Justice For All Military Personal

And this should extend to the civilian populations of the little countries we, as a Nation, invade. Bringing them Hell and Leaving same in our wake, for years after, not just the Unexploded Ordinance we leave behind, but our use of extremely dangerous substances that can only be labeled, in the modern term, Weapons Of Mass Destruction. For they keep Killing and Maiming for Years and Years later! As we crawl into our collective Apathy and Denial of what We've done or has been done in our names, because what is done as a Society that Society shares the results and responsibility of!
Below I will touch, and it's only a small touch, on Agent Orange, DU - Depleted Uranium, PTSD, links to one Vets experiances, a link to a Group Of Vets many know little about. One could write a small library of books on what this, and others, country do during Wartime and Even to their Civilian Populations, for God knows what reasons, and than do a whole host of things to quell the obvious!

“My Government Killed Me In Vietnam And I Didn’t Even Know It”


American veterans delegation (l-r) David Cline, Ralph Steele, Joan Duffy, Frank Corcoran, Dan Shea behind Mrs. Vietnam 2005, Doan Thi Kim Hong, performing songs for Agent Orange affected children at hospice near Cu Chi.

I am posting the complete speach, by David Cline, VFP President, because I know Dave wouldn't mind and the Fall Issue isn't posted yet.

“The Hidden Casualties Of The Vietnam War Continue To Grow But The Struggle Continues As Well”

The Veteran, Vietnam Veterans Against The War, Fall 2006 {The Fall issue isn't online yet, but you view previous issues at first link.}
Speech given by David Cline to the International Conference of Agent Orange Victims held in Hanoi, Vietnam on March 28-29, 2006.

First let me thank the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin for organizing this international conference and to the Agent Orange Vets from Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Canada who have traveled here to participate.
The US delegation I am leading is made up of Agent Orange vets Frank Corcoran, Joan Duffy, Ralph Steele and Dan Shea.
I was an infantryman with the 25th Infantry Division in Cu Chi and Tay Ninh in 1967 and was wounded 3 times but do not suffer from dioxin related health conditions myself.
When I came back from the war, I had knowledge of the use of Agent Orange from having seen sprayed areas and knew that they destroyed nature, but had no knowledge of the negative effects these defoliants had on human beings.
I remember in 1969 a veteran I knew named Jeff Sharlett died of cancer at age 27 in the Miami, Florida Veterans Hospital and thinking it was strange that someone so young had cancer.
Over the years other friends of mine got sick or had deformed children or sometimes died. Mike Keegan and John Miffin who died and John and Rena Kopystenski who had several children with birth defects are among them. So this issue has always been personal to me.
In 1977, a woman who worked as a claims representative at the Chicago Veterans Administration named Maude DeVictor was the first person to really put two and two together when she witnessed the VA higher-ups denying veterans claims and covering up their health problems and the connections to dixon exposure.
The next year, 1978, a veteran name Paul Reutershan who was sick with cancer got on television and said "my government killed me in Vietnam and I didn't even know it".
He began a lawsuit against the chemical companies who manufactured Agent Orange, Blue, White, Purple etc. but he never lived to see that lawsuit completed because he died within the year.
The reason that this lawsuit was started was because the VA was denying veterans claims for medical treatment and compensation and according to US law, citizens cannot sue the government for these type of claims.
From 1978-1984 the lawsuit continued and was eventually settled, although many veterans opposed the settlement for millions of dollars.
Sadly many veterans got very little of that money since the army of lawyers who got involved got a good portion of it in legal fees.
I have been a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War since 1970 and that organization played a critical role in launching the movement for justice for Agent Orange vets, supporting Maude Devictor who became the godmother of the movement, recruiting veterans to joining the lawsuit and raising general public awareness of this issue.
But we always believed that while the chemical companies had responsibility and should be held liable, the primary responsibility lay with the US government which ordered and continued to use these poisons after they were becoming aware of the negative effects on people.
Instead of changing course, they covered up the facts and kept using them until 1971. After that they gave their remaining supplies to the former Army of the Republic of Vietnam who continued to use them until 1975 when that regime ceased to exist.
In VVAW, our demand has always been Testing, Treatment and Compensation for Agent Orange Victims. We never thought the lawsuit against the chemical companies was the answer, but rather a way to continue putting pressure on the US government.
Finally progress was made on that front when in 1991, Congress passed the Agent Orange Act, acknowledging several conditions as being dioxin related for purposes of medical treatment and disability compensation. It also established a mechanism for the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine to review new studies and make recommendations to the Secretary of the Veterans Administration for expanding the recognized conditions.
Currently there are thirteen conditions acknowledged by the VA including two conditions among veterans children but over 27 conditions have been rejected since there was a finding by the IOM of not enough scientific research to indicate a connection to dioxin exposure.
So many veterans are still not being treated with any fairness. And how does someone give justice to all those who have died? The hidden casualties of the Vietnam War continue to grow but the struggle continues as well.
And today we need to talk about the other side of the coin, not just American, Korean, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian veterans but the people of Vietnam as well.
Remember also that these chemicals were also used in parts of Cambodia and Laos as well as along the DMZ in Korea and in Panama.
In the United States we began the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign to support the efforts of VAVA and join with concerned veterans and people in other countries to demand Justice for ALL Agent Orange Victims!
While the Campaign is sponsored by Veterans For Peace, it is made up of war veterans, Vietnamese-Americans, peace activists, environmentalists and other friends of Vietnam. We are supporting the international petition drive in support of the VAVA lawsuit and recently sponsored a 10 city speaking tour by 4 VAVA members.
We are also planning to encourage sympathetic representatives and senators to introduce legislation in Congress for the US government to step up to the plate and provide compensation and medical assistance, if not for political reasons, then fro moral and humanitarian purposes. It is time to really heal the wounds of that war, not to ignore them or let them fade into history.
Let me make on last point.
This is a struggle to expose and end the use of chemical weapons by all nations but especially by my government. This is not just about something that happened over 30 years ago. Today the Bush administration has led our country and the world into another invasion and occupation, this time in Iraq and is now used Depleted Uranium that will in time poison US troops and Iraqi citizens.
They have also used White Phosphorous bombs against whole cities like Fallujah.
It is time for humanity to demand an end to these weapons as part of our efforts to abolish war. That is what Veterans For Peace is pledged to work for. That will only come through the determined efforts of all of us, throughout the world.
The great American abolitionist Fredrick Douglass said:
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without the thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.
This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will"
With that as our watchword, lets make this conference a call to all the people of the world. JUSTICE FOR ALL AGENT ORANGE VICTIMS!

