The
Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange (AVAO -Dioxin) in Ho Chi
Minh City yesterday held a press conference about the 10th establishment
anniversary of the association. At the meeting, the
association summed up its activities during 10 years including
scientific seminar on overcoming the chemical consequences; to pool
support for a Vietnamese-French woman, Tran To Nga, a dioxin victim, in
her lawsuit against 26 U.S. chemical companies for producing dioxin
chemicals to spray in Vietnam during wartime against France; a
demonstration with 10,000 participants to support the struggle for
Vietnamese dioxin victims and ground breaking ceremony for a village in
Xuan Thoi Thuong commune in Hoc Mon District in HCMC to take care of
Agent Orange victims. Currently the country has
nearly 5 million Agent Orange victims and of them, around 3 million
people are disabled and live in despair. In HCMC, 19,000 people are
Agent Orange victims. In 10 year establishment, the association has
spent VND13 billion (US$ 598,000) to look after 5,234 agent orange
victims; build charity houses; repair houses and supporting victim
families’ businesses. In addition, the
association has also offered wheelchairs and motorbikes to victims who
are difficult in moving as well as provided free orthopedic surgeries to
them. Thanks to the assistance of the association, many agent orange
victims have had stable life. The even was presided by
Major General Tran Ngoc Tho, former chief of staff of the High Command
of Military Zone 7 and the chairman of the association with the
participation of Prof. Dr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, Vice Chairwoman of the
association, and Colonel Le Cuong, head of the Information Section of
the association.
ENID, Okla. (AP) - The effects of the Vietnam War still are reaching Enid in 2015. During
the Vietnam War, United States military forces encountered an enemy
that didn’t march in formation and meet on a battlefield; they fought
Viet Cong soldiers who took cover in the thick forests and vegetation
that grew in rural areas of South Vietnam, making it almost impossible
to see where troops were moving, the Enid News & Eagle
(http://bit.ly/1ApBPjH ) reported. One answer to this problem was a
mass defoliation project from 1961 to 1971 to remove the tree cover and
deprive the Viet Cong soldiers of food using several herbicides,
including a mixture of two phenoxyl herbicides: Agent Orange.
Agent
Orange, or Herbicide Orange, got its name from the orange markings on
the storage barrels, and was manufactured primarily by Monsanto Corp.
and Dow Chemical.
Nearly 20 million gallons of herbicides,
including about 12 million gallons of Agent Orange, were sprayed over
Vietnam, eastern Laos and parts of Cambodia from helicopters of
low-flying C-123 Provider aircraft fitted with sprayers. The
toxins destroyed more than five million acres of forests and 500,000
acres of crops, and the effects of Agent Orange and other herbicides
continue to wreak havoc.
Agent Orange destroyed more than foliage and vegetation; it began destroying lives, and it still does so today. Veterans
who were exposed to Agent Orange reported illnesses or miscarriages and
birth defects after returning home. In Vietnam, Dr. Nguyen Viet Nhan
reported children born in the areas where Agent Orange was sprayed were
three more times likely to have multiple health problems, including
cleft palates, mental disabilities, extra digits, and some were
stillborn and physically deformed after prenatal exposure, according to a
1998 article from BBC. U.S. Veterans began filing claims in 1977
for disability payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs for
illnesses they believed to be caused by exposure to Agent Orange. Now,
the VA acknowledges that some diseases, including chronic B-cell
Leukemias, type 2 diabetes, Hodgkin’s Disease, Ischemic heart disease,
multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Parkinson’s Disease,
peripheral neuropathy, respiratory cancers and soft tissue sarcomas in
veterans exposed to Agent Orange could be a result of the exposure. MORE
http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/fort-mcclellan/ Fort McClellan was an Army installation in Alabama that opened in 1917. Some members of the U.S. Army Chemical Corp School, Army Combat
Development Command Chemical/Biological/Radiological Agency, Army
Military Police School and Women's Army Corps, among others, may have
been exposed to one or more of several hazardous materials, likely at
low levels, during their service at Fort McClellan. Potential exposures
could have included, but are not limited to, the following:
Radioactive compounds (cesium-137 and cobalt-60) used in decontamination training activities in isolated locations on base.
