Kelly Air Force Base contamination, a dying issue

http://www.examiner.com/x-18061-San-Antonio-Civil-Rights-Examiner~y2009m7d24-Kelly-Air-Force-Base-contamination-a-dying-issue?cid=email-this-article

Throughout the areas around the old Kelly Air Force Base, you can see small purple crosses in the yards of residents. These were an idea of the Committee for Environmental Justice Action, who work with Southwest Workers Union, to bring visible awareness to the staggering number of households in the area with at least one member who has been diagnosed with cancer. This is an attempt to bring attention to the longstanding claims of improper waste disposal that led to the deaths, birth defects and sickness of so many Kelly area families.

This is what we know for sure: for decades the community has alleged everything from improper waste disposal to withholding of information from the public regarding the nature and extent of contamination,including failure to inform potential home buyers (of federally subsidized property) of the environmental conditions of the property

In 1983 scientists at KAFB released information indicating that toxic waste had been dumped into an uncovered pit - as described by Yolanda Johnson and Armando Quintanilla. Quintanilla(a KAFB worker for almost 50 years) says, "The trichloroethylene [a solvent used to degrease aircraft parts] was intentionally dumped by the Air Force into the ground, which went into the groundwater and has now gone as far as three miles from the fence line at KAFB."

READ MORE: http://www.examiner.com/x-18061-San-Antonio-Civil-Rights-Examiner~y2009m7d24-Kelly-Air-Force-Base-contamination-a-dying-issue?cid=email-this-article

Report: US should pay for cleaning up Agent Orange in Vietnam

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/293538
A private bi-national group that consists of citizens, policy makers and scientists came up with a ten-year, $300 million clean-up plan for 14 of Vietnam 's Agent Orange hot spots.

The Aspen Institute announced the adoption of the plan Wednesday in a press release, and now the blue-ribbon group, as the private group calls itself, is lobbying the United States government to act on the plan.

IPS reported that panel co-chair Walter Isaacson said "We are talking about something that is a major legacy of the Vietnam War and a major irritant in this important relationship. The cleanup of our mess from the Vietnam War will be far less costly than the Gulf oil spill that BP will have to clean up." While it is spelled out in the plan that the United States should foot most of the $300 million in clean-up costs, the panel is pushing for collaboration between "other governments, foundations, businesses, and nonprofits."

During the Vietnam war, the US sprayed 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides containing dioxin said the Institute. It is believed that three to five million Vietnamese people were directly and indirectly exposed to Agent Orange both during and after the war and another 2.8 million US military personnel were exposed during the war. Vietnam and the United States have only resumed diplomatic relations 15 years ago. The war has been over for 35 years.

The Aspen Institute said it was time to set aside arguments over who is responsible for Vietnam 's Agent Orange problem saying "Questions of responsibility, awareness and data reliability have for too long generated bitter controversy and stalled remedial action."


MORE:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/293538

What is the Aspen Institute? http://www.aspeninstitute.org/about

They Killed Me in Vietnam and I Didn't Even Know It

http://www.countryjoe.com/jukebox.htm

Click on the Agent Orange box and listen




With thanks to Country Joe McDonald for his permission to post the Agent Orange Song

UN in Agent Orange cleanup

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_546705.html
HANOI - THE United Nations on Monday announced a US$5 million (S$6.9 million) project to clean up wartime contamination in Vietnam from Agent Orange sprayed by the US military, but said much more money was needed.

The project by the UN development agency will focus on contamination at the airport in Bien Hoa, which the UN's resident coordinator, John Hendra, said was the worst-affected site.

Experts have also identified two other former US air bases, at Danang and Phu Cat, as key 'hotspots' of dioxin contamination. Dioxin was a component of Agent Orange and other herbicides stored at the bases. US aircraft sprayed the chemicals to strip trees of their foliage during the Vietnam War, depriving communist Viet Cong forces of cover and food.

Vietnam blames dioxin for a spate of birth deformities, and it has been linked to cancer. 'The concentration of dioxin in the three main hotspots is much higher than nationally and internationally agreed standards,' the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said in a statement. 'Without action, the hotspots will continue to contaminate the wider environment and pose a serious health risk to people living and working nearby,' it said.

Vietnam's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will carry out the project, funded by UNDP along with the Global Environment Facility, an independent financial organisation. 'The project will use internationally proven techniques to treat and rehabilitate the dioxin hotspots,' the UNDP statement said, adding that 'significantly more funds will be needed for the full remediation of all dioxin hotspots in Vietnam.'
A Vietnamese official said last year that the government had already spent five million dollars to build a landfill for contaminants at Bien Hoa, which is located near the fast-developing southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City. Decontaminating all three former bases could cost about US$60 million or more, the official said. Since 2007, the US Congress has appropriated US$9 million to help in the clean-up in Vietnam. At Vietnam's request, the United States is focusing its help on the Danang site, where operations are expected to begin next year. -- AP

Low approval rate for vets' chemical tests claims

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-06-19-776198950_x.htm
By Erica Werner, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department has granted only 6 percent of health claims filed by veterans of secret Cold War chemical and germ warfare tests conducted by the Pentagon, according to figures obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

Veterans advocates called the number appallingly low.

By comparison, about 88 percent of processed claims from Gulf War vets were granted as of last year, according to VA documents. More than 90 percent of processed claims from Iraq and Afghanistan vets were granted as of earlier this year.

