Page 2 - DFCS News Magazine Summer 2015

By this me many of you have received no ca on about contac ng PCI to update your DFCS membership data. We partnered with PCI, who has a good reputa on and track record, for several important reasons; the rst being it would enable us to
update our data les with addi onal informa on, as well as correc ng outdated data. This new di- rectory would also allow members who missed out on having their stories in our DFC book “On Heroic Wings: Stories of the Dis nguished Flying Cross” to be included. In addi on, it will provide addi onal funding to the DFC Society. There is an ar cle in this issue that gives greater details.
On another note, we need your help!!! We have hit a couple of roadblocks/speed bumps in trying to produce the DFC Documentary and are asking our members for help. We need a member who is currently in the highest levels of management or knows someone in USAA who would ght to have USAA sponsor the Documentary. We need the same help in other aerospace companies like Lockheed Mar n, Boeing, General Dynamics, Pra & Whitney, General Electric, L-3, Sikorsky, Bell Helicopters, and other poten al sponsors like GEICO, Enterprise Car Rental, American Airlines, etc. If you can meet this need or know poten al sponsors, please contact me (csweeney@dfcsociety.org) or Bruce Hu man (bhu man@dfcsociety.org).
In line with the 2016 conven on theme, “Heroic Women of the DFC”, we are con nuing our quest to locate more women recipients. We have suc- cessfully recruited, as DFC Society members, elev- en women who were awarded DFCs. We have contacted two more recipients and are just wai ng for their applica ons to arrive. I will, hopefully, put the list in the next magazine. We will con nue to search, locate, and recruit other women into the Society. Speaking of recrui ng, once again, I’m asking our members to please recruit other DFC recipients who you know or meet at events. Some mes you have to be per-
sistent. Informa on on the 2016 Conven on is in this issue.
Thanks to Greg Mac Neil and his team, rebranding of the DFC Society is progressing well. The new shirts, co ee mugs, bumper s ckers and window decals nicely complement the challenge coins, which con n- ue to be a big seller. Greg is working on several other items that will con nue the rebranding endeavor. All of these items are very e ec ve adver sing pieces, as you never know who will see them and ask ques ons about the DFC Society. Also, remember our book, “On Heroic Wings: Stories of the Dis nguished Flying Cross” is another way of adver sing the DFC Society. It opens up a dialog when you have it se ng on your co ee table. Another way to get the word out about our Society is dona ng a copy of this great book to your local ROTC/JROTC units.
A very successful educa onal and marke ng program started last year in San Diego. It all started with the recruitment of baseball icon and Marine aviator, Jerry Coleman, and evolved into the San Diego Padres hon- oring the DFC Society. We had 22 members of the San Diego Lindbergh Chapter on the eld at Petco Park on July 20, 2014 (a video of this event is on our website). A er realizing the advantage of the publici- ty, the idea (and video) was passed to Bill Brad eld, President of the rejuvenated Paci c Northwest Chap- ter. Bill enlisted the aid of DFCS member, Tom Hay- ward, former Chief of Naval Opera ons. Tom con- tacted the Sea le Mariners and, they honored 27 DFC Society members at Safeco Park on July 12, 2015 (video can be viewed on our www.dfcsociety.org website, click on the ‘News’ tab and click the link.
On August 23, 2015, the San Diego Padres again hon- ored Vietnam Veterans who were members of the San Diego Lindbergh Chapter and the Riverside Chap- ter. All three events recruited new members, re- newed inac ve members and sold DFCS shirts. Hope- fully next season will see some more ball clubs follow this posi ve trend.
Thank you all for being members and please do what you can to support your
local chapters.
Presidents Message
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Chuck Sweeney, President/CEO