Over and out
By Tyler Francke, Veterans News Magazine
A New Chapter A fter 75 years of near-continuous publication, the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs has made the decision to end print publication of Oregon Veterans News Magazine. In the past 10 years, ODVA has diligently built our online and social media presence into one of the largest, most trusted and most visited sources of veteran information and resources. We will continue to invest in these valuable lines of communication — and will explore and expand on other media as we work to ensure we are reaching and regularly connecting with as many people as possible in our Oregon veteran community. In this piece, we wanted to look back on and celebrate the 75year legacy of this remarkable publication. The publication that you now know as the Oregon Veterans
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VETERANS NEWS MAGAZINE
after 75 years, the print version of vets news bids farewell
News Magazine began as the Oregon Veterans News Letter, with its first issue being published on Aug. 16, 1946. It was a sparse, typewritten document that no doubt evoked the spartan memos and other military correspondence that the newsletter’s audience (primarily, recently discharged service members from World War II) would be used to seeing. The newsletter conveyed information about veteran benefits and resources in a straightforward manner, from how to apply for terminal leave pay to how to take advantage of the so-called “Sweetheart Bill.” Legion and VFW Post masters were asked to post a copy of the newsletter on their bulletin boards and read the contents at their meetings, time permitting. The “Vets’ News-Letter” began to gradually take on a new look in January 1949 under ODVA Director W.F. Gaarenstroom,