In a statement the VA said it was "incorrect" to make such comparisons because of the unique circumstances of different groups of veterans.

The VA noted that most of the veterans of the chemical and germ tests ended their service more than three decades ago and a study by the advisory Institute of Medicine -- dismissed by veterans as shoddily done -- found no clear connection between the tests and the cancer, respiratory illnesses and other problems the veterans are now having.

MORE: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-06-19-776198950_x.htm

Report on Agent Orange in Vietnam

http://wwww.c-spanvideo.org/program/294086-6
Report on Agent Orange in Vietnam
Jun 16, 2010
C-SPAN | Washington Journal
Walter Isaacson talked about a report on the impact of Agent Orange and dioxin contamination in Vietnam. The report also contains recommendations for cleaning up contaminated hot spots. The report suggests that 35 years after the Vietnam War ended, some 3 million Vietnamese have health effects stemming from agent orange use and that some 150,000 .. Read More
Walter Isaacson talked about a report on the impact of Agent Orange and dioxin contamination in Vietnam. The report also contains recommendations for cleaning up contaminated hot spots. The report suggests that 35 years after the Vietnam War ended, some 3 million Vietnamese have health effects stemming from agent orange use and that some 150,000 children have birth defects as a result of the contamination. Mr. Isaacson responded to telephone calls and electronic communications as well.
MORE: http://wwww.c-spanvideo.org/program/294086-6

Strengthening Ties Between The U.S. And Vietnam

The United States and Vietnam are moving forward on defense cooperation and addressing issues from past conflicts.
http://www1.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Sstrengthening-The-Ties-Between-96487944.html
The United States and Vietnam are moving forward on defense cooperation and addressing issues from past conflicts, following a day of talks in Hanoi recently. Coming on the fifteenth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries, the discussions marked the third in a series of annual meetings aimed at strengthening bilateral ties.

The leader of the U.S. delegation, Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Shapiro, said the two sides discussed the regional and global security situation and nonproliferation, as well as bolstering cooperation in maritime security, search and rescue, ship visits, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and transnational crime. The participants also conferred about future Vietnamese participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions. The Vietnamese government first expressed interest in participating in U.N. peacekeeping operations back in 2007, saying it would do so when conditions are appropriate. We look forward to welcoming Vietnam's participation in such efforts.

The two sides addressed efforts to remove unexploded bombs and landmines from past conflicts and to account for missing personnel on both sides. The U.S. has allocated $3.5 million to assist Vietnam this year in addressing explosive remnants of war. The talks also addressed efforts to continue dealing with contamination from dioxin, caused by the U.S. use of the defoliant Agent Orange. To date, some $9 million has been provided to fund the ongoing remediation program and to support disabled Vietnamese.

MORE: http://www1.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Sstrengthening-The-Ties-Between-96487944.html

The Petrosky's

http://vva.org/Committees/AgentOrange/Petrosky122209.pdf

Pete Petrosky and his wife had planned on having a large family. They talked about it before getting married. At least five kids, they agreed, a house full of kids. They stopped after two daughters.
“I was not going to bring anyone else into this world,” Pete said. “We wanted to have a large family. But after those two kids came, I said something’s wrong. There’s either something wrong with me or something wrong with you [his wife], because we have no history of anything like this in either of our families.”
Those “two kids” who came were his daughters, Lisa and Kimberly. Lisa was born with some kind of “soft tissue” growth covering the roof of her mouth. He remembers trying to get more information from doctors, but it never went beyond “a soft tissue growth.” Whatever it was, it did not belong there.
Kimberly, his second daughter, was born with a cleft lip that would evolve into even more serious health issues and a long history of surgeries. At one point in her young life, she nearly died and would have done so had not the Petroskys rushed her to an emergency room.
Pete believes he knows what caused the birth defects—Agent Orange, and it has shadowed him since his time in Vietnam.

READ MORE: http://vva.org/Committees/AgentOrange/Petrosky122209.pdf

The Petrosky’s story is brought to you by
Chapter 176, Centralia, Illinois.

Schedule for Rating Disabilities; Evaluation of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

http://www.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/fr-cont.html
Veterans Affairs Department
PROPOSED RULES
Schedule for Rating Disabilities; Evaluation of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ,
35711–35712 [2010–15169] [TEXT] [PDF]
AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its schedule for Rating Disabilities by revising the evaluation criterion for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to provide a 100-percent evaluation for any veteran with service-connected ALS. This change is necessary to adequately compensate veterans who suffer from this progressive, untreatable, and fatal disease.
This change is intended to provide a total disability rating for any veteran with service-connected ALS.

YOU MUST SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE AT: http://www.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/fr-cont.html

VVA says Tell Your Agent Orange Stories and take Grassroots ACTION

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/06/22/vva-says-tell-your-agent-orange-stories-and-take-grassroots-action/
As I finished up writing my last article on questions surrounding Agent Orange Outside of Boots On the Ground Vietnam, Rainbow Colored Chemical Agents on GUAM? http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/06/22/rainbow-colored-chemical-agents-on-guam/, an old article written by Mokie Porter (mporter@vva.org) of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA)(www.vva.org) came to mind, and I dug it out of my stack of The VVA Veteran magazines.

Way back in the Oct/November 2009 time frame (that’s about seven months ago) Mokie raised several issues that are now beginning to bite VSOs in the butt.

