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Vets' Notes: Cutting Through Red Tape, Making Sense of Regs

By VVAW

Chemical Time Bomb in Vietnam Veterans: AGENT ORANGE

Eighteen months ago, an extremely agitated woman appeared in my office in Chicago. Her name was Maude DeVictor, and she was at that time a Veterans Benefits Counselor at the Chicago Regional VA Office. She told me of 27 cases of cancer among the Vietnam veterans she had seen there. They all had one thing in common besides their cancers—all had served in areas of Vietnam defoliated by the now almost mythical Agent Orange. She went on to show me the research she had compiled—articles from scientific journals showing evidence of the herbicide 2,4,5-T's ability to cause skin problems, cancer, miscarriages, mutations, and birth defects; letters and notes of phone conversations with scientists and researchers who provided further statement documenting the contamination of this herbicide with dioxin (TCDD) that "most toxic of all man-made chemicals."

She further told me that she had written VA Central Office repeatedly about this and received no response, and that claims for service-connection for these men had not been granted.

We felt the veterans of the Vietnam War had the right to know if Agent Orange had indeed caused their problems, 5, 10, and even 15 years after their exposure. We asked Mr. Bill Kurtis of WBBM, CBS in Chicago to have his investigative team research Agent Orange, and its dioxin contaminant. For six weeks they traveled the country, pulling in all the loose ends, weaving together the pattern of dioxin poisoning that had emerged in so very many widely scattered episodes—dead horses in Missouri, and the sick owners who had sprayed dioxin contaminated oil on their horse barn; dead rhesus monkeys in an experiment done by Dr. Allen in Wisconsin; deformed goats and ducks and sick people in Globe, Arizona; sick residents of the National Forest, where Agent Orange-like herbicides were still in use; and veterans of Vietnam from Chicago.

In all those episodes, common symptoms emerged; skin problems, hair loss, joint problems, headaches, nausea, fatigue, psychological changes, blood disorders, cancer, and birth defects.

This documentary, called "Agent Orange, Vietnam's Deadly fog," aired on March 23, 1978 in Chicago. WBBM referred calls on Agent Orange to my office, and the ensuing weeks found me with an epidemic of calls from Viet Vets saying they too showed those problems. Hundreds of phone calls, from all over the Midwest poured in from vets talking of skin rashes persistent since Vietnam; severe headaches; joint pains and swelling, often mistakenly diagnoses as arthritis; nausea, and continued fevers; extreme and debilitation fatigue; and endless progression of sick days, days they had not been able to work, and an unending series of colds, flu, and other common ailments; mysterious stomach disorders, intestinal disorders, urinary disorders, kidney disorders, liver disorders, auto-immune responses, allergies, and blood disorders; and nervous system problems, typically numbness of the hands, arms, feet and legs; a collection of psychological changes, tempers, violent behavior, depression, anxiety, brooding, loss of memory, confusion , an inability to cope with the pressures of life, a loss of resiliency. And cancers and tumors in men 25 to 35 years old.

They also reported difficulty in conceiving children after their return from "Nam." Many of them reported a loss of interest in sex or impotence as well. Some reported multiple miscarriages by their wives, often followed by the birth of a child with severe physical deformities, typically of the fingers and feet, heart murmurs, and cleft palate, as well as hyperactivity and learning disabilities of various sorts.

What was the VA response? "No firm evidence exists to incriminate these herbicides...." Men who were legitimately worried about their health and their children's health were brutally turned away, with the statement that their problem couldn't be from Agent Orange, that it was all in their heads.

The news media in various cities picked up the story. The Chicago pattern was repeated in St Louis, then New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Detroit. Each time the media carried the reported symptoms, calls from Vietnam vets poured in.

Hundreds of claims were filed, and promptly denied. "No firm evidence exists..." Months later, a tissue biopsy was instituted by the VA as the first step in determining whether these vets had been poisoned by dioxin.

