The purpose of this open letter to Byron Dickerson is to better inform the voters who will receive ballots in their March-April Issue of The Graybeards. While it may seem at times lengthy, we sincerely believe it is information that is not only useful, but necessary. Please feel free to check what you read here for yourself, via the links supplied, and going to KWVA, Inc. the official Korean War Veterans Association website.

For some time now, since before the KWVA 2008 National Election officially began, we have watched from California as a group of people, operating under the name 'Byron Dickerson,' have sent emails and made website postings that support him and under the name 'Byron's Slate for 2008.'

Catchy, but in a serious sense, what was, and is, and obviously will be said in those venues requires an answer. To this date, we haven't seen Byron Dickerson or his proxies say anything different; it is always in language that is hostile to to the KWVA Administration; its accomplishments and goals; and the intent seems to be to tear down what has been built; and restore expelled members to an accepted status, without any formal review, bing, bang, just like that.

Whether it is in an email or on a website, it always is expressed in the Second Person, in someone else's voice, with his name at the end. Never straight from Byron Dickerson. The email or web posting may have his name on its bottom line, but the sender is someone else and the CC distribution is to 'undisclosed recipients.'

Now we have heard from Byron Dickerson in his own words, as submitted to the Nominating & Election Committee, and published in the March-April Issue of the official KWVA Magazine, The Graybeards.

As you will see from the letter below, his Candidacy Profile in The Graybeards has a distinctly different, less more moderate tone and flavor than that of the emails and website postings.

We ask you to consider two facts:

Byron Dickerson is presently the First VP of the KWVA.

There is no record of either he or the KWVA Director Doyle, both on the 'Byron's Slate for 2008' ever entering anything on the KWVA Board of Director's meeting agenda, including what you will see in the email and website language, in his name.

So to be fair to the other two candidates running for President, Bill Mac Swain & Christ Yanacos, who have not resorted to the tactics mentioned here, which one of the Byron Dickersons should we consider when we cast our vote?

We believe that any reasonable, fair person would select someone other than Byron Dickerson.

The decision which direction the KWVA takes, an important one, is rightfully yours, the member with vote.

TO:	Byron Dickerson LR22282
	First Vice President
	Korean War Veterans Association, Inc.

Sir:

This letter is to address a serious question that has come up in the 2008 KWVA National Election: That question is, which version should we, the voting membership, consider as your actual view(s) regarding your intent of performance, were you to be elected President?

It is a significant problem for the voting membership. There are three (3) candidates for the Office of President; the other two clearly make their case for why they should be elected, and wherever & whenever they do, their own statements agree with each other. Not so in yours.

OBSERVATIONS

First, as a basis for discussion, there is your most recent version, the Candidate’s Profile you have published in the current March-April issue of The Graybeards. It bears little resemblance and a distinctly different tone and flavor to your views posted on the internet, and sent via email, bearing your name, together with what you and your 'slate' plan to do if you are elected President of the KWVA.

From the 2008 March-April Issue, TheGraybeards

From President Candidates - Byron W. Dickerson

"This is to announce my intent to run for the position of President of the Korean War Veterans Association, Inc. I presently serve as The First Vice President. Previously I served as the Second Vice President. I also serve on the Board of another non profit. Some of the things I would like to see in the KWVA.

1. Continue seeking a National Charter.

2. A profit and loss statement in each issue of the Graybeards.

3. A letter to the Editor for complaints, etc.

4. Restoration and Peace

5. Cease Fire on all of the name calling and accusations, etc.

6. Open door policy, if you have a question it will be answered with respect.

7. Accountability on all issues.

8. Continue helping Veterans to receive their benefits. I was born raised and attended school in Girard, Texas. I enlisted in the Army on the 3rd of August 1948. I arrived in Korea on the 5th day of January 1951. I was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division. I participated in several battles the last one being Heartbreak Ridge. I rotated from Korea on the 25th day of November 1951. I tried to put Korea out of my mind for the next 50 years. When I learned of the KWVA I joined. I served in Chapter 215 as the founding Judge Advocate. My personal awards are, CIB, Good Conduct, And National Defense. Korean Service with four battle stars, U.S. Presidential Unit Citation, Korean Presidential Unit Citations and Others. I am a life member of KWVA, LR 22282, VFW, DAV, American Legion, CIA, 2nd Division Alliance, 2nd Division Association and the 23rd Inf. Regt. Assoc. I was discharged from the Army May 22, 1952;

