Agent Orange: Birth defects plague Vietnam; U.S. slow to help

U.S., Vietnam split over whether defoliants used in war are to blame

Dao Thi Kieu, 57, works her rice field outside of Bien Hoa, Vietnam. Her fields were sprayed with herbicides by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Of her eight children, seven were born with birth defects and five have died. Kieu also lost her husband, who fought for South Vietnam's army, to cancers associated with exposure to Agent Orange and other defoliants. (Tribune photo by Chris Walker / September 19, 2009)

chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange3-dec08,0,2946008.story

DONG NAI PROVINCE, Vietnam - Part 3 of a Tribune investigation finds that the role of defoliants in Vietnam's high rate of birth defects remains a contentious question decades after U.S. spraying missions ended. Complete coverage >>

The sun beats down on Dao Thi Kieu's straw hat as she hunches over thin strands of bright green rice plants, pulling them from beds submerged in muddy water and replanting them elsewhere.

These are the same paddies Kieu tended as a teenager during the Vietnam War, and she still remembers the planes that came in the mornings to spray Agent Orange and other defoliants while she worked.

In Vietnam, family grieves 12 lost children

http://www.chicagotribune.com/videobeta/?watchId=a9c58162-cd1c-41e8-adae-80eb8d99718c

Vet's daughters cope with toxic inheritance

http://www.chicagotribune.com/videobeta/?watchId=9fa27737-b729-4a32-aa78-b4e09b0170ec

Agent Orange's lethal legacy: For Vietnam War veterans, injustice follows injury

A U.S. Army soldier presents a folded U.S. flag to Christina Cooley at the memorial service in Evanston's Sheil Chapel for her father, Jack Cooley. Exposed to Agent Orange during his service in Vietnam, he died in July of multiple myeloma. At right is Christina's brother, John. (Tribune photo by Chris Walker / September 12, 2009)


Vietnam vets wait years and fight skeptical agency to get disability

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange2-dec06,0,2356181.story

Part 2 of a Tribune investigation finds that for many U.S. veterans, the bureaucratic fight to be compensated for health problems linked to Agent Orange amounts to a new and unexpected war, long after the shooting ended overseas.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/

Jack Cooley delivered his final argument in a long, distinguished legal career from a hospital bed.

Four months before succumbing to multiple myeloma, the Chicago-area Vietnam veteran and federal magistrate judge wrote a 140-page claim for justice and filed it with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Cooley's message to the government was personal and direct: Agent Orange is killing me, and you need to take responsibility.

Cooley didn't know it last spring, but when the former Army artillery captain filed his disability claim, he was just entering a maddening bureaucratic maze many veterans know well. The VA would kick back Cooley's claim after a month, saying he lacked the required proof he'd served in Vietnam.

Tribune Watchdog report Agent Orange A Lethal Legacy

Part 1 of series by The Chicago Tribune on Agent Orange
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/

"Memories of the Vietnam War are dimming, but veterans and Vietnamese nationals who were exposed to Agent Orange and other dioxin-laced defoliants are still experiencing devastating health effects, and birth defects have brought the impact into a second generation. Yet the U.S. government has yet to make full amends, either in the U.S. or overseas.
To report this series, the Tribune interviewed nearly two dozen civilians and former soldiers in Vietnam as well as researching thousands of pages of documents and traveling to the homes of veterans in the U.S. "

VA sends another Christmas Present /Birth Defects Reporting

See story at VA Watchdog…
http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfdec09/nf120309-1.htm

As most of you can figure by now I am bowing out of this fight as it makes no sense to me anymore with the past and current politicians and lack of simple logic and common sense… but will comment from time to time. I am writing a series of articles (with the help of Richard) to be posted and then sent to the Texas Tech Vietnam Archives for future researchers and generations to see just how American Veterans are really treated by a despicable government and its leadership. Yet, the same folks are reelected time after time after time. Just mindboggling!

