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Most recent update of this page:
March 22, 2005 |
Lou Dechert Administration
 Lou Dechert of Louisiana was duly sworn in as
national president of the KWVA on July 27, 2004, by Executive Council member Jim Ferris. It was not a
smooth transition, even though Illinois CPA Michael Witherspoon's official accounting of the voting results
indicated that Dechert won the election with 2107 votes, beating out opponents Jack Edwards (1753 votes) and
J.D. Randolph (426 votes) by a wide margin.
Dechert was scheduled to be sworn in as the new president at an Executive Council meeting held in Dayton,
Ohio, on July 26. The meeting was conducted by Harley Coon, illegal president of the KWVA. Present
were H. Coon, J. Edwards, K. Cook, D. Byers, M. Mahoney, J. Jones, W. MacSwain, D. Wenzel, J. Ferris, J.
Perrillo, J. McKinniss, and S. Grogan. Absent were J. DeLap, J. Lake, W. Weidhahn. Rather than
swearing in the rightful winner of the Year 2004 election, outgoing officials who had lost their bid for
reelection, as well as Coonite supporters of the illegal administration of Harley Coon, attempted to stage a
coup.
Ignoring the wishes of the members who had voted in the election, Dot Schilling Wenzel made a motion (in the
form of a resolution) to not install Dechert as president of the KWVA. She stated that she had "heard
rumors" regarding election improprieties on the part of Dechert. Based on those rumors, she moved that a
committee consisting of Coonites Jones, Grogan, McKinniss and Wenzel be appointed by Coon to "investigate the
rumors" and report at the annual meeting in September. Included in the Wenzel motion was a recommendation
to not seat Dechert until the rumor investigation was concluded. Jim Ferris and Bill MacSwain, the only
two non-Coonites on the Executive Council, voted against the resolution. All others (Edwards abstained)
voted in favor of it.
This passed motion was followed by a motion from presidential losing candidate Jack Edwards that, since the
KWVA was without leadership, Harley Coon be appointed acting president until the September meeting. This
motion, passed by all but Ferris and MacSwain, granted a fourth illegal term of office as president of the KWVA
to Harley Coon. Edwards then led a move to cancel what was to have been the first Executive Council
meeting under the leadership of Lou Dechert. Edwards also stated that, since the newly-elected individuals
were now "leaderless" because of the passed Wenzel motion, there should be a freeze on their installation as new
officers of the KWVA.
Dechert left the meeting, called the Ohio Attorney Generals of Ohio and New York, and invoked sanctions
against the KWVA. After meetings in Columbus, Ohio with state officials, the crisis was resolved and
Dechert finally took his rightful place as president of the KWVA with limited delay, in spite of Coonite
attempts to block him from ending the Coon Administration. The first business meeting of the Executive
Council under Lou Dechert's leadership took place on July 27 as scheduled.
The books and financial records of the KWVA were not turned over to the Dechert administration at that time,
nor was the Graybeards or the website. These issues are resolved several weeks later.
For more information about the current state of affairs of the KWVA, click on www.kwva.org.
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Status - Unreturned Money
With the Year 2004 election over for the KWVA, and Lou Dechert now the organization's new president, the
money owed by the Korean War Veterans Association to the Korean War Educator has now been returned to the Korean
War Educator. Repeat visitors who have visited our KWVA News page will recall that the KWE's advertisement
(pre-paid two years in advance) in The Graybeards was pulled from that magazine by Editor Vincent Krepps
because of the appearance of KWVA News on the Korean War Educator late last year. KWVA News promotes the
fundamental values of the KWVA, while at the same time informs the public about wrongdoings within the Harley
Coon administration. The debt owed by the Korean War Veterans Association to the KWE for the pulled
advertising is now paid in full. The check arrived on November 1, 2004.
In September of 2004, Lou Dechert indicated that the Korean War Educator may now resume advertising in the
Graybeards. The KWE opted not to do that. It is the position of the Korean War Educator that Vincent
Krepps and Harley Coon should not have conspired to stop the KWE's advertisement in the first place. It
was a disgraceful attempt by a veteran's organization to stifle the Freedom of Speech of Coon's opponents.
As one of his final vindictive acts as illegal president of the KWVA, Harley Coon contacted the Korean War
Educator's major funding source--the McCormick Tribune Foundation--to discourage that foundation's support of
this important, educational resource. Coon did not act alone. He asked his supporters on the
Executive Council of the KWVA to join with him in his effort to sabotage the Korean War Educator's funding.
To the disgrace of the KWVA, they did his bidding and began a successful telephone campaign against the Korean
War Educator to the McCormick Tribune Foundation. Lynnita Brown filed a formal 17-point complaint against
Harley Coon with the Executive Council of the Korean War Veterans Association in 2004, asking for the council to
permanently remove Harley Coon as a member of the KWVA for his multitude of crimes against the members of the
KWVA, associate member Brown herself, and the Korean War Educator Foundation. Following an Executive
Council meeting of the KWVA in March of 2005, Brown received an e-mail from current KWVA president Lou Dechert.
He informed her that the council will not follow through on her complaint "for the good of the order." The
complaint has been dismissed by a council which has turned a blind eye to the Coon injustices against the Korean
War Educator and Lynnita Brown.
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