VSPA receives a lot of stories and photos. We want to have fun and enjoy the discovery of VSPA AP/SP heritage, and Air Force history, during the war years. VSPA is a Family Rated page. Our guidelines do not restrict your writing creativity---just read a few of the stories posted, if not convinced. You can help reduce time-requirements for editing, and increase the likelihood your story and photos will be posted, by complying with the below guidelines and requirements. Submitting your stories and photos to VSPA means that you agree that VSPA has the final decision whether to post it or not.

( SPAM FILTERS: If you want a Reply, YOU must add this email to your authorized Friends List :DonPoss-LM37@vspa )

VSPA reserves the right to post or not your stories and photos, edit grammatical and spelling errors, and language (no one's perfect, so just do your best). If you are so sensitive that absolutely no changes are desired, then post the story elsewhere and do not submit it to VSPA. The story may be posted for your Final Review and Approval prior to making it public. It is your story, and you may request it's removal from VSPA at any time. Non VSPA members submitting stories related to Air Police and Security Police in Vietnam and Thailand during the war years, are considered "guest stories" and may be removed by VSPA if necessary to reduce Server space. Non-Vietnam Veterans who claim to be Vietvets may expect harsh reader responses exposing their B.S. Manuscripts and Books: All such submitted items are rejected without having been read. Posting a book or manuscript is author's imagination rather than actual circumstances. We think the actual events VSPA members write about are dramatic enough without embellishment. Submitted stories are reviewed regarding authenticity, and other members, who were there at the time of the event, are often consulted prior to publication. Include Infor: Name, Rank, Base(s) and Squadron(s), and year(s of the story and photos should always be listed. Always base your stories on facts: It has been 30-40 years, and memories have faded some, but any story disclosed as intentionally false and misleading or embellished beyond reality will be removed. Stolen Valor , or claims for awards of valor must be confirmed by DD214. SPELL-CHECK before submitting the final draft. No profanity -- no exceptions (And yes, I know that's how we spoke as youngsters at war). No racial remarks (including "gook")---no exceptions. No Bio, tedious details, or manuscripts.. Text: Stories must be written with upper and lower case letters. Stories submitted in all "UPPER CASE" or all "lower case" letters will not be read nor published! Fonts & Background: Please use a white background and black font for letters. Do not use color to emphasize a word. Do not submit a story with Background colors, wallpaper, or images, or with italicized colored Fonts, italicized fonts, or html Tables. Photo Format: Send as many as you want via email, but try not to send very similar photos! I can enhance and color balance really screwed up and faded photos... most of the time. However, unless the photo is really a great subject, try to weed out the so-so photos. Please change your images to a .JPG format. If you don't know how to do that, then send it as-is. Vertical Photos: If you turned your camera "vertical" and took a photo, then ROTATE it Horizontal before submitting it. No graphic gory photos of dead bodies -- no exceptions. If vital to the importance of the story, then the story may be considered for the Restricted Area Members Only section.Combat Action photos may be considered for the Restricted Area Members Only section. Do Not send in your stories with photos embedded within your word processor's word document files. Send the images separate from the word document. Attach both to your email. Captions within the email or on a page referencing the images to the captions. Captions: In your email, write a brief caption about each photo, linking it to the number of the photo (see naming conventions below). Please do not: put captions on the photos, size, crop, colorize, optimize, or do anything to the image except scan it! If you already have placed captions onto the photo, I may crop that part and type the caption below the posted image (depends on what that would do to the posted image).  If you do not have a scanner or access to one, you can go to the local Xerox copy store and make cheap color copies (even for the black and white). Zipping your photo s would help the download time for me. Send up to 1MB at a time. Do not send a Bazzillion MB at one time (One guy sent me about 150MB--my thoughts cannot be posted due to the above restrictions)! I have a size-restriction on files that can be received for downloading to prevent a repeat of humongous sized files of some guy mugging at the camera and slowing down my computer and taking hours and hours to download. Photo naming conventions : You can help me not mix up your photos with other submitted photos (stuff happens) by renaming each of your images to contain your name! If you really want to help you can rename the images using the following lower-case-letters-only format: "base-name-your-name-001.jpg" (Example: dn-don-poss-001.jpg). Easy enough, and this will really help me time-wise as I will have to do this to your photos otherwise. Be sure to reference your email captions to that new image name, such as, "dn-don-poss-001.jpg is me mugging at the camera... again." Stories & Photos Posted at VSPA, and Use of: By submitting and posting your stories and photos at VSPA, you agree that VSPA may post these items online, at Guardmount Edition publication, or in book form, as necessary to meet the goals of this association. As author/photographer, you retain the copyright. Generally, requests to print or republish articles, stories and photos, are referred to the author/photographer for permission. You agree that if your on file email is not current, and VSPA is not able to contact you, that permission to print or republish your submitted article, stories and photos may be granted as VSPA deems appropriate. Ready to Submit your Story and Photos? After complying with the above: Copy your story and drop it into your email to Don Poss. I find that email works best because of the many cheesy cheapskate Word Processors in use that my cheesy cheapskate Word Processor will not convert to a readable format. One more thing: Patience please! There are a ton of stories and photos ahead of you... but they will all be posted, including yours! However, if you ignore all the items guidelines above that are designed to expedite posting (and save me time)--and I have to recreate everything--your project may set a while. It takes time to do-it-right. And yes, I make mistakes and type with all thumbs, and stay up too late to focus (like tonight). So... if you notice a mistake or error on the pages, then email me with the URL address. Don't just say that I typo'd "Vietnam" -- with nearly a thousand VSPA pages, I wouldn't know where to begin searching for it! We have a history to tell the future--so let's do it right, and together. VSPA Reserves the right to change the above guidelines at any time without notice.

Don Poss,
K-9 Blackie, 129X
VSPA Webmaster/Communications Director