By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

dobrien@dailynews.net

The annual Christmas dinner for Hays Chapter 939 of the Vietnam Veterans of America is set for Dec. 13.

And the public is invited to hear this year's featured speaker, who also is a singer and performer.

John Steer from Mountain Home, Ark., is a veteran of the Vietnam War who fought in what are known as two of the fiercest battles of the war -- the Slope and Hill 875.

Steer lost his right arm in the latter battle in 1967 and underwent numerous surgeries during the next two and a half years.

After recovering, Steer and his wife, Donna, founded "Fort Steer," a 20-acre retreat and recovery center in Arkansas for war veterans.

Steer continues to travel and speak to groups with a mission of informing the public of the difficulties encountered by Vietnam veterans.

John Pyle from Hays, vice president of the Hays chapter, said some of the local chapter's members had heard Steer at a meeting out of town and asked to have him speak in Hays.

"We try to have a speaker at all our meetings," Pyle said of Chapter 939, which meets the fourth Tuesday of every month. "But the Christmas one, we try to make really special."

Tickets for the Christmas dinner, set for 6 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Hays VFW Post, 2106 Vine, are $10 per person.

They can be reserved by calling the local chapter's president, Wayne Purinton, at (785) 669-3034 or Pyle at (785) 623-1049.

Reservation deadline for the meal is Sunday.

More about Steer can be found on his Web site at www.angelfire.com/fl4/jlsteer/js00.html.

The Hays chapter is in its fifth year.

Its membership is nearly 65 strong and includes veterans from throughout western Kansas. The nearest chapter other than Hays is in Salina.