Monday, June 23, 2014

Vietnam vets share effects of Agent Orange

http://www.svherald.com/content/shar-porier/2014/06/21/380728
SIERRA VISTA — Though the nation is acknowledging the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the war in Vietnam, the fighting is still not over as veterans and, now, their children and grandchildren, seek medical attention for the numerous critical maladies and cancers from exposure to Agent Orange.
Though the war has been over for a little more than four decades, the impact of a decision to use 20 million gallons of a herbicide that contained dioxins and benzene, has left hundreds of thousands of soldiers requiring medical attention, that now has been discovered to even have affected their children and grandchildren.
In an effort to let Vietnam veterans know that there is help for them, the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 1093, Sierra Vista, held a special town hall meeting to let local veterans know they are not alone, that someone still has their backs.
Bill Colberg, president of the local chapter, brought in two VVA national activists from California, Jim Doyle and Zack Earp, to offer Vietnam veterans the chance to voice their concerns and problems.
Earp, who is a descendant of Wyatt Earp, uses a walker these days and still carries nearly 200 pieces of shrapnel in his body. He suffers from Parkinson’s Disease and has had previous battles with prostate cancer. His children have had serious health issues. One is dead from neurological problems that caused Grand Mal seizures. He was only 32.
READ MORE: http://www.svherald.com/content/shar-porier/2014/06/21/380728

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