Agent
Orange Update
Shinseki to defend new Agent Orange
rules
Veterans groups praised the
Department of Veterans Affairs last year when officials announced they would add
three new diseases to the list of "presumptive illnesses" connected to the use
of the Vietnam-era defoliant Agent Orange. But senators concerned about the cost
and precedent of such a change put a 60-day hold on money related to the change,
and have asked the VA for more information on why Agent Orange claims should be
expanded.
On Tuesday, in a speech before the
Veterans of Foreign Wars, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said he's happy to defend
the decision. "It was the right decision, and the President and I are proud to
finally provide this group of Veterans the care and benefits they have long
deserved."
The rules regarding the new
recognized illnesses -- Parkinson’s Disease, Hairy Cell and other types of
chronic, b-cell leukemia, and Ischemic Heart Disease — could open up veterans
benefits to 250,000 more Vietnam-era veterans and cost the VA another $13.4
billion over the next 18 months.
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., has publicly
questioned whether scientific research supports including the three new diseases
with other Agent Orange exposure conditions, and if the VA is unnecessarily
committing billions in compensation payments for problems that are often simply
the result of aging.
But Shinseki said he's "happy" to
explain the rationale behind the move, and confident lawmakers will support the
change. The hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee is set for Sept.
23.
Veterans-For-Change
will continue to monitor closely the situation and report any new developments
and we strongly urge you to call your Senators and Congressman toll free at
866-272-6622 and politely insist they support Secretary Shinseki’s decision and
allow the rule to be finalized immediately.
If
you’re able to make the call, please send an E-Mail to: jim.davis@veterans-for-change.com
and let us know their response.
* * * * * * * * * * *
*
Veterans-For-Change Needs Your
Support
On behalf of Veterans-For-Change I’d
like to request your help in supporting three very important programs we
have.
Our first program is our Emergency
Financial Assistance program which was developed to help Veterans and their
families on a one time bases with utilities, rent, clothing,
etc.
Our Second program is a small college
tuition assistance program for the children of Veterans. We’d be awarding financial grant
assistance of up to $200 to the top three competitors in an annual essay
contest.
Our third program is an award program
for Veterans, their spouse and children who are ill to due their service or by
no fault of their own being family members of a Veteran. And it’s our special way of saying thank
you for your service to our Country.
The Annual Fund provides funding to
range of vital areas, including those names above and for operations, resources
and potential new programs. These donations are critical to maintain the
standing that Veterans-For-Change has held as well as make strong forward
strides.
Our organization directors are
dedicating their time, energy and enthusiasm to work for this cause, and all do
this as a volunteer so 97% of every dollar goes back to the Veteran
community.
We request your support by
considering a donation to Veterans-For-Change.
If you decide to contribute, please
send your donation to
Director of Annual
Fund
Address
Many of you know that over the past
year or so we’ve done our level best to provide assistance to veterans and their
families when in need. And as with
most small non-profit groups, we’re no different and always have a need for
financial assistance.
If you’re able to contribute $25,
$50, $100 or more, please click HERE
to be taken direct to the PayPal site!
For those who contribute $25, you
will be given a Veterans-For-Change E-Mail address for one year. Those at the $50 level an E-Mail address
for five years and those at the $100 level a lifetime E-Mail address. And I’d
like to thank you all in advance for your continued
support!
If everyone receiving this newsletter
were to just donate a single $1 bill, we’d meet our goal and fast and would be
able to continue to serve the some 5,000-9,000 veterans and widows per
month! We could really use your
support!
If you’re interested in advertising
in our weekly newsletter, click HERE and send us an
E-Mail for further details.
We’re also desperately looking for
someone who has talent in the field of writing Grant Proposals which we can
submit to corporations and grant foundations to assist in our operations and
continued support to veterans and their families.
If you have such a talent and can
donate your time and talents, please click HERE and send me an
E-Mail.
We also have the chance to purchase a
copy of the National Association Uniformed Services nationwide membership
register for $125, and to join Starthmore’s Who’s Who for $49.95, both would
give VFC opportunities to network with other
veterans, veteran organizations, and thousands of fortune 500 and 1000
corporations and grant foundations to secure funding for continued operations of
Veterans-For-Change. Your donations
could open these doors for us.
If you’d prefer to send a check or
money order, please send an E-Mail to:
Jim.davis@veterans-for-change.com
for instructions.
