Vietnam veterans group chartered in the Flathead

Seven years after a Vietnam Veterans of America chapter was last chartered in Montana, a Northwest Montana chapter is up and running.

State Vietnam Veterans of America president Beverly Stuart traveled from Billings last week to present the charter for Chapter 1087 to local chapter president John Burgess in Kalispell.

The chapter is open to both Vietnam War and Vietnam-era veterans who served in the military from 1962 to 1975. Members will participate in flag lines at veteran funerals and military homecomings, wreath-laying ceremonies, fundraising for holiday gifts for residents at the Montana Veterans Home, and other activities.

They plan to meet regularly at the Flathead Valley Community College Arts and Technology Building, Room 139, on the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m.

The new chapter will start by raising money to take six Vietnam veterans on the annual Run to the Wall this summer. The annual trips seek to promote healing among all veterans and their families as they pass through America’s heartland. The trip culminates at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Burgess, who joined the Navy at age 17 in 1972, and his wife Willa participated in last year’s Run to the Wall. They were part of a large motorcycle entourage that rode through the southern United States.

“I want to be able to share what I experienced with others and show them that the healing process begins with a first step,” Burgess said.

He plans to secure a van equipped with a nurse to take six physically challenged veterans on the trip. Because these veterans are on fixed incomes, the fundraising goal is $3,000 per veteran.

Donations for this cause may be sent to Northwest Montana Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, P.O. Box 86, Somers MT 59932. For more information, call Burgess at 857-3609.