His focus was on how the Ford Foundation was funding a study into how Agent Orange and related chemical poisons used in our Herbicide Warfare operations against Vietnam has been killing and maiming the Vietnamese from the time we began using chemical Herbicides as a weapon of warfare.

Mokie drew attention to how the focus of the funding for this effort excluded Vietnam Veterans and their families. As I understand it, VVA had no problem with any study to correct a wrong done the people of Vietnam, but heck it was wartime after all. The problem was the exclusion of U.S. troops who fought there.

However, more important rather than piss and moan about Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange getting any media coverage, Mokie proposed positive steps and solutions that Veterans needed to heed in order to get their stories and VOICE heard. That was seven months ago, old news?

WE DON’T THINK SO!

What exactly did Mokie say seven months ago that applies today?

Robert L. Hanafin, Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired, Veterans Today News Network

Don’t Wait For An Army to Die

MORE: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/06/22/vva-says-tell-your-agent-orange-stories-and-take-grassroots-action/

VA quietly giving benefits to Marines exposed to toxic water

http://www.standard.net/topics/health/2010/06/18/va-quietly-giving-benefits-marines-exposed-toxic-water

WASHINGTON — Former Marine Corps Cpl. Peter Devereaux was told about a year ago that he had just two or three years to live.

More than 12 months later, at 48, he still isn't ready to concede that the cancer that's wasting his innards is going to kill him. He swallows his pills and suffers the pain and each afternoon he greets his 12-year-old daughter, Jackie, as she steps off her school bus in North Andover, Mass.

The U.S. Department of the Navy says that more research is needed to connect ailments suffered by Marines such as Devereaux who served at Camp Lejeune and their families who lived there to decades of water contamination at the 156,000-acre base in eastern North Carolina. Meanwhile, however, the Department of Veterans Affairs has quietly begun awarding benefits to a few Marines who were based at Lejeune.

"Right now, I would venture to say that any Camp Lejeune veteran who files a claim now is presumed to have been exposed to the contaminated drinking water," Brad Flohr, the assistant director for policy, compensation and pension service at the VA, told a meeting of affected Marines and family members in April.

It's estimated that as many as 1 million people were exposed to the water from the 1950s to the 1980s. The water was laced with trichloroethylene, known as TCE; tetrachloroethylene, known as PCE; benzene and other volatile organic chemicals.

More: http://www.standard.net/topics/health/2010/06/18/va-quietly-giving-benefits-marines-exposed-toxic-water

Vietnam vets worry about lasting impact of Agent Orange

By Nancy Remsen, Free Press Staff Writer • Sunday, June 20, 2010

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100620/NEWS02/100619007/Vietnam-vets-worry-about-lasting-impact-of-Agent-Orange

MONTPELIER — William J. Whitney of Northfield did two tours of duty in Vietnam four decades ago, but until recently he didn’t think that Agent Orange, a defoliant used by the U.S. military, might affect not only his health, but that of his children and grandchildren.

“I’m scared and I have a right to be,” Whitney testified Saturday before a small audience of other Vietnam veterans, their families, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and representatives of Vermont’s other members of Congress. “I went and served my country not knowing what my government was doing to us guys. They poisoned us.”

Other Vietnam veterans also came to the microphone, their voices full of emotion as they told of mysterious illnesses that have plagued their children and grandchildren.
http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/88303/
More: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100620/NEWS02/100619007/Vietnam-vets-worry-about-lasting-impact-of-Agent-Orange