You can also help by book marking and
visiting Newsvine frequently: http://jdavis92840.newsvine.com/
VFC earns money on every article a
comment and vote that is posted. So
visit frequently for things not always in the newsletter, comment and click on
comment & vote.
Veterans-For-Change operates
under National Faith Based Coalition Disabled
Veterans Enterprises
Tax ID
#84-1285120
Veterans-For-Change
11901
Samuel
Garden
Grove,
CA 92840-2546
Serving
those who served!
URGENT Shinseki AO Rule UPDATE
Hi Tim, I was in Korea from 15 Nov 66 to 15 Dec 67 and was wondering if you have heard anymore updates about us guys that were in the time frame of Sept 1, 1967 for Agent Orange. I have a appeal going and they keep on saying pending. I've been turned down 4 times now and waiting to see about this last one. Sure seems funny that our Kids are covered for spinal bifida when borne but we can't seem to get covered. I had prostate cancer. Let me know if you would if you have heard anything new. Thank you, Greg Fisher, 2nd S&T Bn. (ITO), 2nd Inf Div.
ReplyDeleteMOE to investigate allegations of buried Agent Orange
ReplyDeleteA U.S. television news station says the U.S. buried Agent Orange at a U.S. base in S.Korea
» A photo depicting the estimated drums of Agent Orange. (Captured from KPHO)
» The presumed landfill of Agent Orange marked by an orange dot is 2.2 kilometers from where the Nakdong River flows. (Captured from Google Earth)
By Lee Bon-young, Staff Writer
A news report by a U.S. terrestrial TV station alleged that drums of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange were buried at a U.S. military base in South Korea over 30 years ago. In response, the Environment Ministry said Thursday that it will ask U.S. Forces Korea to conduct a joint on-site inspection to determine whether the chemical was dumped at Camp Carroll, in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, near Daegu.
Citing three veterans, Arizona-based KPHO CBS 5 NewsTV station said Monday that U.S. Forces Korea buried the leftover highly toxic substance, widely used during the Vietnam War, at Camp Carroll in 1978. Spc. Steve House, one of the three US Army veterans, said he had been ordered to dig a ditch nearly the length of a city block to bury about 250 bright yellow or orange 55 gallon drums.
They said they have developed health problems which they believe are linked to their exposure to the chemical including carcinogenic dioxin.
The U.S. military admitted that Agent Orange was used around the demilitarized zone of the inter Korean border.
In response, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Buczkowski, a spokesman for the U.S. Eighth Army that has Camp Carroll under its command, said USFK is verifying the report.
“To date we have initiated a review of historical data to see if we can substantiate the allegations,” Buczkowski said. “In addition, we are assessing what other actions we need to take by consulting our environmental experts so we can deliberately address this matter.”
“We raised the issue at an environment committee under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA),” said an official at the Environment Ministry.
The SOFA, signed in 1967 between South Korea and the U.S., governs the legal status of U.S. soldiers, their staff and families stationed here.
Tim '
ReplyDeleteFound you on the Web researching AO exposure cases DMZ. I was exposed and have filed Feb. 09 for CLL Leukemia
waiting for rating, love your sight and work you have put into it'
the pic's are great and I spent a lot of time @ 249th MP
Stockade. I had vice section and many other duties worked as NCOIC of Freedom and Libby Bridges and would like to have any pic's of 2nd MP Unit or area if you know of any. Also anyone whom has been rated AO presumptive as a support Unit between 68 & 69.
thanks for your time and hope to hear from you!Tony Dejacimo vet 10 years active 95B40
epa02750059 U.S. veteran Steve House, who was stationed at Camp Carroll in South Korea's southeastern county of Chilgok in the late 1970s, discloses photos showing the alleged site and heavy equipment used to bury Agent Orange during an interview with Yonhap News Agency in his residence in the Arizona city of Phoenix on 24 May 2011. Steve is one of the three U.S. veterans who recently claimed on a U.S. TV program that their unit buried hundreds of drums of leftover Agent Orange inside the U.S. base in 1978. The highly toxic chemical, widely used as defoliant during the Vietnam War, can cause serious health problems, including cancer and birth defects. EPA/Yonhap
ReplyDeleteAO from 1966-67
DeleteI contacted, by phone, my former CO (................) about any spraying in and around ASCOM. He didn't seem to want to answer or discuss anything else, however my instinct tells me he knows. ASCOM was a big compound housing just about everything brought in country (through Inchon or Kimpo) and disbursing it out. Hence, Agent Orange was there in one form or another. My hunch, maintenance stored it and released it upon requisition (which included field testing and compound spaying in 1967).
