
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 9, 1994                   TAG: 9404090056
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KEVIN DANIELS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GOVERNOR APPOINTS TROUTVILLE REPUBLICAN TO RUN VETERANS AGENCY

Donald W. Duncan, the Troutville-based Republican chairman of the 6th Congressional District, has been appointed director of the Virginia Department of Veterans Affairs by Gov. George Allen.

Duncan will succeed acting Director Bert Boyd, who has been in the post since Richard O'Dell's resignation in January.

Area veterans' groups were optimistic about the appointment, asking only that Duncan fulfill his duties and make himself aware of veterans' concerns.

Duncan said that is just what he intends to do:

"I'm not going in there with any drastic plans," Duncan said Friday. "The main thing I'm going to be doing for the next few months is listening."

Duncan added that he intends to see what can be done for an aging veteran population - what he calls a "changing client base."

But some veterans say they are not even sure who Duncan is.

"He may be a fine gentleman, but I can't say I've ever heard of him," said Dan Karnes, commander of the American Legion Post in Salem.

Melissa Herring, an Allen spokeswoman, said Friday that although Duncan may not be a household name among veterans, he was instrumental in overseeing the financing and marketing of the Virginia Veterans Care Center in Roanoke. Duncan worked on the management team for the project while he was the vice president of corporate development for the architectural firm Smithey and Boynton.

"Not only does he have a military background," Herring said, "but he has a strong business background." She said Duncan's management skills will be an asset to the department.

As director, Duncan will be responsible for the legal needs of Virginia's more than 715,000 veterans. The department assists veterans of the armed forces in the filing and appealing of claims to obtain benefits from the federal government.

Duncan entered the Army in 1952 and completed leadership school at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He was a platoon leader in training groups during basic training and worked in the recruiting services at Roanoke and Toledo, Ohio. He also served as a sergeant in Oahu, Hawaii, and was honorably discharged with that rank in 1957.

by CNB