Congratulations to 2 Members Named to Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame

Blanche Aviles Casey, of VVA Chapter 930 in Xenia, Ohio and David W. Taylor, of VVA Chapter 385 in Medina, Ohio were among the Class of 2017 honorees to the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame was inaugurated in 1992 to honor Ohioans whose significant impacts continued from their military service to their present day work in the community. There have been 500 veterans who have received the distinction.

In November, the up to 20 members of a class are formally inducted in an official ceremony, and another ceremony is held in the spring to enshrine a bronze plaque representing the class.

Blanche Aviles Casey retired after 30 years in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and Desert Storm.

Chapter 930 Member, Blanche Aviles Casey, Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame, Class of 2017

The Chapter 930 Life Member has also been awarded the Governor’s Distinguished Hispanic Ohioan Award for Military Service of Distinction, the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Hispanic Heritage Month Community Service Award and the New York State Citizenship Award.

As a commissioner on the Greene County Veterans Service Commission, she worked on updating wide-ranging office procedures and protocols. She has mentored student interns as a presidential appointee and has volunteered for the President’s Annual Easter Egg Roll.

David W. Taylor is a life member of Chapter 385 and served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam.

Chapter 385 Member, David W. Taylor, Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame, Class of 2017

His accolades include induction into the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame in 1993, receiving the 2013 Americal Infantry Division Veterans Association Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2016 Medina County Ohio Joint Veterans Coalition Veteran of the Year Award.

He has worked to bring together veterans of diverse organizations together for the annual Memorial Day Parade as well as for The Joint Veterans Coalition of Medina County. Moreover, he authored Our War: The History and Sacrifices of an Infantry Battalion in the Vietnam War.

Other Vietnam veterans in the Class of 2017 of the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame are James W. Campbell, David H. Dilly, John A. Evans Sr., James A. McLaughlin, and Donald E. Rospert.

VVA is proud of our members’ important contributions to their local, national, and global communities.