IAVA leader's remarks "were inappropriate and unbecoming" ... "He owes a sincere apology to our brethren." (includes Rieckhoff's apology)

by Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org

For the past two days, Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), has been in the hot-seat over a remark he made about Vietnam veterans.  Initial article is here.

After VA Watchdog dot Org reported Rieckhoff's comments, he issued a non-apology and, unfortunately, dug a deeper hole for himself by over-explaining the issue.  That article here.

Now, Rieckhoff's ill-conceived statement has caught the attention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).

Glen M. Gardner Jr., VFW Commander-in-Chief, issued the following:

VFW Statement on IAVA

Glen M. Gardner Jr.
VFW Commander-in-Chief

May 13, 2009 -The poorly chosen remarks made in a May 11 press release by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which stated that the Vietnam generation military was not as professional as today's military forces, were inappropriate and unbecoming of someone in a position to obviously know better.

While IAVA Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff maintains that his choice of words were inadvertent and were not meant to be offensive in manner, the regrettable fact remains they were - not only to Vietnam veterans but also to veterans of previous wars and conflicts who fought equally and as valiantly as today’s exemplary military.

Mr. Rieckhoff doesn’t need to be reminded that every entitlement, every service and every program Iraq and Afghanistan warriors enjoy – many of whom are VFW members –is because previous generations of (as he regrettably put it), non-professionals, demanded and fought to be properly recognized and respected for their service to our country. And because of that, he owes a sincere apology to our brethren.

Certainly, the VFW will continue to work with IAVA and other organizations to ensure our nation properly cares for veterans, service members and their families from all generations. We simply ask that Mr. Rieckhoff pay closer attention to what he or his organization says. To quote a fellow service organization (VVA), "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.” IAVA needs to keep that close to heart.

Finally getting the drift, Rieckhoff has issued an apology:

IAVA Founder Apologizes to VFW

I wanted to reach out to you personally ASAP regarding the current controversy surrounding our statement on the Camp Liberty tragedy.

By now, I know you have seen some of the emails going around saying that I and/or IAVA are trying to disrespect Vietnam vets.

I hope you know that this is totally untrue. We have tremendous respect for all generations of vets--especially Vietnam vets--and would never want to diss any other veteran, generation of veterans or veterans group.

It was not our intent to offend anyone or disparage anyone. If we did, we sincerely apologize.

We can only imagine what you guys went through coming home, and would never attack you--and anyone else who served in Vietnam. We view Vietnam vets as our brothers--and true mentors. And the Chairman of our Board is himself a Vietnam veteran.

Pat Campbell, Todd Bowers, me and our entire team at IAVA have always been honored to work alongside Bob Wallace, Eric Hilleman and the entire DC VFW team. We also work closely with the Vietnam vets at the Legion, VVA, DAV and all our other brothers and sisters in the larger VSO/MSO community.

These folks know us well. And know that we have nothing but respect for your service--and that of all those in your generation. We believe it, and we say it anytime we have the chance.

The GI Bill victory last year and our recent meetings with the President on the ridiculous third-party billing scheme showed what we can do if we all stick together. I hope we can keep that level of unity going forward--especially in the fight for Advanced Funding--which benefits us all.

I also hope that this week we can all focus on the larger issues surrounding the Camp Liberty tragedy, address the mental health urgency, and use this as a wake-up call to better serve our fellow vets. Any in-fighting between our groups will only distract from more important issues that confront our nation in this critical time.

I would be happy to talk to you, or anyone else at the VFW who is free today or later this week to discuss this further. If you have any other thoughts or suggestions about this issue, please send them my way. We would appreciate your guidance.

Again, we are very sorry.

And I hope we can all work together as our nation deals with this terrible tragedy at Camp Liberty.

Thank you very much.

Best,

Paul

Thank you VFW for putting pressure where it was needed.

Thank you Paul for the apology.

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TOPICS: veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs, IAVA, Paul Rieckhoff, VFW, fragging