 Hey everyone, Todd Hunter here at DAV's 2022 National Convention in Orlando, Florida with our newly elected national commander, Joe Parcettage from the great state of Montana. Sir, congratulations. I know it's a big responsibility you've just taken on. Tell us what's going through your mind. Thank you, Todd. You know, the excitement is overwhelming, but when I'm amidst amongst family, it's not overwhelming at all because I feel just embraced by their love and their warmth. This is going to be a great year because even though we had almost three years of hecticness with the COVID and lockdowns and all these other things, I think that the DAV has proven that regardless what the adversity, what the challenges are, we were able to take those lemons and turn them into the proverbial lemonade that everybody talks about. And we're going to get more young veterans active this year by getting them actively involved as opposed to just coming to a meeting. What I'm talking about is that there are so many senior citizens, veterans that need help, you know, and by senior citizens, I'm talking about veterans that are getting up in years that can't take care of their homes or yards, things like that. We're going to get young people involved by doing the hands-on and eventually once they see that, hey, these old guys aren't too bad to be around, we're going to get them integrated into our chapters and start showing up because what we're looking for is the input from younger minds. The same is when we look for our women veterans, you know, every different whether it be a gender type group, whether it be an ethnic group, whatever, everybody brings so much creative juices at the table, but from a different light. So we want to really get our young veterans involved because there's so many veterans who have physical difficulties, physical disabilities, and they really need you to come on board and give them a hand. And when you find out how good it feels to give back to your brothers and sisters, trust me, you're going to want to get more involved and more involved because this is going to be a banner year. We've got a lot of legislation passed. We got the PAC Act that is going to open up a lot of doors for those who have been exposed to burn pits and other type respiratory problems, but the PAC Act, just like whatever Samson Act that we got passed last year, you know, still needs to be built upon, but we've got the foundation, we have the momentum going in the right direction for both of those. So there's a lot of excitement coming people's way as far as with the DAV, so make sure you keep your eyes open, watch all of the press release and the things because you're going to get excited and you'll catch the energy. Sounds like a plan. Sounds like a plan. Any other things that you're hoping to accomplish in the coming year during your tenure as National Commander? Yeah, I'm going to have to borrow my granddaughter's pom-pom skirt and your cheerleader outfit and your pom-poms and things because being locked down for those two and a half, almost three years, people have lost the interaction. And when you lose that, you know, face to face, like we so much love and just embellish that we, that's what DAV is all about. And we need to, when we're going around the country, get them excited again about the fellowship that is associated also with DAV, to where the functionality, what we get accomplished on Capitol Hill, what we get accomplished for our brothers and sisters that have needs, whether it be at their home or whatever the case might be. We want to meet those needs but we also want to meet those needs with a smile on their face and being happy once again because people are still kind of pussy-footing around as far as saying, you know, I wonder if it's safe to do this. So as their safety and their security gets a little bit eased up a little bit, I want to get that motivation and smiles back on their face because that's what is really fun to be around. Great. So anything else you'd like to tell our audience before we sign off from this wonderful national convention? You know, we had a great turnout. I think 100% of everybody that came, everybody who was here brought some joy to other people, the veterans, they and their spouses or family members, a lot of great children were here that were just really excited, not just with Gary Sinise, but throughout the whole week, whether it be exchanging pens or just loving on a whole bunch of surrogate grandparents because the little kids they run around, they're excited and most contagious and that's what I'm hoping we can get back into our other adult veterans and their families because, you know, you keep your eyes peeled, Todd, it's gonna be a good year. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. We're all gonna hold you to it but we know you're not gonna let us down. We have great people, we have great mission, we have great national staff, but more importantly, we have great vision and we're gonna keep pursuing and following those visions until, you know, each generation is gonna see more and more improvements. So we've got our work to cut out but we've been given a good foundation from our forefather. Well, it's gonna be a great year. Congratulations once again. I'm sure you're gonna have lots of fun tonight celebrating his election as national commander, Joe Parsettich. Thank you so much for tuning in. That's gonna do it for us from Orlando here at our national convention and we will be seeing you next year in Atlantic City but definitely before then as, you know, legislation goes through Congress and, you know, we're going to the VA Winter Sports Clinic and everything. And I'm glad you said that, Todd. Don't forget about not only the Winter Sports Clinic but the golf tournament coming up. Yep. We have 5K runs. Some of the states have fishing tournaments, hunting, opportunities. There are so many things available in the way of just recreational type activities for our disabled American veterans. So don't miss out on that as well. Come to our website, DAB.org, check it out and one more thing. In order for us to be effective on Capitol Hill, we need every viewer to tell their friends and neighbors they don't have to be a veteran. You make sure you show them how to get registered for the Commander's Action Network because the more people that we can have input from, you know, it's going to help us get that legislation passed that Todd was just mentioning a second ago. All right. I'm Todd. He's the new Commander, Joe Parsettich.