The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF),Veterans For America » ABOUT VFA
at www.veteransforamerica.org established in 1980, now the Veterans for America (VFA), is a

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

-based international

humanitarian organization An aid agency, also known as development charity, is an organization dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government, between governments as multilateral donors and as private voluntary organizatio ...

that addresses the consequences of war and conflict. The founder of VVAF is Bobby Muller, a former

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

and

Vietnam veteran A Vietnam veteran is a person who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War. The term has been used to describe veterans who served in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States Armed Forces, and oth ...

Background

In 1980, co-founders Bobby Muller and John Terzano created

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Veteran of America Foundation with the goal of transforming the American experience of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

into a mission of compassion and justice. VVAF's first major initiative was a journey back to Vietnam in 1981 to make peace with the country. In 1991, after a trip to the Killing Fields of Cambodia, VVAF co-founded the

International Campaign to Ban Landmines The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations whose stated objective is a world free of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, where mine and cluster munitions survivors see their right ...

to ban

landmine A land mine is an explosive weapon, explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically d ...

s, called ''Campaign for A Landmine Free World'', which was awarded the 1997

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

for its efforts to persuade countries to sign a treaty eradicating the use of antipersonnel landmines. In 1992, VVAF opened a clinic on the outskirts of

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

to offer rehabilitative services to landmine victims.

Projects

One of VVAF's primary causes is Campaign for a Landmine Free World, which works to increase awareness of the world's landmine crisis. As of 2002, VVAF operated programs in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

and

. Since early 1998, a number of top musical artists have contributed to the cause through VVAF's Artists for a Landmine Free World. Some of the program's most active members include

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...

, Steve Earle,

Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'' starting in 1985 (season 10). In 1994 she won a Grammy Award f ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, po ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

, and

Mary Chapin Carpenter Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

. VVAF was a cofounder of the

(ICBL), which was awarded the 1997

jointly with coordinator

Jody Williams Jody Williams (born October 9, 1950) is an American political activist known for her work in banning anti-personnel landmines, her defense of human rights (especially those of women), and her efforts to promote new understandings of security i ...

of the VVAF.

Loung Ung Loung Ung ( km, អ៊ឹង លួង; born 19 November 1970) is a Cambodian American human-rights activist, lecturer and national spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World, between 1997 and 2003. She has served in the same capaci ...

serves as National Spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World.

Post-Conflict Rehabilitation

Many survivors of war require physical and emotional rehabilitation. VVAF's Post-Conflict Rehabilitation Program (PCR) provides support through product services, physical and emotional training, and sport rehabilitation. It has provided rehabilitation services in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, and Vietnam, and supports rehabilitation and disability programs throughout

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

. Thousands of people who suffer from disabilities caused by war or debilitating diseases such as

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

and

clubfoot Clubfoot is a birth defect where one or both feet are rotated inward and downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. In approximately 50% of cases, clubfoot aff ...

benefit every year from artificial limbs, braces and

wheelchairs A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebra ...

produced at VVAF clinics. In addition, patients are enrolled in physical therapy sessions where they develop the strength, flexibility and skills to become mobile again. VVAF's community follow-up and outreach teams bring assistance to people where they live. And through the creation of self-help groups and the implementation of sports and recreation activities through its Sports for Life initiative, people develop the confidence, skills, and social networks necessary to become active participants in their societies.

Sports for life

Sports for Life (SFL), a project of PCR, uses athletic activity and play as vehicles for bringing about positive changes in the lives of people with disabilities. The SFL program uses therapeutic and competitive sports to rehabilitate disabled persons in war-affected nations, helping them to build physical and social skills and develop the confidence to improve their lives in other ways. SFL has conducted successful programs in

, Angola and Cambodia. In March 2006 two athletic superstars, 2000

NFL MVP The National Football League Most Valuable Player Award (NFL MVP) is an award given by various entities to the American football player who is considered the most valuable in the National Football League (NFL) during the regular season. Organizati ...

Ray Lewis Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional football player who played as a middle linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens for his entire 17-year career in the National Football League (NFL). He played co ...

and

Paralympian The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

Cheri Blauwet joined the Sports for Life Advisory Committee and travelled to Africa with VVAF to support and promote new developments in Ethiopia and Angola.

Information Management and Mine Action Programs

VVAF's

Information Management and Mine Action Programs (iMMAP) Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random, ...

works in post-conflict countries, including Iraq, Vietnam and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, to evaluate the impact of landmines and provide technical assistance to coordinate information necessary for relief and development. IMMAP started from the basic premise that implementing organizations, national authorities and donor governments needed to be able to define the global landmine problem's physical, social and economic dimensions as a prerequisite for effective planning, resource allocation and advocacy. Its efforts resulted in broad international acceptance of landmine survey standards and socio-economic measures of landmine/ UXO impact. In the winter of 2005 and beginning of 2006,

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

s and earthquakes devastated much of Southeast Asia and Pakistan. iMMAP's information management support helped guide and maximize relief efforts by assisting in surveying hazardous and safe routes for transportation, supplies and locations for shelter. In January 2006, an iMMAP survey of Iraqi communities found that one in five areas in northern and southern Iraq were endangered by landmines and other unexploded ordnance.

Nuclear threat reduction

VVAF's Nuclear Threat Reduction Campaign (NTRC) educates and mobilizes key constituencies to advance US public policy on a bipartisan basis that reduces the threats posed by

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: * Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

, biological and

chemical weapons A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...

. In late 2005, NTRC was largely responsible for the rejection of a government bill that would have allowed the use of robust nuclear earth penetrator (RNEP) bombs, commonly known as "

bunker buster A bunker buster is a type of munition that is designed to penetrate hardened targets or targets buried deep underground, such as military bunkers. Armor piercing shells Germany Röchling shells were bunker-busting artillery shells, developed ...

s".

War Kids Relief and Returnee Integration Support

VVAF's newest programs, War Kids Relief and Returnee Integration Support Program were launched in November 2005. War Kids Relief, led by former Iraq veteran and captain

Jon Powers Jonathan Powers, commonly called Jon Powers is an American former soldier, charity organizer, government official and business executive. He was appointed by President Obama to serve in multiple roles as an energy security expert. In 2015, Powers ...

, helps of Iraqi children recover from the disruptive effects of war. The program works to improve the physical conditions of existing housing facilities and provide training to orphanage directors and caregivers, integrate children back into safe family environments, and with Construct a Baghdad Career and Life Skills Center works to provide a safe haven for older children (age 12–18) and give them a place to learn job and life-training skills.

Returnee Integration Support

The Returnee Integration Support Program (RISP) helps Cambodian refugees readjust to Cambodia's lifestyle and culture. Through its services, the program provides orientation, assistance with employment and housing, drug, alcohol and HIV education, Khmer literacy classes, counseling and referral services, in order to support returnees who seek help in becoming independent and productive members of society.

Notes

External links

Interview with War Kids Relief Director, Jonathan Powers

iMMAP Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vietnam Veterans Of America Foundation Aftermath of the Vietnam War American veterans' organizations United States in the Vietnam War Charities based in Washington, D.C. Organizations established in 1980 1980 establishments in the United States Mine action organizations