The Ottawa Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 912 hit the ground running when it was formed in 2002.

It embarked on a project to bring the Moving Wall to Ottawa. After considerable planning and fundraising, the wall, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, was set up in Ottawa’s Forest Park in the fall of 2003.

“That was quite an operation,” chapter President Ron Bishop said.

On Sept. 14, the VVA will hold a ceremony remembering prisoners of war and those who are missing in action. It will be held at the Franklin County Veterans Memorial at the courthouse in Ottawa.

Last month, the chapter conducted its first American flag retirement ceremony. A total of 250 old, tattered flags were properly disposed of.

VVA members take care of Homewood Cemetery, a small, once-forgotten and rundown cemetery southwest of Ottawa. On Memorial Day, members put flags on the graves of veterans buried in small, rural cemeteries.

Supplies for patients in area Veterans Affairs hospitals have been collected and donated by the VVA.

VVA chapters across the country are mentoring a new veterans organization called Veterans of Modern Warfare, formed for veterans of the first Gulf War and the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

An auxiliary organization, Associates of Vietnam Veterans, has been formed for supporters of the VVA.

The VVA is a nonprofit organization and relies only on private contributions for funding.