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Mary Graybill, APR, Fellow PRSA,
Graybill Communications
310-441-2899
mary@graybillcom.com
Department of Veterans Affairs to Become 21st Century Organization
Go For Broke National Education Center hosts update forum for Nisei vet groups
TORRANCE, CA (July 31, 2009)– William W. McLemore, a retired US Army Colonel and former Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental and International Affairs, will address ongoing efforts to transform the VA into a 21st century organization and also respond to questions in an open forum at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo, 12:30 - 2 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 14, 2009. The question and answer session with the VA expert is free and open to all veterans of all wars and their families and is part of the program for the upcoming meeting of national Nisei veterans' organizations. Space is limited. To participate, veterans and families must RSVP by Monday, Aug. 10 to Robi Shibao-Martin at 310-222-5715 or robi@goforbroke.org.
The special Veterans Affairs information session has been arranged by Go For Broke National Education Center (GFBNEC), which is also hosting the meeting for a national network of World War II Japanese American veterans' organizations. The participating veterans' groups will gather Aug. 13 and 14 to share ideas and collaborate on common goals to preserve and advance the legacy of the heroic Japanese American soldiers of World War II. Other sessions of the two-day conference are closed and limited to representatives of participating Nisei veterans' organizations.
Lt. Col. McLemore is now the Congressional and Veterans Service Organization Liaison for the Heart of Texas Veterans Health Care Network where he is responsible for maintaining communication and flow of information with both the VA and elected officials. In his previous seven-year role as deputy assistant secretary at the VA, he directed the department's international, intergovernmental and homeless outreach, and its consumer affairs programs. Leading to that position, he was senior advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, instrumental in developing initiatives to improve services for veterans, including a top-to-bottom review of the VA claims process and formation of a Regional Veterans Service Organization liaison program. For 14 years before joining the VA, Lt. Col. McLemore directed Veterans Services for Travis County in Austin, Texas, the largest such office in the state. He was widely recognized for establishing one of the most comprehensive veterans' outreach and assistance programs in the nation.
Lt. Col. McLemore enlisted in the US Army in 1965 and experienced his first combat tour with the 82nd Airborne Division in the Dominican Republic. After he was selected for Officer Candidate School and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, he served three combat tours in Vietnam. Lt. Col. McLemore retired from active duty in 1986.
GFBNEC was also the host and organizer for the first meeting of the national veterans' network, held at the Center for the Preservation of Democracy in November 2008. There were 18 Nisei veterans' organizations that joined in the meeting and more are expected to participate in this second meeting.
The Go For Broke National Education Center teaches the values of citizenship, patriotism, and leadership embodied in the American story of a unique group of World War II soldiers of Japanese ancestry through education and preservation programs.
Its work includes: Hanashi Oral History Program, the nation's largest video oral history collection of its kind, the American Story Teacher Training Program, a Resource Center, interactive educational initiatives and the Go For Broke Monument in the Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles. Resources, including the oral history archive, lesson plans, historical content and membership, are available by clicking on the GFBNEC website at www.goforbroke.org.
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