The American Legion Department of Colorado Blog

Some Veterans who were crew members on C-123 Provider aircraft, formerly used to spray Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, have raised health concerns about exposure to residual amounts of herbicides on the plane surfaces.

After reviewing available scientific reports, VA has concluded the potential for long-term adverse health effects from Agent Orange residue in these planes was minimal. Even if crew exposure did occur, it is unlikely that sufficient amounts of dried Agent Orange residue could have entered the body to have caused harm.

How Veterans may have been exposed

During the Vietnam War, C-123 aircraft were used by the U.S. Air Force to spray Agent Orange to clear jungles that provided enemy cover in Vietnam. At the end of the spraying campaign in 1971, the remaining C-123 planes were reassigned to reserve units for routine cargo and medical evacuation missions spanning the next 10 years.

Crew members had reported smelling strong odors but these odors may be attributed to various chemicals associated with aircraft. TCDD, the contaminant in Agent Orange, is odorless.

Testing for Agent Orange residue on planes used in Vietnam

The U.S. Air Force collected numerous samples from C-123 aircraft to test for the dioxin TCDD. Because TCDD adheres to surfaces and does not dissolve in water, a solvent (hexane) was used to dislodge any remaining residue.

Based on thorough analysis of samples taken from the planes, VA determined that it is unlikely that residual Agent Orange in the planes caused long-term adverse health effects for crew who flew or maintained these planes after the Vietnam War.

Health effects of Agent Orange residue

The health effects of exposure to Agent Orange and Agent Orange residue on airplanes differ from exposure by direct contact with liquid Agent Orange. In liquid or spray form, Agent Orange can enter the body by inhalation or ingestion (such as hand to mouth contact or getting into food). But in the dry form – for example, adhered to a surface – Agent Orange residue cannot be inhaled or absorbed through the skin, and would be difficult to ingest.

Harmful exposure depends on the amount and concentration of contaminated material present, as well as its ability to enter the body. After reviewing available scientific reports, VA has concluded the potential for long-term adverse health effects from Agent Orange residue in these planes was minimal. Even if crew exposure did occur, it is unlikely that sufficient amounts of dried Agent Orange residue could have entered the body to have caused harm.

Research studies on Agent Orange

Research on the health effects of Agent Orange and TCDD continues. Many diverse populations have been studied, including herbicide sprayers and manufacturers, other Vietnam-era Veterans, and those exposed during industrial accidents.

Find out more about research on health effects of Agent Orange.

VA benefits

Veterans who believe they were exposed to Agent Orange or other tactical herbicide residue on C-123 aircraft must show on a factual basis that they were exposed in order to receive disability compensation for diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure.

VA does not presume by regulation that these Veterans were exposed to Agent Orange. VA does presume exposure to Agent Orange for Veterans who served in Vietnam because of the lack of exposure information that is available.

Culminating a strong push by The American Legion to improve work opportunities for America’s jobless veterans, the House of Representatives has passed the final version of legislation that will help provide jobs for about one million veterans who are currently unemployed.

Provisions of the bill, passed by the Senate on Nov. 10, include expanded education and training and transition assistance for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as older veterans.

The VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, shepherded through the legislative process by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., has several provisions that fall in line with recommendations made to Congress last September by American Legion National Commander Fang A. Wong.

“The final version of this bill passed today by the House, the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, is welcome news to us and to America’s jobless veterans,” Wong said. “It shows us that Congress still knows how to compromise for the good of our country, and we want to thank Sen. Murray and Rep. Miller for their impressive efforts in building the consensus that got this legislation passed.”

The new legislation, once signed into law, will provide tax credits to businesses that hire veterans who are out of work — $5,600 for each veteran and $9,600 for each disabled veteran.

Wong said that veterans should not be held hostage by partisan politics. “The American Legion has been urging Congress to pass this legislation quickly and not jeopardize it by attaching other provisions — like tax increases — that have nothing to do with getting our veterans back into the civilian work force.”

Key provisions of the bill include:

•Tax credit of up to $5,600 for hiring veterans who have been looking for a job for more than six months, as well as a $2,400 credit for veterans who are unemployed for more than four weeks, but less than six months.