Now below is a newsletter from Dennis Kyne (Gulf War Veteran and DU victim) that he occasionally sends out.
Anyone reading this I have a request. Clear your mind, if possible, of any readings you have done on these interactive blogs, at others blogs, or possibly the many group boards. Now try and focus on how much have you actually heard reported on the 'Gulf War Syndrom', of the first Gulf War, or the possibility of Depleted Uranium being a cause of or a seperate debilitating tragedy. I'll tell you, Extremely Little!
While many 'First Gulf War' Veterans have died, are dying, have had children with deformities, or are suffering from a veriaty of ailments. This, like Agent Orange has been, is being swept out of the conciousness of the collective Society, through Denial, lack of Research or keeping any research hush hush, and Certainly a want by this Society Not to Spend the Nessessary Funds to take care of the Results of it's Follies!!
DU

Romi Elnagar
Depleted Uranium Study Team

Allen L Roland, Ph.D.

PUBLIC UNAWARE OF DU THREAT OF CAMP FALCON EXPLOSIONS


The first live reports were aired live on US network TV:

We`re getting some amazing pictures, some very dramatic pictures coming out of Iraq to us from Baghdad. You can read the lower third there. "Explosions rock Camp Falcon just outside of Baghdad." It is 11:28 p.m. there right now.
MSNBC News bureau in Baghdad, the bureau chief said there have been a series of explosions near the Camp Falcon area located just outside of Baghdad, and CPIC is confirming that there was an explosion at an ammo dump, which would explain these amazing dramatic pictures in the night sky of Baghdad. It exploded at Camp Falcon. The U.S. military base is south of Baghdad. (MNSBC, 10 Oct, 2006)

Michel Chossudovsky
Iraqi Resistance Strikes Camp Falcon in Major Military Assault


They were spectacular explosions because DU in storage goes off at once.

You can see the streamers of DU chunks burning through the cloud and the familiar mushroom cloud. It is not Willie Pete or White Phosphorus because they leave white smoke and wobble.
The public is still ignorant of the Depleted Uranium ( DU ) munitions threat and the Pentagon and media have been complicit in this blackout.
Perhaps a reminder of the mounting death toll from the highly toxic weapons component known as depleted uranium (DU), which was stored at Camp Falcon, is in order.
Allen L Roland PUBLIC UNAWARE OF DU THREAT OF CAMP FALCON EXPLOSIONS

DU Death Toll Tops 11,000
Nationwide Media Blackout Keeps U.S. Public Ignorant About This Important Story

By James P. Tucker Jr.
Updated 3/26/05

The death toll from the highly toxic weapons component known as depleted uranium (DU) has reached 11,000 soldiers and the growing scandal may be the reason behind Anthony Principi's departure as secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department.

