Those of us who went to Vietnam always knew there was danger there, but what we didn't realize was that the danger wasn't just bullets and bombs. It was also in the water and the air. The fact that the danger came from unseen places has greatly affected my life, and the lives of hundreds of thousands of our fellow Vietnam veterans.
As someone who is involved both in the national leadership of Vietnam Veterans of America and in working with individual veterans, I'd like to remind you how your support for veterans is helping them cope with that hidden danger that has disabled so many over the last 30 years.
There are many guys that truly need and are grateful for our help.

 When I enlisted in the Air Force in 1965, I scored pretty highly on their language aptitude tests, so they put me in military intelligence and trained me in Vietnamese. I volunteered to go to Vietnam and ended up flying on spy planes as an intelligence analyst. The base near Da Nang where I was posted had been cleared of jungle for 500 yards in every direction through the use of Agent Orange. As you probably know, Agent Orange was used extensively all over Vietnam to defoliate the jungle and reduce cover for the Viet Cong. Agent Orange may have helped us fight the enemy, but it also contained dioxin, one of the most poisonous substances known. When I would take a shower at that base near Da Nang, I always wondered about the sign that said, Non-Potable water. And soon after I left Vietnam, I broke out with terrible acne infections all over my shoulders, something that had never happened before.

 The infections cleared up about a year later and I didn't think much more about it.
I had been transferred to Okinawa and was still doing intelligence work when I found out my father was dying of cancer. Because I was an only son, I was given a hardship discharge to go home to support my mother and help my family deal with my father's impending death. Watching my father go through the final stages of cancer was the first time I ever witnessed what a serious illness can do to a person and to a family. It was especially hard on my mother. I started to think about all the guys who had come home from Vietnam disabled, and their families. I felt lucky to have escaped that fate, but I also felt a responsibility to those who didn't. So a couple of friends and I took to visiting the local VA hospital and the guys who had lost arms and legs. Some of the disabled vets didn't have any family nearby and they got pretty lonely cooped up in the hospital all the time. So we'd take them out on the town for a night.
I'm always surprised by how many Vietnam vets still need our help.

 Seeing these guys and listening to their stories, I began to worry about how Vietnam vets were being treated by the military and the VA. I went back to school to get a degree, but I also started to get involved in veterans issues like job training and placement for vets.
In dealing with all these guys, I began to realize that a lot of guys who were wounded and disabled when they answered America's call to serve weren't wounded by bullets or bombs. They were wounded by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), by tropical diseases, or by exposure to Agent Orange. They were becoming sick and dying of cancer, Hodgkin's disease, and diabetes, all of which have been conclusively linked to Agent Orange exposure. To me, these guys deserved as much credit and as much help from the nation that sent them to war as the guys who were wounded in combat. And they weren't getting it.

 America claims to honor its veterans, but it was turning its back on the serious problems Vietnam veterans were having as a result of service in Vietnam. So when I was asked to start a VVA chapter in Queens, NY in 1981, I jumped at the chance. I continued to fight for veterans to make sure they got the benefits they deserved, especially related to health problems as a result of Vietnam service. Then, in 1994, it all became personal.

 I was eating a piece of key lime pie, when I collapsed. Everyone around me thought I was having a heart attack and I was rushed to the hospital. But it turns out that it wasn't a heart attack, and I guess the key lime pie should have been a clue. After a battery of tests, the diagnosis was diabetes. After the shock had worn off, I thought back to those showers I took in Vietnam. It's pretty clear that the "non-potable" water we were all showering with was contaminated with Agent Orange. The strange infections I had gotten in Vietnam were almost certainly chloracne, a type of severe skin infection that results from exposure to harmful chemicals. Because I knew about the connection between Agent Orange and diabetes, I immediately filed for disability status with the VA It took years for my case to be approved. I began to suffer some of the serious problems related to diabetes including numbness in my hands and feet (neuropathy). Thankfully, my wife Mariann is a loving and caring person, but she worried constantly about the fact that I was at high risk for heart disease and deterioration of my vision (retinopathy) related to diabetes. It bothered me that if I got any more sick, I'd place an even greater burden on her, or worse yet, leave her a widow. Because of all my years of involvement with veterans issues, I knew how to push my claim with the VA, and I eventually won, but I realized I held a privileged position.

 My wonderful wife, Mariann, and I are dealing with my diabetes together.
Most Vietnam veterans who come down with diabetes, prostate cancer, or any of the other diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure, have no idea that their service in Vietnam is making them sick all these years later. They have no idea that they are entitled to health and disability benefits from the VA. So I made it a personal goal of mine to help make sure that we get the word out, and help as many of these guys as we possibly can.

