The purpose of the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association (AVVBA) is to promote patriotism and sponsor activities of a patriotic nature among the business community, to recognize those who served and honor those who gave their lives in the Vietnam War, and to promote the positive image of the Vietnam Veteran, their dependents and the widows and orphans of deceased Vietnam Veterans.

The AVVBA was founded in 1981 by Vietnam Veterans who wanted to honor their fallen comrades. From 1987 to 2014, the AVVBA dedicated 27 Memorials in the Greater Atlanta Area to honor our fallen brothers and the sacrifice of their families. We have attempted to convey to these families that we as veterans and we as a nation still owe them the appreciation and recognition many were denied at the time of the death of their loved ones. We honor these men for at least two reasons.

First, because they made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country. In the third verse of the song America the Beautiful, the lyricist Katherine Lee Bates wrote:

Oh Beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife
Who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life.

She wrote of these men whom we have honored and of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who have given their lives in service to our country throughout our history. She wrote of the “some” who “gave all”.

Second, we honor them as a reminder and example to the citizens of our nation that in a healthy society, the fallen warriors must be honored and the sacrifice of their families must be recognized and appreciated and validated. We honor them so that our service men and women of today will be applauded as they walk through the airport terminals of our nation instead of ignored or shunned and insulted.

In addition to our memorials, AVVBA supports the USO in welcoming and assisting our service men and women as they transit the Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport. We provide financial support and twice a month our volunteers staff the USO facility at the Airport to serve and assist our current warriors.

AVVBA and its members have worked in partnership with the Atlanta History Center (AHC) to develop the Vietnam Legacy Project which seeks to accurately preserve and communicate the contribution that Vietnam Veterans have made to our community and our country. The AHC was also the site for our very successful Vietnam War Symposium, where we tried to emphasize the truths and factual history of this conflict which often go misrepresented.

AVVBA has for many years participated in the annual Atlanta Veterans Day Parade, winning the “Marching Unit” award a number of times and always enjoying the camaraderie while representing our generation of Veterans with dignity and pride.

The AVVBA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation, is raising money to provide college scholarships to our military service men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, to help them get an educational start in life. We view this as one generation of veterans helping the next.

Although membership in AVVBA is limited to those Veterans who served in Vietnam, we invite and welcome the support of all who share our goals. We meet once a month for a luncheon, frequently with outstanding speakers.