THE SPIRIT OF ‘776

JUNE 2010 NEWSLETTER

VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA CHAPTER 776
“ I N S E RV I C E T O A M E R I C A . ”

PLEASE BRING ANY OF

Service Officers YOUR BIRDIES FOR
CHARITY PLEDGE
Clarke Barnes CARDS TO THE NEXT
309 944-3674 CHAPTER MEETING.
REMEMBER THAT WE
GET BACK 100% OF ALL
Ed Gaudet
THE MONEY THAT IS
563 343-9456
PLEDGED FOR US.

David Woods Members of the

563 391-3702 chapter assisted
in celebrating
Armed Forces
Day 2010 in
Davenport, IA,
Service Coordinators
at Brady Street
R. Ernest Ledjte
Stadium.
563 785-6182 Several of our
VVA chapter
members sold
NEXT MEETING hot dogs and
June 23, 2010 brats that were
Bettendorf Public expertly cooked
by C.W. Riley
Library and Harold
7:00 P.M. Hansen.

Officers and Board of Directors

President Greg Paulline 650-3055 Dir. Mike DeGeeter 391-8427
Vice-President Marlene Marolf 391-9621 Dir. Ed Gaudet 659-5421
Treasurer Harold Hansen 391-7776 Dir. Ed Gilmore 792-2415
Secretary John Lavelle 355-4213 Dir. Art Heyderman 359-4186
Web Master Roger Granbois 650-4958 Dir. Larry Witt 388-7179
 Minutes of Membership Meeting May 24, 2010
Vice-President Marlene Marolf called the meeting to order at 1900 hours. A pledge of allegiance and a
moment of silence for all POW/MIA and all those still serving our country in uniform was observed by the
membership. Present were Vice-president Marolf, Secretary Lavelle, and Treasurer Hansen. A short
introduction of all members and visitors to our meeting followed. President Greg Paulline phoned us during
the meeting to tell us that he and the members of the eighth Honor Flight of the Quad Cities would soon be
boarding their aircraft for the return of the World War II veterans and their chaperones. The flight was
scheduled to touch down at 2230 hours at the Quad Cities International Airport. Harold Hansen gave us a
report on the financial condition of the chapter. Larry Witt informed the members that we currently have 136
members, 119 VVA members and 17 AVVA members. Honor guard members, Roger Granbois, Marlene
Marolf, Jett Bork, Greg Paulline, David Woods, and Arlen Beck attended the National Veterans Awareness
Ride ceremony at Davenport Memorial Cemetery. Honor Flight number eight will return at 10:00 P.M. from
their trip to Washington D.C. and members of the chapter will be there to greet them. Modern Woodman will
sponsor a two day Honor Flight in June. Ed Gaudet indicated that over $178,000 has been raised for veterans
in the last quarter from comp and pen awards from the VA. Art Heyderman told the chapter that the bench
program for the Bettendorf VA clinic has died. Lyle Peterson has set Saturday June 12 for a visit to Manor
Care in Davenport at Grant and Locust to speak with veterans housed there. Time to arrive is 10:00 A.M.
Armed Forces Day garnered $336.90, which will be divided up between the three groups of young people that
took part in the program. Attendance was down this year, but plans for next year will include a stronger media
blitz to bring community members out to support our military men and women. Patrick Koblenske said that
they currently have 188 volunteers on the east coast of Iowa, 10 of those volunteers are from our chapter. The
Family Resources Group has created guidelines for the assistance program. Art Heyderman will meet with
interested chapter members for the quarterly trip to Iowa City VA Hospital on June 16th at 7:00 A.M. at the
Flying - J truck stop off of I-80. September 30 through October 4th the Clinton Historical Society will host the
Vietnam Moving Wall Memorial. The chapter Honor Guard will take part in the opening and closing
ceremony. On July 4th American Legion Post 26 on 35th Street in Davenport will have a celebration that will
include music and fun for all. The chapter voted to donate $100 to Iowa Vets Day which will take place at the
Marshalltown IA facility this year. Chapter President Greg Paulline will speak at the Bettendorf Veterans Park
on Memorial Day. The Memorial Day program will begin at 2:00 P.M. Greg Paulline said that six members
of the chapter meet for the breakfast at the American Legion Post 26 facility. The breakfast was the first
Sunday in May and all in attendance enjoyed themselves. John Bishop was unable to attend the meeting to
discuss Birdies for Charity, Martha Lavelle indicated that pledges for this year are behind from last year’s.
Meeting adjourned. Submitted by John P. Lavelle, chapter secretary.

Silent Auction Meeting

5/18/10
Members present, Bill Pinault, Art Heyderman, Greg Paulline, and Roger Granbois. Bidding will
begin on 10/1/10 and go until 11/8/10. Minimum bids will start at 30% and this year there will be only
new items and items with a higher premium placed on their value. The web site for the silent auction
is http://www.helpqcvets.org registration for the auction begins September 24th. The next meeting
of the Silent Auction Committee will be June 8, 2010 at the Bettendorf VFW. The committee
members still are in need of volunteers to assist in solicitations and in logistical matters. Contact Bill
Pinault at mrbillp2@yahoo.com or call 324-2758.
 HONOR FLIGHT
After the chapter meeting, members attended the
welcome home of the eighth Honor Flight of the
Quad Cities. Carolyn and Arlen Beck, Harold and
Margie Hansen, John and Martha Lavelle, Ron
Sebastian, Bob Whelove, Art Heyderman, and David
Woods saw the World War II veterans as they returned
to the area from their day long visit to their memorial
as well as the Korean War and the Vietnam Memorial.

Chapter President Greg Paulline was a volunteer

on this honor flight and was very pleased to see
the large number of individuals there to welcome
home these brave veterans. The day for all of
those who went on the flight was very long and it
was easy to see in the faces of those returning
from Washington D.C. that night at 11:00 P.M. in
the airport terminal. The veterans were meet
with cheers and long series of applause as they
came through the ranks of those community
members who were there to greet them.

CHAPTER AWARDS SCHOLARS

At the May membership meeting Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 776 awarded two college scholarships of $500
each to the grandchildren of Vietnam veterans. Sarah Gaudet is the grandchild of founding member Ed Gaudet. Her
parents are Vincent and Janet Gaudet. Sarah graduated from Riverdale Senior High School, Port Byron, IL. and she is
currently attending the University of Iowa
where she is majoring in pre-dentistry
studies. Sarah volunteers at the Iowa City
VA Hospital. Sean Beaudette, the son of Joe
and Cindy Beaudette, attended Davenport
West High School and will attend Muscatine
Community College and will pursue a degree
in education. Sean intends to study to
become a history teacher. Sean is the step
grandson of vice-president Marlene Marolf.
The two scholarships represent the initial
efforts of the chapter ’s scholarship
committee. The goal of the committee is to
provide assistance to veterans, the children
and grandchildren of veterans in their pursuit
of furthering their education. Larry Witt is
the chairman of the scholarship committee
and presented the checks to these two worthy
students. Congratulations to these young
scholars and best wishes for their future.