VETERANS
Children of Veterans Are the the Innocent Victims of Agent Orange
November 11, 2011
Ed Mattson, published author and medical research specialist, is currently development director of the National Guard Bureau of International Affair-SPP.
Reprinted from the Military Affairs Examiner
The debate goes on and probably will until the end of time as to the effects of DIOXIN on dozens of health related issues. The Veteran on this Veteran’s Day does not have to be reminded of the long battle with the Veteran's Administration, the Department of Defense, and 13 chemical manufacturing companies on the massive exposure to dioxin from the use of Agent Orange and other defoliants during the Vietnam War.
The same hold true for the public population, both in the United States and many other countries, where dioxin laced products were used in a effort to "improve our lives," by limiting growth of weeds, vegetation, and disease carrying insects, only to learn that increase health issues would become a nightmare for many of those exposed. We now understand that we cannot rewind the clock and easily solve the problems caused by dioxin, but must learn how to deal with it in a fair and equitable manner to all who have health related issues, and find ways to prevent further exposure. Read more»
Agent Orange still damaging decades later
April 14, 2011, By Rick Weidman, Taunton Gazette
When I served as an Army medic in Vietnam, I often saw a 19-year-old solider whose job was to spray an herbicide called Agent Orange on anything green inside my base. The same was true around the perimeter, to deny cover to any enemy intruders and to ensure a clear line of fire in case of enemy attack. Read more»
(Rick Weidman served as an Army Medic with the AMERICAL Division in I-Corps Vietnam in 1969. He currently serves as Executive Director for Policy & Government Affairs on the national staff of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA).
Interactive Map of Spraying Missions in Vietnam. Searchable! Find YOUR exposure.
Map tool to find defoliant spraying missions by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The missions cataloged in this database begin in summer 1961 and end in spring 1971.
(1) Search by the name of town, month or year for spraying runs that affected you.
(2) After finding the spraying missions, click on the lines on the map for details such as the number of legs, or runs, the number of gallons and the type of defoliant.
(3) Take screen shots (Ctrl-click-3 for PC; Cmd-shift-3 for Mac) and paste then into a a word processing document (like FreeOffice or Microsoft Word) (or copy & paste).
(4) This info can be helpful for Veterans Administration benefits. Want help with benefits? See www.girightshotline.org/links/