Chemical warfare agents (mustard gas and nerve agents) used in decontamination testing activities in isolated locations on base.
Airborne polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the Monsanto plant in the neighboring town.
Although exposures to high levels of these compounds have been shown
to cause a variety of adverse health effects in humans and laboratory
animals, there is no evidence of exposures of this magnitude having
occurred at Fort McClellan.
PCBs and the Monsanto chemical plant
From 1929 to 1971, an off-post Monsanto chemical plant operated south
of Fort McClellan in Anniston. PCBs from the plant entered into the
environment, and the surrounding community was exposed. In 2013, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
completed an assessment of the potential health risks caused by
airborne PCBs in Anniston and concluded that the concentrations found
were "not expected to result in an increased cancer risk or other
harmful health effects in people living in the neighborhoods outside the
perimeter of the former PCB manufacturing facility." MORE
Exposures
of zebrafish through diet to three environmentally relevant mixtures of
PAHs produce behavioral disruptions in unexposed F1 and F2 descendant.
http://parkinsonsaction.org/count-it-parkinsons-priority-moves-to-house-floor/ Exciting news for the Parkinson’s community! On May 21, 2015, the
House Energy & Commerce Committee unanimously passed H.R. 6, the 21st Century Cures Act, which includes a key Parkinson’s priority, the Advancing Research for Neurological Diseases Act (H.R. 292/S. 849). The House is expected to bring the 21st Century Cures Act to a vote in June.
Before passing the bill, the committee held opening statements, where
Parkinson’s was front and center. Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO),
who is a leader on the 21st Century Cures Initiative,
mentioned her connection to Parkinson’s disease and her support for
the data collection priority, which is included in the bill as the
“National Neurological Diseases Surveillance System.” Watch Rep. DeGette’s statement. The 21st Century Cures Act features other key
provisions, including a $10 billion “Innovation Fund” at the National
Institutes of Health, additional funding to support activities at the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), incorporation of patient experience
data into the regulatory process at FDA, and exemption of FDA user fee
programs from sequestration. While we’ve taken an important step in the process, your continued advocacy
is needed to ensure passage in the House. Please ask your Member to
co-sponsor H.R. 292 today and support this priority by voting yes on the
21st Century Cures Act when it is considered on the House floor.
Chloracne(or similar acneform disease) A
skin condition that occurs soon after exposure to chemicals and looks
like common forms of acne seen in teenagers. Under VA's rating
regulations, it must be at least 10 percent disabling within one year of
exposure to herbicides.
Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 A
disease characterized by high blood sugar levels resulting from the
body’s inability to respond properly to the hormone insulin
Hodgkin's Disease A
malignant lymphoma (cancer) characterized by progressive enlargement of
the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, and by progressive anemia
Ischemic Heart Disease A disease characterized by a reduced supply of blood to the heart, that leads to chest pain
Multiple Myeloma A cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell in bone marrow
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma A group of cancers that affect the lymph glands and other lymphatic tissue
Parkinson's Disease A progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects muscle movement
Peripheral Neuropathy, Early-Onset A
nervous system condition that causes numbness, tingling, and motor
weakness. Under VA's rating regulations, it must be at least 10 percent
disabling within one year of herbicide exposure.
Porphyria Cutanea Tarda A
disorder characterized by liver dysfunction and by thinning and
blistering of the skin in sun-exposed areas. Under VA's rating
regulations, it must be at least 10 percent disabling within one year of
exposure to herbicides.
