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Skydiving for Vietnam Vets

By Vernon Brewer

The following letter was written by Vernon E Brewer II. He passed through Milwaukee in late August, doing skydiving for Agent Orange. He drove in on a 1200 cc Harley chopper that needed some work, and VVAW was proud to be able to help him out. He held a press conferences, and when nobody came, wrote this letter to the editor:

Milwaukee Sentinel & Journal

The unique and very real health problems Vietnam Veterans face today are well documented and well known. Just as the real cancer rate of atomic bomb guinea pigs from desert tests years ago continues to vastly overshadow the national norm. My own great uncle died with one lung missing from mustard gas in World War I.

The one thing all three sets of these vets have in common is the cold fact of an unexaggerated neglect so derelict in its manifestation that one need not be surprised to learn it has been perpetuated by a government organization. I am speaking, of course, of the Veterans' Administration.

What Veterans? Not mine. I received three purple hearts in Vietnam. I spent nine months in Ft Devens Army Hospital. I volunteered for 'Nam. I have never received anything but lip service and cold indifference from the V.A.

My son had to sleep in braces for the first 3 years of his life to correct a birth defect. My skin is covered by a strange and uncomfortable rash. I suffer from constant migraines and anything I eat, including tums, turns to gastritis. I am not unique.

I have found veterans in every state my travels have taken me into with mirror-image complaints—finger nails rotting off I found in Milwaukee; the man is ill, the V.A., she don't know nothing'.

I got frustrated, angry, depressed, imprisoned, divorced. Now I want to get even. The way for all Vietnam veterans suffering Dapson or dioxin-related disabilities to beat the system is to use the system itself in the way it was designed to bring the necessary changes in V.A. policy.

Together with Save-a-vet, Brockport State University Dean of Veterans Jim wood, the help, direct aid and blessing of the U.S. Parachute Association, Disabled American Veterans, Vietnam Veterans of America, and the very active Vietnam Veterans Against the War, I embarked on a cross-country skydiving tour. The purpose of my trip is obvious; as a paratrooper in Vietnam, I represented the people of America. At 18 I did not shave but I loved my country so much I was a lifer's dream. I was a young enough to be quick, dumb enough to want to fight for this country in a war halfway around the world. I gave America my hones best and then some. All I got in return was guilt projections, ruined health, and the angry memory of infant braces.

Now I'm skydiving once in each state around the continental U.S.; Milwaukee was my 19th. I travel via Harley Davison motorcycle, no thanks to Harley Davidson of Milwaukee. Originally Harley Davidson led myself and Save-a-vet to believe they would donate a motorcycle for the trip, Sunset Orange. They ultimately, after two weeks of "looking for the money in other departments," turned us down cold. So I went $4000 in debt to purchase, yes, a Harley Davidson—an American bike for an American trip. After approximately 6000 miles of constant use (from New England to the Midwest) I asked for a pit stop, help in restoring everything that had burned out, vibrated off, was slipping, leaking and non-functional. They declined, afraid of setting a precedent, you know. Though I support this trip solely by packing parachutes at U.S. P.A. centers in each state after I jump, and make only enough funds for gas, oil, and an occasional McDonald's repast, Harley said "No."

Milwaukee came through, though; the Vet's Center contacted VVAW who closed ranks and literally swarmed in to help by putting me up, feeding me, arranging a snubbed press conference at the dive, and putting me in contact with Tim Southworth, the owner of "The Cycle Empire." Tim did what Harley wouldn't. He donated the majority of the parts I needed. VVAW members and I got my pit stop, enabling me to continue on to Minnesota. I hope the spirit of vets helping vets is catching, even to you who never experienced the horror of war.

Organize. Stand up, be counted, get involved, stay committed. Only then will the V.A. seek out, do realistic biological test for Dapson and/or dioxin poisoning, treat the victims (including deformed children and the wives of veterans experiencing spontaneous abortions), then compensate fairly anyone damaged in the service of his or her country. Goodbye, Milwaukee, and thanks.

Vernon Brewer II
Seneca Falls, NY