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Very well put Vol and right on the head there Mom. I appreciate your kind words and the VBN could NOT have been sucessful without your knowledge and that of RetDAVNSO1. In the early days we were simply another veterans website. I beleive that we were able to become the premiere veterans website in the early days for several reasons.

1. The knowledge of our experts: RetDAVNSO1, MomII, jDave, NMNFXST (Dan - the original patron that helped to start the VBN Brothel) etc... We had experts in key areas inclucing the VA, VA medical info, VA disability rating, Social Security, working with members of Congress, PTSD, etc.
2. The humor that permeated the website especially on the original chat.
3. We demanded the website be professional in that we were NOT here to Slam the VA, tell dirty jokes, start urban legends, Slam the VA, Slam the VA, etc.
4. Trolls esp our 1st one of Grunt that helped Muggs to start the VBN and then Frego as he caused us to circle the wagons. There have been others but I don't know if they were as important as these two. I don't usually put Dan in this category with the Great Spell-Check VBN Crash of 2003.
5. Maybe most important has been the professionalism and dedication of our Administrators and Moderators. We have people that have been on the site for everyday for many, many years. I know that I was on the site everyday for the first 6 years along with several others. Without the continued support of these key people I don't think the VBN coulc have ever made it.
6. The fight for Concurrent Receipt. I fully believe that the VBN was an intergral part of this fight and without our support through phone calls, email, personal meetings and such that we would have won on the CR front. There are quotes from the VBN that have been read into the Congressional Record from that period of time.
7. The starting of a new political party came directly from the VBN. I do not claim any credit for this but do know the people that stood up to start the new party and candidates. Also, we saw how it captured the hearts of a lot of people that put Veterans Issues at the forefront in the 2004 election for President and members of the Congress.
8. A lot of LUCK. This is the intangible that we could not control. All of the problems that we had were met with being simply another bump to overcome. Or, when we needed new people to step up there was always someone ready to do so. When RetDAVNSO1 had to step aside we lost an important and unreplaceable part of our time. We didn't know who would or even could step into his shoes on how the VA worked. RetDAV had a special way of explaining the difficult into the easy to understand. Someone stood up though and that was Cruiser. There could not have been a better fit for the VBN than that of Cruiser and his brand of explaining the complex. He, to me, was God-send. There is story after story just like this one that helped the VBN grow into what we became and have now become and that is THE site to come to for help in filing a claim with the VA.

I hope this gives a little more information on the history of the VBN. We cannot have done it without our Admins and moderators. Period.

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