I am 76 years old in good health married to the same wife for 55 years.

I retired from the U.S. Postal Service with 37 years service. I consider it an Honor and Privilege to be a candidate for President and I solicit your vote and I promise that I will attend all called meetings and I understand that two unexcused absences could be used for removal from office. I am a life member therefore my dues will be current for the term 2008-2010. I have enclosed a separate signed official membership application showing eligible service and this statement releasing it for verification by the Nominating Committee."

Second, your Candidate Profile in The Graybeards does not appear to reflect the views posted on Ken Buckley’s website http://k-vetsunite.blogspot.com/ and attributed to you.

This is the way Buckley’s Home Page looks today, just as it did on December 18th:

The following was posted on December 18, on Ken Buckley’ Home Page, at http://k-vetsunite.blogspot.com/

“Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Byron's Goals

Walking Tall

THERE'S A LOT TO BE done once elected.
And, for Byron one of the first orders of business will be to reinstate those 14 members who were kicked out by Louis Dechert, president.
He also would move to abolish the Ethics & Grievance Committee which served this current administration's wishes to get rid of anyone who questioned the authoritarian rule.
The current division has worsened through the easily accessible E-Mail possibilities.
Unfortunately, much of the bad mouthing contrary to the opinion of the executives, was by the executives themselves.
Members taking the opposite side of an issue have been repelled by some of the most caustic language imaginable.
Since Byron intends to bring these exchanges to a halt, we won;t repeat them here.
Most importantly, is Byron's call for open exchanges between members and elected officers and appointees. We must have open communication, Byron says. "If questions are asked, then they should be responded to in an open and friendly manner.
Stop censorship, especially in Graybeards, the official organ of the KWVA., is another top goal. Byron believes that an open Letters To The Editor column should be initiated.
He would also call for an examination of "Return Trip Tours," with no closed deals.
Open the books to all, he says, and let's have more emphasis on strictly social events, and focus more on the chapters.
Byron wants an open organization with noone answerable to on man.
K-Vet Dickerson won the 1st VP post with more votes than those collected by Louis Dechert, who retained his presidency for a second and final term.

If you would refer to the November-December 2007 issue of The Graybeards, you will find an editorial by Art Sharp that clearly refutes your allegations about The Graybeards and its editorial standards.

As for the Ethics & Grievance Committee, it and the Bylaws and Standard Procedure Manual that put it in place were established by a duly elected Board of Directors. The process that expelled members, (there have been 6, not the 14 that you claim), and whatever you or someone else might say, it was done in accordance with the KWVA Bylaws and the Standard Procedure Manual, both established with due process, by the KWVA Board of Directors. Please note that the Ethics & Grievance Committee was approved, by vote, by the entire KWVA Membership.

The following email message was sent by Bob Fuoco, and signed by Byron Dickerson

TIME FOR NEW IDEAS AND CHANGE!

I've long been troubled by the direction in which OUR organization has been traveling: too much dissension; too much secrecy; too much expenditure of money; and many other excesses. Let me expand on just a few of these items:

Dissension: You would be amazed at the e-mails that have disseminated from members of the current administration. Response to members' question have been answered with their being called the following names: maggots, liars, terrorists and suicide bombers, bastards, and on and on.

