Dissenting Voices - KWVA Ad Hoc Group on Yahoo

KWVA Ad Hoc Group (a Round Table Discussion Group)
Those persons interested in joining a round table discussion group with the sole purpose of sending and receiving information about the KWVA will be pleased to know about Don Finch’s KWVA Ad Hoc Group on the Internet. In recent weeks, the group’s message board has been lit up with lively conversations about the leadership of the Korean War Veterans Association. Among the most interesting comments are messages posted by the KWVA national president, Harley Coon. No words from the Korean War Educator can describe the content of his messages. They must be read by the viewer him or herself for their full impact. All messages on the KWVA Ad Hoc Group are "archived." That means that each and every one of the messages posted there can be retrieved for readers’ perusal.

According to Don Finch, the KWVA-AD-HOC Yahoo e-mail discussion group was formed in April 2001, to monitor the operation of the national KWVA and to hopefully right the wrongs that he and others think still seem to prevail. "I decided that KWVA veterans needed a sounding board, so I started the KWVA-Ad-Hoc group." Since then, the round table has fulfilled the need of concerned KWVA members to have a common meeting place where they could share their concerns and ideas. This group was set up to see what could be done about the way the national KWVA is currently being run. As of September 1, 2003, there were 61 members on the KWVA Ad Hoc Discussion Group, with new members being added constantly.

Don Finch quit school at age 17 to sign up with the US Navy in January of 1951. He was called up for active duty in April 1951 and sent to the Naval Training Station at Newport, RI for boot training. (He celebrated his 18th birthday by obeying orders on his third day in boot camp.) Upon completion of training, he was assigned to duty aboard the destroyer tender USS Arcadia AD 23, which had been mothballed at Norfolk, VA since its decommissioning. Arcadia was part of the Fleet Train for the Sixth Fleet. "The Arcadia was being re-commissioned for active duty," Don said. "I spent the hot summer loading supplies aboard. Later, we were underway for Newport, RI, which would be Arcadia's home port. My duty section was the Boat Engine Repair Shop, where I worked my way up in rate from Fireman Apprentice to Fireman Engine Striker diesel to Engineman 3rd Class. I was in charge of the Boat Engine Repair Shop." He was discharged on April 27, 1954, the day before his 21st birthday. In 1995, Finch joined the Western New York Chapter of the KWVA. He offered to start a chapter newsletter and has been editor since then. He served one year as 1st Vice President, which included being Membership Chairman. Don is a researcher, editor, and webmaster of the "For a Clean Tonawanda Site" (F.A.C.T.S.) Inc. website. The site deals with Tonawanda, New York and the Manhattan Project (world’s first atomic bombs). The site received 68,253 hits in March of 2003.

Finch tells the Korean War Educator that the following are a few of the problems that the members of the KWVA-Ad-Hoc group address in their round table discussions:

• The president ran for a 3rd term even though the bylaws didn't allow this.
• The Graybeards Magazine is a fine publication, but totally censored.
• Bylaws are ignored.
• Communications are either unanswered, or they are answered with disdainful remarks
• The organization is being run as a dictatorship.
• If anyone disagrees with what is being said or done, attempts are made to remove that person from the organization.

The Ad Hoc Group moderator points out the following disclaimers associated with the use of the message board:

• DISCLAIMER #1: Postings reflect the opinions of the individual writers. They are presented as is and are not checked for veracity. Being of a thought-provoking nature, they should be used to stimulate discussions among the members as outlined above in the Description.
• DISCLAIMER #2: The opinions expressed by the Moderator do not, necessarily, reflect the views of the Western New York Chapter of the KWVA (WNYKWVA)
• BASIC RULES: No ad hominem postings (appealing to feelings or prejudices rather than intellect or an attack on an opponent's character rather than by an answer to the contentions made); No profanity; When posting a <Reply>, remove any extraneous text; Use plain common sense.
• HOW TO JOIN: To join, send an e-mail to the group moderator, Don Finch: with your name, what area you are from and an e-mail address (this is required information). You can also access the group for membership submission by going to the KWVA Ad-Hoc Group in the Yahoo Groups Forum. You can submit your name if you are already a Yahoo member. If you are not a Yahoo member, you will need to do this before joining the group.
• Anonymous requests to join will not be accepted.
  -It would be appreciated if you would pass this along to other individuals, chapters, and newsletter editors in your area.