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Sat, April 22, 2023
VAMSA Board members Walt Petrie and Wes Guckert hosted a hugely successful
dedication in honor of their Vietnam unit’s fallen and surviving members at an event
attended by 150+ attendees at Libbey’s restaurant. They were joined by speakers
Anthony Brown, Maryland Attorney General; Jim Moran, President of the Queen Anne’s
County Commissioners; and Eric Johnson, Executive Director of VAMSA.
Eric detailed the plan to launch the National Center for the Military and Veteran Family and officially
launched the Alliance’s FY2024 Capital Campaign in the following remarks:
"I am humbled to speak at an event honoring both the surviving and fallen members of
the Vietnam war. Queen Anne’s County is the “gateway to the eastern shore.” As
such, Queen Anne’s County provides a welcome to those traveling east-bound on the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I served in Operation ENDURING FREEDOM at Bagram Air
Base in Afghanistan…and I received a warm welcome home. Many of my Vietnam
brothers and sisters did not. Today we help correct that with the dedication of the “3
soldiers” statue. May it serve as a testament to this county’s commitment to all
veterans—and a tribute to those that deserve a long overdue “welcome home.”
It is an honor to speak today on behalf of the Queen Anne’s County Veteran and Military
Support Alliance, also known as VAMSA. Our innovative alliance launched in 2022 to
provide accessible and free resources uniquely tailored to military and veterans, their
families, and their caregivers here on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. I could not be prouder
to announce here today the launch of the National Center for the Military and Veteran
Family—to be located right here at Bay Bridge Marina. Over the next year we will offer
the first phase of the Center: a locally-facing resource center that seeks to offer peer
support groups, VA claims assistance, massage therapy, a healing book library, and so
much more.
The guiding principle on which we stand is a moral one. We seek to cement the
standard that there is an absolute moral obligation to support the entire military family
from start to finish. This is what sets us apart from other resource centers—and why we
have been encouraged to make this a national symbol of hope for the warrior family.
We know our military and veterans need our help regardless of their discharge status,
length of service, military branch or occupation. It is equally crucial that we recognize
and respond to the unique needs of our military spouses and their children. And we
need to ensure caregivers have an equal amount of support and that they are trained to
recognize and respond to the specialized challenges of veterans under their care.
We understand after decades of research that military servicemembers tend to enter
their military career with a history of trauma as a child and/or young adult. We then
send these physically healthiest of Americans into harm’s way where they are likely to
experience more trauma. Many of these soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines return
home to their communities as some of the most broken and in dire need of support that
is not always readily available in rural communities. If we are to continue to enlist a
ready, willing and able fighting force, we must start working with our military-tracked
youth in ROTC units and in our very own Kent Island Sea Cadets.
On February 3rd of this year VAMSA entered into a strategic partnership with the
nationally-recognized Veterans Health and Wellness Foundation. Together, we are
joining forces to establish phase two of The Center for the Military and Veteran Family:
a nationally-facing center of excellence. This second phase of our business plan calls
for an educational center that serves as a training ground for community leaders across
the nation, particularly those in rural America, to assemble, exchange ideas and learn
how to operationalize “thank you for your service.” They can then return to their
respective communities and establish similar resource centers adapting the model
presented at the Center.
Our nation’s first Commander in Chief, George Washington had the powerful foresight
to say, “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any wars, no
matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of
earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”
Here in Queen Anne’s County we are fulfilling this sentiment. We are operationalizing
thank you for your service and we will help set the standard for rural communities
across this great nation.
Immediately following this dedication, we encourage you to join us here at Libbey’s for a
free luncheon at which we will be launching our Center’s capital campaign. I am excited
to report we have raised close to $100,000 of the $300K we seek for our fiscal year
ahead. With your help and support, I am confident we will meet and exceed this target.
Thank you---and God bless our military, veterans, and this nation.
If anyone would like to pledge a gift sometime in the next year, please private message
Eric at execjtive.director@VAMSA.us. If anyone would like to donate now, you can pay
immediately at the following link:
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=E8CBCTRML2ZLU
