Tom Kelly – Chairperson

Tom lives in Lanesboro, County Longford where he settled upon returning to Ireland after the Vietnam War.  He served as Sergeant with the initial contingent of 173^rd Airborne in Vietnam.

Libby Coyne – Secretary

Libby was born in Australia, and is a respected member of the Artists Association of Ireland.  Married to Michael, she is deeply involved in Irish American Legion work with JFK Post 63 in Dublin, and is President of the American Legion Women’s Auxiliary.

Brendan Dodd – Treasurer

A Dubliner, Brendan spent many years in the US Military, serving firstly in USAF, before enlisting in the US Army, and serving in Vietnam with the 196^th Infantry.

Ron Howko

American by birth, Ron is a Veteran US Army Broadcaster before retiring to the peaceful and rugged beauty of County Mayo where he and his wife Helen pursue their many and varied activities.

A Galway man by birth, Michael and Libby now live in County Meath via much travelling and adventures.  Michael served in 1^st Squad, 11^th Armoured Cav, Vietnam in 1967-68.  For an Irish television documentary, Michael recently returned to Vietnam for the first time since his soldiering days.

John hails from the historic town of Enniscorthy, County Wexford from where he left many years ago, ending up in Australia.  Like so many Irish lads, John joined the Australian military and in the 50s found himself in Korea where he served with great distinction with 3^rd Royal Australian Regiment.  At Veteran gatherings, John proudly wears a US Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon among his awards.  Equally historically, John now lives on Vinegar Hill in Enniscorthy – a well known site of Irish historical interest.

Gay is well known in the West of Ireland for his hospitality.  His brother Patrick Christopher Nevin, served as a Paratrooper in Vietnam, and became the first acknowledged Irish-born soldier to die serving with the US Military in that war.  Living in the family home in Claremorris, Co Mayo, Gay became an eloquent spokesperson for his own family, and for many others, during The Wall’s historic visit to Ireland in 1999.

Ted Somers now lives back in his native Camolin, County Wexford, returning some years ago having travelled around the globe, and having served with the 1^st Royal Australian Regiment in Vietnam.  Attached to the 173^rd Airborne while in Vietnam, Trooper Ted Somers and Sgt Tom Kelly (above) made firm friends in-country, but left Vietnam each believing the other to be dead.  They re-met by chance when The Wall came to Ireland in 1999.

Coordinator

Born in Dublin in 1953, Declan left for England in 1971, spending most of the next 18 years living and working in various locations in that country, and further afield.  From 1981 onwards, he had involvement in social and development issues, ranging from trades union work to a kidnap case on the Iran-Iraq border, from refugee work to broader development issues.

Returning to Ireland in 1989, Declan worked closely with Ireland’s small Vietnamese community.  Organiser of the annual Good Friday Service in St Patrick’s Cathedral for 10 years, Declan also developed an interest in Irish who served in Vietnam, and in 1998 was instigator of the search for those who lost their lives.  He was instigator and Irish Co-ordinator of the unique Tour of the Four Provinces of Ireland of the replica Vietnam Memorial, during April and May of 1999.

 (See The Veteran article - The Fighting Irish on the Traveling Wall, Aug/Sept 99).

Following that historic tour, Declan travelled overland from Los Angeles to Washington DC with hundreds of motorcycle Veterans of Run For The Wall, in May 1999 for Memorial Day.

Declan is presently Co-ordinator of the Irish Veterans Memorial Project.