The first VA Advisory Committee on Toxic Herbicides was established by the VA Ventral Office last year. It was so flagrantly in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act that it was abolished and this present committee formed, an action that took a year, and which, finally, we applaud.

Central Office promised to issue instructions to all medical facilities on how to test Agent Orange victims. Yet VA doctors are still asking vets today "What's Agent Orange?"

A document came to us which authorized the destruction of "certain tumor and cancer registry records" at the same time spokesmen of Central Office were assuring me that all medical records would be preserved and sent to the National Cancer Institute. And the Administrator denied any knowledge of the destruction of these records.

Veterans all over the country have called to tell us of the runaround, the ignorance, and the futility, the red tape, the insolence, and the outright malpractice of the VA healthcare system. The VA has lost all credibility with this country's veterans. It has broken faith with us by not telling us the whole truth. We get PR statements, carefully worded to avoid any conclusions or responsibility. Is it any wonder vets have not been beating down the VA's doors in their haste to get medical care? Everybody knows the horror stories—we've all seen to many of them.

Until the VA gives vets their legally mandated benefits of reasonable doubt, and aggressively researches the Agent Orange issue, vets will stay away. Until the VA gives vets their rightful first-class medical care-courteously, sympathetically, and with dignity befitting their status as the warriors of our society—vets will stay away.

The VA must take the lead in Agent Orange research. In the past VA doctors have won international awards for contributions to medicine. Is this over? The VA must act immediately, not in its own interest or in the government's interest, but in the interest of the vet.

Information must be gathered, not only from the manufactures of these poisons, but from scientists and doctors and researches without the vested interest of the petrochemical industry. The fox cannot watch the chickens. Information must be sought from vets themselves, from service and fraternal veterans organizations, from environmental groups and individual citizens. The word must be put out to all Vietnam veterans, "You may have been poisoned—come in and get checked"—and we must have programs in place to do the testing, extremely subtle testing, checking more than just blood, chest, and urine. And then we must provide treatment—and none of us even know where to begin.

And what of the children? Current claims by veterans that Agent Orange has deformed their children get "administratively disallowed" in that cold bureaucratic exactness of language so favored by Washington. These men want to know if their own government has crippled their children. They want to know if they can safely have more children. They need answers soon.

Because Vietnam vets need these answers now, and because the VA has lost credibility, many of us of whom the Agent Orange questions were asked, veterans groups and citizens groups from all over the country have joined together to look for these answers, answers that can be believed.

On July 15 and 16 in New York we organized the National Veteran's Task Force on Agent Orange to seek out those answers, and help vets affected. This group is presently composed of representatives from the National Association of Concerned Veterans, Vietnam Veterans of America, Vietnam Veterans for Self-Reliance, Vetline/Hotline, Agent Orange Victims International, Concerned American Veterans Against Toxins, The National Association of Black Veterans and others. We extend an invitation to other veteran groups to join us.

We are gathering information on Agent Orange from veterans and researches all over the country, and will respond with the best answers we can, as we go. These answers will not protect the chemical industry. These answers will not protect the government. These answers will not protect the military or the VA. They will protect the vet.

When we met on June 1st, Secretary Joseph Califano of the Dept of Health, Education and Welfare asked the Assistant Surgeon Genera, Dr James Dickson to analyze our collected case histories, looking for patterns of illness. The Secretary also agreed to have Dr Dickson meet with scientists, researches, and doctors who have information on dioxin poisoning. Sec. Califano has pledged his department's aggressive action to find answers to the questions of Agent Orange. We take him at this word and only hope this second CA herbicide committee will be as aggressive in the interests of Vietnam Vets.

The eyes of the nation are on this committee. EPA figures state that 78 million pounds of 2,4,5-T contaminated with dioxin was sprayed in the U.S. while 35 million pounds was sprayed in Vietnam. Whether they know it or not, the outcome of this committee is important to every citizen of this country. To the spectre of Three Mile Island is now added Agent Orange.