As the National Executive Director of the Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc. (VVnW), my duties cover a wide range of areas. With this position comes a seat as a Board Member on the National Board of Directors of the VVnW, Inc.

The position brings with it the overall responsibility for every program and project of the organization and requires a close working relationship with each of the other eight board members, the commanders of all the posts, the state commanders, the program directors, advisors and the National Members-at-Large.

Since the programs and projects of the VVnW are so varied so are the responsibilities of the National Executive Director. General information about some of the duties follows:

Veterans Service Officer – After completion of the Veterans Service Officer (VSO) training provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), I received official accreditation as a VSO for the VVnW, Inc.

In this position I advise and assist veterans or their beneficiaries in presenting claims for benefits under Federal, State or local laws and work in cooperation with the DVA, other governmental agencies, and other VSOs.

Secretary to the National Board of Directors – Since I am most aware of the day-to-day activities, problems and challenges within the National Headquarters, serving as the Secretary to the National Board of Directors and taking the minutes of the six yearly meetings, comes as a logical duty. Since I am aware of the daily operations I am able to assist the National Commander in his preparations for the meetings and insure that all of the items that come into the office are directed to the proper individual(s) and then given consideration and discussion time at the board meeting.

National Convention – I work with the National Convention Committee to select a site, negotiate a hotel contract, negotiate the band contract, prepare the tentative agenda and arrange for program presentations and other speakers.

National Elections – With a committee, I prepare the notification of upcoming open board positions, request letters of intent, DD-214s, and resumes from those interested in running for the positions and then prepare and send out all ballots to each member for voting. Ballots are returned to an independent office for tabulation and results are announced at the National Convention.

Accounting – I maintain the multiple checking accounts for the VVnW, Inc. and prepare and make all bank deposits.

In addition to the manual preparation of these records, I am responsible for the actual input of all data into the Real World Accounting System, the reconciliation of each of the accounts and the distribution of this information to the National Treasurer, Accountant and Auditors upon request. I also provide the presentation of all records for the Auditors at the end of each Fiscal Year.

Membership – On a daily basis I maintain the membership database for the VVnW, which requires the physical input of each application, the issuance of membership cards, the issuance of renewal notices, contact with all posts on a continuing basis, and the preparation of the necessary paperwork sent to those interested in starting a new post.

I maintain on-going contact with Post Commanders and provide the continually changing, updated information to all National Board Members and Program Directors as well as to the Membership Committee members.

Fund-Raising – I work closely with the National Commander, the staff of the fund-raising consultants and those involved with the projects being presented through the direct-mail program to be sure of the accuracy of the information being shared.

Programs – 

• Agent Orange – I work closely with the National Veterans Services Fund and its directors to get and distribute the most current information on Agent Orange, its health effects and now also to include the health problems being experienced by Persian Gulf Veterans. 

• Bylaws – I forward all questions regarding the National Bylaws to the Bylaws Committee for review and presentation to the National Board of Directors for approval or disapproval. 

• Education – I work closely with the Education Program Director in distributing to and getting information from posts as to how they educate the students in their areas in relation to Vietnam and its veterans.

• Homeless Veterans – I work closely with the Homeless Veterans Program Director as well as with the President of the United Veterans Beacon House (UVBH) in Akron, Pennsylvania to determine their needs, how well they are functioning and continually try to establish involvement in other similar projects through the country.

• Incarcerated Veterans – I work closely with the Program Director and maintain all incarcerated veteran posts’ membership. I answer their questions regarding their eligibility for benefits, etc. and make arrangements for visits to whatever facilities are open to those visits.

• Legal Advisor – I work closely with our attorney and get legal interpretations from him whenever necessary.

• Paraphernalia – I order all of the stock for the paraphernalia program and oversee the input, order fulfillment and maintenance of the items by an assistant.

• POW/MIA – I work closely with the POW/MIA Program Directors to distribute the most current information on the status of the full accounting for the POW/MIAs from all wars.

• Webmaster – I work closely with the Webmaster on constantly updating the Website information and developing new ways to bring the message of the VVnW to the public.

I coordinate programming plans and computer projects with our computer advisor to constantly enhance the computer systems within the National Headquarters.

Veteran Leader Newsletter – I work closely with the Editor to select information and ads to be presented in the Veteran Leader. I then type, edit and print all information to be used in the issue and finally I prepare the mailing labels, zip code counts and mailing instructions for bulk mail and work closely with the printer in the production of each issue.

War on Drugs/Gang Suppression – Working closely with the Program Director, we are re-establishing this program with an emphasis on veterans protecting their own countries through a national awareness program on the dangers of drugs and gangs.

Miscellaneous activities - While answering the telephones at National Headquarters may not seem like a major job duty, at the VVnW the phones are sometimes the only way that a veteran can get the help he or she needs with many different and unique problems, and the calls are sometimes non-stop. The help we provide is very valuable to the veteran and sometimes requires a great deal of patience and research. Referrals are made to the DVA, a VSO, local Veterans Affairs Offices, SBA offices, Vet Centers as well as to other organizations. Even if we help just one person per day it is most definitely worth the effort.

I prepare all correspondence, create all Certificates, flyers and other publications that are then distributed to posts or members.

Employees – Volunteers – I oversee the other office employee and any volunteers who come into National Headquarters to work on National projects. I also coordinate the use of outside volunteers such as the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) for large projects.

I provide assistance to the National Commander on a daily basis with correspondence, travel plans, scheduling, installations of post officers, speech writing and any other area that may come up.