Prostate Cancer Cancer of the prostate; one of the most common cancers among men
Respiratory Cancers(includes lung cancer) Cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus
Soft Tissue Sarcomas(other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, or mesothelioma) A group of different types of cancers in body tissues such as muscle, fat, blood and lymph vessels, and connective tissues
She
is looking for Blue Water Navy Vietnam veterans (Navy and Marine Corps)
who served in the offshore waters of Vietnam with an Agent Orange
illness who have either been denied benefits or are still waiting for
their claim to be decided because that had “no boots on the ground”.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/environment/gov-vetoes-bill-that-would-hand-over-more-funds-for-river-cleanup-1.1339522 On Monday May 11, Governor Chris Christie vetoed a bill which would
have revised this year's state budget to provide more of the money from
settlements with polluters to go toward cleanup of the Passaic River,
which is laced with cancer-causing dioxin, mercury and PCBs. The bill introduced March 9, if signed by Christie, would have
amended the Fiscal Year 2015 annual appropriation act to ensure that
one-half of all natural resource recoveries and associated damages
recovered by the state, in excess of $50 million, be deposited into the
Hazardous Discharge Site Cleanup Fund and be appropriated for direct and
indirect costs of remediation, restoration, and cleanup. Without the
enactment of the bill, all amounts of natural resource recoveries and
associated damages recovered by the state in excess of $50 million
during 2015 will now be deposited in the State General Fund as general
state revenue. "The protection and preservation of the ecological wonders of
which New Jersey is so proud have always been critical considerations
when weighing where New Jersey's limited budget dollars should be
delivered, but there are always challenging decisions that must be made
when balancing a complex state budget," said Christie. "The allocation
determined as part of the collaborative state budget process strikes an
appropriate balance between the environmental and fiscal needs of the
citizens of New Jersey, and goes as far as possible to continue the
restoration of the natural spaces and waterways our citizens enjoy." The Christie Administration allocated $50 million received from
recoveries for the restoration and remediation of natural resources
throughout New Jersey in 2015, as well as fund $334 million to the New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. MORE
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/05/18/the-vietnam-war-after-40-years/ Today, 40 years after the American war in Vietnam
ended in ignominious defeat, the traces of that terrible conflict are
disappearing.
Traveling through Vietnam during the latter half of April 2015 with a
group of erstwhile antiwar activists, I was struck by the
transformation of what was once an impoverished, war-devastated peasant
society into a modern nation. Its cities and towns are bustling with
life and energy. Vast numbers of motorbikes surge through their
streets, including 4.2 million in Hanoi and 7 million in Ho Chi Minh
City (formerly Saigon). A thriving commercial culture has emerged,
based not only on many small shops, but on an influx of giant Western,
Japanese, and other corporations. Although Vietnam is officially a
Communist nation, about 40 percent of the economy is capitalist, and the
government is making great efforts to encourage private foreign
investment. Indeed, over the past decade, Vietnam has enjoyed one of the
highest economic growth rates in the world. Not only have
manufacturing and tourism expanded dramatically, but Vietnam has become
an agricultural powerhouse. Today it is the world’s second largest
exporter of rice, and one of the world’s leading exporters of coffee,
pepper, rubber, and other agricultural commodities. Another factor
distancing the country from what the Vietnamese call “the American War”
is the rapid increase in Vietnam’s population. Only 41 million in 1975,
it now tops 90 million, with most of it under the age of 30 — too young
to have any direct experience with the conflict.
Vietnam has also made a remarkable recovery in world affairs. It now
has diplomatic relations with 189 countries, and enjoys good relations
with all the major nations.
Nevertheless, the people of Vietnam paid a very heavy price for their
independence from foreign domination. Some three million of them died
in the American War, and another 300,000 are still classified as MIAs.
In addition, many, many Vietnamese were wounded or crippled in the
conflict. Perhaps the most striking long-term damage resulted from the
U.S. military’s use of Agent Orange (dioxin) as a defoliant. Vietnamese
officials estimate that, today, some four million of their people
suffer the terrible effects of this chemical, which not only destroys
the bodies of those exposed to it, but has led to horrible birth defects
and developmental disabilities into the second and third generations.
Much of Vietnam’s land remains contaminated by Agent Orange, as well as
by unexploded ordnance (UXO). Indeed, since the end of the American war
in 1975, the landmines, shells, and bombs that continue to litter the
nation’s soil have wounded or killed over 105,000 Vietnamese — many of them children.
