Richard Pimentel, a disabled Vietnam veteran and one of the nation’s foremost disability rights advocates, is a brilliantly inspiring and moving speaker. He will give the Keynote Speech on August 17 at the Opening Ceremonies of VVA’s 15th National Convention. His remarkable life story was the subject of the Hollywood film, Music Within.

Pimentel suffered severe hearing loss after a Viet Cong rocket attack in 1968 and now strongly leads the advocates responsible for the congressional passage of the landmark Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Act.

The Convention will be held August 17-20 at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino. Eight-hundred delegates from VVA chapters across the country are expected to join hundreds of other Vietnam veterans and guests in Reno.

Other special guests scheduled to take part in the Convention include Vietnam veteran Homer Hickam, the author of the acclaimed memoir Rocket Boys, and the actress, comedienne and singer, Vicki Lawrence, who entertained the troops in Vietnam. Hickam and Lawrence will receive VVA Excellence in the Arts Awards at the Convention’s culminating event, the Saturday Night Awards Banquet.