Families still feeling effects of Agent Orange

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/2014140619707

Brendan Olsen began toddlerhood in the foothills of North Carolina, where he chased salamanders and carried bread crust outside so he could study the ants that marched toward the crumbs. Lynn and Ron Olsen had moved from New York to the Mount Airy area because they wanted their boys to grow up with an appreciation for nature, for a simpler life.

By the time he was 3, though, Brendan was spending less time in nature and more time in hospitals. He complained of nonstop pain and cried for weeks on end. When doctors couldn't diagnose his medical problem, he was sent to a home for emotionally disturbed children. Through his parents' persistence, though, he was eventually diagnosed with spinal cancer.

Brendan's childhood zest for life was tempered by the debilitating disease. At age 4, his right side was paralyzed. He had triumphs and setbacks and more surgeries than birthday parties. Eventually, he was paralyzed from the neck down.

After a long path of testing and treatment, Brendan succumbed to the cancer at age 12.

READ MORE: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/2014140619707

Mark Your Calendar

June 21, 2014

Sierra Vista, Arizona

11 AM to 3 PM

VVA Chapter 1093

Sierra Vista United Methodist Church

Address: 3225 St Andrews Drive

Sierra Vista, AZ 85650

Bill Colberg

850-249-8898

vvavso@cox.net

June 25, 2014
Oneida, Wisconsin

Oneida Reservation

West of Green Bay

Contact: Mike Demske

(920) 684-1624

June 28 , 2014

Wilmington, North Carolina

11:00 to 1:00

Elks Lodge Wilmington, NC

Contact: Tony Musolino 910-352-5128

tondeb@yahoo.com

July 19, 2014

Lewisburg, West Virginia

Armory

1:00-4:00

Contact: Dave Simmons

dsimmons@vva.org

August 23, 2014

Taylor, Michigan

10:00 am-4:00 pm

Wayne County Community College

2100 Northline Road

Taylor, Michigan 48180

Contact: Mike Goodpaster

Gunnersmate235@gmail.com

313-673-8740

October 25, 2014
Asheville, North Carolina
12-6pm
AB Tech Community College,
Enka Campus, Haynes Building,
1459 Sand Hill Road, Candler, NC
Contact: Allan Perkal, perkman@mac.com

What Can I Do To Save My Children & Grandchildren from the Horror of Agent Orange?

“Among the so-called invisible wounds of war are those brought home by troops that may not manifest for a decade, or more. And most tragically, they may pass on genetically to the children and grandchildren of our nation’s warriors. Our children are the innocent victims of our military service,"said VVA National President John Rowan.

CONTACT YOUR SENATORS AND URGE THEM TO CO-SPONSOR S. 1602

Toxic Exposure Research and Military Family Support Act of 2013.

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND URGE THEM TO CO-SPONSOR HR. 4816

Toxic Exposure Research and Military Family Support Act of 2014

H.R. 4816: Toxic Exposure Research and Military Family Support Act of 2014

H.R. 4816 - Toxic Exposure Research and Military Family Support Act of 2014 

Contact your Representative 

Urge them to sign on as co-Sponsors

 (Washington, DC)– “We applaud Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA17) and his colleagues in the House of Representatives for introducing H.R. 4816, the Toxic Exposure Research and Military Family Support Act of 2014,” said VVA National President John Rowan. “Among the so-called invisible wounds of war are those brought home by troops that may not manifest for a decade, or more. And most tragically, they may pass on genetically to the children and grandchildren of our nation’s warriors. Our children are the innocent victims of our military service.”

This bill, like S.1602, introduced by Sen. Blumenthal (D-CT), instructs the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a national center for the diagnosis, treatment, and research of health conditions of the descendants of veterans exposed to toxins during service in the Armed Forces and to provide certain services to those descendants. Toxins, such as Agent Orange, have been shown to cause birth defects in the children of military personnel who came into contact with them, either during the Vietnam War, in the storage and transportation of them, or by riding in aircraft that had been previous used to transport the toxins. H.R. 4816 would also require the Department of Veterans Affairs to coordinate with the National Birth Defects Registry and create a central research facility dedicated to studying and chronicling the incidence of birth defects caused by toxins like Agent Orange.

H.R. 4816 has been referred to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs and Armed Services. 

We thank our fellow veterans of the American Legion and AMVETS for standing with us in support of this critical bill, as well as the following H.R. 4816 cosponsors: Rep. Conyers (D-MI13), Rep.  Grijalva (D-AZ3), Rep. Napolitano (D-CA32), Rep. Higgins (D-NY26), Rep. Bordallo (D-GUAM), Rep. Keating (D-MA9), Rep. Kirkpatrick (D-AZ1), Rep. Lee (D-CA13), Rep. Welch (D-VT At-Large), Rep. Holmes Norton (D-DC), Rep. Faleomavaega (D-AS), Rep. Pingree (D-ME1), and Rep. McGovern (D-MA2).