During the immediate postwar years, Vietnam’s ruin was exacerbated by
additional factors. These included a U.S. government embargo on trade
with Vietnam, U.S. government efforts to isolate Vietnam diplomatically,
and a 1979 Chinese military invasion of Vietnam employing 600,000
troops. Although the Vietnamese managed to expel the Chinese — just as
they had previously routed the French and the Americans — China
continued border skirmishes with Vietnam until 1988. In addition,
during the first postwar decade, the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party
pursued a hardline, repressive policy that undermined what was left of
the economy and alienated much of the population. Misery and starvation
were widespread. MORE
"He knew something was going on," Kathryn said. "But he didn't know what it was." Chadwell,
who moved from Tacoma, Washington, to Dover in 1956, was a loadmaster
on a variety of airplanes, including the C-123. The prop-driven cargo
plane was a major player in the Vietnam War's Operation Ranch Hand, an
11-year program of chemical defoliation aimed at denying the enemy cover
and food. One of the chemical defoliants sprayed across the jungle came
to be known as Agent Orange, named for the orange stripe painted on the
55-gallon containers. As a loadmaster, Chadwell had a lot of
contact with the military-grade herbicide, which contained the highly
toxic compound dioxin, an unintentional byproduct of the manufacturing
process that causes skin lesions in the short term and is classified by
the World Health Organization as a "known human carcinogen." "He
was heavily exposed to the Agent Orange in the aircraft and on the
ground," Kathryn said in her soft Tennessee drawl. "But they told him it
was safe. He told me that the men even took rags and used the Agent
Orange to clean their tools, with their bare hands. That's how heavily
exposed he was to it."
Over
the years – the couple spent most of their 28 years together in
Bridgeville – Chadwell's condition sometimes improved, though he
suffered frequent skin infections, some of which had to be cut away.
Losing weight and becoming jaundiced, he visited a Department of
Veterans Affairs doctor in April 1996. The news was heart-stopping:
Chadwell had developed pancreatic cancer. Six months later, he was dead.
Arthur C. Chadwell was 51. For much of the next two decades, Kathryn tried and failed to get the
government to acknowledge that Agent Orange had caused his cancer,
despite the efforts of the Vietnam Veterans of America and, beginning in
2012, a Bethesda, Maryland, national law firm that specializes in
compensation cases before VA.
Then, in April, she opened a letter
from the VA containing a copy of a decision by the Board of Veterans'
Appeals, or BVA. She could hardly believe what she read: "The Board
finds that service connection for the cause of this Veteran's death due
to herbicide exposure in service is warranted." "After 181/2
years, I was so stunned that I had to read it, like, six times before I
believed it," Kathryn said during a recent interview. "I just knew
there was something in the verbiage that I was missing." For
Kathryn, who'd never worked outside their home and suffered financial
hardship following Art's death, the decision should mean the ability to
live out her life more comfortably, said Joe Moore, an attorney with
Bergmann & Moore, the firm that took up her case. The decision is
also important news for others who have been similarly afflicted, or who
lost a spouse to the disease, he said. "This case isn't
precedential," Moore said. "This case doesn't, unfortunately, add this
cancer to the presumptive list. But if veterans and their families hear
about the fact that pancreatic cancer can be service-connected due to
Agent Orange exposure, they won't give up." MORE
VietNamNet Bridge - The Dong Nai provincial authorities on May 7
convened an urgent meeting to clarify information provided by a local
newspaper that the Dong Nai River is being filled with
dioxin-contaminated soil and rocks taken from an area near Bien Hoa
Airport. http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/130298/is-dong-nai-river-filled-with-dioxin-contaminated-soil-.html The urgent meeting was held just several hours after an article in Thoi
Nay, indicating that Toan Thinh Phat, the contractor for the project on
Dong Nai riverside improvement and urban development, is filling the
River with soil and rocks from a dioxin-contaminated area.
The public reacted strongly to the news. Thoi Nay is a publication of
Nhan Dan (the People), the organ of the Vietnamese Communist Party, and
therefore, any news released by the newspaper can cause repercussions to
the society.
The project on improving the Dong Nai riverside landscape appeared in
local newspapers a few weeks ago when environmentalists issued a warning
about the danger the project could bring. Locals repeatedly called on
to stop the project implementation.