•Tax credit of up to $9,600 for hiring veterans with service-connected disabilities who have been looking for a job for more than six months.

•Makes the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) — an interagency workshop coordinated by the departments of Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs — mandatory for servicemembers moving on to civilian life to help them secure meaningful jobs through resume-writing workshops and career counseling.

•Expands education and training opportunities for older veterans by providing 100,000 unemployed veterans of past eras and wars with up to one year of additional Montgomery GI Bill benefits for education or training programs at community colleges and technical schools.

•Provides disabled veterans up to one year of additional vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits.

•Allows servicemembers to start looking for federal jobs before separating from active duty in order to facilitate a truly seamless transition from the military to jobs at federal agencies.

According to Tim Tetz, the Legion’s legislative director, provisions of the bill are fully paid for by a continuation of existing VA Home Loan fees and other savings within VA. “The VOW to Hire Heroes Act won’t add to our federal deficit. But it does add to what the Legion has been pressing Congress to do for some time — help our veterans get jobs. We look forward, in the very near future, to having President Obama sign this bill into law.”

The unemployment rate for about a quarter-million veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan stands at about 12 percent. Of the estimated one million jobless veterans in America, two-thirds of them fall within the 35- to 64-age group.

By Alan Dowd

Veterans groups on both sides of the Atlantic are voicing opposition to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to allow energy firms to build up to 100 wind turbines off the Normandy coast. If Sarkozy’s plans go forward, massive turbines – up to 525 feet high – will be planted seven miles off what was known as “Juno Beach” on D-Day. This is a bad idea for at least two reasons.

First and foremost, there’s the historical importance of the waters that lap onto Normandy – waters that delivered the largest amphibious-landing force in history, waters that turned red with the blood of heroes on June 6, 1944.

Claiming that the project will power 4.5 million homes, French government officials promise that the giant windmills will be so far out to sea that they will be like “matchsticks” to those gazing out from the beaches.

World War II veterans and historical societies aren’t buying that defense.

“They will be visible from all the Normandy landing beaches: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword,” Gérard Lecornu, president of the Port Winston Churchill Association of Arromanches, told Britain’s Telegraph newspaper. “D-Day is in our collective memory. To touch this is a very grave attack on that memory.”

How grave? In Britain, some veteran RAF pilots have warned – perhaps tongue-in-cheek, perhaps not – that they might take to the air again to bomb the windmills.

Tim Holbert, executive director of the American Veterans Center, wants the French to rethink the placement of the wind turbines. “Thousands died there,” he told Fox News. “It’s considered sacred ground for a lot of people.”

Given that Juno was Canada’s beachhead on D-Day, Sarkozy’s plans are especially unsettling to Canadian veterans. Calling the Normandy beaches “hallowed grounds,” D-Day veteran Jack Martin described the wind-farm plans as “a disgusting affair” in an interview with Canada’s CTV network.

That sort of reaction has led some to launch a petition drive with the aim of asking the U.N. to designate the beaches as a historically protected area.

According to Rudyard Griffiths, co-founder of a Toronto-based historical group, “To be able to walk those beaches, and see them and imagine them as if it was 1944 is, in some ways, essential to keeping that historical memory alive.”

There’s something to that. Would we want a solar-panel field filling the World Trade Center’s footprint, a wind turbine on top of the USS Arizona Memorial, or an oil derrick sprouting up from Gettysburg’s Little Round Top?

In fact, in an interview with The Daily Caller’s Caroline May, military historian Paul Stillwell noted that something not too dissimilar happened in Gettysburg. “Some years ago,” he explained, “an entrepreneur put up a large observation tower [on the Gettysburg battleground], which was considered a desecration, and public opinion was such that it was finally demolished.”

The planned Normandy-area wind farm is just one part of a massive effort to plant 1,200 turbines along the French coastline by 2020. The French government believes that the $28.6 billion wind-farm project will create 10,000 jobs and generate the electricity equivalent of two nuclear power plants, according to the Telegraph. Best of all, say the project’s proponents, it’s all clean and green.