Now as you know there is a flurry of Veterans Issues and activity in Congress for what I call nothing but a reelection façade. In many cases, as most of you already know, those that sponsor the bills do not even vote for them but then take election campaign credit. So be careful of what these prostitutes tell you and what they say they are doing. I have not seen or heard anything on Congressman Kagen’s Bill to add the gastro cancers as well as the pancreatic cancers I get e-mail on almost daily from dying Veterans or their widow. If someone knows please let me know.

I suspected long ago it was going no where and will only surface about reelection time. Meanwhile the state VA reps are honestly trying to get these claims approved. Unlike our paid for VSO’s who will not ‘demand something be done’ as they do not want to alienate the so-called congressional friends they have made. At least that is what I am told.

For 40 plus years we have had no friends in congress or if they were they were tuned back at every turn by DOD/VA/White House and other congressional elected officials who would rather not admit and pay for the mistakes made by Johnson and McNamara. What we get is AO Awareness Month or some such crap as that.

We should have realized this right off but unfortunately (NO INTERNET AT THE TIME) we did not know about all the other transgressions made by our government against other era Veterans going way back to mustard gas and the cover-ups that went on with those issues. Trusting those in government was the largest mistake we made.

As I pointed out previously when VA wins a battle against Veterans a fast letter is used in how to deny these claims. No waiting around to update some registry… just start denying based on a letter.

Yet, as you can see by the article even though everyone has admitted these associated issues to “at least as likely as not” nothing will be done until the VA and the other Washington Bureaucratic Offices take their time in doing what should have been done 20 years ago. And there are other issues many issues that should be addressed and will not until there are just a few left. Such as all SEER site cancers especially any adenocarcinoma.

I still would like an explanation from someone on how we have these cancers of the immune system and cancers of the blood associated and yet in no case can it only create any autoimmune disorders or disorders considered originating from a th1 and th2 immune system confusion response, which is where the cancer starts to begin with. How is this scientifically, medically, or biologically possible? Since the dioxin dose rate long ago for autoimmune was considered much less than that of a developed cancer…reference EPA analysis.

Terry explains the stay at the BVA level:

As required by 38 U.S.C. 1116, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will issue regulations through notice and comment rule-making procedures to establish the new presumptions of service connection for those diseases. Those regulations will take effect on that date that a final rule is published in the Federal Register. Until that time, VA does not have authority to establish service connection and award benefits based upon the planned new presumptions.

Ironically Mr. Terry as the higher headquarters for VARO which he is taking the stand on this issue will not take the other side and say something such as: TO: VARO’s

BVA has already found the following xx amount of cases associated by testimony and medical evidence and adjudicated as found as “at least as likely as not” associated to exposures in service to the nation. Therefore, it is recommended that all such cases that have a diagnosis of the issue in question be approved at VARO level; and if not then BVA will begin immediately to automatically approve these "redundant claims" as approved based on previous adjudicated legal procedures.

You see, no one including our congress wants to get rid of the backlog of claims, certainly not Mr. Terry or Mr. Mayes of the VA. It is not that hard to do this and certainly guarantee that no Veteran or Widow would get anything they did not earn or warrant. (Unlike our welfare system.)

Over 50% of VARO claims either remanded or overturned by BVA… then something is rotten in Denmark and in this so-called Veterans’ legal system. No… let’s just try and retry the same case over and over and over with the only difference is the docket number.

Maybe your congressperson or your senators can explain it to you as to the why trying the same case over and over for Veterans and Widows alike makes sense…it makes no sense to me other than budget control.

I would continue filing claims (Veterans and Widows) as the article suggests and then wait for the announcement of approval date whenever that might come. I would suggest at least five to eight months which is what I think it took for the primary amyloidosis issues.