The article could not show convincing evidence for Toan Thinh Phat’s
actions. It only raised a question if the soil and rocks exploited from
the Bien Hoa Airport were being used for the Dong Nai riverside
landscape improvement.
The reporters quoted a leader of the Bien Hoa Airport as saying that a
big volume of soil and rocks from the airport has been taken by Toan
Thinh Phat and carried away both on air and by land.
The Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Department
of Construction and the Bien Hoa Airport management unit have been
checking sources of materials used for Dong Nai River project.
Meanwhile, Dong Nai newspaper quoted Tran Van Dung from Regiment No 935
which now manages the Bien Hoa Airport as saying that no rock
exploitation activities are being carried out within the campus of Bien
Hoa Airport.
There is only one project under implementation there – the one on
building a water reservoir, implemented by Than Dong Bac, a mineral
investment joint stock company.
However, a Than Dong Bac representative affirmed that the company has
had tested soil taken from the reservoir bed and dioxin was not found.
He went on to say that the soil taken from there has been transferred to
Hung Thinh Phat, a company in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, for use, and
the soil has not been provided to serve the Dong Nai river project.
Meanwhile, Toan Thinh Phat, the suspected culprit, said that it used the
soil and rocks sourced from Thanh Phu, Vinh Cuu and Tan Cang quarries
in Dong Nai and Tan Uyen quarry in Binh Duong provinces.
Why? Evidence points to glyphosate toxicity from the overuse of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide on our food. For over three decades, Stephanie Seneff, PhD, has researched biology and technology, over the years publishing over 170 scholarly peer-reviewed articles.
In recent years she has concentrated on the relationship between
nutrition and health, tackling such topics as Alzheimer’s, autism, and
cardiovascular diseases, as well as the impact of nutritional
deficiencies and environmental toxins on human health. At a [recent] conference, in a special panel discussion about GMOs, she took the audience by surprise when she declared, “At today’s rate, by 2025, one in two children will be autistic.” She noted that the side effects of autism closely mimic those of glyphosate toxicity, and presented data showing a remarkably consistent correlation
between the use of Roundup on crops (and the creation of Roundup-ready
GMO crop seeds) with rising rates of autism. Children with autism have
biomarkers indicative of excessive glyphosate, including zinc and iron
deficiency, low serum sulfate, seizures, and mitochondrial disorder. A fellow panelist reported
that after Dr. Seneff’s presentation, “All of the 70 or so people in
attendance were squirming, likely because they now had serious
misgivings about serving their kids, or themselves, anything with corn
or soy, which are nearly all genetically modified and thus tainted with
Roundup and its glyphosate.” Dr. Seneff noted the ubiquity of glyphosate’s use. Because it is used
on corn and soy, all soft drinks and candies sweetened with corn syrup
and all chips and cereals that contain soy fillers have small amounts of
glyphosate in them, as do our beef and poultry since cattle and chicken
are fed GMO corn or soy. Wheat is often sprayed with Roundup just prior
to being harvested, which means that all non-organic bread and wheat
products would also be sources of glyphosate toxicity. The amount of
glyphosate in each product may not be large, but the cumulative effect
(especially with as much processed food as Americans eat) could be
devastating. A recent study
shows that pregnant women living near farms where pesticides are
applied have a 60% increased risk of children having an autism spectrum
disorder.
Other toxic substances may also be autism-inducing. You may recall our story on the CDC whistleblower
who revealed the government’s deliberate concealment of the link
between the MMR vaccine (for measles, mumps, and rubella) and a sharply
increased risk of autism, particularly in African American boys. Other studies now show
a link between children’s exposure to pesticides and autism. Children
who live in homes with vinyl floors, which can emit phthalate chemicals,
are more likely to have autism. Children whose mothers smoked were also
twice as likely to have autism. Research now acknowledges that
environmental contaminants such as PCBs, PBDEs, and mercury can alter
brain neuron functioning even before a child is born.
This month, the USDA released a study
finding that although there were detectable levels of pesticide residue
in more than half of food tested by the agency, 99% of samples taken
were found to be within levels the government deems safe, and 40% were
found to have no detectable trace of pesticides at all. The USDA added,
however, that due to “cost concerns,” it did not test for residues of glyphosate.Let’s repeat that:they never tested for the active ingredient in the most widely used herbicide in the world.
