Greetings to all the families
and members of the Coalition. It is my honor and privilege to have been selected as your
new President. I am humbled and proud to be chosen for this very important office. I want
to promise you that I will dedicate myself to the organization's mission, and to keep the
government tasked at giving the fullest possible accounting of our loved ones. A broader
vision is to see the expansion of membership in the coalition as well as utilizing the talents of
our members to be a more effective organization. Plans for moving forward in all of these areas
are already in process.
I want to extend my
absolute appreciation to Donna Knox, our outgoing President. Donna has been a
pivotal leader of the Coalition for a number of years, laboring tirelessly to promote
our cause, and fortunately she has agreed to continue to contribute to it. As President,
and one of the original founders of the Coalition, she has assisted in charting a steady,
successful course for the organization over the years. It will be a challenge for me to
live up to her performance, but I will do my best. I wanted to provide you a little more
information about myself, especially for those of you I have not yet met, corresponded with,
or talked to. I currently reside in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and work as a consultant
within the Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice System.
My volunteer work has included
the participation with The Pennsylvania Concerned Citizens for POW/MIAs, Partnership with the
50th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee, Vietnam Veterans of Mechanicsburg
Pennsylvania, Community Advisory Board Member for WITF TV and Radio Station, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
and Public Relations Officer for the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. These organizations continue
to offer new venues to get the word out about our missing loved ones, and heighten awareness of
the issues at hand.
My children, Anita,
Joshua and Seth are very supportive in the pursuit of my efforts in the Coalition,
and I thank them for that. It is family that brought me to my first national
update over four years ago in Washington, D.C. My Uncle, William Charles Bradley,
was my motivation for joining the Coalition. He was reported missing in Korea
December 1, 1950 while serving as a medic with the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd
Infantry Division. His loss has impacted my mother and our family deeply and
forever. We cannot and will not rest until he and all the other missing service
members are accounted for.
I am engaged to LTC,
Frank Piacine, Army Reserve Commander of the 378th Corp Battalion out of Fort Indiantown
Gap, Pennsylvania, currently serving in Kuwait. We plan to be married upon his return
home, whenever that may be. It is my vision to see our board members and volunteer
members become more actively involved in the future decision making regarding the fate
of our loved ones. There are opportunities open for volunteer positions in the different
areas as well. All of you have gifts and talents and if we could utilize even a small
percentage of that it would build a stronger and more effective organization.
In addition, the board would
like to see all family members become life-long members of the coalition. This is an exciting
concept and one that seems appropriate. You will find more information regarding this effort
in upcoming newsletters and on our web site. You will also be seeing some changes to the web
site over the next few months as we re-evaluate the information that we provide for
you.
To summarize, this is the
motivation and commitment I bring to you as your new President. The promise I make to
you is that I will do my level best to move our organization forward, to promote our
cause and to support our members and their families. Working together as an organized
team, we can and will make progress and find the answers we seek.
God bless you one and all.
I look forward to meeting you at our regional updates, conferences and other events. It is
an honor and privilege to be your president and I will do my best to serve you
well.