Victims of Agent Orange - Vietnam war

do any of you posting crap on here even know what brought us into the war? Cuddos to the US for use whatever they had in their hands to use. We did what we thought was right and that is all anyone can do. Make a decision and stand by it no matter the cost. If the Vietnamese were really worried about their country, they would not have let the war go as long as it went on. As the saying goes.....Kill'em all and let god sort them out!!!!!...and the issues about IRAQ there are no issues we're right...i just say make it easy...nuke'm all but since we cant do that then we are doing the best we can do...maybe we should use agent orange over there to give them a hint that we are not messing around!!!

My grandfather was in the 903rd US Medivac team when he was in Vietnam. He was exposed to Agent Orange, and the effects are causing his bone structor to slowly disintegrate. The US government should have further tested the effects of Agent Orange beofre dropping it on their soldiers who were taking cover in the dense jungles of 'nam. The men who fought were not treated with respect back then, and they are still treated with hostility in some places still. I'm 13 and even i understand that this situation is not right. It discusts me.

This may be repetitive but my father was also a Vietnam Veteran who just recently passed away at 59 years old from a very rare type of cancer, sarcoma which inflicted his hip and collarbones as well as his spinal cord. My father had a very hard time after he came back from the war (I only know this because others have told me). He got his life back together, worked hard, had an amazing talent for rebuilding old Chevy’s, loved, and cared for my brother and me. For years, he had complained that he had no feeling in his legs and constantly went to the VA hospital and other doctors. After 19 years at his job and him not being able to take the pain any longer, he began to drink which lead to an early retirement without benefits. The doctors knew that he was a Vet and had never addressed the possibility of him being exposed to Agent Orange. Not until it was to late did we all realize it was the cause of his horrible disease. A month after his diagnosis he passed. Only for our family to be left with the burden of trying to get his medical bills taken care of by the VA so everything my dad overcame would not be in vein. He had hard luck. This is not the only case of this in our family. My second cousins husband, who was also a Vietnam Vet passed last month from a similar sarcoma. Although his diagnosis came a month and a half before he died. My question is why are the doctors not acknowledging what these men were exposed too and testing them for any signs of cancer. Why must we wait until it is too late?

My father was in the Air Force during Vietnam and was in direct contact with Agent Orange barrels. He developed cancer on his tonsils in early 91' and by the September of 1992 was dead from cancer in his esophagus and stomach. My mother also believed his cancer to be from his contact with the dioxin due to the lack of disease history and to this day has been denied any compensation or recognition from the military. When will we finally hear the report that confirms all of our beliefs that a mistake of epic proportions was made and the Vietnamese people bared the biggest brunt? My guess is never.

My dad was in 'nam and he has some health effects caused by it, I believe. The US isn't exactly the best country on earth. The US government does a lot of evil stuff.

And people still believe that the American government represents the "good guys side". Keep on thinking that if it makes you sleep easier at night.

My grandfather was in Vietnam, and to this day - my mom believes his cancer-driven death was caused by Agent Orange.

I was just covering a story for my radio station a few weeks ago in West Virginia involving a US Congresswoman, who was just beginning to hold monthly 'Mobile Office' programs in which she would have one of her social workers go out to various parts of her jurisdiction and speak with Veterans and the elderly about Medicare/Medicaid benefits and questions they had ... anyways to make a long story short ... I met a Vietnam veteran there who was only abroad in the war for less than a year when he was exposed to agent orange, and aside from his life not being the same since, one of the things he told me was that he's not been able to conceive since (his partner(s) have always had miscarriages). In addition to his exposure to Agent Orange, and the chemical treatments he had to go through to 'get better,' he also told me he's been diagnosed with 67 different issues, among them PTSD ... and the story went on.

I was so frustrated sitting there knowing that all I could do was tell his story the next day and that was it. But maybe more than that, one of the most frustrating parts for me was that I was the only one there ready to listen to him. And I wasn't even the social worker.

It was my first experience speaking with a veteran that has been diagnosed with PTSD (among other things ...), which is a conversation I'm sure most people haven't had.

But I would encourage anyone who is vehemently against the war in Iraq to visit their local Veterans Administration Hospital and just put a face, put a story to the hell American veterans go through to fight for our freedoms - something I'm not even so sure they would value as much if they knew how skewed that concept has become.