I would like to say hi and introduce myself as the new President of Rolling Thunder New Hampshire Chapter 2 (RTNH2). My name is Dale Russell and I am an Air Force veteran, previous Vice President and board member of Chapter 2. I would like to start my tenure as President by thanking our previous President, Bill Dufour, for his tireless dedication and support to Rolling Thunder, our mission, and the veteran community. Through his leadership, we have helped a lot of local veterans that needed a hand. I would like to also thank our former First Lady, Debi Dufour, for everything she did to support Bill and Chapter 2; from being our photographer, making us look so pretty on camera, to all the administrative support. Thank you both from all of us at RTNH2 and good luck with your next adventures and we hope you enjoy all that camping.

 

I want to welcome our new board members, Tiffany Hall, Robert Davis, II, and Robert (Butch) Barrett, who are joining Arthur (Tim) Henricks, Troy Denny, John (Moose) Miller to form a very strong Board of Directors to help lead and grow our Chapter into the future. I also want to thank Lisa DePalo for accepting another term as our outstanding Secretary. With Lisa and Charles Lewis, Treasurer, we can keep RTNH2’s mission moving in a great direction and continue to help our local veterans in need.

 

We have accomplished so much this year, supporting our local veterans in need and we will continue to do so. We were honored to provide the escort for “The Wall That Heals” to Claremont. Many of our Chapter members also volunteered to work a great number of hours at The Wall during its stay here. I personally met a lot of very interesting people while I was there. I heard some very interesting stories, some heartbreaking, from some of our local Vietnam veterans. We hope The Wall’s presence here helped bring a little closure to them and showed them how much we all care.

 

I invite everyone who would like to be involved in something that is so important, and means so much to our local veterans in need, to please reach out to any RTNH2 member to become a Chapter member. You will be surprised how rewarding it is to be there for our local veterans who gave so much of themselves to the service our great country, but sometimes find they need a hand; we will always be there for them.

 

I would like to close with the POW-MIA Prayer.

“Father, Your Son was a prisoner, Condemned, he died for us. Victorious, He returned to bring us the gift of life everlasting. Comfort us now in our longing for the return of the Prisoners-of-War and Missing-in-Action. Help us, Father. Inspire to remove the obstacles.

 

Give courage to those who know the truth to speak out. Grant wisdom to the negotiators, and compassion to the jailers. Inspire the media to speak out loudly as they have in the past. Protect those who seek in secret and help them to succeed. Show us the tools to do Your will. Guard and bless those in captivity, their families, and those who work for their release. Let them come home soon.

Thank You Father…”

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Dale Russell, President

Rolling Thunder New Hampshire Chapter 2