My first article will be on the Korean DMZ Veterans and how they are being denied showing up days after the DOD said they quit spraying with no concern to dioxin half life. At my reunion, one example was given of a two day missed date and the Veteran was denied. Of course my main example will be Veteran David Hill now deceased and how he was denied by Nashville Regional and the overwhelming evidence he had but he was outside the so-called window. Had he been a civilian working along the DMZ he would have been’ inside the widow’ by two years even with no half life issues. Just makes no sense what-so-ever except budget control.

One of our stalwart supporters Ms. Betty Mekdeci of the AO Birth Defects Registry sent the following E-mail.

“The Chicago Tribune is running a four-part series on Agent Orange-related birth defects and disabilities. The reporter said that the first story should be in the printed and on-line version of the Chicago Tribune starting tomorrow.”
www.chicagotribune.com

Subject: Agent Orange report

Birth Defect Research for Children






Here is the link to the online version of the Agent Orange report in the Chicago Tribune:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/

With best regards,

Betty Mekdeci

Executive Director

Birth Defect Research for Children

http://www.birthdefects.org

800 Celebration Ave., Suite 225

Celebration FL 34747

407-566-8304 Fax 407-566-8341

Poisonous defoliants still exact a toll in U.S., Vietnam

By Jason Grotto and Tim Jones
Tribune reporters

December 4 2009

Part 1 of a Tribune investigation finds that U.S. officials have neglected a lasting problem even as the health fallout has spread.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange1-dec04,0,1766354.story

US health agency to take 'fresh look' at Vieques

The Associated Press; November 14, 2009
BYLINE: David McFadden
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/external/search.hosted.ap.org/wireCoreTool/Search?SITE=WSAW&query=Agent%20Orange
A U.S. agency has overturned its 2003 research that said no health hazards were caused by decades of military exercises on Vieques, a bombing range-turned-tourist destination off Puerto Rico 's east coast.

The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said Friday it intends to "modify" some of its earlier research on Vieques, where the U.S. and its allies trained for conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq .

The agency, a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, used its own studies to conclude in 2003 that there was essentially no health risk from the bombing range a conclusion widely criticized by academics and residents on the 18-mile-long island of less than 10,000 people.

"We have identified gaps in environmental data that could be important in determining health effects," director Howard Frumkin said in a statement posted Friday on the agency's Web site. "The gaps we found indicate that we cannot state categorically that no health hazards exist in Vieques. We have found reason to pose further questions."

Frumkin, who did not specifically identify the research gaps, said the agency will take a fresh look at the issue. He also said the agency will work with Puerto Rican health officials to conduct more in-depth health evaluations and will recommend monitoring to determine if Vieques residents were exposed to harmful chemicals.

For decades, warships and planes hammered the Naval Training Range on Vieques with live rounds before it was closed in April 2003 after years of protests over environmental risks and the 1999 death of a Puerto Rican civilian guard killed by an errant bomb.

Robert Rabin, who moved to Vieques from Boston in 1980 and helped lead the protests against the bombing range, said he and other islanders had an "attitude of cautious celebration" about the agency's announcement.

"We hope this will lead to the best possible cleanup and allow people here to receive the best health care," Rabin said Saturday from his Vieques home. "They are using hopeful language, and this island really needs help."

The U.S. agency reevaluated its earlier finding after being asked in April by U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman, a New Jersey Democrat who said independent studies and reports had documented a health crisis on Vieques.

The military fired and dropped millions of pounds of bombs, rockets and artillery shells, including napalm, depleted uranium and Agent Orange, on Vieques. A cleanup began in 2005 to clear thousands of unexploded munitions from the former range, which is now a Fish and Wildlife Service refuge, and the island has placed new emphasis on tourism.

Some 7,000 past and current Vieques residents have filed a federal lawsuit seeking billions of dollars in compensation for illnesses they have linked to the bombing range.

