Special KWVA "W in Your Dream Vacation Fund-Raiser" Information ...
Special KWVA "W in Your Dream Vacation Fund-Raiser" Information ...
Special KWVA "W in Your Dream Vacation Fund-Raiser" Information ...
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Worth, Texas, for their approval. Should there be no quorum present<br />
at the Annual Meet<strong>in</strong>g, it will then be submitted to the entire<br />
Membership for their vote, <strong>in</strong> accordance with the current Bylaws,<br />
via ballots <strong>in</strong>serted <strong>in</strong> The Graybeards.<br />
Prior to the July Meet<strong>in</strong>g, the Bylaws Committee will provide a<br />
copy of the draft documents to each member of the Board of<br />
Directors to help them prepare for the meet<strong>in</strong>g and/or make prior<br />
comments and suggested changes as they wish. A detailed report will<br />
accompany those copies provided the Board members that expla<strong>in</strong>s<br />
the necessity of each substantive recommended change.<br />
Some Rem<strong>in</strong>ders<br />
The current <strong>KWVA</strong> Bylaws, the <strong>KWVA</strong> Standard Procedure<br />
Manual (SPM), and our Federal Charter are all available for review<br />
and/or download from the <strong>KWVA</strong> website http://www.kwva.org at<br />
any time.<br />
We have an obligation to meet the compliance requirements to the<br />
new Federal Charter, Public Law 110-254 (S.1692) granted on June<br />
30, 2008 to the Korean War Veterans Association, Incorporated.<br />
Issues<br />
Some changes under consideration are go<strong>in</strong>g to be useful, even<br />
necessary. Debate and discourse is called for to decide what is best<br />
for the Association, and will be welcome. In the committee’s op<strong>in</strong>ion,<br />
the major hot issue at this time concerns dues and those who do<br />
not pay the appropriate Association dues. The scope of this issue<br />
<strong>in</strong>cludes:<br />
• Anyone who at one time signed up, has stopped pay<strong>in</strong>g, and still<br />
participates <strong>in</strong> <strong>KWVA</strong> Chapter or Department bus<strong>in</strong>ess<br />
• Those who consider themselves chapter or department members<br />
or whatever, and have never gone through the enrollment process.<br />
Incredibly, this <strong>in</strong>cludes some who have actually been elected as<br />
chapter or department officers.<br />
• Those members <strong>in</strong> otherwise good stand<strong>in</strong>g who have been<br />
elected as chapter officers, and permit, allow or encourage any of the<br />
above.<br />
It is a cancer <strong>in</strong> the very heart of the Korean War Veterans<br />
Association. Its fundamental flaw is that it is not fair, and whatever<br />
you may believe, permitt<strong>in</strong>g its cont<strong>in</strong>uation accrues no value to the<br />
Korean War Veterans Association, Inc... In fact, it br<strong>in</strong>gs great harm,<br />
if only because of the deep resentment it causes, and that now exists<br />
with<strong>in</strong> the ranks of the compliant membership.<br />
It is my op<strong>in</strong>ion that it is responsible for the loss of many members<br />
who jo<strong>in</strong>ed, did not like or respect the practice, and resigned. No<br />
matter how long it has been done, and for whatever reason, it needs<br />
to stop. Pla<strong>in</strong> talk and direct action are needed. To repeat what you<br />
have surely heard before, “If there must be change, let it beg<strong>in</strong> with<br />
me.” As to why, here are some reports I’ve received from members:<br />
• From a Ohio member - “...Example: On page 52 of the present<br />
issue of The Graybeards, there is an article about Chapter 69 Greater<br />
Cleveland, and their <strong>in</strong>volvement <strong>in</strong> plac<strong>in</strong>g a statue at the Ohio<br />
Western Reserve National Cemetery...f<strong>in</strong>e article. At the top of the<br />
page we f<strong>in</strong>d a photo of Chapter 69’s Color Guard, with their names<br />
listed. Just for kicks, I checked each name aga<strong>in</strong>st Association<br />
Membership Records........three members of the Color Guard are not<br />
Association Members.!!!!<br />
I asked one of the Color Guard members if this was a fact. He did<br />
BUSINESS<br />
not appear too concerned, and stated that there are MANY members<br />
