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VFW, DAV tap Vietnam-era vets as new leaders

Two of the nation’s biggest veterans’ groups have elected Vietnam-era veterans as their new national commanders.

Raymond Dempsey, an Air Force veteran, was selected to head the 1.4 million-member Disabled American Veterans.

Glen Gardner, a Marine Corps veteran, was elected to head the 1.6 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Gardner was elected during VFW’s annual convention held Aug. 16-21 in Orlando, Fla. Dempsey was elected during DAV’s annual convention in Las Vegas one week earlier.

Dempsey, who lives in Des Plaines, Ill., was in the Air Force from 1967 to 1970 and received a medical discharge after suffering a spinal cord injury while serving as a member of a nuclear, biological and chemical team.

Gardner, of Round Rock, Texas, served in the Marine Corps from 1966 to 1970 and did a tour as an aircraft mechanic with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Group 12 in Chu Lai, Vietnam.

In his Aug. 21 acceptance speech, Gardner said veterans’ service organizations need to do more for younger veterans to remain relevant.

“We cannot hold onto the concepts of another era and expect to survive,” he said. “Young veterans are not looking for a social club. They want to belong to an organization that provides services to active-duty military, veterans and their families.”

He set a goal of adding 175,000 new members to the VFW during his year as national commander.

In his Aug. 12 acceptance speech, Dempsey urged DAV members to vote in the November presidential elections. “DAV, of course, is nonpartisan and doesn’t endorse or oppose any candidate. So you need to do your research to figure out who best represents your views,” he said.

“No matter who is chosen as our next president and who he selects to lead VA, we stand ready to work with the new secretary so that the needs of veterans are understood and addressed in a way that will improve the care and quality of life for disabled veterans and their families,” Dempsey said.