For many Americans, the enduring memory of the Vietnam War is of the
protests that defined a generation and shattered the illusion of
America’s purity on the world stage. But for the 3 million men and women
who served in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and early 1970s, the memories
are more visceral: the fog of combat, the stench of death, the sting of
returning to a seemingly ungrateful nation.
Robert Schmid of Leverett is one of those Vietnam
vets. Schmid was a soldier on the ground when planes overhead showered
down herbicide to kill jungle foliage and reveal enemy troops. Amid the
gunfire, he paid it little heed. “There is so much activity,” he told
reporter Lisa Spear, “that it is just another thing happening.”
Now
72, Schmid has suffered a heart attack and attributes his coronary
heart disease to his time in-country. Donald F. Moulton, another Vietnam
veteran, suffers from an aggressive form of leukemia. He told fellow
veteran John Paradis that he was exposed to Agent Orange while a Navy
Seabee clearing vegetation to build bases, hospitals and schools.
“We
weren’t even using the words Agent Orange then and we just took it for
granted,” Moulton said. “I can tell you this, we weren’t pulling any
weeds over there — that stuff pretty much took care of everything.”
And no wonder. Agent Orange contained toxins including the
now-infamous dioxin, and the U.S. military sprayed close to 11 million
gallons of it in Vietnam. In the decades since, scientists have
concluded beyond a doubt that the herbicide is to blame for health
problems including the ones suffered by Schmid and Moulton — and the
government has begun paying benefits to veterans who grapple with those
issues.
Veterans collect monthly benefits ranging from modest to
more substantial; veterans interviewed by Spear reported payments
between $300 and $3,000 a month, depending on their debilitation. But
many of those afflicted don’t know that they and their spouses are
entitled to the help, despite the pain and expense associated with
long-term ailments.
Too many veterans remain unaware of the
benefits they might collect, says Timothy Niejadlik, director of the
Upper Pioneer Valley Veterans’ Services office in Greenfield. To help
spread the word, his organization recently held a town hall meeting at
Greenfield Community College to provide information, health screenings
and help in filing claims.
“A lot of these diseases are equated to
age, so (veterans) are just thinking that it’s part of their natural
aging process,” said Niejadlik.
Says Schmid: “There are a lot of
vets who don’t take advantage; either they don’t know about it or they
are shy about asking for it — and I was like that, too.”
Happily,
Schmid did ask and now receives a $300 monthly benefit that not only
helps with his health-related expenses but also signals a recognition —
long overdue — of the sacrifices he made in that distant land. Other
vets deserve that same recognition, and our nation’s thanks.