 Today, I am the President of the New York State Council of VVA. I'm also a Service Officer in the Manhattan Chapter, working with individual Vietnam veterans, especially those who have medical conditions related to Agent Orange.   Today, I am the President of the New York State Council of VVA. I'm also a Service Officer in the Manhattan Chapter, working with individual Vietnam veterans, especially those who have medical conditions related to Agent Orange. Let me tell YOU Why We really need your help!
And I'm very grateful for your help in this effort.
 
 Recently, for example, I worked with a guy I'll call Jose, who was a decorated infantry soldier in Vietnam. Jose was in his 50s and a successful carpenter, a leader in a New York carpenters union. But he had become sick and was diagnosed with diabetes.
Jose's health deteriorated and he was unable to work. He had numbness in his hands and feet. He had a heart condition. When he first came to my office, he looked terrible. But it wasn't just diabetes that was dragging him down, it was all the financial worries that loomed over him, his wife and his family.

 He had lost his livelihood and didn't know what to do. I'm just glad he had VVA to turn to. I helped Jose submit a claim to the VA and worked it through until they declared him 100% disabled due to his service. He got a bunch of money for back benefits, as well as monthly disability payments, which helped alleviate his desperate financial situation.

 But Jose told me that the most important thing was that because of his disability status, his son could now get VA benefits to help him go to college.

 Jose had always planned to help his son complete his education, but once he got sick, that dream had disappeared. It meant a lot to him that we gave him that dream back again and thousands of other Vietnam vets... This is what your support can mean to guys like Jose.
 
 I remember another guy, Eddie, who had numbness from diabetes so badly that he broke a couple of toes and didn't even know it. The injury festered and he ended up having to have part of his foot amputated. I was able to get Eddie designated as 90% disabled.

 To me, Eddie deserves this as much as the guys who lost a foot or a hand in Vietnam. Guys like lose and Eddie were wounded and disabled in Vietnam, they just didn't know it.
Sometimes in Vietnam, the danger was in the water and the air.

 And the VA is doing a lousy job of letting veterans know about this. That's why I'm working to get the message out these days. I go to VFW posts, Knights of Columbus halls, wherever I can find a bunch of veterans, and make sure they know about the connection between Agent Orange exposure and diseases, especially diabetes.

 I'm also trying to talk to as many doctors as I can to make sure they ask their diabetes patients about service in Vietnam and tell patients they may be entitled to benefits from the VA.
Maybe you can help with this effort. I've enclosed a list of the warning signs of diabetes. If you know anyone with these symptoms, suggest they talk to a doctor. And if it's a fellow Vietnam vet, tell them their local VVA chapter can help determine if they should file a claim with the VA.
I can't thank you enough for supporting WA so we can do this important work to help veterans get the health and disability benefits they deserve. It's very satisfying to me to help these guys stand up to the VA. Many of them have really suffered.

 It was the support from VVA members like you and me that helped VVA fight the VA over the Agent Orange issue. For years, the VA ignored all the medical evidence and denied that exposure to Agent Orange caused health problems. We took them to court and won on behalf of the millions of soldiers who were exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam.

 And your support helps make sure that VVA is able to fight in Washington to protect the rights of all veterans, and especially those who served in Vietnam and came home wounded, or who later developed diseases related to their service.

 As for myself, I'm doing okay with diabetes these days. It's under control and I'm coping, thanks in part to the benefits and health care I get through the VA. But there are a lot of guys out there who don't know they can get help who are going without medical care - and suffering.
I'm very grateful for your help to get the message out to them. As a member of VVA's National Finance Committee, I can tell you that we really count on people like you to keep all our programs going. I hope you'll continue your support by sending a gift today.

 Guys like Jose and Eddie put their lives on the line for America. And they paid a price. The fact that the price isn't showing up until 30 years later makes it harder to make sure they get the benefits and the respect they were promised when they went to war. The support from VVA members like you and me help us stand beside them to make sure they aren't forgotten. Thanks!

Sincerely,

 PS. Right now, the federal government is looking to close VA hospitals to save money because the number of World War II veterans who need VA care is dwindling. There is money to be saved, and that could be a good thing for veterans, but it's crucial that the process take into account the needs of Vietnam veterans. Because of Agent Orange, Vietnam veterans may need more health care as they age than any other group of veterans, and we must make sure the VA has enough capacity to provide it. Your gift today will help individual veterans get the benefits they deserve, and help us fight to protect the benefits of all Vietnam veterans. I hope you'll complete the enclosed reply slip and mail your contribution to WA today.

Thank you very much!


 We all care about Americas veterans, but/ know we all have a very special place in our hearts for the Vietnam veterans who need our help today.