For 32 years, the reunion group —
which is not affiliated with any other veterans organization — has met,
usually in one of the state’s medium-size cities. In the past two years,
it has met in North Platte and Norfolk.
This
year, the group's members are coming to Omaha for only the third time.
They are hoping to boost interest by visiting the state’s largest city.
“Most
of our clientele is outstate, west of Lincoln,” said Jaime Obrecht of
Lincoln, a member of the reunion’s board of directors. “Each year, we
try to pick up new people.”
Typically,
the gathering attracts about 300 veterans at a family-friendly reunion
that is heavy on social events like golf, hospitality suites and tourist
visits but also features helpful seminars from groups including the
Department of Veterans Affairs and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
One
of the headline events will be a pair of town hall-style “Faces of
Agent Orange” sessions moderated by Maynard Kaderlik, a Minnesota
veteran who is chairman of the Vietnam Veterans of America Agent Orange
committee.
For
years, the VA has paid benefits to Vietnam veterans who contract
several diseases — including several forms of cancer, diabetes, ischemic
heart disease and Parkinson’s disease — that have been linked to
exposure through scientific studies.
It
has long been suspected, but never proved, that veterans’ exposure to
Agent Orange may cause birth defects and genetic maladies in their
children and grandchildren. The Vietnam Veterans of America is
supporting federal legislation that would direct the VA to study the
impacts of veterans’ chemical exposures on their offspring.
“It
was some of the deadliest dioxins that anyone can have in their
bodies,” Kaderlik said. “We feel like we brought this home and passed it
along through our wives to our children.”
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