Agent Orange Town Hall Meeting in Centralia, Illinois
War doesn’t end when the peace treaty is signed
Effects of Agent Orange on vets may linger long after war in Vietnam
By Judith Joy
Sentinel Feature Editor
http://www.morningsentinel.com/
CENTRALIA — “We have got to tell people that we will not be quiet any more,” Sandie Wilson told a group of veterans gathered at the American Legion on Wednesday to hear about the effects of Agent Orange on veterans of the Vietnam War.
“We want grant money to look into the effects of Agent Orange, not just on veterans, but on their families,” added Wilson, who served in Vietnam as a nurse in 1968 and ‘69. “We have been talking about Agent Orange for 30 years now,” Wilson added, “but very little has been done by the government for the children and grandchildren of veterans.”
Of the 3.5 million men and women who served in Vietnam , Wilson said that only 850,000 were still alive. “Seventy-five percent are dead before their time — that’s something I cannot tolerate. It’s time to take action.”
Agent Orange is a powerful herbicide, which is a combination of 2, 4-D and 2, 4, 5-T, that was sprayed by the military to defoliate trees concealing enemy forces. For humans, however, the greatest danger was from dioxin, a contaminant that occurred during the herbicide’s manufacture. Levels of dioxin in Agent Orange ranged from less than .05 parts per million to almost 50 ppm, according to a publication issued by the Vietnam Veterans of America or VVA.
“We talk about Agent Orange, but it’s actually all the chemicals that soldiers were exposed to,” explained Mokie Porter , who represents the VVA in Washington . Five companies, including DOW Chemical, Monsanto, Diamond Shamrock and DuPont, were involved in making Agent Orange. However, Porter explained, DOW has often been singled out because it used an accelerated technique that employed higher temperatures that allegedly produced greater quantities of the contaminant dioxin.
Exposure to dioxin may result in a variety of illnesses including: the onset of Type II diabetes, neuropathy or tingling in the extremities, Hodgkins Disease, Chloracne, non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Parkinson’s Disease, and many different types of cancers. All of the above are illnesses recognized by the Veteran’s Administration (VA) as related to exposure to Agent Orange.
In addition, exposure to Agent Orange may also affect the genetic makeup of the person exposed and cause Spina bifida in his or her offspring. Whether Agent Orange is directly responsible for other genetic diseases is a matter of some dispute. The NIH [National Institute of Health] says there’s no evidence that dioxin causes mutations on the parental side,” admitted Wilson .
“We believe it was a combination of chemicals that were sprayed on us,” she added, “the NIH is only looking at dioxin in Agent Orange.” During her time in Vietnam , Wilson said she saw no mosquitoes because the military sprayed the insecticide Malathion every 9 to 11 days at a rate 40 times the recommended dose.
Wilson, who has no children of her own, said that exposure to Agent Orange, as well as other chemicals, is believed to be related to cancer, asthma, learning disabilities and other problems in the children of veterans. Wilson, who was a pediatric nurse at Fort Campbell , Ky. , said that one-third of all deliveries were by C-section and a number of children born there had abnormalities so serious they were sent to Vanderbilt Hospital .
Edith Rose, who lives in Saline, Mich. , related the story of the premature birth of her first child, when she was 39 years old, and married to a Vietnam vet. At birth, her son weighed only 1 1/2 pounds and, had he lived, would have been deaf, blind and profoundly retarded.
“My husband did not want me to see my child,” Rose told the audience. Rose, who is a Catholic and has raised 28 foster children, said that taking the baby off life support was the hardest decision she ever made in her life. “Agent Orange is killing our children and our grandchildren,” she remarked, “the longer we let this go on, the more generations will be affected.”
Mokie Porter said that she had attended a meeting sponsored by the Ford Foundation in which she learned that the foundation was providing funds to take care of Vietnamese victims of the war, but not Americans. “We should take care of our own,” Porter asserted, “there are a lot of sick kids out there and time is getting short.”
Presently, however, Spina bifida is the only birth defect recognized by the VA. “We have said for years that kids have cardiac problems, club feet and other disabilities,” said Wilson , “not just Spina bifida.” Dioxin, she explained, “mimics the hormones and the body doesn’t know the difference.”
Wilson is hopeful that the government will establish a center for the study of birth defects and other problems related to exposure of Agent Orange. Also needed is a place where children with such problems could come for evaluation and possible genetic testing.
“I’m asking them to pay for the problems they caused,” said Wilson . “War doesn’t end when the peace treaty’s signed. If they can pay for all these wars, they can pay for what we need.”
Following the formal presentation, a number of veterans in the audience described their physical problems and those of their children and grandchildren. Anyone requiring assistance regarding possible VA claims, can call Wayne Sensel, service representative for the Vietnam Veterans of America, at 618-367-2753.

Private panel to push $300 million cleanup of Agent Orange sites

Places contaminated by herbicide linked to illnesses in Vietnam and U.S. to be targeted in 10-year effort

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-nw-agent-orange-plan-20100616,0,6421387.story
By Jason Grotto, Tribune reporter

June 16, 2010
A prominent panel of private citizens, scientists and policymakers from the U.S. and Vietnam is set to unveil a plan Wednesday aimed at turning the page on a 40-year-old controversy over the health and environmental impact of Agent Orange and other herbicides used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

The 10-year, $300 million plan calls for cleaning up more than two dozen sites scattered throughout South Vietnam that remain contaminated by dioxin-tainted herbicides once stored at former U.S. military installations. It also would expand health care and other services for people suffering from disabilities and other ailments linked to dioxin.

Building on recent scientific studies and small-scale efforts at cooperation between the two governments, the plan seeks greater financial and technical support from the U.S. government as well as private foundations and humanitarian groups. While many private groups have signed on to the plan, its drafters are hoping the federal government will shoulder the bulk of the costs.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-nw-agent-orange-plan-20100616,0,6421387.story

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/16/world/main6587798.shtml?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.3

VVA Supports the Decision by VA Secretary To Declare Various Diseases Presumptive

http://vva.org/press_release.html
IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Release

June 12, 2010

No. 10-14

Contact:
Mokie Porter
301-585-4000, Ext. 146

Statement by VVA President John Rowan :

VVA Supports the Decision by VA Secretary To Declare

Various Diseases Presumptive Under Agent Orange/Dioxin Rules

and

Calls on the President and Congress to Fund AO/D Research Now,

And Not Wait for an Army to Die

( WASHINGTON , D.C. ) There have been reports in the media recently in which some, including Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), seem to question the legitimacy of service-connected disability compensation for illnesses related to exposure to Agent Orange/Dioxin in Vietnam and other locations, such as Type II diabetes mellitus and ischemic heart disease. Further, it appears that there is confusion on the part of some about how the process established by the Agent Orange Act of 1991 should and does work.

The facts of the matter are so clear that Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) must restate our position which is dictated by those clear facts:

First, Public Law 102-4, the Agent Orange Act of 1991, was enacted to address the health issues of veterans that stemmed from our exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam . Congress, in its collective wisdom, passed this legislation because of the severe impact exposure to dioxin was having on the lives of tens of thousands of veterans.

