IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Release	April 23, 2009	No. 09-08   Contact: Mokie Porter 301-996-0901
Vietnam Veterans of America to hold 14th National Convention in Louisville
(WASHINGTON, D.C.)-Vietnam Veterans of America will hold its 14th biennial National Convention July 27-August 2 at the Galt House Hotel & Suites in Louisville, Kentucky. More than six hundred delegates from VVA local chapters across the country will join hundreds of other Vietnam veterans and guests in Louisville for this big event. “We are extremely pleased to be holding our National Convention in Louisville this summer,” said VVA President John Rowan. “VVA, the nation’s only congressionally chartered Vietnam veterans’ service organization, brings our leaders together every two years to decide on our priorities and to elect our national leaders.” Retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honore, best known as “the Category 5 General” for his bold work in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, will give the Keynote Speech at the Convention’s Opening Ceremonies on Wednesday morning, July 29. Other special guests scheduled to take part in the Convention are Vietnam veterans Bill Nelson, the chairman and CEO of HBO, who will take part in screenings of the acclaimed HBO film Taking Chance, and television personality Pat Sajak, who will receive VVA's Excellence in the Arts Award at the Convention’s culminating event, the Saturday Night Awards Banquet. “We hope to announce very soon that other special guests will be joining us in Louisville,” Rowan said, “adding to the excitement of the Opening Ceremonies and the big Saturday night Awards Banquet.”
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families.  VVA's founding principle is “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”