<strong>in</strong> Chapter 69 who are not Association members. He added rather<br />
proudly that there were more than 100 members <strong>in</strong> Chapter 69.<br />
Aga<strong>in</strong>, I checked Association membership records and found only 30<br />
listed. Proud? A member of those carry<strong>in</strong>g the colors is proud that he<br />
and others do not pay their way?<br />
• From the Missouri Department Commander - “...CID 246 claims<br />
51 members, 13 actually pay dues....” I checked that out myself, it’s<br />
true, and <strong>KWVA</strong> database records <strong>in</strong>dicate that the CID 246<br />
Commander has been <strong>in</strong>active (at least <strong>in</strong> his dues) s<strong>in</strong>ce 1/1/2008.<br />
Contrast that example of deception and disrespect for the <strong>KWVA</strong><br />
with what the Department Commander reports for Missouri Chapter<br />
CID 44. The officers <strong>in</strong> that chapter won’t even allow you <strong>in</strong> a chapter<br />
meet<strong>in</strong>g unless you can prove you have paid your Association<br />
dues and are current. The Chapter Commander tells me that should<br />
someone not have the means to pay, the chapter will do it for that veteran.<br />
There are many other chapters that do exactly that; that is how<br />
the pr<strong>in</strong>ciple of pay<strong>in</strong>g your way is honored and enforced. <strong>KWVA</strong><br />
records show that the only ‘Inactive’ members <strong>in</strong> CID 44 are their<br />
deceased members.<br />
It has been argued that the Board of Directors can make the annual<br />
dues requirement specific and clear. But how do we enforce it? It<br />
is almost a given that if a chapter’s officers refuse to do their duty, and<br />
report <strong>in</strong>accurately on their membership, it represents an almost<br />
impossible enforcement task. One of the first rules of engagement <strong>in</strong><br />
a conflict is to use whatever weapons you have at hand. We have<br />
three: pride <strong>in</strong> your outfit, honor, and shame.<br />
Without the <strong>KWVA</strong>, there would be no chapter or department;<br />
consequently, a chapter or a department should have no bylaw, procedure<br />
or practice that harms the Association. The pr<strong>in</strong>ciple of ‘first,<br />
do no harm’ certa<strong>in</strong>ly applies. This <strong>in</strong>cludes the necessity for the<br />
chapter or department bylaws to be approved by the Association, and<br />
for the officers of those entities to comply with the rules, <strong>in</strong> accordance<br />
with the oath they took.<br />
If you really are a Korean War veteran, and you do not pay the<br />
required Association (National) dues, consider this: what if there is a<br />
Regular Member who does not have available the opportunity to<br />
belong to a chartered chapter, and thus is obliged by necessity, if not<br />
honor, to pay his or her dues? Let us also assume that same veteran<br />
was the actual pilot who delivered the needed ordnance for your survival,<br />
or the helicopter pilot who, under fire, picked you off a hill.<br />
Perhaps either of those circumstances or anyth<strong>in</strong>g like them is the<br />
pr<strong>in</strong>cipal reason you are still alive, can breathe, and can have a life<br />
and a love. Or, maybe it was a medic, doctor or nurse who kept you<br />
alive. If any of that applies, does that make you feel any shame at all?<br />
If you are a Korean War veteran, or a wannabe ‘member,’ and you<br />
do not pay the required dues after read<strong>in</strong>g this, you must know that<br />
you have not paid for that privilege. It is noth<strong>in</strong>g more than a false<br />
sense of ‘membership’ and a good read on the cheap. Is this the way<br />
you express pride <strong>in</strong> your outfit?<br />
If you are a Chapter Officer, and you have sworn an oath to serve<br />
and protect the Korean War Veterans Association, Inc., and you allow<br />
or encourage this <strong>in</strong>sult to your outfit to cont<strong>in</strong>ue, then you have violated<br />
that oath. Worse, if you are one of those chapter officers who<br />
have taken that oath and do not yourself pay, how do you def<strong>in</strong>e your-<br />
Cont<strong>in</strong>ued on page 29<br />
13<br />
The Graybeards<br />
May – June 2009