That brings us to a second problem with Sarkozy’s wind-farm plans: Modern-day windmills may not produce greenhouse gases, but they are anything but environmentally friendly.

As Robert Bryce, editor of the Energy Tribune, reports, wind turbines in the United States kill between 75,000 and 275,000 birds annually. He points out that a county agency in California concluded that a wind farm in California’s Altamont Pass kills 10,000 birds – “nearly all protected by the Migratory Bird Act” – per year.

Writing in Canada’s Financial Post, Diane Katz notes that “Such numbers earned wind-power generators the moniker ‘Cuisinarts of the Air,’ but not indictments.” She adds that in Canada “the wind-power industry enjoys a degree of political favor that would make most other energy executives green with envy. The province of Ontario, for example, actually requires utilities to purchase wind power at inflated rates.”

The double standards aren’t confined north of the border. Bryce notes that ExxonMobil was hauled before a federal court and had to pay a fine of $600,000 when the oil giant pled guilty to killing 85 birds that had inadvertently been exposed to hazardous areas on its property. PacifiCorp, an electric utility, was ordered to pay $1.4 million for killing 232 eagles.

“Yet there is one group of energy producers that are not being prosecuted for killing birds: wind-power companies,” Bryce writes. “And wind-powered turbines are killing a vast number of birds every year.”

To be sure, finding alternative sources of energy is important for Europeans and Americans alike, and U.S. law has nothing to do with how France generates electricity. But if Sarkozy wants to power France with clean, green, bird-killing windmills, he should find someplace else to do it. Given what Americans did for France at Normandy, we’ve earned the right to tell him that.

The Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes and The American Legion are giving $120,000 in Thanksgiving checks to 2,000 wounded veterans and servicemembers

(WASHINGTON) Nov. 16, 2011 – For the second year in a row, the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes (CSAH) and The American Legion are joining forces to ensure that 2,000 military veterans and servicemembers – severely wounded in Afghanistan or Iraq – get to enjoy a special meal at Thanksgiving with those closest to them.

During the week of Nov.14, the two non-profit organizations will be mailing out 2,000 gift checks worth $60 each to disabled veterans or servicemembers across the country, so they can use the money to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends. The funds come from charitable contributions made to the CSAH, which has been providing emergency financial aid and other support services since 2004 to veterans injured in operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

“Our donors feel very strongly that these brave men and women should not only be assisted with rebuilding their lives, but also recognized for the sacrifices they have made to defend our freedoms. And what better time to do that than on Thanksgiving?” said David Walker, chairman of the CSAH’s board of directors. “We are very grateful to The American Legion for helping us identify so many deserving recipients of these checks, and enabling us to deliver them promptly and efficiently.”

Peter Gaytan, executive director of The American Legion in Washington, said “Once again, we are honored to join with the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes in such a worthwhile undertaking. Thanksgiving is a time when all Americans take stock of their many blessings. One of those blessings everyone should appreciate is the dedication of our men and women in uniform who protect our country’s liberties with their lives.”

In addition to this year’s joint initiative with The American Legion, the CSAH will be providing another 1,000 checks of equal value to severely wounded veterans and servicemembers listed in the organization’s own records. That will bring to nearly 8,000 the number of Thanksgiving gift checks the CSAH has distributed since 2009. The Connecticut-based organization also provides wounded servicemembers with checks of varying amounts for other holidays, such as Christmas and Easter.

About the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes

The Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes is a leading non-profit organization dedicated to helping severely wounded troops from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The mission of the organization is to enable these servicemen and women to transition from the battlefront to the home front and to provide them and their families with the assistance needed to get their lives back on track.

For more information on how the CSAH can help you or to learn how you can help, please visit the organization’s website at www.saluteheroes.org.

American Legion Legisative Commission Chairman Ken Governor is urging Legionnaires nationwide to fight for the protection of DoD and VA budgets as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction – known as the “supercommittee” – studies thousands of recommendations to cut $1.5 trillion in federal costs over the next decade.