PRESS CONFERENCE 6/10 @ 3:45 P.M. - NOTE LOCATION CHANGE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 5, 2014

Contact:  Ken Scudder

Phone:  (202) 308-4005

Email:  ken.scudder@mail.house.gov

 **MEDIA ADVISORY**

PRESS CONFERENCE 6/10 @ 3:45 P.M.

*****LONGWORTH HOB 1416 (4^TH FLOOR) *****

CONGRESSMAN HONDA, VETERANS CALL FOR INCREASED SUPPORT FOR SOLDIERS, FAMILIES EXPOSED TO TOXINS

**MEDIA ADVISORY** PRESS CONFERENCE 6/10 @ 3:45 P.M. HOUSE TRIANGLE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 9, 2014

Contact:  Ken Scudder

Phone:  (202) 308-4005

Email:  ken.scudder@mail.house.gov

 **MEDIA ADVISORY**

PRESS CONFERENCE 6/10 @ 3:45 P.M.

HOUSE TRIANGLE

CONGRESSMAN HONDA, VETERANS CALL FOR INCREASED SUPPORT FOR SOLDIERS, FAMILIES EXPOSED TO TOXINS

Washington, DC – Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA17) will join representatives of the  Vietnam Veterans of America, the American Legion, AMVETS, and Vietnam veterans and their family members suffering the effects of exposure to toxins like Agent Orange, to announce the introduction of his bill, the Toxic Exposure Research and Military Family Support Act of 2014.

The bill instructs the Department of Veterans Affairs to fund treatment for descendants of veterans who were exposed to toxins while in combat or during their tour of duty. Toxins such as Agent Orange have been shown to cause birth defects in the children of military personnel who came in to contact with them either during the Vietnam War, in the storage and transportation of them, or by virture of being in aircraft that had previous used to transport the toxins. The bill would also require the Department of Veterans Affairs to coordinate with the National Birth Defects Registry and create a central research facility dedicated to studying and chronicling the incidence of birth defects caused by toxins like Agent Orange.

“Our veterans deserve our highest level of medical care,” Congressman Honda said. “This includes treating the long-term effects that their service had on them, and their families.”

Many veteran service organizations support this legislation, including the Vietnam Veterans of America, the American Legion, and AMVETS.

 

WHAT:          Press Conference on the Toxic Exposure Research and Family Support Act of 2014

                                                                                   

WHEN:          Tuesday, June 10, 2014, 3:45 p.m.

WHERE:       House Triangle (SE of the U.S. Capitol)

WHO:            Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA17)

Rick Weidman, Vietnam Veterans of America

Ian C. DePlanque, American Legion

Diane M. Zumatto, AMVETS

Herb Worthington, a Vietnam era veteran exposed to Agent Orange, and his daughter Karen Worthington

Richard Switzer, a Vietnam era veteran exposed to Agent Orange, and his daughter Stephanie Tompkins

Thank You!

70 years ago today our Fathers and Uncles placed Freedom above all else, including their own lives.They jumped from airplanes in the dark of night, stormed beaches under intense fire, watched their buddies die beside them in the surf, and ultimately prevailed. It is estimated that 9,000 American servicemen were casualties that day, 3,000 of them Killed In Action.

 

Honor Veterans by Helping Their Children Get Proper Care

A new fundraiser from the campaign to honor veterans by helping their children get the proper care Donate to honor veterans by helping their children get the proper care Help Birth Defect Research for Children continue to provide information, support and research for veterans who have children with birth defects.   DONATE

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June Town Hall Calendar

June 21, 2014

Sierra Vista, Arizona

10 AM to 3 PM

VVA Chapter 1093

Sierra Vista United Methodist Church

Address: 3225 St Andrews Drive

Sierra Vista, AZ 85650

Bill Colberg

850-249-8898

vvavso@cox.net

June 25, 2014
Oneida, Wisconsin
Contact: Mike Demske
mdemske@lakefield.net

June 28 , 2014

Wilmington, North Carolina

11:00 to 1:00

Elks Lodge Wilmington, NC

Contact: Tony Musolino 910-352-5128

tondeb@yahoo.com

 July 19, 2014

Lewisburg, West Virginia

Armory

1:00-4:00

Contact: Dave Simmons

dsimmons@vva.org

August 23, 2014

Taylor, Michigan

10:00 am-4:00 pm

Wayne County Community College

2100 Northline Road

Taylor, Michigan 48180

Contact: Mike Goodpaster

Gunnersmate235@gmail.com

313-673-8740

May 30 - Traditional Memorial Day

MEMORIAL DAY
Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.
The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.
In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, N.Y., the “birthplace” of Memorial Day. 
READ MORE

