Download PDF of this full issue: v14n4.pdf (8.4 MB)

Vets Speak Out Against Agent Orange Settlement

By VVAW

The public hearings step in the process of determining a settlement to the Vietnam veterans' class action suit finally happened around the country. Hearings in Brooklyn were followed by hearings in Chicago, in Houston, in Atlanta, and finally, in San Francisco. At each hearing, the judge in the case Judge Jack Weinstein, heard a succession of vets, family members, lawyers, and concerned citizens. In each city, the overwhelming number of those testifying, spoke against the proposed settlement.

The settlement, agreed to by the lawyers "management committee" set up a fund of $180 million (with interest) to be paid out to affected vets and family members. The money was immediately deposited by the chemical companies—the objects of the suit—and their stockholders breathed a collective sigh of relief that they had gotten off so easy.

The lawyers "management committee" had not bothered to ask Vietnam vets (who they were supposed to represent) about the settlement; in fact, several times before the settlement was announced, lawyers from this committee had straight-out said they would not agree to a settlement. But once the settlement was dangled in front of them they bit and swallowed it, hook, line and sinker.

At the hearings, the lawyers had to do all they could to justify their acceptance. As can be seen from the description of the hearing in Chicago, they went to great lengths to make themselves look good. Still, some 90% of the vets spoke against the settlement.

For many vets it was simply a case that they did not want to be pitted against their fellow vets—with $180 million (minus some healthy fees to the lawyers, no doubt) vets would have to fight over what was left, and few vets wanted to see that. We remember what it was like to be a part of a unit where you depended on your buddy, and he depended on you.

San Francisco hearing, the Judge looked old and tired—he had lived through the kind of testimony described in the following article. We can only guess how it affected him and his settlement.

In New York one of the vets said, "We were told when Saigon fell that the war was over; when Vets Outreach Centers were started, we were told the war was over; when the vets were welcomed home and the Wall was built, the war was over. Now with this settlement we are once again told, "the war is over." Well, it is not over; this is not the end but only one more chapter." In unity there is strength.

The Midwest Agent Orange hearings before Judge Jack Weinstein were held August 13th and 14th amid bitter controversy between the vets and their attorneys, a controversy that had marked the Agent Orange lawsuit since the announced settlement for $180 million earlier this year.

The focus of the attack had suddenly shifted from the government and the chemical companies (much to their relief) to the attorneys specifically the "management committee," as they styled themselves, appointed by the Judge to look after the interests of the veteran members of the suit.

On the evening of August 12th, two important meetings were underway to attempt to influence the "heart & mind" of Judge Weinstein. One, a meeting of vets and their families from across the Midwest with Victor Yannacone, the attorney who originally filed the class actions suit against the chemical companies on behalf of Vietnam vets before he was ousted by the same "management committee."

The other meeting, held in a plush suite in the Loop (downtown Chicago) by the attorneys and their meager band of supporters, clearly pointed out why the vets were justified in directing their anger towards the "management committee" and away from the chemical companies and the VA, temporarily, at least.

Yannacone's northside meeting, hastily arranged by the Chicago Chapter of VVAW, focused on the experiences of the New York hearings, how the proceedings occurred, what testimony to focus on, and the continued need for unity among all the vets involved.

The "management committee" session was also striving for unity, unity of the few in opposition to the needy many, a meeting that could only resemble a nest of snakes. High-powered corporate attorneys, licking their chops at the prospect of millions of bucks for themselves and their law firms with all the human values and morals of a pot of fish paste. An eyewitness who sat on the "management committee" meeting characterized it as a "strategy session to tie up last minute details" for the Chicago hearings and a summation of the New York hearings. The skull session concentrated on how to control the Chicago hearings, influence the media, browbeat, humiliate and deflate the opposition (us!); a little time was set aside to bicker over the money they would each receive when the settlement was accepted.

On the morning of the first day of hearings, VVAW took the initiative away from the "management" creeps; the first sight the media beheld was dozens of vets and their families leafleting up and down the street, banners and picket signs, and information table, a swirling mass of activity and color. Vets from across the Midwest stepped forward to relieve VVAW members on banners and picket signs. Local politicians and bureaucrats mingled with the crowd, gray and seersucker blending with OD greem. U.S. Representative Paul Simon, a candidate for U.S. Senate, smiling, posing in front of the banner "Test, Treat & Compensate Agent Orange Victims—VVAW shaking hands with the media, whisked away in a limo. Media and more media. Print writing furiously, radio and TV tripping over each other, tangled equipment—the vets solidly and firmly voicing their opposition to the suit to anyone listening, writing, filming, and recording. Finally, slipping through the crowd, casting furtive glances; the attorneys, sleazing in through the doors of the Dirksen Federal Building as vets pointed them out for others.

