Paying For Vets Who Are Agent Orange Victims Are 'Not Helping Us Save The Country'

[rdean]

Republican co-chair of President Obama's Deficit Commission, former Sen. Alan Simpson has turned his focus to a different topic: veterans receiving disability benefits as a result of being exposed to Agent Orange in the Vietnam War. Speaking to the press, Simpson complained that these benefits run "contrary to efforts to control federal spending," and even went as far as to say that "the irony" is that "the veterans who saved this country are now, in a way, not helping us to save the country in this fiscal mess"

Newsvine - Republican Alan Simpson: Veterans Who Are Agent Orange Victims Are 'Not Helping Us Save The Country'

Simpson, an Army veteran and former chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, specifically questioned automatic disability awards to those affected by the defoliant Agent Orange, which the U.S. used during the Vietnam War. Simpson said the payments don't mesh with his panel's goal of reducing the debt.

Fiscal commission co-chairman: Vets' benefits 'not helping' the debt crisis - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

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Expect more of this if Republicans regain the house and senate. Consider what they want to do to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Imagine how they would "help" soldiers from Iraq.

 

[waltky]

... more than 2-fold increased risk of the precursor to multiple myeloma...

Study Links Agent Orange to Plasma Cell Cancer Precurser
Sep 12, 2015 - A study using stored blood samples of U.S. Air Force personnel who conducted aerial herbicide spray missions of Agent Orange during the Vietnam war found a more than 2-fold increased risk of the precursor to multiple myeloma known as monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, or MGUS, according to an article published online by JAMA Oncology.

While the cause of MGUS and multiple myeloma (plasma cell cancer) remains largely unclear, studies have reported an elevated risk of multiple myeloma among farmers and other agricultural workers and pesticides have been thought to be the basis for these associations, according to study background.

Dr. Ola Landgren of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and coauthors examined the association between MGUS and exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War in a study sample of 958 male veterans. Half the subjects veterans exposed to the herbicide as part of Operation Ranch Hand and the other half -- for comparison purposes -- were not exposed.

The study found the overall prevalence of MGUS was 7.1 percent in the Operation Ranch Hand veterans and 3.1 percent in the comparison veterans, which translates to a 2.4-fold increased risk for MGUS in Operation Ranch Hand veterans.

The authors noted limitations to their study, including a lack of women in the study group and the potential for unknown confounding factors such as family medical history and civilian occupation. "Our findings of increased MGUS risk among Ranch Hand veterans support an association between Agent Orange exposure and multiple myeloma," the study concludes.

Study Links Agent Orange to Plasma Cell Cancer Precurser | Military.com

 

[9thIDdoc]

Vets do not receive disability payments for agent orange exposure. Some receive payments for disabilities resulting from such exposure. And rightly so. A disability is a disability whether it results from a bullet or a dangerous chemical. Wonder how many ex-military died before the courts mandated treatment and payments. They should be thanked for saving money for those who dumped it on them in the first place.

 

[9thIDdoc]

 

[whitehall]

Simpson is 84 freaking years old. He probably forgot he was a republican ten years ago. Is Barry Hussein keeping him around for provocative comments?

 

[waltky]

Agent Orange comes back to haunt veterans...

Decades Later, Agent Orange Catches Up with Vietnam Veterans
Feb 28, 2016 - Snow fell outside the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 696 as its members held their monthly meeting Feb. 9.

Although attendance was down, most of those present were Vietnam veterans receiving some percentage of disability benefits from their exposure to Agent Orange -- a herbicide sprayed by the United States military during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Among them were Billy Milan, Lou Drawdy and Terry Stinson. They were like thousands of other Vietnam vets who returned home unaware that they had been exposed to the same toxic dioxin that was meant to combat their enemies -- the Viet Cong guerrillas and the North Vietnamese Army, known as "Charlie" to US forces.

Many Vietnam War veterans suffer from a variety of disabilities that were presumptively caused by exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides.​

Now, decades later, Agent Orange is catching up with Vietnam veterans, leading to debilitating and deadly health problems that range from heart disease to various forms of cancer. The three men said they were proud veterans but, like many of their comrades, struggle with their Vietnam experience because they live every day with a multitude of illnesses stemming from Agent Orange exposure. "It was bad enough that you were over there, and Charlie didn't like you," said Drawdy, 73, who served as a Marine and whose diabetes has been attributed to Agent Orange. "... Then you find that all of the hazards that you were exposed to, that maybe, the US government didn't like you."

Stinson, 64, served in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971 as an Air Force aircraft mechanic, working and flying on planes that sprayed Agent Orange. "I started showing signs when I was 26 years old," said Stinson, who is a severe diabetic due to his exposure. "...Now, here I am 64 years old and I'm taking seven insulin shots a day. ... I can't feel my feet anymore."

Milan, 73, served several tours in Vietnam as part of the Army's Special Forces, 173rd and 101st Infantry Divisions. His first tour was in 1962 and his last in 1971. "I thought I was a resident of Vietnam," said Milan, who receives 100 percent service-connected disability benefits for high blood pressure, an irregular heart beat and post traumatic stress disorder. "... I knew something was wrong because when the planes flew over to spray for mosquitoes and (the foliage) there was a different smell to it. ...So I had a taste of the Agent Orange."

Lasting Agent Orange Effects

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

Don't forget who flooded Vietnam with US troops.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Perhaps they could use a bit of this budget to help out those in need. Its a military spend thing.