In 1984 and again during 1989 – 1991, the National Vietnam Veterans Coalition directed media attention to remedial legislation concerning Agent Orange, and played a significant role in the passage of legislation in 1984 and 1991 providing for benefits.

Extensive Coalition resources have also been dedicated to helping members and non-members alike in their search for information from the United States and other governments about American servicemen reported missing-in-action or held captive in Vietnam.

The Coalition played a critical role in securing passage of legislation to establish the select Senate Committee on POW/MIAs. In turn, this led to long-sought declassification of most POW/MIA intelligence materials.

From its ten member beginnings, the National Vietnam Veterans Coalition has grown to its present strength of over 90 member organizations representing Vietnam and Gulf War veterans throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia, and has since changed its organization name to the National Vietnam & Gulf War Veterans Coalition.

Originally, the strategy of the Coalition was to concentrate the entire Vietnam veterans movement on a single issue. Thus, while the first Agent Orange bill was pending in Congress in 1984, we directed massive media attention to that debate.

We are credited with pushing that bill over when it was short of votes in the United States Senate. During the next major legislative push for Agent Orange legislation in 1990, the Coalition was the only non-chartered veterans organization even permitted to testify before the House of Representatives.

Beginning in August 1984, the Coalition has concentrated on the live prisoner-of-war issue, seeking to pressure more meaningful action. It has assisted numerous groups and individuals, both within and without the Coalition, who seek to publicize or dramatize the fact that POWs continue to be held. The Coalition has, for example, played an important, often behind-the-scenes role in assisting or promoting numerous actors, from the producers of several video documentaries through Robert Garwood. It has carried these concerns as far afield as a face-to-face meeting in the Kremlin with Nikolai Ryzhkov, then premier of the Soviet Union.

During the 1988 and 1996 Presidential elections, the Coalition successfully encouraged several hundred candidates to run for convention delegates in both parties.

Its advocacy and Congressional testimony in support of judicial review before the 100th Congress contributed to the pressure that resulted in the historic compromise legislation creating the new Court of Veterans Appeals.

In 1991, the Coalition played a critical role in securing the passage of legislation to declassify POW/MIA reports before the United States House of Representatives and to establish a Senate Committee on the POW/MIA issue. The Coalition was instrumental in securing the passage of the Missing Personnel Act of 1996 to reform the manner in which MIA cases are resolved.

In 2004, the Coalition endorsed over 100 candidates for the US Senate and House of Representatives who have supported, and/or promised to support, veterans issues and legislation.

The Coalition continues to remain active on the POW/MIA issue and in 2004/2005 has been working closely with DPMO in a more productive setting to aid in securing a full accounting or ALL missing servicemen.

Coalition members have been supportive in attending rallys and demonstrations on behalf of those men left behind and had been instrumental in demonstrating against Prime Minister Khai during his visit to the U.S. in the summer of 2005.

The Coalition continues to support legislation that will continue to benefit our veterans and our future veterans.

The Coalition is recognized under Section 501 (c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code as a non-profit organization. It has an annually elected board of directors consisting of thirteen members.

National Vietnam & Gulf War Veterans Coalition
2020 Pennsylvania Avenue #961
Washington, DC 20006
<http://www.veterans-coalition.org/>
veterans-coalition@comcast.net