FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 28, 2009

CONTACT: Mark Daley
(202) 416-7681

Richmond, VA, Resident John Jackson Reelected National Vice President of Paralyzed Veterans of America

Washington, DC— John T. Jackson of Richmond, VA, has been reelected national vice president of Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans) during the organization’s 63rd Annual Convention this month in Miami.

“I am honored to be reelected as national vice president and I look forward to continuing the work to advance the quality of life of our members,” Jackson said.

Jackson is a two-year U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam and received the Bronze Star medal. He incurred a T8-T9 spinal cord injury in 1980. Jackson said one of his priorities as VP is to continue to monitor the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) health care services.

Jackson has held a variety of positions with the Virginia Mid-Atlantic Chapter, having served as president, national director, secretary and sports director.

In 2003 the governor of Virginia appointed Jackson to the Joint Leadership Council, which is composed of veterans service organizations that provide direct and indirect support for Virginia veterans and their families, in conjunction with the Virginia Department of Veterans Services (VDVS).

He recently was appointed to the Veterans Extended Care Advisory Board by the commissioner of the VDVS. Other service includes membership on the Executive Committee for the Veterans Affairs Volunteer Service at McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Richmond.

Jackson will take office with the other members of Paralyzed Veterans’ Executive Committee on October 1, 2009, for one year.

ENDS

Sixty-three years ago, Paralyzed Veterans of America was founded by a band of spinal cord injured service members who returned home from World War II to a grateful nation, but also to a world with few solutions to the challenges they faced. These veterans from the “Greatest Generation” made a decision not just to live, but to live with dignity as contributors to society. They created an organization, dedicated to veterans service, medical research and civil rights for people with disabilities. And for more than six decades, Paralyzed Veterans and its 34 chapters have been working to create an America where all veterans, and people with disabilities, and their families, have everything they need to thrive. (www.pva.org)