Secrecy: Many questions asked by chapters, departments, and members have been ignored or answered with an inference that "It is none of your business." All matters of the association is the business of the organization's members and should be responded to in an honest and polite manner.

Expenditures: Have you ever seen a full accounting of income and expenditures? You're not alone--even members of the Board have not been privileged to receive this information. This is a serious matter. These are your moneys and you are entitles to see what they are spent for. Attorney fees, office expenses, travel expenses, etc., etc., none of these have been delineated and the members are entitled to know.

A Couple of Other matters:

*The KWVA Bylaws have been written, rewritten and amended to the point where it is grounds for expulsion for a member to raise a question.

*The Graybeards, while a truly wonderful magazine, contains only items approved by the current administration. You may recall that the issue prior to the last election contained 10-12 pages of all the accomplishments of the current president. This may happen again - promoting whoever the administration has chosen to run for president in the next election. The average member never sees or hears anything that is contradictory to the policies of the organization as it is now operating. An example is the fact that the recent fund raising was declared by the U.S. Post Office to be a lottery which is illegal - were you ever told about this?

I have, therefore, decided to run for the Office of President of KWVA and my promise to you will be the return of the organization to you. I want things more open and the members' questions answered. A full disclosure of financial matters will be one of my first concerns--it is a matter that should be fully explored. It will be published for all to see.

I will be getting back to you with a list of those who have these same objectives at a future date and I ask that you give them full consideration for election. These will be members who want the organization to be returned to the members. We will chose a new path.

Thank you,

Byron Dickerson

P. S. If you want to help in electing a new slate and turning the organization back over to the members, please contact Bob Fuoco at bobfuoco@aol.com.

Please note that Mr. Fuoco is no longer a member of the KWVA, having been expelled by the KWVA Board of Directors, for Just Cause, at the Called Board Meeting, at Pineville, Louisiana, on Jan 13-15, 2008. "Just Cause" is defined in the Standard Procedure Manual, in its Glossary of Terms. Both the KWVA Bylaws & the SPM that implements its policy were approved by a duly elected Board of Directors, and are availble for viewing and/or download @ http://www.kwva.org

The Fuoco email; with your name on it, is a collection, a loose litany of accusations simply not supported by any evidence with a factual basis. Just to make it easier for you, and those who might be reading this, let’s examine the following from that email:

As a matter of fact, this member (my member number is LR18750) watched and listened at the Reno Convention, October 23-25, during the presentation of the Treasurer’s Report by Secretary Richard Hare, and the CPA, Doyle Henderson, where all of the financial information you say you seek, and more, was given. It was later given to the ENTIRE membership in the 2007 November-December Issue of The Graybeards, in the Minutes of the General Membership, on Page 20. I do not recall you making any comment of any kind during the entire meeting.

Also, in the January-February 2008 Issue of The Graybeards, on Pages 20-21, there is a KWVA Accounting and Tax Summary:2004-2005. There has been no comment from you on the record about that, either.

Moreover, you have been receiving and all Board officers have received, a comprehensive financial statement prepared by the KWVA Certified Public Accountant every three (3) months for the last three years you have served on the Board. Furthermore, you have been free to share and/or discuss any of that information with either the 2nd Vp, The President, or the the Board of Director members. That includes the open ledger of every check written, which includes attorney fees, & office and travel expenses. If you claim ignorance of that, then you are professing either incompetence or the actions of an outright liar.

One can only assume that you do not read our magazine, since it is beyond imagination that you would make such a serious charge, considering the absence of evidence you put forth against officers of the KWVA who discharge their fiduciary obligations to the KWVA charter and the members. Sounds intentionally deceptive to me, and I say shame on you!