Upstairs in the building was another scene. A jammed waiting area, some vets in suits others in jungle fatigues, peering at name tags and organizational buttons and patches, old friends re-uniting, representatives of a multitude of vets groups comparing notes and conferring. A small group of "management committee" attorneys furiously answering a multitude of questions hurled at them stands nearby a group of well-dressed vets, flown in by the attorneys for pro-settlement testimony. Strangest of all, there's a small group of attorneys representing the chemical companies, little androids every one in perfect print summer frocks and stylish suits, blank expressions, still waiting.

Ahead in the hallway leading to the courtroom, a metal detector with a large number of federal Marshalls. The attorneys look resentful that they must wait with the rabble and be subjected to this indignity. Finally, people pass through, first enough to fill the courtroom, and then the overflow stacking up in the hallway as people wait to get in.

Inside, the attorneys have manipulated the docket: they speak first, seeming to go on endlessly, and they are followed by their hand-picked group of vets in favor of the settlement. A break for lunch and the media rush out to report the veterans like the settlement or are split 50-50 at best.

At noon VVAW holds a rally in the plaza across from the Dirksen building. Members of the VVAW National Office, and Ann Bailey, Midwest Regional VVAW Coordinator, speak about Agent Orange, its effects, the hearing and their importance. As people come from the courtroom the crowd of several hundred excluding the media, are told of the attempt at media manipulation by the "management committee." People express how their worst fears were realized when, after months of correspondence with the judge, clerks and attorneys, they weren't even on the docket or listed to be heard on the next—and last—day.

In the afternoon sessions, literally no vet or family member spoke in favor of the settlement. Tales of horror and suffering confirmed our worst fears. Vets broke testifying and were replaced by wives or children reading their statements. Maude De Victor, the VA worker who first exposed Agent Orange cases at the VA testified once again.

The quality of testimony and documentation was amazing. It was sometimes so emotional that hardly a dry eye was seen. Vets overthrew all courtroom decorum and began to applaud and cheer on the speakers.

Testimony continued through the evening and into the night. The judge dismissed the court reporter and clerks, taking testimony off the record. VVAW members specifically argued that people be allowed to speak the next day instead, or that their written statements be accepted.

People who were forced on to the next day's docket were furious, pointing out that the attorneys had manipulated the hearing. The initial print media returns were disappointing, showing mixed results. The electronic (radio & TV) media was better—not being allowed to film or record inside, they had been forced to talk to the vets. VVAW and its allies from the National Network of Vietnam Vets, led by Rena Kopystenski of Agent Orange Victims of New Jersey, began to gear up for Day Number 2 of the hearings.

If the first day of the hearings was excitement, a media circus, the 2nd day of the hearings was subdued in comparison. Gone was any pretense of favoring the settlement. Tuesday saw an endless stream of testimony opposing the settlement. The vets still cheered the speakers, emotions running high. Vets who hadn't heard of the hearing until Monday's news coverage crowded the halls and courtrooms demanding to speak, to give their accounts, to condemn the settlement and to submit their written statements on into the evening.

Judge Weinstein had heard an overwhelming appeal against the settlement and received documents by the ream. He's seen the attorneys attempt to control the outcome and fail. Would he throw out the settlement or had he already made up his mind, going through the motions in city after city where testimony ran 85% to 90% (at its lowest) against the settlement? We'll know in September or early October.

A family stood before the judge, the man a Vietnam vet, his wife, a boy of 9 and girl of 12, both with multiple birth defects. As the vet concluded his statement, the girl turned to face the audience. As she spoke the judge's eyes widened and the gripped the desk behind which he was seated. The girl said: "My daddy said you never left behind the wounded in Vietnam." Taking her brother's hand, she said simply, "Are you going to leave us behind now?"

A vet jumped to his feet shouting, "Hell no, we won't leave you behind."

The rest of the crowd rose as one roaring its approval. The doors to the court burst open into the hall as men and women in tears released the pent-up emotions of two days—or years. A vet said, "If that son of a bitch has any kind of heart, he'll throw this settlement out."

The judge and certainly the attorneys have next to no idea what binds us together to fight, as individual vets, as organizations, as a movement regardless of the judge's final decision.

Southern Report

Four members of Athens, GA VVAW testified at the Agent Orange hearings in Atlanta, and made some valuable contacts with vets throughout the Southeast. We were the only ones today at the hearing who took the stance of totally scrapping the settlement, although many felt the money was inadequate. A few addressed our issues such as liability and connection of symptoms with Agent Orange and the matter of ineffective counsel. This last was one of the major issues for several other folks and it seems there was general dissatisfaction with the management committee... One guy closed his statement with the note, "if you do not give us a settlement worth living for, you still give us a cause worth dying for."