I have Type II Diabetes which I attribute to it. Keep me posted,
WJ - ASCOM 66-67
SEPARATE ENTRY...
Did you remember that Ascom was the main supply depot? That was where agent orange arrived in country. The area was soaked in the stuff. The barrels were off loaded by forklift and the arms sometimes punchered the barrels and there were spills.
WM - Ascom City (date unknown)
1962
Joe saw AO being used in August of 1962 when he was there and he also said that he saw it on the docks at ASCOM City when he was delivering prisioners there in 1963. They were loading it on trucks to take to the airport to load aboard helicopters to spray the [DMZ] with.
AO 1968-71
DeleteHi Tim:
good to hear from you also brother. Feel free to use my commentary, those were the old days, please use my name as well. I am not ashamed of what we did hell we served honorably I had no idea I was that close and thank you for your reply! I have an appointment with the DAV whos is going to file on my behalf. I have been told by those officials that as of September 2010 the VA will recognize Systemic Heart disease as a presumptive diagnosis for claims. I have had two open heart surgeries, mytral valve replacement, tricuspid valve repair, coronary by- pass[(twice) and pseudo aneurysm repair. After my second surgery, I had a ICD (pacemaker difibulator implanted because of heart failure.
I was placed on beta blockers shortly after getting out of the Army because of a (mitral valve prolapse) ! My first open heart was 1994 my second was 2004 !
I pay for all my meds through the VA. Of course, I was not informed I had this condition during my ETS physical !
Albert
Tim, I would like to help my fellow Vets by providing a buddy letter about AO stored at ASCOM and like to receive similar letters as well as still shots or even ground shots illustrating that there were no vegetation surrounding ASCOM compound due to the AO spray.
Tim, I spent 37 days at 121 Evac Hospital for a dermabrasion (cover up) following my face breaking out in acne like appearance. Also some other Vets who where along the DMZ and one Vet named Johnny who was involved with our missiles had the the breakout and the dermabrasion as well, there were about 7 or 8 of us who underwent the cover-up procedure at the same time.
If you are in touch of any Veterans who could use my help, please let me know. Alex
SEPARATE ENTRY...
Delete...for the most part, I was stationed at the ASCOM DEPOT. There was very little vegetation (including grass) inside or surrounding the ASCOM compound - it was virtually desolate. Rocks and gravel like stones were used for landscaping. I recall a building in the depot with barrels of TOXIC HERBICIDES stacked up on the side of it. I now know it was Agent Orange. The barrels had the “Hazardous Materials” symbols and warnings on them. The barrels were 55 gallons in size. I was sometimes detailed to help load them on pallets and onto 2 ½ ton trucks that would then depart for units. We also moved them from one area of the depot to another area. We stacked them on pallets in a gazebo like building .There were more than a 100 barrels, OD green in color and I think some were black. I recall something was written on them in white or yellow lettering with an orange strip around the barrels.
Since leaving the service, I have been diagnosed with Diabetes II, Neuropathy, Hypotension, Hepatitis C, Myopathy (muscle disease), Depression and Anxiety. I have sleep problems almost constantly and I have Erectile Dysfunction. I believe that these problems are a result of exposure to Agent Orange during my time at ASCOM in South Korea.
REW, ASCOM, Korea 2/69 - 3/70
...Also reading about The Green Door, Dream Boat, Silver Dollar, all brought me back 40 years. Tim, I was stationed at 8th Army HDQ building at the basement at the Data Processing Dept (EDP) and lived at Co. B near the movie theater and the helicopter pad for the 121 Evac Hospital ( which I also frequented as well). My tour started in Korea from Aug 1967-Feb 1969. As others, I also am a victim of AO and I hope to share my info so that others can benefit in getting the disability rating from VA which they so richly deserve.
DeleteAlex
Tim, I believe they were located at or near the DMZ. They are approved for AO, I believe. Ascom has not been approved but I feel it needs to be because AO was stored and containers damaged there per other vets. We were also located in the same water shed as the DMZ and came into contact with troops and vehicles from the DMZ.
Former Entries.