Agent Orange & The Ongoing Tragedy

http://www.agentorangequiltoftears.com/Balloon-Release.html


Many have paid the ultimate price
The 2nd Annual Veterans Day Agent Orange Balloon Release
Orange balloons were released today in honor of all the lives that have been drastically altered by the use of Agent Orange

Many have paid the ultimate price, but their loyalty has never waivered.
Many more need moments to regain their strength but they are survivors,
Their courage is unsurpassed.
As they strive to preserve the memories of the past, they are also striving to improve the future.
May we always be inspired by their strength, their commitment, & their undying love.
May we be strong enough to let them cry but not so strong that we cannot cry with them.
Most importantly May our arms always be folded firmly around them & our love always be a part of their bridge.....

Past, Present & Future

STUDY ON ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DISEASES IN CHILDREN AND EXPOSURE OF PARENTS TO HERBICIDE AGENTS

A BILL

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a study on the effects on children of exposure of their parents to herbicides used in support of the United States and allied military operations in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. STUDY ON ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DISEASES IN CHILDREN AND EXPOSURE OF PARENTS TO HERBICIDE AGENTS USED IN SUPPORT OF MILITARY OPERATIONS IN VIETNAM .
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.1940:

Local Veteran Wins Fight For Medical Benefits

http://www.newschannel5.com/global/story.asp?s=11488032
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Cheatham County veteran James Cripps is celebrating Veterans Day after winning an appeal that could pave the way for other veterans to get medical care.

He served his country, but felt betrayed when he sought care for exposure to Agent Orange.

"It says granted, granted, granted and it can never be appealed," exclaimed Cripps as he read the order from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He can not believe his 5-year fight with the VA is finally over.

"That order gives hope to other veterans. They will know there is a possibility," said Cripps.

He fought for himself and he fought for other veterans to prove he was poisoned by Agent Orange in the United States.

Agent Orange is a toxic herbicide used by the military to thin out the jungles of Vietnam. Soldiers sprayed millions of gallons unaware how poisonous it was.

"When I was spraying it, I was told it was a weed killer," said Cripps.

He never set foot in Vietnam, but Cripps sprayed what he now knows was Agent Orange while working as a game warden at Fort Gordon Georgia in 1967.

He said when he left military he had already been exposed. He and his wife point to his body as proof.

Doctors diagnosed Cripps with a skin rash associated with Agent Orange called Chloracne. Despite the diagnosis, the VA denied his disability claim 3 times.

"The VA denying him was the same as telling him he was lying about it," said wife Sandra Cripps.

"I felt that all my friends even down to my son and daughter doubted that dad was telling the truth," said James Cripps.

His medical bills mounted, the VA started garnishing his social security checks. When NewsChannel 5 interviewed him last year, he had hit rock bottom.

"We have discussed as late as even yesterday the thought of suicide," said Cripps last year.

"I was at the low point of my life, and I had considered that maybe I was worth more dead than alive,” said Cripps this year.

Cripps kept fighting. The VA presumes all veterans who set foot in Vietnam were exposed to Agent Orange, but it has rarely given medical benefits for Agent Orange poisoning to soldiers stationed in the U.S.

Cripps found Declassified documents that showed the military sprayed Agent Orange at Fort Gordon at the time he served there.

"This stuff was used here in the United States?" asked Investigative reporter Ben Hall

"Oh yes. I can prove 21 bases,” responded Cripps.

The documents showed the military used Agent Orange in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and other locations in the U.S. Cripps believed the documents will open the door for other vets.

"I was not alone," said Cripps. "There are many others."

His wife Sandra agreed.

"He's knocked a hole in their damn, and it's going to let the flood gates open. Veterans will finally get what they deserve,” said Sandra.

Cripps expects all his medical bills going back years will be paid for. He plans to help other veterans navigate the VA to get the benefits they deserve.

Just this month, the VA added more illnesses to those associated with Agent Orange exposure. They include Parkinson's disease and certain Leukemias.

Any veteran who stepped foot in Vietnam during the war and has one of the conditions is eligible for benefits.