Senator Webb is mistaken about the intent of the law, which is understandable, because Webb was not in the Congress at that time. By the same token, no Senator or Member of Congress suggested, at the time of passage, that there should be any arbitrary or artificial limit placed on diseases covered, or on the numbers of veterans who might be affected, and, hence, covered. Rather, a process was set up to seek the level of association, if any, between exposure and the onset of specific diseases. Just as no one today would even think that we, as a nation, would cease treating and compensating our troops and veterans suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), simply because the incidence is far more prevalent among returning warriors than anyone might have imagined five years ago.

Second, we strongly support the actions of VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki in following both the letter and the spirit of Public Law 102-4, to conclude that the evidence analyzed by a distinguished panel from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and published in the 2008 Biennial Review of Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam was compelling enough to declare Parkinson’s disease, B cell leukemias, and ischemic heart disease as service-connected presumptive due to Agent Orange for those in the military who served in Vietnam (and along the demilitarized zone in Korea in 1968 and 1969).

Third, VVA can unequivocally state that the process set up by Congress under the Agent Orange Act continues to be the most objective and valid way of making decisions regarding environmental diseases of military service. These decisions should be scientific, not political. Any Secretary of the VA should adhere to the process, required by law, and follow the facts, as Secretary Shinseki has done.

Fourth, the evidence for inclusion of diabetes mellitus type II as a presumptive disease is very strong. It is true that people are more prone to develop type II diabetes as they age, but the facts are that Vietnam veterans are at least more than twice as likely to develop this disease as the non-veterans in our cohort group, when balanced for age, weight, exercise, and diet. The same is true of prostate cancer and other service-connected presumptive conditions.

This situation, again, highlights the need for federal funding of additional research into the adverse health impacts on Vietnam veterans, on our children, and on our grandchildren, by respected independent scientific entities outside of the VA. This is just as evident today as it was twenty years ago. The clear need for such research is even more pressing today, given the number of Vietnam veterans who have died well before their time in the last twenty years, and the number who are continuing to die early, because of the ravages resulting from exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin in Southeast Asia .

Lastly, there have been media reports that the amendment to Emergency Supplemental Appropriation by Senator Webb would delay the process, and thus delay the payment of justly due back compensation to affected veterans, pushing off the time when veterans who are owed back compensation actually will receive their entitled compensation. This simply is not the case. Neither action by Senator Webb nor anyone else has thus far caused any action that will slow down the payment of claims as soon as the VA can work though the public rule-making process to get this accomplished.



We urge all affected Vietnam veterans and eligible surviving dependents to file claims for the newly presumptive diseases associated with Agent Orange: Parkinson’s disease, B Cell leukemias, and ischemic heart disease. These diseases bring the total to 14 illness categories that entitle Vietnam veterans–and veterans who served along the demilitarized zone in Korea in 1968 and 1969–to health care and disability compensation. VVA also contends that many Vietnam-era veterans were also exposed in their service elsewhere in Southeast Asia during the war, including in Thailand and Laos , and aboard Navy vessels off the coast of Vietnam , as well as certain military bases located in the continental U.S. and its territories.

There are numerous diseases recognized by the VA as presumptive to exposure to Agent Orange. Additional information about these and other presumptive diseases and long-term health care risks for veterans can be found at the Veterans Health Council web site, www.veteranshealth.org, and in the VVA Self-help Guide to Service-Connected Disability Compensation For Exposure to Agent Orange at www.vva.org/Guides/AgentOrangeGuide.pdf

--30--

VVA Calls for Support for Presumptive Agent Orange/Dioxin

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Release
www.vva.org
June 11, 2010

No. 10-14

Contact:
Mokie Porter
301-585-4000, Ext. 146
mporter@vva.org

Statement by VVA President John Rowan :

VVA Calls for Support of the Decision by VA Secretary

To Declare Presumptive Agent Orange/Dioxin

and

VVA Calls on the President and Congress to Fund Research Now,

And Not Wait for an Army to Die



( WASHINGTON , D.C. ) There have been reports in the media recently in which some, including Senator Jim Webb, seem to question the legitimacy of service-connected disability compensation for exposure to Agent Orange/Dioxin on the battlefield, such as Type II diabetes mellitus and ischemic heart disease. Further, it appears that there is confusion on the part of some about how the process established by the Agent Orange Act of 1991 should and does work.

The facts of the matter are so clear that, after deliberation, Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) restates our position which is dictated by those clear facts:

First, Public Law 102-4, the Agent Orange Act of 1991, was enacted to address a plethora of health issues in veterans that stemmed from our exposure to Agent Orange while serving in-country. Congress, in its collective wisdom, passed this legislation because of the severe impact exposure to dioxin was wreaking on the lives of tens of thousands of veterans.

Senator Webb is mistaken about the intent of the law, which is understandable, because Webb was not in the Congress at that time. By the same token, no Senator or Member of Congress suggested, at the time of passage, that there should be any arbitrary or artificial limit placed on diseases covered, or on the numbers of veterans who might be affected, and, hence, covered. Rather, a process was set up to seek the level of association, if any, between exposure and the onset of specific diseases. Just as no one today would even think that we, as a nation, would cease treating and compensating our troops and veterans suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), simply because the incidence is far more prevalent among returning warriors than anyone might have imagined five years ago.

Second, we strongly support the actions of VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki in following both the letter and the spirit of Public Law 102-4, to conclude that the evidence analyzed by a distinguished panel from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and published in the 2008 Biennial Review of Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam was compelling enough to declare Parkinson’s disease, B cell leukemias, and ischemic heart disease as service-connected presumptive due to Agent Orange for those in the military who served in Vietnam (and along the demilitarized zone in Korea in 1968 and 1969).

