[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 43 (Monday, April 20, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3300-S3301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               VIETNAM VETERANS IN HYANNIS, MASSACHUSETTS

 Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I want to commend the extraordinary 
achievements of a group of Vietnam Veterans in Hyannis, Massachusetts. 
Five Vietnam Veterans from Cape Cod, Michael Trainor, Ray Pacheco, 
Woody Hoffman, Craig Morrison and Michael Williams, created the Nam 
Vets Association in 1983. Their mission, to provide human services to 
and improve the public image of Vietnam Veterans, has been courageously 
carried on, to this day, by John Eastman, Charlie Brown, John Ahern, 
Hank Tucker, Bill SilverRyder, and Randy Ritter. On Vietnam Veterans' 
Day, March 29, 1998, this group of dedicated men celebrated fifteen 
years of work on behalf of their fellow veterans. No organization 
provides more services to the veterans of Cape Cod and the Islands than 
the Nam Vets Association. It provides counseling services, housing 
assistance, a food pantry, employment programs, VA benefit information 
and, perhaps most important of all, a place where veterans and their 
families feel welcome. I know I did.
  Mr. President, at the recent Vietnam Veterans of America Convention 
in

[[Page S3301]]

Kansas City, Missouri, the Nam Vets Association was selected from 700 
chapters nationwide to be honored as the 1997 Community Service Chapter 
of the Year. This group has made a tremendous impact on the lives of 
many people in its community. The scholarships, youth activities, 
volunteer service to community events, and housing programs it 
provides, and the 55,000 meals it serves annually from its food pantry, 
give this organization great reason to be very, very proud. On its 
Fifteenth Anniversary, I am proud to offer my brother Vietnam Veterans 
in Hyannis my sincere congratulations, my heartfelt gratitude, my best 
wishes for further triumphs, and my promise of continuing support for 
their tremendous work.

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