Do you know anyone who suffered from exposure to agent orange in Vietnam? Have they gotten help from the VA?
969340
My dad was.  My mom's been fighting with VA since my dad's death in '91.
764706
well i agree they should get more...but a great alternative is the disabled american veteran's van program. it is a free ride to and from the va hospital for any vet. all you have to do is call your nearest dav and they will help you arrange it!
35521
I work for the VA in Pennsylvania, and I am a vet also, so I can sympathize. From experience I can tell you the 2 best things to do would be contact the Directors office at the hospital. And the other is to complain to your local senators, or congressman. Locally we have one on the board that oversees the board. Look for one close to you, and B*TCH! The VA is very political and no one likes waves. Should help.
1092935
lets ask the Vietnamese.  They have lots of experience with napalm and bombs.  By the way there real good on making bouncing Betty land mines.
637322
The Vietnam terrain contains jungle vegetation. So, Orange agent was used for leaf removal. Without leaves the soil surface can be observed easily from plane, and the enemy movements were detected.
1008940
Have you tried the VA's website? (Veteran's Affairs)
708777
I heard a woman say something nice about Viet Nam veterans. At least she did not say we were all child killers.\nGod bless you too,vato.
769613
As a Vietnam Veteran, I understand how you feel. I doubt that you will get over it, but you have to learn how to deal with it. My thanks to my Canadian brothers.
84283
I was a Medic with the 4th Division in Vietnam.\nWe did everything the infantry did until someone was hurt or killed. Myself I'm 100% disabled because of the Vietnam war. I was not only wounded twice but had cancers due to agent orange and PTSD. It was terrible. I not only had to try and patch up my friends but I had to try and find their body parts to ship home to their families.
575427
They didn't treat it enough in the Vietnam era, if at all. I think it was still called 'shell shock' even then. Most of the PTSD was miscatagorized or untreated. On top of the length of the conflict, (remember, we were never officially at war with Vietnam), and the span that veterans came back home, as well as things that developed much later in the Veteran's life. We simply did not have the funding for PTSD back then.\nNow we are helping to classify potential 'not yet diagnosed' cases during the time when Veterans are returning or have returned from the Persian Gulf . There's more funding for treatment and study today.
798226
Most of us suffer from some for of post traumatic stress disorder.  Especially those who saw combat.  We were programed to kill people and break things to act as police in the most unusual chaos without the training to do it.  I remember being told to suit up in MOPP gear, a chemical weapon suit and learn how to fire so I could continue on with the mission when all I could think of was getting the hell out of the contaminated area.  also taking a life offsets you years after you do it.  Especially the bloody ones or the younger ones.  You usually have no choice but you dwell on it constantly when you get out.  Best solution is to talk with other people who have experienced what you have, don't break any confidences but open up as much as you can.  it has helped me some.
257124
Go to www.va.gov Dept.Disabled veterans who served in Vietnam.\n\nThen on this site go to Veterans References Title38 of the code.Pensions,Veterans relief,bonus,regulations of dept.of veterans affairs which govern entitlement to all veterans benefits.Hope this helps!
502367
thank you lots from a viet nam vet. you are the reason we have defended this country. your are the reason theyre doing it now. youre the reason why so many lost their lives. thank you.
877673
You will get a hard core, hung over, post stress case sceaming about Bush and Viet Nam. And maybe that's rightfully so. All situations in VN were not the same.\n\nAfter you fight someone hard you gain a certain respect for each other... VN is no different. \n\nPoliticians, Hanoi Jane and demonstrators who took it out on all veterans caused the worst scars.
1146339
Try contacting the Dept. of Veterans Affairs;\nhttp://www.va.gov/\n\nHere are some other places:\nhttp://www.veteransearch.com/\nhttp://www.vetfriends.com/\nhttp://www.veteransalumni.com/cgi-bin/welcome\nhttp://www.veteransresources.org\nhttp://www.veteransresources.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=29
226974
Taking care of my uncle.  Had a full day planned - drop some stuff off at a charity on the way to his doctor's appt, pick some wine up for him to drink, stop at the Food Emporium near the return bus stop for groceries, stop at the bank to get cash for Xmas gifts for the staff at our apartment (we were away), stop at Duane Reade for milk, stop at the corner for bananas & other fruit, vegetables.  And somewhere in the middle get lunch since we were fasting for the doctor's visit.\nPlan didn't work out.  The charity had moved.  The first downtown bus wouldn't let me on with the stuff I hadn't been able to donate.  Getting off the next bus (I'd rearranged the stuff so I could close the cart), while running, trying to make up time, I managed to trip over the cart, went sprawling -- scraping shins, bruising backs (Don't ask me how I managed to bruise the backs) of my hands, and smacking my cheek into the sidewalk. (Luckily - no scrape. Doc says I'll have black eye.) I also bruised my shoulder but didn't realize that until this evening.  Someone who worked at the building was quite solicitous & wanted to call for help, was convinced I was badly hurt & didn't realize it - but we were late for the doctor - just across the street.  \n\nSo we ended up with two appointments (one for me and one for my uncle).  My uncle, as I suspected, was not well.  We were sent immediately to get a chest x-ray.  I had asked and there weren't any places nearby to donate the stuff I had brought, so, charity went out the window and I put cart and contents next to a trash bin on the street.  We took a cab to get the xrays. The cab left us off at the wrong street - but we wandered around inside the hospital until we found the right department. After the first xray, they decided they needed another more sophisticated one. They needed me to help my uncle into position. (He's had several strokes & isn't always able to follow directions well.)\n\nWe waited for our doctor to talk to the xray doctor. Then they decided a cat scan was needed. We sat for awhile again. But my uncle was just about faint from hunger - it was now about 3:30pm and he hadn't had anything to eat since the night before.  We were told there was enough time for us to go up to the cafeteria to get something to eat. So we did.  After the cat scan, I thought we were supposed to find out whether he would have to be admitted to the hospital or not.  The technician knew nothing about it - said I should call my doctor from the courtesy phone back in the waiting room.  Someone else was on the phone - forever.  Finally got to use the phone - took 3 or 4 tries to figure out that I didn't need to use the area code - weird.  Turns out that it takes awhile to get the results of cat scans so we could go home - but my uncle (86) needed to use the bathroom first.  While waiting, the doctor who reads the cat scans came by looking for us!! (nice hospital - Mt. Sinai, nice people!)  Said he thought it likely the fluid in my uncle's lungs was related to his heart and not likely to be cancer. I breathed a sigh of relief. With the heart, there's more time for us to be together, more things that can be done to improve his health.  \nWe got a couple of buses home.  The elevator was broken. AGAIN.  We had to take the front elevator, walk up a flight of stairs, walk across the roof and down a flight of stairs.  This took awhile. This broken elevator routine is getting old - even if my uncle weren't sick.  \n\nRemoved the pill from the pill box that the doctor decided my uncle shouldn't take any more, gave the rest with a glass of water to my uncle for him to take.  Fixed the top sheet on his bed - it keeps coming out because the mattress is too deep. Put my uncle to bed as he was exhausted from the long day. Called my mother (uncle's sister) to see if what she had before we left could be related to or provide some clue as to what he has now.
732250
I doubt it. It is possible. I have a Mexican aquaintance who joined the Army in Los Angeles during the Viet Nam war, is a decorated veteran. He was an illegal alien then, is living in Mexico and is a Plant Manager. No I have no idea how he got away with joining.