“Cost concerns”? How absurd—unless they mean it will cost them too much
in terms of the special relationship between the USDA and Monsanto. You
may recall the revolving door between Monsanto and the federal
government, with agency officials becoming high-paying executives—and
vice versa! Money, power, prestige: it’s all there. Monsanto and the
USDA love to scratch each others’ backs. Clearly this omission was MORE
The
toxic vapors acted quickly against the Second Platoon of the 811th
Ordnance Company, whose soldiers were moving abandoned barrels out of an
Iraqi Republican Guard warehouse in 2003. The building, one soldier
said, was littered with dead birds.
As
the soldiers pushed the barrels over and began rolling them, some of
the contents leaked, they said, filling the air with a bitter,
penetrating smell. Soon, many were dizzy and suffering from running
noses and tearing eyes. A few were vomiting, disoriented, tingling or
numb.
After
the soldiers staggered outside for air, multiple detection tests
indicated the presence of nerve agent. Others suggested blister agent,
too. The results seemed to confirm the victims’ fear that they had
stumbled upon unused stocks of Iraq’s chemical weapons.
From
Camp Taji, where the barrels had been found, more than 20 exposed
soldiers were evacuated in helicopters to a military hospital in Balad,
where they were met by soldiers wearing gas masks and ordered to undress
before being allowed inside for medical care.
“They
drew a box in the sand and had armed guards and were like: ‘Do not get
out of that box. Do not get out of that box,’ ” said Nathan Willie, a
private first class at the time. “I was kind of freaked out.”
Since
last fall, the United States military has acknowledged that American
soldiers found thousands of abandoned chemical weapons in Iraq,
and that hundreds of troops notified the military medical system that
they believed they had been exposed to them. The military acknowledged
the exposures after years of secrecy — and of denying medical tracking
and official recognition to victims — only after an investigation by The New York Times.
Even
then, the affliction of the 811th Ordnance Company had quietly remained
one of the unsolved mysteries of the Iraq war, and a parable of what
several of the victims describe as the corrosive effects of the
government’s secrecy on troop welfare and public trust.
Since
the episode, several of the sickened soldiers have complained of health
effects that they say may be linked to handling leaking barrels. But
instead of finding the Army concerned or committed to their well-being,
they faced years of shifting stories about what exactly had made them
ill.
The
Army, they said, at first suggested that they might have been exposed
to the nerve agent sarin. Then it said that chemical warfare field
detection tests were unreliable and that the liquid was most likely a
pesticide or something else. Then it dropped the subject entirely.
Still,
several of the victims suffered. But because the military’s records
relating to the episode were classified, the victims said, they lacked
the information to settle their gnawing worries or to give them the
standing necessary to pursue medical care or disability claims.
Thomas
S. Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, which advocates
open government, said the government’s refusal to share its information
was a case of the habits of secrecy trumping common sense.
“Soldiers
exposed to something really dangerous cannot find out what it was
because ‘Sorry it’s classified’?” he said. “It’s creepy and it’s crazy.”
Did you know that the tulip became the international symbol
of Parkinson’s disease in 1980 when a horticulturalist named a tulip
after Dr. James Parkinson? To honor all those who have Parkinson’s
disease or who are affected by it, the Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN) is pleased to announce the launch of the 2015 Tulip Tribute Garden.
The Tulip Tribute Garden celebrates, honors, and remembers those affected by Parkinson’s disease while supporting PAN’s vital policy initiatives.Would you consider making a donation of $25, $55, $70, $100, $250, $400, or more? Your gift will immediately help PAN work toward better treatments and a cure for Parkinson's disease.
For gifts of $25 or more, you will be invited to plant a virtual tulip and leave a message on the Tribute Wall. At the $70 level, you or someone you designate will be sent a lovely chocolate truffle confection. For donations of $400 or more, a beautiful bouquet of tulips will be sent to you or a loved one.
WASHINGTON - Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will use a Veteran's Affairs
Committee hearing Wednesday to push a bill to extend Veterans Affairs
Department benefits to "blue water" Vietnam-era veterans exposed to
Agent Orange.
