LVMAC Tidbit — Ritter Elementary School Seeks Veterans to Interview Now!

Ritter Elementary SchoolWhereas this once again a last minute notification for finding veterans to interview, the Ritter Elementary School in Allentown does conduct a well-regarded program worth a veteran’s contribution of his or her time to its students.  Interviews occur 4 October.  Therefore, sign up now.  See below for more information and who to contact.

The result of your effort will ultimately lead to one of the premier, annual Veterans Day period events in the Lehigh Valley.  This award-winning program was started over thirty years ago by a Principal and his teachers — well before the current war made appreciating our veterans popular — and has become part of the institutional culture of the school.  Help make that continue.

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LVMAC News — Roll Call! Community Banquet to Honor Those Who Serve

LVMAC Logo (Best Small PNG)LVMAC Salute to the Troops Dinner Flyer 24Apr2016The Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council’s annual “Salute to the Troops” dinner will be held on 13 May, starting at 6 p.m., at a new location this year:  the Holiday Inn at 7736 Adrienne Drive in Breinigsville.  Our member organizations are strongly encouraged to attend, but the event is open to any member of the community wishing the recognize the service of the current military and recently returned veterans.   Now the the time to reserve your seat(s).  We ask that you do this no later than 4 May. (more…)

LVMAC News — Use Your Educational Benefits Wisely Starting 7 November

A's For Vets TwoJust got out and maybe wondering if going back to school is for you — maybe even lacking a little self-confidence about being the right material for a school of higher learning?  Not sure how to best use your educational benefits?  Confused about the process or the next step?  You’ve served in the military,  one of the hardest environments in which to survive even if you did not go into combat — and you’ve done it … what most could not.  Wonder why?  The U.S. military is one of the best trainers and educators in the world, second to none.

So … why not then take advantage of some of the finest educators and subject matter experts in the state to learn about how to train for civilian employment using your military skills, the GI Bill and other benefits.  Why not learn how to use every ounce of your benefits to your advantage and not someone else’s; why not learn from others who are and have just gone through the school on what to look out for, tips and traps.  Why not learn about what jobs are in demand in the Lehigh Valley if you intend to remain here after schooling; why not get to know the schools and trade schools in the area;  and why not just figure out — plain and simple — if school is the right fit for you?   (more…)

LVMAC Tidbit — Are You Coming? Have you registered?

AO Town Hall Logo wo backgroundEditor’s Note:  It has been written about before on this blogsite, but the September 19 date for the Lehigh Valley’s first Agent Orange Seminar is nigh and we think it important that you do not miss out on a chance to educate yourselves because your children may be affected — whether or not you are a Vietnam War veteran or ever served.  It is high time to register and reserve a seat.

Expert speakers from as far away as the state of Maryland are coming to the Lipkin Theatre, the site of the seminar.  Dr. Peter Kahn of the Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology at Rutgers University; Dr. Tom Berger of the Vietnam Veterans of America’s (VVA) Veterans Health Center; Professor Kelly Allen of the Sustainability Committee of Northampton Community College; Paul Sutton, the VVA’s special advisor to the National Committee on Agent Orange and Mike Eckstein, the VVA State Council Chair for New Jersey’s Agent Orange efforts, will all speak. 

This is an unique opportunity to listen and learn about a subject constantly in the papers but not well understood.  The Press Release below tells you more: (more…)

LVMAC — Photos of Lehigh and Northampton Vietnam Veterans Wanted for Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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Source: VVMF’s Education Center Webpage

The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), in partnership with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. (VVMF) — the nonprofit organization authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1980 to build a national memorial dedicated to all who served with the U.S. armed forces in the Vietnam War — is asking that you help them locate more than 600 photos of Pennsylvanians who sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War and for whom VVMF has no photos.  As of 14 August, twenty-eight on the list are from Lehigh and Northampton counties. (more…)

LVMAC Tidbit: At Last! An Agent Orange Seminar for the General Public

VVA 415 AO Town Hall Flyer No. 2 19Sep2015Editor’s Note:  We wish to bring your attention to something we consider to be a very special event in the Lehigh Valley — a seminar on Agent Orange not only for veterans, but also their progeny and the general public.  Pennsylvania VVA Chapter 415 of the Vietnam Veterans of America is sponsoring it and is bringing in well-known, national-level speakers, some with academic credentials.  Please note we’re using the term “Agent Orange” as an umbrella term for several different kinds of herbicides used in Vietnam … and in the United States.

You may be asking yourself why invite the progeny of veterans and the general public,  for weren’t the effects of Agent Orange limited to those military veterans who served in Vietnam?   It is because, many believe, more than military veterans have been affected but also their progeny and, additionally, the general public — these products were not only used in Vietnam.  Consequently, the chapter is seeking to heighten their awareness through education and to gain their assistance in pushing needed government research studies long overdue and resisted.  The Congress, the Department of Veterans Affairs and other departments of government may have been turning a blind eye to a matter of importance to all of us.

For more information and how to register for the event, refer to the article below, which is being republished with the kind permission of its author and appeared in the June 2015 issue of Lifestyles over 50. (more…)