Bill McCann, president and founder of Vittles for Vets in Radford, launched the charity with the expressed purpose of giving a hand up to our veterans who have fallen on hard times through the gift of food cards.
McCann announced this week the organization has recently rolled out a new program that honors and commemorates veterans. It is the Wall of Honor page on the charity’s website, www.vittlesforvetsradfordva.com.
This tribute has been months in the making and is dedicated to the remembrance of loved ones who served in the Armed Forces. The opportunity to post a testimonial on the Wall of Honor is open to the family and friends of veterans (both alive and deceased) who would like to pay homage to that special person. For a small fee of $100, the posting will remain on the wall indefinitely. Proceeds will be used for the purchase of food gift cards to be distributed to local veterans in need, which is the core mission of Vittles for Vets.
McCann said he has posted a memorial to SSgt. Walter Howard. McCann said, Howard “was my squad leader in Vietnam. He was a soldier’s soldier who loved his men dearly. I will forever miss his large smile.”
McCann suggests the example of SSgt. Howard’s Wall of Honor memorial can be used as a blueprint for submissions by others on behalf of their loved one. To be published are the veteran’s name, rank, hometown, dates of service, branch of service and area of deployment. A picture of the veteran can be posted (optional) as well as a 50-word testimonial (again, optional).
McCann cautions that all postings must be respectful of not only the veteran to whom it is dedicated but also of their family and friends and all who may view the page.
The Wall of Honor is “hallowed ground” and will be treated as such. All submissions will be reviewed, and if they are found to be offensive in any way the submissions and the checks will be returned to the sender.
Said McCann about the memorial, “As a veteran who served with the 4th Infantry Division in Tuy’Hoa and Pleiku, Vietnam, from September 1966 until September 1967, many of my brethren will remain “forever young” in my memory. I consider it a privilege and an honor to commemorate these young warriors with a place of perpetual honor and remembrance. It is my sincere hope that there are those of you out there who feel as I do about our service members, whether they died in a war, passed years later, or are with us today.
“They are all heroes, in their own right,” the charity’s founder said, “and should be praised and honored for their dedication and service in the protection of our American way of life. For the loved one of a veteran, a Wall of Honor tribute will bring comfort and a sense of pride. For those of us who lost brothers in the war, the tribute may bring some comfort and closure.
McCann said, “Please join me in celebrating our veterans through your memory of him or her by offering assistance, in their name, to the many veterans living among us who are in dire need but refuse to ask for help due to the pride of the military personal. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.”
