Edward S. Banas, SR.

Edward S. Banas, Sr., a Vietnam Veteran from Voluntown, Connecticut was elected Commander in Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States in August, 2003 at the National Convention in San Antonio, Texas. In the organization's 104 year history, Ed is the second Commander of the VFW from Connecticut.

VFW and its Auxiliaries maintain 2.6 million members in approximately 9,000 Posts worldwide. These members contribute more than 13 million hours for volunteer efforts in their local communities. Ed has been a member of the Jewett City VFW Post 10004 for more than 36 years, and recently traveled to Vietnam on a mission to aid in the repatriation of remains of U.S. Servicemen killed during the war. During his tenure with the organization, he also served as All-American District Commander and Department Commander of Connecticut. One of Ed's top priorities during his term as Commander will be improving access to health care for our nation's more than 26 million veterans.

Senator Lieberman was pleased to be able to personally congratulate Ed on this significant honor and looks forward to working closely with him over the coming years.