Veterans to gather in Rogers

Veterans from across the South will gather in Rogers this weekend for an annual conference that will honor veterans and educate on veterans' needs.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Southern Conference will be held at the Embassy Suites, 3303 S. Pinnacle Hills Parkway in Rogers.

Gary Wellesley said people will travel to Rogers from 14 states to recognize Brian Duffy, the national commander-in-chief who is from Kentucky. Wellesley is a past state commander for the Department of Arkansas VFW and is helping to organize the conference.

The conference begins at 4 p.m. Friday with a memorial for veterans who have died within the past year and opening conference meetings. Official business starts Saturday, said Rosalyn Cox, state commander of Arkansas VFW.

"Ultimately, for us, it's a great time to showcase Arkansas," Cox said.

The conference rotates among the states each year and is held in Arkansas once every 14 years. This year, the VFW in Rogers and the VFW in Little Rock submitted competing bids to get the conference.

"I went to the Embassy Suites and got them to submit a bid, which got accepted," Wellesley said Monday.

More than 600 people attended the conference in Savannah, Ga., last year, Wellesley said.

Will Beams expects approximately 650 people to attend this year's conference. Beams is a Hot Springs resident who serves as state judge advocate for the VFW.

Erin Jernigan, convention sales manager for the Rogers Convention & Visitors Bureau, said 650 attendees is "standard, but on the larger side of the spectrum" for events in Rogers.

"The significance of the event is for the leadership of the 14 Southern states to get together and conduct business that affects those 14 states within the national organization, such as putting forth our candidate for junior vice commander and chief for the national organization," Beams said.

Every four years, one of the four VFW conferences is designated to select a junior vice commander in chief candidate. Last year, the Southern Conference selected Harold "Hal" Roach, Beams said.

Roach, who is the national inspector general for the VFW, will attend the conference along with several other national officers, including Duffy, Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief Keith Harman and Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief B.J. Lawrence, Cox said.

Those attending the conference will learn about issues affecting veterans, Wellesley said.

"We're going to have some serious schooling in parts, and we'll have drop-ins to attend the schooling," he said.

The education Wellesley is referring to includes youth programs and seminars on an array of topics, including unmet needs of veterans and how to raise and spend money wisely for veterans. Honors will also be presented to Teacher of the Year and Boy Scout of the Year, Wellesley said.

Conference attendees can take side trips to experience Northwest Arkansas and its many attractions or attend a golf tournament in Rogers that many veterans will participate in, Cox said.

Cox said she is going to take Duffy to meet Lois Bouton, a Rogers World War II veteran who is known as "The Coast Guard Lady."

"She is one of the original female Coast Guard (members) and one of the first women to go through radioman school," Cox said. "It's significant for me to take him to meet her because I am the first female state commander in Arkansas and the first Coast Guardsman to become a commander in Arkansas."

The Rogers VFW is named Wallis-Witcher VFW Post 3031 and is located at 11160 N. Old Wire Road. It was chartered in 1980 and has 416 members that includes veterans from all wars since World War II, with about 250 members being veterans of the Vietnam War, Wellesley said.

"Last year we were Post of the Year (statewide)," Wellesley said. "We won a National Community Service Award, which is an accumulation of community service hours."

Rogers' VFW received the award in part for performing 138 honor guard duties at 138 funerals and 36 color guard activities where they post colors at business and schools and lead parades, he said, adding the group serves an important function.

"(We) honor and empower veterans, honor those who are lost and fight legislatively for veteran benefits," he said. "Young veterans don't understand the legislative history of the VFW. (Approximately) 550,000 veterans are going to school on the GI Bill. Those kids don't understand that there wouldn't be a GI Bill if the VFW, (Military Order) of the Purple Heart and Disabled American Veterans hadn't been there to put pressure on Congress. We work to keep what we have and get more of what we need."

NW News on 10/25/2016