It's a bid to right what many of those Navy veterans see as their
unfair exclusion from a 1991 law that requires the VA to provide
presumptive disability coverage to Vietnam veterans potentially exposed
to Agent Orange, a toxic herbicide the U.S. used to remove jungle
foliage if they develop health conditions tied to the chemical.
Though some of the Navy vets faced exposure, they cannot receive the
benefits unless they set foot on the ground in Vietnam or can show "on
factual basis" that they were exposed.
That leaves tens of thousands of veterans like Bobby Condon uncovered.
Condon, 68, who grew up in Flatbush, enlisted in the Navy at just 17,
serving from 1965 to 1968. He was nicknamed "Brooklyn" by fellow
sailors.
Condon, who had previously overcome throat cancer, was diagnosed in
2008 with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, an incurable form of cancer
linked to Agent Orange.
He believes he was exposed to Agent Orange while working on planes that
had flown threw areas where the chemical was dropped while he worked on
the flight deck of the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier.
"You're telling me that this plane is flying through this stuff, we're
changing the planes, we're pushing them around, then we're going down
and getting a hamburger, and we're not exposed?" he said.
He noted that he used to bite his nails.
Condon says he has a "50-50 chance of dying" from the condition, but can't get coverage from the VA.
"They're just trying to wear me out," he said. "They won't wear me out."
Gillibrand's bill, cosponsored by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), would
allow veterans who served up to approximately 12 miles offshore to get
VA health and disability benefits for illnesses that are tied to Agent
Orange exposure.
The junior New York senator has pushed the measure since 2009, but
failed to win Senate passage amid concerns about the cost the coverage
would impose on the VA.
Condon said he will watch what senators do with the bill, which is set to receive a committee vote in coming weeks.
"These guys are sitting in their plush chairs," he said. "They are either gonna vote no or yes on this."
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/05/va_announcement_on_benefits_fo.html The four-year battle for medical benefits waged by Westover Air
Reserve veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange while flying C-123
planes after the Vietnam War could be over by the end of the month. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert A. McDonald said
he plans to make an announcement within a few weeks about care for the
crews who flew the twin-propeller driven C-123 Providers after many were
used to spray the chemical over the Vietnam countryside to ruin crops
and defoliate trees, a department spokeswoman said. "VA officials have engaged in a collaborative conversation with key
stakeholders, including veterans' service organizations and
Congressional staff, to discuss existing legal authorities and the steps
needed to authorize benefits for all Reserve personnel who had
sustained contact with the contaminated aircraft and developed one of
the covered Agent Orange presumptive conditions. We will continue to
work with Congress on this important matter to provide our Veterans with
the benefits they have earned and deserve," a spokeswoman for the
Department of Veterans Affairs said in writing.
At least 11 of the 16 planes used at Westover Air Reserve Base between 1972 to 1982 at Westover are known to be former Agent Orange spray planes.
