THE Guyana Legion and the Ex-GDF Association of Guyana last Sunday officially amalgamated to form the Guyana Veterans Legion (GVL).

Colonel (ret’d) George Gomes who was elected last month as the new president, after the walkout by the old body, said that this was a monumental achievement since the merging of the two organisations would strengthen and solidify the structure of the new Guyana Veterans Legion.
The newly-elected executive board includes Col. (ret’d) George Gomes, president; Lt. Col. (ret’d) Frank Bishpan, Arno Solomon and Carol Haynes, vice-presidents; Major (ret’d) Stanislaus Canzius, treasurer; and Wilbert Nurse, assistant treasurer; while Ben Douglas, Wilfred James and James Samuels were elected committee members.
The new GVL will occupy the same premises as the former Guyana Legion on Carifesta Avenue. The new GVL logo resembles that of the Guyana Legion but it carries a slight difference with the national bird replacing the national flower.
And the primary objective of the GVL is to “Promote and maintain harmony among Guyana’s past and present veterans”.
The Legion is partially supported by membership fees of $3,600 annually per member and through budgetary support from the Government of Guyana.
The official coalescing of the two organisations, which came against a backdrop of instability in the old executive body, was done in the presence of many members of both bodies at the Guyana Legion headquarters on Carifesta Avenue.
In order to assist the public to become more aware of the organisation and its purpose, it was decided to have the new name include the word ‘veteran’.
This publication understands that over the years a number of items belonging to the Guyana Legion, such as computers and chairs, have gone missing. Therefore, the Ex-GDF Association is not considering financial inheritance in the amalgamation but rather it is looking to “build from what they have and restore what they have lost.”
Meanwhile, Gomes assured the meeting that the newly-elected executive body would work to ensure that the core principles of the Legion are restored while the implementation of new strategic policies will aim to preserve the nature of both organisations.
Apart from having the financial records reviewed soon and published for members of the GVL, the president also assured that it will be one of the aims of the organisation to hold monthly meetings to discuss issues surrounding the Legion and to discuss social development and the preservation of the cultural heritage for veterans.
Gomes also disclosed that the decision to have the two organisations merged came from the Government of Guyana as many small bodies for veterans were being formed. As a result, the idea surfaced to have one combined organisation to facilitate veterans from both World Wars and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
By Ravin Singh