Final Honors

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS SEVEN.

     There were seven men who felt it was time to start a new Vietnam Veteran chapter in the Soddy-Daisy area of Hamilton County;  Dennis Dent, Jim Johnson, Ted Kemp, John Mayes, David Newell, Charlie Richardson, and Jim Shull.  They held their first meeting at the American Legion Post 107 in Soddy in July, 2004.  They had start-up guides and began soliciting new members.  Ads were placed with the local radio stations and newspaper, and they set up two days of soliciting members at the Soddy-Daisy Wal-mart and the Dayton Wal-mart.  By the end of September, 28 men had joined the forming chapter and on October 26, Chapter 942 of the Vietnam Veterans of America was chartered, the fastest any chapter had been formed in the state of Tennessee.