I served in Korea at Ascom Depot from Dec 1968 to Feb 1970. I was assigned to Company B, Supply and Transportation Division. As noted in your book on page 46 you make mention to the abandoned compounds being guarded and once the transfer point of Agent Orange and all stuffs needed at the DMZ and ect… Our unit was the one responsible for storing, shipping and transporting Agent Orange to the DMZ and at times these barrels would get punctured by the forklifts causing this chemical to leak out and getting in contact with our skin. We would then patch these barrels to be shipped out.
What I also remember is alongside of our warehouse and storage yard, there was a small canal that ran along side of it on the east side and across the canal was the back of several buildings from the villages...there were many times kids and adults would open the windows and doors to wave at us. The storage yard was a really large area south of the main warehouse.....
As you might be aware, Agent Orange has and continues to cause health issues to veterans of Korea and Viet Nam. I for one have serious heart disease and high blood pressure which was detected back in 1975 while still on active duty. After I left Korea in Feb 1970, I volunteered and went to Viet Nam in April 1970 from Ft Hood, Texas. As of now the VA does not recognize certain Korean Vets serving in country during 1968 to 1969 as being exposed to Agent Orange except certains areas along the DMZ. Ascom Depot of course was not near the DMZ but we did store the barrels of Agent Orange and thus being in direct contact with the chemical. I h ave to file a VA Claim for my heart disease and hypertension which has now been linked to Agent Orange but not presumptive for disability at this time. This would help thousands of other veteran's who suffer from illnesses caused by AO and that served in Korea at Ascom Depot.
Thank you
RW - Neosho, Missouri
I remembered Ascom and surrounding areas as 45 compound, gate 8 (Main Entry), gate 5 (delivery entry), etc. The main area (if you are facing gate 8) in question for agent orange is located to the left of the next gate on the right of gate 8. The area had huge storages of items. I forget the name of the area but this was where it may have been. Is there a more detailed map of ascom city?
(LEAD) Traces of defoliant component found at U.S. military camp in S. Korea CHILGOK, South Korea, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) -- A modest amount of a defoliant component has been detected in and around a U.S. military camp in South Korea where several retired American soldiers said they dumped drums of the toxic chemical decades ago, a joint investigation team said Friday.
DeleteThe team of local and U.S. specialists has measured levels of potential toxic chemical contamination in soil and groundwater in and around Camp Carroll in Chilgok, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, after three United States Forces Korea (USFK) veterans revealed in May that they helped bury hundreds of drums containing chemicals presumed to be the cancer-causing defoliant Agent Orange in 1978.
This marks the team's first extraction of a defoliant component from Camp Carroll's groundwater, which shows that allegations of the defoliant burial may be true.
The result, if confirmed to be accurate through further study, could deal a blow to the U.S. military stationed in South Korea, which has largely remained mum about its responsibility regarding the allegations.
In an interim report of the investigation, the team said local experts have detected about 0.161 micrograms per liter of 2,4,5-T, a key component of Agent Orange, from five groundwater wells in the military base. But the component was not found in U.S. specialists' analysis of identical test spots, according to the joint team.
The detected level, however, remains modest, reaching only one-fiftieth of what the World Health Organization permits for drinkable water, the team noted.
Traces of 2,4,-D, another key component of the defoliant, were not found in both sides' examinations, the team added.
The investigation also found an excessive level of VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, which could pose a risk to human health.
The recorded level of VOCs found in water near the camp exceeded 900 times the guideline for drinking water, the team said.
The joint team said they will take action to stop residents in nearby areas from drinking the water and will further study the contamination in order to locate its exact source.
The team is also scheduled to release by early October the result of their investigation into potential soil contamination inside the U.S. camp.
Agent Orange is a toxic chemical that was widely used on trees and plants during wars to make all their leaves fall off. The cancer-causing chemical was reported to have been sprayed in the 1960s around the Demilitarized Zone to thwart North Korean infiltrations.
The latest controversy is part of a series of accusations regarding environmental degradation raised against the U.S. forces stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice.
In the news conference to announce the interim probe results, the U.S. military maintained its previous stance of neither confirming nor denying the suspected burial.
Colonel Joseph Birchmeier, who led the U.S. investigators, said they found barrels of chemical waste were removed from Camp Carroll and sent to Utah for processing in 1981. He, however, said that there was no evidence showing that Agent Orange was among the chemicals.
pbr@yna.co.kr