Some of them were tested a decade after they were retired and results
showed at least one used at Westover was "highly contaminated." The C-123 planes were also sent to the Pittsburgh Air National Guard Base and Rickenbacker Air National Base in Ohio. Veterans did not learn that the planes were contaminated until about
four years ago when Retired Air Force Maj. Wesley T. Carter, now of
Colorado, started requesting reams of documents through the federal
Freedom of Information Act after he and a number of fellow reservists
started falling ill with multiple cancers, heart disease and other
illnesses known to be caused by dioxin, the toxic chemical in Agent
Orange. The reservists have been fighting for the same benefits that people
who served in Vietnam receive. Under federal law anyone who spent any
time in Vietnam, even if it was only a day, is presumed to be exposed to
Agent Orange and eligible for full medical benefits and some disability
benefits if they fall ill with one of the diseases caused by dioxin. For several years the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Air Force
have refused to grant the benefits, saying the reservists could not be
exposed to dioxin from dried Agent Orange. That changed in January when
the Institute of Medicine,
an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, released a study saying the
veterans were made ill from being exposed to Agent Orange. "The Committee states with confidence that the AF (Air Force)
Reservists were exposed when working in the ORH C-123s (used in Vietnam)
and so experienced some increase in their risk of a variety of adverse
responses," the study said. It estimated 2,000 to 2,500 pilots, loadmasters, mechanics, medical
personnel and others who worked on the C-123s were exposed. A number of
them however, including Carter, are already eligible for the benefits
because they served in Vietnam or through other means. A number of veterans organizations, including the Vietnam Veterans of America and the National Veterans of Foreign Wars have been lobbying to support the C-123 veterans. In February six senators,
including Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts signed a strongly-worded to
the Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald to show
their support. The six have followed that up recently demanding quick
action from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook,
is optimistic about the outlook for legislation he introduced to
establish “presumed coverage” for so-called “Blue Water” veterans for
treatment of Agent Orange exposure. “Clearly we are further along
then we have ever been in any previous Congress, and I am hopeful the
President of the United States will sign this into law this Congress,”
Gibson said in an interview in Queensbury on Saturday. Gibson said there are several hopeful indicators: The
House bill he introduced – H.R. 969 -- has 218 co-sponsors, the number
of votes necessary to pass legislation. There are 98 Republican
co-sponsors, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, and 120
Democratic co-sponsors, including Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam. U.S.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has introduced companion legislation
in the Senate, which will be the topic of a Senate hearing this week. The
Congressional Budget Office is in the process of conducting a new
estimate of the cost, a factor Gibson said has been a hurdle in getting
approval of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. “I’ve maintained from
the very beginning that the CBO cost was not accurate. We have been
working diligently with the CBO and believe that there will be good news
to report on that immanently, in the coming days if not in the coming
weeks,” he said. The legislation would clarify existing law so
veterans would be automatically covered by the federal Veterans
Administration for treatment of Agent Orange exposure if they served
within the “territorial seas,” approximately 12 miles off the shore of
Vietnam. Agent Orange is a toxic chemical used to remove jungle foliage. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military sprayed about 20 million gallons of the chemical in Vietnam. Currently, veterans only have presumed coverage if they were actually on the ground in Vietnam. Others are decided on a case-by-case basis, which can be a lengthy process. “We’re
proud of the fact that we do win a fair number of these cases,” Gibson
said. “But we shouldn’t have to. They should get presumed coverage.”
Authorities in Colombia have been told they must stop using
Glyphosate the controversial herbicide, that is more commonly known by
Roundup it brand name. Authorities have been using the herbicide to eradicate the illegal
coca plantations by spraying them with the herbicide. Juan Manuel Santos
the president of Colombia was the one who informed the military of his decision. Santos said he would ask government officials at the next meeting of the National Drug Council to suspend all spraying of glyphosate on the illegal coca plantations. The practice of spraying the herbicide was started in 1994. It has
been treated for years as sacrosanct by officials in Colombia, who were
more than happy to accept the billion of U.S. dollars from the government
of the U.S. and were successful in slashing the production of cocaine
that fueled the civil war in the country for the past five decades. However, this past March, the World Health Organization
made an announcement that the herbicide glyphosate was likely a
carcinogen. That prompted the cabinet of Santos to make a decision as to
whether they should continue with their war through the air on coca,
the raw ingredient used to make cocaine. MORE
"He knew something was going on," Kathryn said. "But he didn't know what it was."
Then, in April, she opened a letter
from the VA containing a copy of a decision by the Board of Veterans'
Appeals, or BVA. She could hardly believe what she read: "The Board
finds that service connection for the cause of this Veteran's death due
to herbicide exposure in service is warranted."
The Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Department
of Construction and the Bien Hoa Airport management unit have been
checking sources of materials used for Dong Nai River project.
MORE
WASHINGTON - Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will use a Veteran's Affairs
Committee hearing Wednesday to push a bill to extend Veterans Affairs
Department benefits to "blue water" Vietnam-era veterans exposed to
Agent Orange.
At least 11 of the 16 planes used at Westover Air Reserve Base between 1972 to 1982 at Westover are known to be former Agent Orange spray planes.
Some of them were tested a decade after they were retired and results
showed at least one used at Westover was "highly contaminated."
