Our Mission
Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) provides public and government relations advocacy in order to improve our veterans’ access to healthcare and benefits.
VCS was formed in August 2002 as a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization by war veterans who believe that we, the people of the United States of America, are most secure when our country is free, strong, and responsibly engaged with the world. Our mission, based on the pragmatic ideals of the American patriot Thomas Paine, is to raise the unique and powerful voices of veterans so that our military, veterans, freedom, and national security are protected and enhanced, for ourselves and for future generations.
Veterans for Common Sense is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) charitable organization. We are supported primarily by individual donations from our members, with additional funding from:
- The Ford Foundation; and,
- Ploughshares Fund: Investing in Peace and Security Worldwide.
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VCS Staff
Patrick Bellon MPA, Executive Director
A native of Louisiana, Patrick graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Arts in December of 2001. The next month, he enlisted in the US Army as a Cavalry Scout. Patrick served at Fort Hood, Texas with the First Squadron of the Tenth Cavalry Regiment, Fourth Infantry Division. He deployed to the Iraq War from March 2003 to March 2004. After leaving the Army in January 2005, Patrick went to work for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Austin, Texas as a Global War on Terror Outreach coordinator.
In August 2009, he joined Vet Voice Foundation as the Western Regional Director recruiting and organizing veterans to support various issues. Patrick speaks at community and public events supporting veterans and progressive causes. He also holds a Masters of Public Administration degree from Texas State University, where he attended using the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Patrick received an honorable discharge from the Army. His awards include the Army Commendation Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.
Patrick served on the VCS Board of Directors during 2011 before becoming Executive Director.
Stephanie Bonhan, Bookkeeper
Our VCS office is managed by Stephanie Bonham. Her duties include maintaining our files and records, and preparing disclosure forms and documents for review by the executive director and the board of directors. She is a graduate of the University of Texas.
Kristina Brown, FOIA Researcher
Our Freedom of Information Act program is led by Kristina. She requests documents and reports from government agencies every week. VCS does this in order to monitor the human and financial costs of the Gulf War, Aghanistan War, and Iraq War. Kristina is in charge of preparing, sending, appealing, reviewing, and analyzing our VCS FOIAs. She also prepares our monthly VCS Fact Sheets. She is a graduate of St. Edwards University.
Thomas Bandzul J.D., Associate Counsel
Mr. Bandzul is our Associate Counsel for Veterans for Common Sense. He serves as our legal advisor on legislative affairs, regulations, and advocacy. For the past several years, he provided legal assistance to veterans and their families who sought disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. He has handled claims through to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Thomas has served as a contracts manager, program director, and projects coordinator for several large organizations, including Bell Atlantic and Verizon Communication. He formerly worked as Director of Contracts with government contracting firms such as CACI and BDM Technologies. During a long legal career, he worked at Mobil Oil Corporation and Koch Industries.
Thomas received his Bachelors degree from Eastern New Mexico University and a JD from the University of Missouri. He currently lives in Fairfax, VA. He has three grown children who live in Massachusetts.
David West J.D., Associate Counsel
Mr. West is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and served over 20 years as a Naval Special Warfare officer(SEAL). He graduated Magna cum laude from American University Washington School of Law with a JD. David has extensive private sector experience as an attorney and security consultant.He also served as law clerk for the Vietnam Veterans of America while in law school. He is a staunch supporter and advocate of veterans rights and benefits. He is currently an Attorney at Law. David provides Veterans for Common sense with legal advice and assistance. David also assists Veterans for Common Sense in their advocacy efforts.
Board of Directors
Dan Fahey, President
Dan Fahey was commissioned in the Navy through the ROTC program at the University of Notre Dame. Dan served in the Persian Gulf in July 1991 on board the USS Arkansas (CGN-41). From 1993 to 1998, Dan was a paralegal at Swords to Plowshares, a non-profit veterans advocacy group providing housing, counseling, job placement, and legal services to veterans in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dan has extensively researched the role of depleted uranium (DU) from spent munitions in veterans’ health problems. Dan served on the Board of Directors of the National Gulf War Resource Center and the Military Toxics Project.
Dan is past commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5888, and received his masters degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the University of California at Berkeley, where he is researching armed conflict in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
Charles Sheehan-Miles, Director
Charles Sheehan-Miles, DirectorCharles Sheehan-Miles served in the Gulf War as a tank crewman with the 24th Infantry Division, where he earned an Army Commendation Medal with “V” device. Charles currently serves as the IT director at a large corporation. He was the executive director for two other non-profits organizations, the National Gulf War Resource Center (NGWRC) and the Nuclear Policy Research Institute. Charles testified before Congress about the needs and concerns of Gulf War veterans in 1997 as NGWRC’s executive director.
He travels frequently giving presentations on civil liberties, national security, and veterans’ benefits. He is married, has two children, and lives in North Carolina.
Mike Zacchea, Director
Mike Zacchea was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 1990. Trained as an artillery officer, he served at Camp Lejeune as a forward observer and platoon commander, deploying to Somalia for Operation Restore Hope and to Haiti for Operation Support Democracy. He served as operations officer and executive officer of a Marine recruiting station. He was selected for advanced artillery school, and went on to command two artillery batteries and serve as a battalion assistant operations officer. He served another tour on recruiting duty in the northeastern US. In March 2004, as a major, he deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom II. His team’s mission was to build, train, and lead in combat the first Iraqi army battalion trained by the US military. After an initial 4-month training period, his advisor team led the Iraqi battalion in combat operations for 7 months. During this time, the battalion participated in Operation Al-Fajr, the 2nd Battle of Fallujah. The battalion spent 6 weeks in urban combat, the longest of any deployed Iraqi unit, and accomplished a number of historical firsts for the Iraqi army. During the battle, Mike was wounded, but declined to be medically evacuated.
Mike’s military awards include the Bronze Star Medal for Valor (with gold star in lieu of 2nd award), a Purple Heart Medal, a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, a Combat Action Ribbon, and numerous unit and campaign awards. Mike was also the first and at the time only American recognized by the Iraqi government by the Order of the Lion of Babylon. As a result of his wounds, Mike was medically retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Mike’s education includes a BA from the University of Notre Dame, an MA from Hawaii Pacific University, Advanced Artillery School, Amphibious Warfare School, and the course in the Law of Land Warfare. He is active in veterans affairs and Iraqi refugee affairs, and has been featured in numerous national media venues discussing the war and related issues.