"The real reason for Mr. Principi's departure was really never given," Bernklau said. "However, a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of 'Gulf War Syndrome' has fed a growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the U.S. military."

The "malady [from DU] that thousands of our military have suffered and died from has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. . . . The terrible truth is now being revealed," Bernklau said.

Of the 580,400 soldiers who served in Gulf War I, 11,000 are now dead, he said. By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on permanent medical disability. More than a decade later, more than half (56 percent) who served in Gulf War I have permanent medical problems. The disability rate for veterans of the world wars of the last century was 5 percent, rising to 10 percent in Vietnam.

Terry Johnson, public affairs specialist at the VA, recently reported that veterans of both Persian Gulf wars now on disability total 518,739, Bernklau said.

"The long-term effect of DU is a virtual death sentence," Bernklau said. "Marion Fulk, a nuclear chemist, who retired from the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, and was also involved in the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid malignancies in the soldiers [from the second war] as 'spectacular'— and a matter of concern.' "

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland. com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on Conscious Talk Radio


Allen Roland's weblog
Website
ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Dennis Kyne
Support the Truth

DU news
The U.S. use of depleted uranium bombs/munitions in Iraq (both times) makes this a NUCLEAR WAR. GET THE TRUTH: Support The Truth, DU News.
1. Dennis Kyne (Gulf War Veteran and DU victim) puts controversial DU photo galleries one and two back up at Dennis Kyne.com
Ella and Dennis - Peace - in the ditch at Camp Casey

Dennis Kyne and Raina
2. Law Firm offers up some interest and reflections regarding the depleted uranium issue
3. People Working to expose DU. Introducing Stop Poisoning Our Troops
4. US Generals commit war crimes.


1. Notice The Shadows, the original photo exhibit Dennis Kyne provided to the world uranium weapons conference in October of 2003 can now be viewed from the home page. For over three years Dennis has described the pictures as depicting the use of nuclear weapons. There has not been one original or reasonable denial of Dennis' argument. visit Dennis Kyne.com and view one and two under "Desert Storm".

2. Citing a Northern Arizona University Study, Your Lawyer takes on the depleted uranium issue. If you or a loved one have developed a serious side effect or ailments as a result of being exposed to Depleted uranium munitions, please fill out the form at the right for a free lawsuit case evaluation by a qualified pollutants attorney. Depleted Uranium Munitions


3. Please check out web site: Stop Poisoning Our Troops and consider bumperstickers for your car with that message -also availabe with magnet backings

4. Confident U.S. generals commit war crimes, Uranium as a force multiplier SF Bay View Depleted Uranium Articles

Now below you will find a link to a site many, especially the young, know little about. Visit to find out more, and search for any further information you may want.
National Association of
Atomic Veterans, Inc.

Many, who visit these sites, know about what is below. How many have passed these informative postings on, or researched further into that which was brought before you, learning as much as possible.
If not you should, for it will be once again just ignored, except by the few!
testvet's many postings about his experiances. Or visit his blog Outside The Beltway

And we have the fine work from ePluribus Media, theirs and ilona's many postings on PTSD Research. Or visit her blog PTSD Combat. As well as All the Great Work accomplished on PTSD and other Research by Ilona and the Great Group of Dedicated Folks over at ePluribus Media Community who by doing the Important Research and posting up what they have found, especially on the highly visible Community Blogs and Personal Blogs, have brought the Much Needed Public Reports on PTSD etc., which as before would be just tiny blurbs, of a few seconds, on an occasional news program, if at all, into the Apathedic minds of the many.
They are using, as are others like 'testvet, this Technology as it should be, not for Personal Gratification, but by working as a Group or alone, finding and publicizing their collective research into reports that get Noticed by many, and I believe by those who have been bringing it into the Main Stream Media in a number of forms. There have now been a number of reports as well as mini documentaries on the subject of PTSD than Ever hit the MSM in Any Conflict Before, Collectively!
Making the Majority of this population Take Notice as they never did before, because only a small fraction, of the total population, visit these types of sites on a regular basis, if at all. But if one can get those who do visit, and have the ability to put it into the minds of the many, than the many cannot hide in their Apathy!

How can one 'Support The Troops', one way is by keeping the above Front and Center in your own thoughts and passing those thoughts on. Taking any and all actions needed to Help these Veterans suffering from. Keeping it as a Main Topic of contact with your Government Representatives, they work for you, not visa versa. Find out as much as you can, under any time constraints, and offer your help. Be there, if needed, to recognize and help when possible. Make sure the Peoples Monies are spent wisely, giving any and all help that these Veterans and their Families Need!!!