HISTORY OF THE VOVMC 2001-2021-VOVMC.COM
The VETERANS OF VIETNAM MC was conceived and founded in late 2001 by two Veterans in Springfield, Missouri who had served their country, and wanted to ride together in brotherhood to support and assist each other, Vietnam era Veterans, Veterans wifes, Veterans families and dependents, and also other members of the Veterans community. The club was briefly called a veterans association.
Following motorcycle club protocols, the founders met with some senior clubs in some areas of the USA and received approval to wear the patch MadJack had designed - A Veterans of Vietnam top rocker, a rounded version of the Vietnam Service Ribbon as a center patch with the dates of 1959 and 1975 added and a map of Vietnam, an MC patch, and Missouri as a bottom rocker.In a very short time however, the bottom Rocker was replaced with Nomad second, and then America and Support to help the club grow.
The Bylaws (Changed in 2019) and patch were all drawn up and designed by MadJack and approved by the only other Founding Member Lowdown. One of the Founding Members then applied for legal rights to the colors and as a not-for-profit veterans MC in Missouri and then chapters grew. In line with their motto of "Vets Helping Vets", they applied for, and were granted an IRS 501c(19) federal tax exempt status.
In the more than 19 years since the club was founded, it has grown to include members, chapters, all over the U.S., In 2005, the first International chapter was formed, comprised of Vietnam Era Veterans living in Thailand based in the City of Chiang Mai and chartered by Founder, Charter and Life Member MadJack and Charter Member and Life Member (2020) Chappie the International Chaplain. ( Who served for over a decade as Chaplain) In late 2006, MadJack requested one last change and it was granted. An In Memory Patch on the rear bottom for Brothers gone but not forgotten as we are a dying breed of Veteran was added to the colors he designed.
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In 2006, the only other Founding Member, Lowdown left to join a larger M/C. Another International Vietnam Veterans M/C. We would like to thank Lowdown for his early service to the club and Friendship. In the summer of 2011, MadJack the other Founder, Charter and one of 2 Living Life members, retired due to Illness. In late 2012 He returned to help the Club as requested. Making the National runs in 2013 and 2018 was a highlight for Him. Then in 2018 he stepped back again for major changes to take place. Today the VoVMC marches on.. Nationals will be again in Georgia, July, 2021 so be there. Check out the "NEW" history pictures of the club below. Thanks to all the Membership past and present for donating to the page. MEMBERSHIP IS EARNED: To be a Member in the VoV Motorcycle Club you must first have shared sacrifice and service to our country Honorably only. You must want to ride and help other Vietnam Era Veterans, Veterans and the USA as a whole. You will prospect and their is no set time period or event. It isn't just by serving in the Military, that was just the start. You must then earn your Colors. If you want to step up and be a member of the VoV Motorcycle Club, you must talk to a full Patch Holder of the VoVMC. We do not take certain people for a reason. We are in the MC world. Get Respect, Give Respect is how the Motorcycle World works.
JUST MY THOUGHTS..
I have given this a lot of thought lately and I would like to share some of these thoughts with you so you can decide... If a man sat down and had as his vision, his idea of what he wanted his creation to be like, to look like, and what he wanted it to stand for. What he wanted people to think about it when he was gone...and the creation was just a memory on paper. And so he sat down with his ideas, not just ideas but ideals, what was his personal code, what was his honor about, what had he sacrificed and what had he gained from his experiences in the war. How he would put those things down on paper and make them mean something special.
http://vovma.org/CLUBPHOTOS.html http://vovma.org/vethelp.html
A Nomad is an individual who may or may not be a member of a Motorcycle Club, and not bound by any territory, or perhaps one which has not yet formed one. There are exceptions to Nomads being members of clubs. One instance is Military Veterans' Motorcycle Clubs,(ie VOVMC, etc.) whose members are scattered across the U.S.A., but yet do not have enough members in a particular area to form a chapter.
Most Motorcycle Club members wear a State or City rocker. A Nomad's bottom rocker, however, will simply say "Nomad" and or "Nomads" for most clubs. This means that they hold no particular allegiance to a specific club chapter or area but should be respected and accepted widely by the club as a full member in any AO.
Nomads sometimes live in areas which had fewer than the required numbers to form a chapter per By-Laws. They also may have been sent to an area to establish a chapter by the Clubs Officers. This is how the VOV NOMAD Rocker came into being. Just another part of our history.
View my Guestbook " FOR WHEN ALL OUR BROTHERS ARE SILENT ONE DAY "