited tests available and then that we have all the tests that we need. There is no cure. There is no vaccine. The current death count in the United States has surpassed 100,000 and is expected by scientists to hit over 135,000 by August. We have filled ICUs in hospitals with those fighting for their lives. Personal Protective Equipment has been in short supply. Older peo-ple are more likely to be seriously affected. We are the older people. It is hard to deal with this thing that is making us sick, potentially threatening out lives, when we know so little about it. I read an article the other day which is helping me to make decisions with the re-opening of Ohio. The author notes that the primary method of transmission is through the mouth, nose, or eyes. But we knew that, which is why the social distancing was important. But what was not told to us was that the body can apparently tolerate small amounts of the virus, but has problems when subjected to larger amounts. A sneeze generates a tremendous amount of airborne particles, which is why we have been advised to sneeze into the crook or our arm so as to decrease the amount of airborne particles. Coughing generates a significant problem. Again, we knew this already. But just breathing creates airborne particles. And if we are close enough to someone who is just breathing, would that be a problem? Well that depends. For a couple of minutes, probably not, but with each breath we take, more of the virus could be inhaled until after a while we would have acquired a dose large enough to cause a problem. Most of the time when we are around other people, however, we are not just breathing; we are talking. And talking expels more particles than just breathing. Talking loudly is worse, and singing or yelling creates an even larger amount of airborne particles: think choirs or sporting events. Location is important. In an enclosed space airborne particles have nowhere else to travel, especially if air circulation and filtration is minimal, hence are more likely to be inhaled. The larger the space the better. Outdoors is even better. If you need to enter an area which puts you at greater risk, try to mini-mize the amount of time. The Senior Center is still closed. Ohio still requires us to be in small groups. These are the main two reasons we will be holding our June meeting outdoors. It will also be a short meeting.