Our Warmest Wishes For The Holidays - Korean War Veterans ...

From the President
Louis T. Dechert
THIS WE’LL
DEFEND!
For several years
in our Nation’s beginnings
there was only one military service
and one department: The War Office. Their
heraldry proclaimed THIS WE WILL
DEFEND. That history is alive today in the
Seal of the Department of Army, and on the
badges which Drill Sergeants wear.
I recently received an email from a soldier
whom I have known for several years,
in two wars—a distinguished veterans
worker, advisor, and consultant at the
Department of Veterans Affairs in
Washington, as well as with state veterans
affairs organizations across the country. He
asserted:
The KWVA has become a victim and
dysfunctional organization by allowing a
small group of malcontents to seize control
of the organization. I believe over 17,000
members are bowing to the demands of less
than 30 nonconformist and non-productive
individuals claiming to speak for the entire
organization* * * *
The continued “Public Floggings” of the
President is unheard of. The Public Ridicule
of the professional qualifications and standards
of our Counsel, the falsifications about
official records, such as financial reports, as
well as outright lies are unacceptable in any
civilized society. There are laws against libel
and slander, and, I believe, the organization
has gone much too long in not taking the
appropriate actions to remove the cancer
from the body and allow healing.
I believe more good citizens, veterans
and members of the KWVA must take a
position and step up to the task of silencing
these few people that would never be
allowed continued membership in any other
organization because of disruptive behavior
and unacceptable conduct.
For the GOOD OF THE ORDER please
move forward without delay.
He is right—although the number might
be closer to 100 than 30. To indicate how far
this has traveled, a KWVA Associate
Member has established a charity website on
the internet, solely for the purpose of implementing
the travesties listed above, all under
the umbrella of their version of ‘free
speech.’ The individual has even chosen to
use our name in the name of the website! We
do not believe that is legal. Obviously, no
permission was sought for the perverted use
of our name, and the content is certainly not
a respectful use of our organization’s name.
Another charity website purporting to
serve veterans but giving no public accounting
for their operations has likewise lied
about the National Korean War Veterans
Association for months. They have been
attempting to provoke the KWVA/USA into
filing legal actions against them. Then they
can claim martyrhood and hike contributions.
Their initial slander against the
KWVA/USA several months ago was evidently
a dry run of their intentions
In 2004 I asked the members for me to be
allowed to serve as President based upon a
specific campaign platform. I fulfilled that
platform. Among the principles to which I
promised adherence—and took an oath to
carry out—was the return and adherence to
legal Bylaws. That was done, and that practice
has been continued since that time. The
Executive Council—now the Board of
Directors—and the membership have
approved by whatever votes and numbers
required everything this Administration has
done.
The membership was twice provided
with our Bylaws in The Graybeards in pullout
format so they could be retained. The
membership has twice approved the Bylaws
and the Board has approved all procedures
several times. The members have 24/7/365
THE MISSION OF THE KWVA/USA
DEFEND our Nation
CARE for our Veterans
PERPETUATE our Legacy
REMEMBER our Missing and Fallen
MAINTAIN our Memorial
SUPPORT a free Korea
access to the Bylaws and to the Standard
Procedure Manual on the world-class website
www.kwva.org.
I ran for re-election based on my goals
and objectives for the organization. While
this Administration still has several months
yet to run, the following accomplishments
are a matter of record, 2004-2007.
Upgraded Chapter And
Membership Communication
• Authorized chapter officers [who must
be National members] can access the national
membership database online to verify the
accuracy of their members’ records.
• Chapter officers [who must be National
members] can seek information from the
Membership Office by email.
• The Membership Office is more
responsive than ever to requests by chapter
officers.
• Anyone can view a list of chapters and
departments showing the addresses, phone
numbers, dates and locations of meeting
places on the KWVA web site.
Increased Numbers Of Chapters
And Departments
• The 220 Chapters actually in existence
when this Administration took office (over
290 were claimed to exist) has increased to
232, mainly accredited.
• The 13 Departments in existence when
this Administration took office has increased
to 16, mainly accredited.
• Some 600 members who had been long
deceased but were still carried as active
members were removed with reverence
from the active rolls and honored in the
process.
• A national program of accreditation—a
prerequisite for a Federal Charter—was
developed and has made steady progress.
Created A World-Class
KWVA Website
• KWVA has a dynamic up-to-the-minute
website.
• Anyone can view the bylaws on
KWVA’s web site. (Note: One cannot view
the Bylaws of very many other Veterans
Service Organizations on the web.)
• Anyone can browse through archived
issues of The Graybeards on the KWVA
website. We salvaged these—there was no
national archive of The Graybeards before
2005.
Continued on page 56
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The Graybeards November-December 2007