Third, VVA can unequivocally state that the process set up by Congress under the Agent Orange Act continues to be the most objective and valid way of making decisions regarding environmental diseases of military service. These decisions should be scientific, not political. Any Secretary of the VA should adhere to the process, required by law, and follow the facts, as Secretary Shinseki has done.

Fourth, the evidence for inclusion of diabetes mellitus type II as a presumptive disease is very strong. It is true that people are more prone to develop type II diabetes as they age, but the facts of the matter are that Vietnam veterans are at least more than twice as likely to develop this disease as the non-veterans in our cohort group, when balanced for age, weight, exercise, and diet. The same is true of prostate cancer and other service-connected presumptive conditions.

This points, yet again, to the need for federal funding of additional research into the adverse health impacts on Vietnam veterans, on our children, and on our grandchildren, by respected independent scientific entities outside of the VA. This is just as evident today as it was twenty years ago. The clear need for such research is even more pressing today, given the number of Vietnam veterans who have died well before their time in the last twenty years, and the number who are continuing to die early because of the ravages resulting from exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin in Southeast Asia.

Lastly, there have been media reports that the amendment to Emergency Supplemental Appropriation by Senator Webb would delay the process, and thus delay the payment of justly due back compensation to affected veterans, pushing off the time when veterans who are owed back compensation actually will receive their entitled compensation. This simply is not the case. Neither action by Senator Webb nor anyone else has thus far caused any action that will slow down the payment of claims as soon as the VA can work though the public rule-making process to get this accomplished.

We urge all affected Vietnam veterans and eligible surviving dependents to file claims for the newly presumptive diseases associated with Agent Orange: Parkinson’s disease, B Cell leukemias, and ischemic heart disease. These diseases bring the total to 14 illness categories that entitle Vietnam veterans–and veterans who served along the demilitarized zone in Korea in 1968 and 1969–to health care and disability compensation. VVA also contends that many Vietnam-era veterans were also exposed in their service elsewhere in Southeast Asia during the war, including in Thailand and Laos , and aboard Navy vessels off the coast of Vietnam , as well as certain military bases located in the continental U.S. and its territories.

Among the other diseases recognized by the VA as presumptive to exposure to Agent Orange are diabetes mellitus (Type 2), non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, prostate cancer, and respiratory cancers (of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea). Additional information about these and other presumptive diseases and long-term health care risks for veterans can be found at the Veterans Health Council web site, www.veteranshealth.org, and in the VVA Self-help Guide to Service-Connected Disability Compensation For Exposure to Agent Orange at www.vva.org/Guides/AgentOrangeGuide.pdf

--30--

www.vva.org

Shinseki Stopped Hearing on AO Decision

http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,216032,00.html?ESRC=topstories.RSS

Tom Philpott | June 10, 2010
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Shinseki Stopped Hearing on Agent Orange Decision

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki met with Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, last month to ask that he cancel a hearing on the secretary's controversial decision to add three diseases to the list of Vietnam veteran illnesses presumed caused by exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used in that war.

Akaka reluctantly agreed, an informed source told Military Update. The VA thus avoided a brighter public spotlight, so far, on a decision that will help tens of thousands of veterans but also will add $13.6 billion to VA compensation claims in a single year.

Akaka and Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), a committee member, are pressing Shinseki outside of the hearing process to explain last October's decision to add heart disease, Parkinson's disease and B-cell leukemia to the list of illnesses presumed caused by Agent Orange.

Gagetown in New Brunswick - Agent Orange compensation deadline Sept. 17

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/9016821.html

Agent Orange compensation deadline Sept. 17


Fri. Jun 11 - 7:33 AM

People who worked at or lived near CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick more than 40 years ago have a little time left to apply for Agent Orange-related compensation.

Veterans Affairs Canada bureaucrat Barry Gallant said all information must be in by Sept. 17. Gallant also told the pro­vincial veterans affairs committee Thurs­day that there is no authorization for payments after Oct. 1.

Ottawa announced a compensation program in 2007 for people who worked at or lived within five kilometres of the New Brunswick military base in 1966 or 1967.

The federal compensation is $20,000.

Gallant said 618 Nova Scotians have sub­mitted applications and 396 have been approved. Two are in progress and the rest were declined.

Senator challenges VA's coverage of 3 new illnesses linked to Agent Orange

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-06-08/health/ct-va-agent-orange-20100608_1_vietnam-veterans-enemy-crops-agent-orange


June 08, 2010|By Jason Grotto and Tim Jones, Tribune Newspapers

Citing the billions more it will cost, Sen. Jim Webb asks VA secretary for explanation as he freezes funds to pay for expansion of coverage


A U.S. senator who is also a highly decorated Vietnam veteran has called into question the spiraling costs of disability claims stemming from veterans' exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides during the Vietnam War.

Late last week, Sen. Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat and former secretary of the Navy, sent a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki — another decorated Vietnam veteran — raising concerns over Shinseki's move to add three more illnesses to the list of ailments for which the VA provides compensation.

