Press Release:

The Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs, governing body of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA), elected new officers during a February 20 board meeting. Marv Freedman of Middleton, a Vietnam War veteran and one of Wisconsin’s leading veterans advocates for over 25 years, was elected to serve a one-year term as Chair of the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs at the Board’s February 2008 meeting. Rodney Moen from Whitehall, also a Vietnam War veteran, was elected Vice-Chair, and William Andersen of Onalaska, was elected as Board Secretary.

"We are grateful for outgoing Chair Peter Moran’s exceptional leadership over the past year, said WDVA Secretary John A. Scocos. “We look forward to working with the new officers, under the leadership of Board Chair Marv Freedman, who has a long and successful history of strong advocacy on behalf of our nation’s veterans," said Scocos. Freedman served with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam and is the recipient of the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster. He is a former member of the National Board of Directors of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), former VVA National Government Affairs Chair and was Wisconsin VVA’s Legislative Director and Government Affairs Chair for 19 years. He is a former Chair of the Wisconsin Council on Veterans Programs, served as a member of the Wisconsin Legislative Council’s Special Committee on the Veterans Trust Fund and in 2000 was presented with the U.S. Army Commander’s Award for Public Service by Wisconsin Adjutant General James G. Blaney for his “exemplary dedication and lifelong work for veterans.”

Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs Elects New Officers Page 2 of 2
Freedman, has chaired U.S. Senator Herb Kohl’s (D-WI) Veterans Policy Advisory Committee since 1989 and has been a member of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold’s (D-WI) Veterans Advisory Committee since 1993. Moen is a retired naval officer who served 22 years of active duty in the U.S. Navy. He served tours of duty in Vietnam and at the Pentagon. He was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1982, where he held many different committee assignments during his twenty years of service. At the time he left the Senate he was the Assistant Majority Leader and Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Utilities, and Military and Veterans Affairs. He is currently the Mayor of Whitehall. Andersen is a U.S. Army veteran with service in Korea and Germany. He was commissioned in the U.S. Army in 1974 and retired at the rank of Colonel in 1999. His last assignment was as Inspector General for the Wisconsin National Guard. He is a life time member of the Disabled American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and he also serves as a member of U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold’s Veterans Advisory Committee. For more information about the Board of Veterans Affairs, see www.WisVets.com/Board. For more information on programs and services for Wisconsin veterans, see www.WisVets.com, or call toll-free, 1-800-WIS-VETS (1-800-947-8387). ###