—Elton Manzione
VVAW ? Athens

Two Families

Jim and Suki Wachtendonk, from Madison, Wisconsin: Jim had been home about 6 months when he and Suki met; he was already experiencing health problems—gastro-intestinal problems, bloody urine and other problems that Him feels are Agent Orange related. They have two children: Reeanne, born in 1976 and Zak, born in 1979; both children have multiple birth defects. Zak's problems are still occurring and seem endless; a minimum of $65,000 has been spent on medical treatment.

Jim, a guard dog handler in Vietnam in the area around DaNang, now works for the City of Madison, and is an incredible singer and musician.

While Jim was somewhat satisfied with being able to testify, Suki was angry, and that's probably an understatement.

When they arrived in Chicago, they were like many other couples in town for the hearings, a little nervous, but eager at last to get their day in court with Judge Weinstein. They attended a meeting with Victor Yannacone on the night before the hearings in order to get more insight into what had happened during the New York hearing.

From there, according to Suki, things went downhill. "I thought that the hearings were tightly controlled by the attorneys mostly for the benefit of the media. They stacked the testimony in their favor at first."

"Jim and I were scheduled for the morning of the 13th; by afternoon, we were still waiting. Our attorney, Steve Schlegel (of the "Management Committee") kept assuring us we'd get to speak."

Afternoon became evening, then late night. Jim and Suki were faced with "off the record" testimony or waiting until the next day. Suki was furious and wanted to leave, but John Lindquist of the VVAW National Office convinced them to stay.

"I was angry, frustrated," said Suki. "We were put off and put off. Schlegel apologized to us—big deal! The damn lawyers didn't pay for an extra day of baby sitter service for us. Jim lost a day's wage. The baby sitter missed a job interview—lost the job."

"The bastards (lawyers) didn't want us there. I had 180 pages of supportive documents. I got to speak for five minutes. The attorney spoke up to 45 minutes. I'm positive the hearings were rigged."

"I told the judge so. I said "The whole thing stinks and then told him why: he glared at Schlegel who just bowed his head."

"We waited seven years for those hearings and got robbed."

When asked about the outcome of the hearings and the future, Suki stated, "I think the judge has already made up his mind. He'll take the settlement and put the money in the hands of vets groups who won't administer it well or leave out the groups they don't care for, creating a battle for the money."

Suki agreed that as much unity as possible among vets and vets organizations could prevent such an outcome.

Anita and Terry met in May 1971, and were married in December of that year. Their first attempt at childbirth failed with Anita having a spontaneous abortion. Terry has continuing medical problems related to Agent Orange.

They have had six children, four of whom have lived.

In a 1982 interview, Anita stated, "All four of my children from Terry, my second husband, were born with blood disease, birth defects, allergies—all kinds of weird things."

"We had a hard time finding help for the children because no one knew what was wrong. After a lot of trips to Iowa State University, we discovered the problems were from Agent Orange."

In a statement following the hearings, the said:

"We believe now we have come to the point where we have launched our final assault on Dow. Judge Weinstein has gotten to know the issues concerning applications effects, after effects and after horrors of Agent Orange. We believe that Judge Weinstein believes that vets can substantiate our claims and he also sees the attitudes of psuedoabilities of our management group who are long on talk on low on guts.

As I testified and firmly believe, lawyers were taught in law school to make concessions and compromise and to be "cost effective". While we were learning about patriotism, sorrow, death and grief at the "University of Hard Knocks." The lawyers, on the other hand, were going on panty raids and having chugging contests at the local fraternity house by night. By day they were learning how to weasel around a fight and how to talk like a natural fertilizer salesman with a mouthful of samples.

Dow hurt us where our hearts are—our kids. Let's hurt them where their heads are (they got no hearts). Let's hurt them so good that they'll need a proctologist to give them CPR!

We must remember that we're brothers and sisters in this thing and we can't let petty stuff amongst ourselves hurt us. The fight goes on and we must too."

Anita and Terry's presentation to the Judge was one of the highlights of the 2nd day of the hearing. When Terry faltered and burst into tears, Anita picked up on their prepared text and finished. They were given a thunderous ovation. The Chicago Tribune referred to their presentation as "the testimony that most struck at the heart of the Agent Orange controversy." Terry later stated, when I started crying it wasn't from sorrow or pity but just years of accumulated tension and frustration. I found myself at least before the judge and couldn't hold it any longer."

—Bill Davis
VVAW National Office