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The Cumming Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America meets the first Monday of each month (except October) at Golden Corral restaurant on Market Place Boulevard. Dinner is at 6 p.m., with the meeting beginning at 7 p.m. All Vietnam-era veterans are invited to attend.
CUMMING — Recently retired from a 33-year U.S. Navy career, Rear Adm. Tilghman Payne told the Cumming Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America that members should keep an eye on Asia.
In a world focused on trouble spots in the Mideast and mischief by the Russians, the instability and unpredictability of the regime in North Korea is a concern to the Department of Defense leadership, according to Payne, who now lives in Alpharetta.
With three tours of duty in the Pentagon, Payne told the veterans that North Korean leader Kim Jung Un’s threats of aggression alarms the entire region.
He said China’s naval buildup is less of a concern than the territorial claims it is making on man-made islands in the South China Sea, setting up potential international conflicts with other nations.
Payne, a 1981 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, said military personnel want to make a difference and be part of something larger than themselves.
“I can tell you to a person, every one of them is as dedicated and altruistic as any generation who ever joined our armed forces,” he said.