Webb asked the secretary to explain his decision to the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, on which Webb serves. At the same time, Webb also pushed through an amendment to an emergency supplemental bill that would delay by two months the transfer of $13.4 billion to cover the VA's costs for the new ailments while Congress reviews Shinseki's order.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-06-08/health/ct-va-agent-orange-20100608_1_vietnam-veterans-enemy-crops-agent-orange

Betty Mekdeci - Birth Defects Registry for Children

http://vva.org/Faces_Of_AO/Mekdeci031610.pdf


Betty Mekdeci
By Jim Belshaw
If there is a moment that represents the long battle Betty Mekdeci fought to shine a light on the origins of birth defects, it might be when a court’s representative wrote to her about an Agent Orange project she proposed. She was told it was far beyond her ability. It was simply too big. “Awesome,” the letter said. She could not possibly do it.
“That made me so angry,” she said. “You just didn’t tell me that I couldn’t do something. It made me really mad.”
She had been engaged in the fight for birth defect information for some years. She was the co-founder and executive director of Birth Defect Research for Children, Inc. She had been in courtrooms, going up against high-powered opposing attorneys and, in some cases, even her own attorneys. She didn’t do well in those court cases. Then someone told her she wouldn’t do well on her own, either.
“I had been thinking a lot about birth defect research globally, why we couldn’t learn anything, why typical studies didn’t work, and how the major causes of birth defects had been discovered. They had all been discovered by cluster identification or what we call an Alert Practitioner, who is someone who starts seeing a number of unusual birth defects. Then they look into the background of these cases and find a common factor.”
She set out to create her own Alert Practitioner, one involving thousands of people, people who were desperate to learn about birth defects.
Birth Defect Research for Children is a non-profit organization providing parents with information about birth defects and support services for children. The BDRC sponsors the National Birth Defect Registry, a research project that studies the links between birth defects and a number of causes, among them exposure to Agent Orange, an issue of particular note to Vietnam veterans.
Her interest in birth defects began in 1975, when her son was born with birth defects. Eventually, she would link those defects to a drug she had been prescribed (along with many other women) – Bendectin. Her efforts would lead to the removal of Bendectin from the world market. The initial search for information began with Betty and her mother.
In 1982, she and her husband, Mike, founded the Association of Birth Defect Children, now called Birth Defect Research for Children.

Read more at: http://vva.org/Faces_Of_AO/Mekdeci031610.pdf


Significant numbers of Vietnam veterans have children and grandchildren with birth defects related to exposure to Agent Orange. To alert legislators and the media to this ongoing legacy of the war, we are seeking real stories about real people. If you wish to share your family’s health struggles that you believe are due to Agent Orange/dioxin, send an email to mporter@vva.org or call 301-585-4000, Ext. 146.

Dark Politricks

Victims of Victims
June 7, 2010
Chuck Palazzo
Da Nang, Vietnam

http://www.darkpolitricks.com/2010/06/victims-of-victims/

Saturday afternoon, the heat of the summer is upon us in Da Nang. The comforts I enjoyed back in the US still exist for me in some ways – air-conditioning, hot water, a decent meal. I am reminded every moment of every day, however, that this is Da Nang, Vietnam. This is my adopted new home. I am also reminded each and every day that I am one of the fortunate few. Still relatively healthy. So many of my own as well as millions of Vietnamese are not so fortunate.

Why Da Nang? It is where I first landed. It is where, as a very young Marine, my political and human beliefs changed dramatically. I realized, first hand, that what we did as an American Nation was wrong. The effects of Agent Orange immediately manifested themselves on the environment here so many years ago. Sprayed by the US on the jungles, on the rice fields, the river banks, on the people – spilled onto the runways, the tarmacs, the storage facilities. Leached into the water supply, the food supplies. The crops, the animals and the humans – the children, the adults, the elderly. Plants and trees withered quickly, just to die and never to return to normalcy again. The toll on the animals and sea life were next – it was slow, but gradual and deadly. The water supply was contaminated early on – but the lies from the US Government as well as from Monsanto and Dow were told with such convincing and straight-faced language, the people of this country, as well as I and my fellow veterans believed it. “Agent Orange is not harmful or deadly to human beings”, said the liars. “In fact, you can drink it and nothing would happen to you”, was stated time and time again by these greed filled and soul-less people.
The lies continued over the years and remain so to this day. My own government refuses to accept responsibility. The chemical companies continue to lie. All of them continue to fill their bank accounts. The tragedy? Today, 4 generations after the first spraying occurred, people continue to die. Children continue to be born with severe physical and mental deformities. Disease is rampant. Satan himself could not have contrived such an ideal evil. Over 7 million victims and still counting by the second.

Read more: http://www.darkpolitricks.com/2010/06/victims-of-victims/

Monsanto seeds in Haiti: Haitian farmers' epic struggle for survival

http://thehaitianblogger.blogspot.com/2010/06/monsanto-seeds-in-haiti-haitian-farmers.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-steve-gutow/the-troops-go-home-but-th_b_600909.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beverly-bell/groups-around-the-us-join_b_600941.html


Monsanto Board of Directors


* Frank V. AtLee, III
* John W. Bachmann
* David L. Chicoine
* Janice L. Fields
* Hugh Grant
* Arthur H. Harper
* Gwendolyn S. King
* C. Steven McMillan
* William U. Parfet
* George H. Poste, Ph. D., D.V.M.
* Robert J. Stevens

Read their bio's at:
http://www.monsanto.com/responsibility/corp_gov/directors.asp#atlee

Want to let Monsanto know how you feel?
http://www.monsanto.com/who_we_are/contact_us.asp

