PERSONAL CONTACT AND INTERVIEW

* Beatty, Robert, Management Analysis Officer, Veterans Administration, Federal Building, 1100 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90024

* Cardyn, Hacker, Veteran Affairs Office Manager, Cal State, Long Beach Veteran Affairs Office

* Hendrix, Kathleen, staff-writer of The Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053

* Herbel, Deborah, Intak worker, Venice Vet Center, 1406 Pacific Ave., Venice, CA 90291. Tel: (213) 392-4127

* Martin, Keth A. Director, Moringland Veterans Sanctuary, 2600 E. Seventh Street, Long Beach, CA 90804

* Mashad, Shad, Regional Director of the VA's Operation Outreach Program of Storefront Vet Centers, Los Angeles. Tel: (213) 824-3187

* Van Devaanter Lynda M. Director of Vietnam Veterans of America Women’s Project, 329 Eighth Street, N.E. Washington D.C. 20002. Tel: (202) 546-3700.

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Lynda Van Devanter 

Press Release November 15, 2002 
(301) 585-4000 Contact: Mokie Porter

VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA MOURNS THE LOSS OF LYNDA VAN DEVANTER

(Washington, D.C) - Lynda Van Devanter, one of the nation's foremost women's veterans advocates, died November 15, at her home in Herndon, Virginia, after a long illness. "This is an extremely sad occasion," said Thomas H. Corey, national president of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). "Lynda was a giant in the field of veterans affairs. She was a forceful and effective advocate for all veterans. She was a valued friend, a devoted colleague, an accomplished nurse, and a loving mother and wife. She will be missed terribly."

Lynda Van Devanter, who was born in 1947, served as a U.S. Army nurse at the 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku from 1969-70. In 1979, a year after the founding of Vietnam Veterans of America, she helped launch and became the head of VVA's Women's Project. She also began counseling other Vietnam veterans and conducting seminars around the country.

In 1983, she wrote a highly acclaimed memoir, Home Before Morning, which was reissued in 2002. "Lynda's book stands as one of the most powerful, evocative, and influential Vietnam War memoirs," said Marc Leepson, the arts editor of VVA's national newspaper, The VVA Veteran. "Home Before Morning" changed people's attitudes about the women who served in the Vietnam War, especially the nurses who faced the brutality of the war every day and whose service was all but ignored during the war and in the years immediately after."

Vietnam Veterans of America honored Lynda Van Devanter with its Excellence in the Arts Award in 1987 and with the VVA Commendation Medal in March of 2002. "It was the least we could do to recognize what Lynda has done for America's veterans. She truly exemplified our motto, 'In Service to America.' Her loss is a tragedy for her family and for all Americans who care about veterans,"said Corey. 

### Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families. VVA's founding principle is "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another." 

Vietnam Veterans of America ®
8605 Cameron Street, Suite 400 Silver Spring, Maryland 20910-3710 301-585-4000, Fax 301-585-0519, 1-800-VVA-1316 Copyright © 2002 by the Vietnam Veterans of America. All rights reserved.