Open Letter from Texaco's Victims to Chevron's Shareholders

http://chevrontoxico.com/news-and-multimedia/2014/0528-open-letter-from-texacos-victims-to-chevrons-shareholders
We are those who Chevron is constantly trying to silence. We come to you, the shareholders, looking for the most basic empathy and respect we deserve as human beings. We ask but a minute of your time to read this brief letter in its totality.
You have been told – and will be told again and again – that the trial in Ecuador is but a fraud. However, no one has been able to deny the damage oil drilling has done to our land and lives. A great many of us are sick; others have already passed away. This tragedy came to happen because Texaco chose to design and construct installations with sub-par (or outright obsolete) technology: instead of using tanks, they drilled huge, unlined open-air pits directly in the ground, and used them to contain all the sludge and toxic water. This waste was then poured directly into the rivers of our Rainforest. Even though the technology was readily available, the designers and operators at Texaco did not re-inject A SINGLE DROP OF TOXIC WATER back into the ground, as they should've done. When they left they simply buried their pollution, where it remains still, poisoning us.

That's an undeniable fact.
Chevron's management constantly speaks about a (nonexistent) fraud. What they haven´t told you, is that the judicial decision upon which they base their fraud allegations is anchored on the testimony of an Ecuadorian judge that was separated from the judiciary under very suspicious circumstances. You're probably also unaware of the fact that we were denied of basic constitutional rights, such as being heard by a jury of our peers. The vast majority of us have never set foot in the United States, and probably never will – however, we've already been labeled as criminals that tried to "extort" money out of an American corporation. We, the real victims in this matter, do not have the necessity of bribing any judge: the evidence on record is clear, eloquent and powerful, and the harm cannot be hidden. Also, suggesting that humble residents of the Amazon have funds to orchestrate such a fraud is preposterous.
The truth is, we originally filed suit in New York in 1993, and it was Texaco's lawyers who asked for the company to be tried in Ecuador. Our only alternative was to re-file the legal action in our country's courts, and after 20 years of bitter battle, we emerged victorious. But now, our legitimate demands for justice are seen as a fraud in the eyes of a New York judge: a scheme supposedly planned by American lawyers. This judge determined that we, the victims, don't exist (by calling us "the so-called plaintiffs") and called for the decisions from our domestic tribunals to be ignored worldwide.

READ MORE: http://chevrontoxico.com/news-and-multimedia/2014/0528-open-letter-from-texacos-victims-to-chevrons-shareholders

Monsanto: the Toxic Face of Globalization

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/05/26/monsanto-the-toxic-face-of-globalization/ 
To the rhythms of drums and chants, concerned people took to the streets across 436 cities in 52 countries yesterday. The message was clear: smash Monsanto. With thousands marching from coast to coast, Canada to Argentina, and around the world, the day of protest has emerged as one of the largest global events—and it has only been around for two years. However, more than small hopes for a mandatory labeling of genetically modified products, smashing Monsanto entails a larger transformation of the modern relationship between people and food.

It is not only GM products, but the continuing economy of globalization, that Monsanto represents. Thanks to major seed companies and agricultural conglomerates like Monsanto and Cargill, the very definition of farmer has changed throughout the world—from a person or group of people in a given community who specialized in producing food to a corporate, land-owning entity comprised more of machines, technological assemblages, and inputs than of people who work the land. Thus, the target of protest is not only GMs, although GMs are a central aspect, but also the supply chain of multinational corporations that transforms food into a commodity that many throughout the world cannot afford.
In the context of today’s historical epoch—the Global Land Grab, in which farmland is being grabbed by multinational corporations from vulnerable populations like small farmers, campesin@s, and Indigenous peoples throughout the world—the March Against Monsanto has taken on a particularly sharp edge. In Ethiopia, where Monsanto has taken up shop through the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, reports have emerged of tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people flooding the streets of the capital city, Addis Ababa, to demonstrate against land grabbing.
Monsanto has also ingrained itself in Mali since the US-backed coup of 2012, in spite of renewed fighting in the North that only yesterday claimed the lives of 50 soldiers. Malian cotton farmers, who have resisted Monsanto’s genetically modified Bt Cotton seeds since 2004, are being brushed to the side. The process of side-stepping traditional agriculture moved forward in 2010 through the IMF-mandated privatization of La Compagnie malienne pour le développement du textile against the organized opposition of farmers who petitioned through the People’s Forum. A year after the coup, the USDA announced that Malian farmers are “ready to adopt Bt Cotton,” although Mali’s “biosafety law needs to be revised and made functional.” The biosafety law is to be removed, because it restricts the ability of researchers to run field tests.
READ MORE: http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/05/26/monsanto-the-toxic-face-of-globalization/