Our 2026 reunion is over. I believe all those in attendance appreciated the comradery. We had several attendees who had never attended a VDHA reunion. Their appreciation was overwhelming. The weather was absolutely fantastic. What was supposed to be a weekend of rain turned out to be wonderfully hot and sunny.
Having been previously nominated by a voice vote, Ernie Ayala has been reelected to the position of Vice President, and Bob Palochik to the position of Treasurer at the general membership meeting. Unfortunately, Bob could not make the reunion but his wife Deb and two of their beautiful granddaughters were there to coordinate all of the activities. Without Deb’s hard work and devotion, it would be almost impossible to put together such a fabulous weekend. So, thank you Deb.
Our members meeting also included a lengthy discussion about the location of our next reunion, and the timing. The location is to be in the Central or Mountain time zones. Possible sites included Nashville or Memphis, TN, Kansas City, MO, Indianapolis, IN, and Omaha, NB. The timing was discussed at length, including May of 2027, October of 2027, and May of 2028.
Many of our members have severe difficulties in traveling, and to be honest, none of us are getting any younger to the best of my knowledge. For many of us in our late 70s and 80s, how many more opportunities will we have to experience the love and comradery of our fellow handlers? If you have any thoughts on these matters please contact one of your officers such that the board may take your opinions into consideration.
Albert Johnson, President of the Military Working Dogs Heritage Museum, was the reunion’s guest speaker. He discussed the mission and accomplishments of his organization. The attendees and their family members were encouraged to consider the museum as a permanent repository for any pictures, letters or memorabilia related to our war dogs in Vietnam.
Many of you are aware of the hard work and devotion put in over the years by our prior web master, Dave Broeker. The website was a proprietary system designed to fit the needs of our organization. We have been notified by our service provider that effective June 30, 2026 they will no longer be able to continue servicing our needs. The board is in discussions with two individuals in order to determine whether we should migrate the entire software program to a new provider, or whether we should try to identify the data files most important to our organization and simply migrate that data to a new off-the-shelf web design. Whichever approach the board decides on, it will represent a significant monetary investment by our organization.
Finally, a number of Vietnam War organizations are discussing what their legacy should be when no one is left to their membership. If you have any views or convictions of winding up the VDHA, please express them in a Dogman article or letter to the editor.
Welcome Home.
John Harvey, President VDHA
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