Renaissance Journalism Center Awards 15 Journalists Vietnam Reporting Fellowships

http://www.rjcmedia.org/updates/renaissance-journalism-center-awards-15-journalists-vietnam-reporting-fellowships

15 top journalists to report on toxic legacy left in Vietnam by the use of the herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

Post by Whitney Wilcox on May 26th at 10:09am

San Francisco – The Renaissance Journalism Center has chosen 15 top journalists for a reporting fellowship program that will enable them to investigate the toxic legacy left in Vietnam by the use of the herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam Reporting Project Fellowship is designed to use the power of journalism to raise public awareness about the health and environmental problems that continue to affect Vietnam and its people. During the war, the U.S. military defoliated millions of acres of forest and farmland by spraying Agent Orange. The herbicide contained dioxin, a highly toxic organic pollutant linked to cancers, diabetes, birth defects and disabilities.

“Even though the war ended 35 years ago, the toxic impact of Agent Orange lives on, damaging the lives of millions of people,” said Jon Funabiki, executive director of the Renaissance Journalism Center, which is based at San Francisco State University. “Journalists can put a human face on this all-to-forgotten tragedy and help the general public to understand the full dimensions of the problem. Unfortunately, many news organizations are so financially strapped that they can’t afford to send reporters to the scene.”

Read more at: http://www.rjcmedia.org/updates/renaissance-journalism-center-awards-15-journalists-vietnam-reporting-fellowships

VVA Guide on preparing claims for service-connected entitlements relating to herbicide exposure - February 2010

VVA Self-Help Guide to Agent Orange Claims has been updated.

Get the February 2010 edition at:

http://www.vva.org/Guides/AgentOrangeGuide.pdf

"Please Don’t Hesitate To Ask"

via Paul Sutton

This is a response to an email sent to Gen. Shineski about the New Rule from:

Robert C. McFetridge
Director, Regulation Policy and Management (02REG)
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Ave, N.W., Room 1064
Washington, D.C. 20420
202-461-4932

On behalf of Secretary Shinseki, thank you for your note. We appreciate your concern. There has been a great deal of confusion in the public concerning the Secretary’s announcement that he intended to create presumptive service connections for three diseases linked to Agent Orange. It’s unfortunate that the media coverage did not include an explanation that the law requires VA to publish both a proposed rule and a final rule in the Federal Register before the Secretary’s decision can be implemented.

Under the laws and executive orders governing the Federal rulemaking process, it normally takes agencies about two years to publish final regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations, although the Agent Orange statute in this case prescribes a much shorter timeframe. We are attempting to reconcile those laws so that veterans will not be adversely affected by delays in the Federal rulemaking process. This regulation is one of our highest priorities and we hope to complete it in less than half the time normally required, by expediting its processing within VA and by asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to shorten their required review period.

We published the proposed rule, 2900-AN54, Diseases Associated With Exposure to Certain Herbicide Agents (Hairy Cell Leukemia and other Chronic B Cell Leukemias, Parkinson’s Disease and Ischemic Heart Disease), in the Federal Register on March 25, 2010. We felt that we had good cause to shorten the public comment period from 60 days to 30 days in order to help make this process go a little faster. When the public comment period closed on April 26, 2010, VA had received 669 public comments on the proposed rule. Since that time, regulatory staff at the Compensation and Pension Service have been working very hard reviewing, categorizing, and responding to these comments in a final rule. We are hopeful that they can complete the drafting stage this month so that the document can be submitted for legal review and coordination within VA. Once that is completed and the Secretary approves the final rule, we must deliver the document to OMB for review. OMB is authorized by executive order to take up to 90 days to complete their review, but we will be asking them to do their best to expedite their clearance. Once the final rule clears OMB, VA will publish it in the Federal Register, usually 3 to 4 days later, and the regulation would become effective on that date of publication. Because of the enormous cost of this rule, however, AN54 is subject to another Federal law. It is considered an economically significant “major rule” under the Congressional Review Act, which requires agencies to wait 60 days after publication in the Federal Register for Congress to review final rules before they are implemented. However, that law should not interfere with VA’s processing of claims, and I understand that veterans are being encouraged to submit their claims as soon as possible, even though the regulation is not yet in effect.

I have provided this lengthy and technical explanation so that you can see why it’s difficult to predict just how soon this regulation can be published. As the Secretary’s delegate for monitoring VA’s progress in publishing important regulations, my best guess is that if all goes well with the final drafting and during the legal review, we might be able to submit the final rule to OMB for review by the end of June. If OMB needs the full 90 days to complete their review, we would expect to publish this regulation by October, 2010.

I hope this candid explanation is helpful, even though it’s not what you were hoping to hear. At least you can inform your husband and our fellow veterans that despite any other information they may have heard from other sources, you got your information “straight from the horse’s mouth.” And this regulation is moving about as quickly as it can, given all the legal requirements of the Federal rulemaking process.

If you need further information, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,

Bob
Robert C. McFetridge
Director, Regulation Policy and Management (02REG)
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Ave, N.W., Room 1064
Washington, D.C. 20420
202-461-4932

http://www.guamagentorange.info/

http://www.guamagentorange.info/


This site is for anybody who wants to tell their story about anything they know about Agent Orange or any other chemicals and dangerous contamination on Guam. We welcome anyone that is interested including Veterans, Civilians, or Contractors.
This site is also for anyone trying to gain more knowledge on this subject.