Now that is a nasty, collective set of speculation and untruth, and the last bit is unsupported by fact. What recent fundraising? We have your accusation. Where is your EVIDENCE? Again, if you are unable or unwilling to read The Graybeards, sit down with someone so they can read it to you. You imply that you are not an ‘average member,’ but at the very least, the ‘Average Members’ read the contents of The Graybeards. You apparently don’t, or you wouldn’t make your shameful, unfounded, unwarranted accusations. If you think a federal law has been violated, sir, put up or shut up. The Yellow Pages have the applicable phone numbers for reporting such, and being a former postal employee, you should know what to do.

QUESTIONS

1. Have you personally, Byron Dickerson; as a KWVA Member, or as an KWVA officer, ever put before the KWVA Board of Directors, in writing or orally, any of the issues attributed to you on the Buckley website, or in the email sent out by with your name at the bottom? There does not appear to be any record of either.

2. Why does the text of your Candidate Profile in the current (March-April 2008) not match up with the goals and intentions attributed to you, as listed (see above) on the Buckley website, or your current Candidate Profile? (See below).

A. In your Candidate Profile, your views, intent and goals are considerably more moderate than the emails and web postings, which are aggressive and full of radical changes to an established organization. That is opposite to what you say in your current Candiate Profile ????? The contrast goes even further when you read Glen Thompson's response to the '2008 Dickerson Slate' you will find on Let There Be Light

3. Why does the text of your Candidacy Profile in the current (March-April 2008) not match up with the goals and intentions attributed to you, as listed in the email (see above) sent out on the internet?

A. The Candidate Profile is usually written by the candidate, in the 1st person.

B. What's posted on the Buckley website and sent via emails, at least in the case of Byron Dickerson, is written in the 2nd person. Except for the Candidate Profile, there is no record, it appears, where you personally place an opinion or an objective or a plan of action yourself. Ordinarily this might be OK, except that unlike the other two candidates for President, you have, or allow, these other, contradictory presentations.

4. Do you plan to exercise your office duties in that manner? That is, have someone else, a proxy, a substitute leader, to do your presidential duties for you?

5. How is a member to tell if Mr. Dickerson agrees with what's said on the Buckley website? Are there two different Byron Dickersons?

6. Do you believe that you are performing your present duties as 1st Vice President in compliance with the KWVA Bylaws & Standard Procedure Manual?

A. Below are the Bylaw and SPM details of what should be your present duties, as 1st Vice President. Instead, while in that office, before the Reno Meeting, you and Director Doyle submitted three (3) sets of accusations, in the format reserved and set down in the Standard Procedure Manual for Resolutions, and which were rejected as improper by the Resolutions Committee. They were subsequently rejected by the Board of Directors, at the Reno Meeting.
They were deemed improper because the accusations should have been submitted to the Ethics & Grievance Committee, and came with no documented evidence to support them.

B. Considering your sworn duties as 1st Vice President, it would have seemed more honorable to resign your position, and submit your charges and complaints to the Ethics & Grievance Committee. Since the rejections of your accusations by the Resolutions Committee and then the Board of Directors at the Reno Meeting in October, you have done neither.

From Page 9 of the Standard Procedure Manual (SPM), Rev 004

KOREAN WAR VETERANS ASSOCIATION, INC.
STANDARD PROCEDURE MANUAL
- 9 -
2. FIRST VICE PRESIDENT:
a. RESPONSIBILITIES
Assume and perform the responsibilities and duties of President when absent. “Absent” is defined as the
President being incapacitated to the point of being unable, physically or mentally, to perform his/her
duties or not being physically present at a legally called meeting.
Serve as liaison between the committees assigned by the President and Board of Directors.
Coordinate the activities of all assigned committees.
b. DUTIES
Be prepared to assume the duties of President of the Association upon death, resignation, or termination
of the President.
Assist the President in carrying out the responsibilities and duties of that office.
Volunteer to coordinate and be responsible for any Standing or Special Committee which he might have
interest or in which he has qualifications, to effectively coordinate and oversee.
Perform such other duties as the President or Board of Directors may assign.

