The FAIR Foundation is dedicated to fair and equitable distributions of Nation Institutes of Health (NIH) research funds for all diseases, including the sixteen that kill more Americans than AIDS.

ViêtNow warmly welcomes all Veterans as members. We encourage all Veterans to join
ViêtNow by clicking here or by phoning 1-800-837-VNOW.

How did ViêtNow get started?

Legend has it that in Vietnam, sometime in 1969, two soldiers from the same hometown (Rockford, Illinois) met each other on a hilltop near Pleiku and promised each other that if they ever made it back home, they would get together to talk over their wartime adventures. Sometime in the early 1980s, a group of Vietnam veterans did come together to share their experiences.

From those beginnings, ViêtNow was formed...first with a group in Rockford that just kept growing and growing, until a few years later, the group went national, forming chapters all around the country. Since those days, ViêtNow has changed with the times...starting with a focus on the Vietnam experience, and along the way accepting all veterans and tackling veterans' issues right up to the present day.

But no matter what the issue, the primary focus of ViêtNow has always been on the veterans and the families of the veterans. Important issues ViêtNow is working to improve are the following: POW/MIAs, Agent Orange, Homeless Vets, Support of “Women in Military Service Memorial,” VA Hospital volunteers, Gulf War Illness, PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Illness), Incarcerated Veterans, lobbying efforts in Washington, DC, and Hepatitis C.

Indeed, hepatitis C is the single most important emerging pathogen in the VA healthcare system. The prevalence in veterans is 20-30% with as many as 280,000-350,000 being infected. Hepatitis C accounts for 55% of all liver transplants in the VA and 63% of all infected Veterans fought in the Vietnam War. Many attribute this high number to the injection guns used to inoculate troops during that era. Hepatitis C kills almost as many Americans as AIDS and is 3-5 times as prevalent. The NIH is spending $25 on each Vet with Hepatitis C in research versus $3,084 on each AIDS patient.

Dr. Darling, a ViêtNow member, gives a FAIR presentation below at the 2007 Annual Convention
in Naperville, Illinois. We are immensely grateful for the support of the FAIR Foundation by ViêtNow.

ViêtNow's President, Rich Sanders, addresses the audience in front of the
display with plaques memorializing those who have passed away.

ViêtNow gives emotional and financial support to the Gold Star Mothers, affectionately know as
the Gold Star Moms, an organization of mothers who have lost a son or daughter in the service
of our country.

From the left, POW Mom Dorothy Boyer, Gold Star Moms Teresa Davis, Shirley
Jones, then Officer Janis Nark hugging Shirley and on her right and Mary Wheeler
on her left. To hear a tribute of "We Love You!!" by the ViêtNow members to the
Gold Star Moms at their annual convention dinner, click here.

ViêtNow also helps to support
"Son's and Daughters in Touch-They Were our Fathers"
in return trips to Vietnam by the children of the men who
perished in Vietnam while fighting for our country. Son's and Daughters in Touch
(SDIT) helps the children of Vietnam Vets who make this pilgrimage to visit and
memorialize the sites where their fathers were killed in action.

This file photo shows Michelle Baugh in Vietnam where she memorialized her dad
SP4 Richard E. Givens, and brought pictures of his grandchildren to
be with granddad.

POW/MIAs...Never Forgotten...

Indeed, God Bless them and God Bless America.