The Sons of the Revolution in the Commonwealth of Virginia held its annual George Washington Birthday Dinner at the Commonwealth Club in Richmond on Saturday, February 20, 2010. More than 240 members and their guests attended the black tie event, described by Society president Tom Vance as an “unapologetically patriotic” celebration of Virginia’s own General Washington, our nation’s first Commander-in-Chief. Among the honored military guests in attendance were: Medal of Honor recipient Col. Van T. Barfoot, USA (Ret.); Lt. Gen. Fran Wilson, USMC (Ret.); Maj. Gen. Thomas K. Andersen, USAF; Brig. Gen. Lynn A. Collyar, USA; Brig. Gen. James Lariviere, USMC; Brig. Gen. Jeffry Smith, USAF; and Rear Adm. Robert P. Wright, USN. 

The Virginia Military Institute's Pipe & Drum Corps provided a rousing prelude to the evening's events, followed by the posting of the national colors, the colors of the Commonwealth and the colors of the Virginia Society. After dinner, 22 new members were inducted into the Virginia Society, including: Brock Daniel Bierman; Gilbert Hamilton Bryson; John Moncure Daniel III; James Philip DeSalvo; Richard Hanson Dilworth, Jr.; Rand MacLean DuPriest; James Jay Hoyt; Walter Kirkpatrick Harris; John Robert Harman, Jr.; Douglas Michael Lanphier; Richard Burke Johnson; Gerald Covell Kinne; Robert Bruce Warden Laubach; William Gordon Poston; Gabriel Alan Neas; Dr. Gregory Alan Neas; William Claiborne Powell; Sol Waite Rawls III; James Ewell Brown Stuart VI; William Thomas Hillman Terzian; John Stuart Thornton, Jr.; and Richard Bosworth Worthington III.

A special presentation of the flag of the 3rd Virginia Regiment to the Society was made by members Lewis A. Pitzer and Andrew C. Pitzer, in honor of their ancestor, Gen. Andrew Lewis of Virginia (1720-1781). Gen. Lewis was a hero of the French & Indian War, the War of the Revolution, military commander of the victories at Point Pleasant and Gwynn's Island, aide to Gen. George Washington, advisor to Gov. Thomas Jefferson and member of the Virginia House of Delegates. The original flag was captured by British Col. Banastre Tarleton at Waxhaws, SC, on May 29, 1780, and remained in the Tarleton family for 226 years.

Cmdr. Paul E. Galanti, USN (Ret.) was the guest of honor at the celebration. Commander Galanti spoke about his service as a Navy fighter pilot in the Vietnam War and his subsequent capture and interment as a prisoner-of-war from 1966-1973 as a "guest" of the North Vietnamese at the infamous Hanoi Hilton. He also spoke out against the public sentiment on the home front during the war, noting guerillas like Che Guevera and other communist revolutionaries were lionized by the anti-war movement while true patriots defending liberty and freedom were often overlooked. The Virginia Society welcomed Commander Galanti's remarks and enthusiastically recognized his service to our great nation.

The Virginia Society's first George Washington Birthday Dinner was held on February 22, 1896. Among the organizers of the first dinner was one of the founders of the Virginia Society, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, 17th president of the College of William & Mary and son of President John Tyler. Today, his son, Harrison Tyler, and grandsons, William Tyler and Ruffin Tyler, continue his legacy in the Virginia Society.