SUMMARY

To put in the mildest manner I can, it is a mystery to me why you have associated your name with a collection of persons who don’t like the very organization to which they belong, who express their views, nasty and mean-spirited at best. One of them, Mr. Fuoco, who broadcasts reckless, sometimes confused and incoherent emails, you actually named as your campaign manager! He sometimes copied his hate mail to members of Congress, while he was still a member, and members wonder why we do not have a Federal Charter! The opposite of that is the very first goal you list in your Candidate Profile (See above).

What’s disturbing to me is your saying one thing in one venue, and something radically different in another. What’s MOST disturbing is your use of proxies, allowing or encouraging others to speak your mind for you. That does not demonstrate forthright and straightforward leadership. You advocate ‘open’ leadership, but give no example, anywhere, of an ability or willingness to demonstrate it yourself. The most accurate description of that would be “Lazy Leadership,” and is definitely not what the KWVA needs to direct its growth and improvement. We need forward thinking, informed leadership, and competent administration. We need respect for not just the membership, as you profess, but also the hard work done, and the progress made, by the volunteers' achievements.

Whatever your actual views may be, you have not demonstrated the experience or skills needed for the leadership tasks that confront an office that runs and organization of almost 17,000 members, with varied tasks, responsibilities & national & international interfaces.

We have never spoken personally, you and I, but everything I have said here is based on what you have placed before us, the voting membership, or to be more precise, what you have also allowed to be done so by proxies.

I have tried very hard not to be personal, but rather to describe my strong opposition to what has appeared in emails or on the internet in your name.

Considering the evidence, I do not know how you can credibly answer these questions, but you must do so, if you want my vote, or the vote of any voting member who will place credibility in what you have said rather than what I have presented here. You can look, Mr. Dickerson, but you will not find, anywhere, a statement I have made which is contradictory to what I have said in the past. I definitely have opinions, and strong ones at that, but there is only one version of them. When I speak, it is from my heart and my head, and they are in harmony. In your case, I do not see how you can credibly deal with the duplicity you have so brazenly demonstrated.

Finally, the remarkable idea that you would abolish the Ethics & Grievance Committee, which was approved by the KWVA Membership, by vote, shows an ignorance of, or an arrogance towards your own organization that is truly astonishing.

If you have any sense of duty or honor left, sir; I recommend kindly that you at the very least withdraw your candidacy as President, and seriously consider resigning from the KWVA.

At our age, we should not belong as a member of an organization we want to tear down, especially one that our KWVA brothers have worked so hard to build, and to which you have contributed so little, as in apparently nothing.

Finally, for others who may read this, I urge them to compare what you have accomplished with what you have promised the membership in your previous campaigns for office. They have simply to go the archived issues of The Graybeard, March-April issues, of the previous years, to do that. The links to them are at KWVA, Inc.

Also for all those who may read this: At the Reno Convention in October, 2007, you were on probation. Even though you and Director Doyle had bypassed the E & G Committee process and submitted three complaints cloaked as 'resolutions,' attacking the President and the administration (of which you are a part) and which were rejected by the Board, President Dechert asked the Board to consider shortening your probation period, which was approved by the Board. Had he or the Board of Directors not done that, there would be no 'Byron Dickerson's Slate for 2008.'

Finally, it should be noted that all the attacks on him and the Administration, of which you are a sworn member, (see above) signed by you in emails (sent out to 'undisclosed recipients) and web postings since the Reno Convention indicate one of three personal attributes of yours that can be considered as a public response to the generosity of President Dechert and the Board of Directors: Appreciation, gratitude or treachery. Byron Dickerson and all the rest of us can choose for ourselves.

Pass this along, if you can, together with any answer to my questions that you wish to offer.

Abolish the Ethics & Grievance Committee	Abolish the Return Trip Tours
Stop censorship in the Graybeards	Add a Letters To The Editor column
Open the books	Focus more on chapters
Have an ‘open’ organization, with “no one answerable to one man.”