Mothers have a special sense sometimes about things that might be important. My mother kept the following clipping from over twenty years before I found out that I would be dealing with this issue for the rest of my life. I am including this article because of its connection to my small part in the history of my family and the wars in which we have participated. I was in Vietnam in 1971-72, “boots on the ground,” and I remember clearly being in areas that should have been lush green jungle, but instead there were only the trunks and branches of dead trees with no green and not even signs of animal or insect life — because of the use of Agent Orange.
From the Wenatchee World, Thursday, Feb. 10, 1983:
Vet leader urges Agent Orange funds
By RHONDA TIDRICK
Columbia Basin staff writer
MOSES LAKE — Bob Currieo, national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, will ask state legislators in Olympia Friday to support national legislation authorizing disability compensation to Vietnam veterans believed to be suffering side effects of the herbicide Agent Orange.
At a dinner hosted here in his honor Wednesday night, Currieo said veterans from throughout the United States have mandated that the national organization take the position.
“The Veterans of Foreign Wars is the only organization that has taken a public stand on this issue,” said Currieo, from Sierra Vista, Ariz.
“This is an extremely controversial issue and it’s caused some turmoil in other veterans organizations,” he added.
The banquet, held as part of Currieo’s Washington State tour, attracted VFW members from throughout Eastern Washington.
Also at the dinner, J. D. Page of Moses Lake, District 13 commander, was presented a traveling trophy for having the highest membership increase in a state district in 1982. Page’s district includes VFW posts between Wilbur and Othello to the north and south and Ritzville and the Columbia River to the east and west.
Last year, membership in the Columbia Basin district increased over 100 percent.
Agent Orange is believed to be the cause of kidney diseases, cancer and other ailments in at least 8,000 Vietnam veterans. The herbicide is also suspected of causing birth defects in the offspring of veterans exposed to it.
Although there is no firm, scientific proof at this time linking Agent Orange to diseases, between 8,000 and 10,000 veterans suffering from such problems have been identified, said Currieo. The afflicted veterans were identified out of 95,000 Vietnam veterans who voluntarily reported to hospitals for examinations.
Dioxins in Agent Orange have been known to cause the afflictions being identified in Vietnam veterans, said Currieo.
Because a four-year study by the Veterans Administration failed to link the herbicide to any diseases or gene deviations, the federal government has turned the study over to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga.
“They are going to come up with some answers but it will be five or six years from now,” asserted Currieo. “I told the chairman (of a U. S. House of Representatives committee) several weeks ago that veterans out there are hurting physically and mentally now.”
For that reason, “something has to be done now and the Veterans of Foreign Wars is going to make that happen,” he added.
National VFW leaders announced in Washington D. C. several months ago that they would support passage of a bill providing disability compensation for veterans and their offspring believed to be suffering from side effects of the herbicide. The bill, however, must gather more signatures before it can be introduced in the U. S. House of Representatives, Currieo noted.
Instead of requiring veterans to prove that their disabilities are linked to Agent Orange, the bill would place the burden of proof on the federal government, he said. Consequently, the United States would have to prove that veterans’ disabilities are not linked to the herbicide, used to kill foliage in war zones during the conflict in Vietnam.
Currieo, who will testify before Congress on the legislation and other veterans issues March 8, said he hopes legislators in Washington State will forward to Congress a memorial resolution supporting the legislation.
When the veterans organization announced its support of the legislation, it was acting on a mandate from its membership, the national commander said.
“They are not idle words on a piece of paper . . . they are marching orders of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States,” he said.
Members of the veterans organization moved three years ago to become more politically active, he said. Since that time, the organization has increased its political lobbying considerably.
Besides the Agent Orange issue, the organization is exercising its political arm to protect veterans hospitals. “This is very critical to 28 million veterans in the United States,” said Currieo.
“It seems every eight years another group seeks to dismantle the veterans administration system, trying to funnel veterans through welfare hospitals. I’ve stood on the same podium with this (President Reagan’s) administration as they called veterans hospitals a free hospital system,” said Currieo, charging that veterans have paid for medical care with the highest premium possible — their blood.
“As long as there is a strong Veterans of Foreign Wars, there will be strong medical coverage in this country for veterans,” he said. The audience, numbering between 125 and 135, responded with applause.
The veterans organization currently has nearly 2 million members across the country, said Currieo. Of that number, approximately 500,000 are Vietnam veterans.
There were 33,309 members in this state last year, said Fred Kauffman, VFW state commander. Kauffman and several other state and national VFW officers attended last night’s banquet.
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