Legion National Commander Fang A. Wong issued a memo Nov. 8 to leaders of the organization nationwide, urging them to contact elected officials and media and make the organization’s position known. “Nothing could be more serious or vital to the future security of the United States of America, its citizens and our military service members and their families than National Commander Wong’s memorandum,” Governor said in the call to action. “Commander Wong is calling on all of us to step up in an important and historically critical moment in time… our members of Congress – they’ll be home in the districts and states for Veterans Day. If they hear from us, congressional representatives will bring the word back to the ‘supercommittee’ about what their constituents are telling them, but only if we act and … get the message out.”

Wong’s memo contains additional documents and a copy of Resolution 1, passed at the Fall National Executive Committee meeting in Indianapolis, which states the Legion’s opposition to DoD and VA cuts.

“Our job is all about the one-page Resolution No. 1 … that calls for a cessation of all efforts to further reduce the defense budget,” Governor said. He added that equally important additional material in the memo calls on the “supercommittee” to avoid a deadlock.

“Once again, we are being called on to use all the abilities and intellect in our power to make our case to our members of Congress so they can reinforce our stance to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction,” Governor said. “We need to encourage our members and our communities to get involved immediately to keep our country safe.

“Our country depends on American Legion leadership throughout the land and its strong voice for our service men and women, our veterans and their families … We have an obligation to protect them and keep them safe. We are The American Legion, and if we don’t speak for them, who will?”

America’s one million unemployed veterans will soon get a much-needed boost in the job market with expanded education, training and transition assistance, thanks to an American Legion-backed bill passed by the Senate on Nov. 10. The VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 also provides tax credits to businesses that hire veterans who are out of work — $5,600 for each veteran and $9,600 for each disabled veteran.

“This legislation will go a long way in helping our veterans get decent jobs,” said Fang A. Wong, national commander of The American Legion. “It falls in line with initiatives we supported in my testimony before Congress last September – a mandatory transition assistance program, job training for older veterans, and private-sector recognition of military skills and training.”

Wong said that Congress has honored America’s veterans in a way “that really makes a difference” by passing such important legislation the day before Veterans Day. “We applaud the leadership of Senator Murray and Representative Miller in creating a piece of legislation that addresses some of the factors that are stopping our veterans from getting jobs.”

When troops come home from Iraq and Afghanistan, Wong said, “The last thing they need is to file for unemployment benefits. They’ve been working hard as medics, truck drivers, mechanics, and a variety of other jobs with civilian counterparts.

“The government and private sector need to step up and give them work opportunities they deserve. This is what the Legion has been fighting for, and Congress has delivered an impressive set of tools that our veterans can use to earn a living.”

The VOW to Hire Heroes Act, once signed into law, will boost employment opportunities for veterans. Key provisions include:

• Tax credit of up to $5,600 for hiring veterans who have been looking for a job for more than six months, as well as a $2,400 credit for veterans who are unemployed for more than four weeks, but less than six months.

• Tax credit of up to $9,600 for hiring veterans with service-connected disabilities who have been looking for a job for more than six months.

• Makes the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) — an interagency workshop coordinated by the departments of Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs — mandatory for servicemembers moving on to civilian life to help them secure meaningful jobs through resume-writing workshops and career counseling.

• Expands education and training opportunities for older veterans by providing 100,000 unemployed veterans of past eras and wars with up to one year of additional Montgomery GI Bill benefits for education or training programs at community colleges and technical schools.

• Provides disabled veterans up to one year of additional vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits.

• Allows servicemembers to start looking for federal jobs before separating from active duty in order to facilitate a truly seamless transition from the military to jobs at federal agencies.

“For too long, at the end of their career we patted our veterans on the back for their service and then pushed them out into the job market alone,” said Murray. “The VOW to Hire Heroes Act will give our veterans the job skills to get their foot in the door and incentivize employers to make sure that door is open to them.”

According to Tim Tetz, the Legion’s legislative director, provisions of the bill “are fully paid for with funding from VA Home Loan programs and other savings within the department.”

The unemployment rate for about a quarter-million veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan stands at 12.1 percent. Of the estimated one million jobless veterans in America, two-thirds of them fall within the 35-64 age group.

“About one in 12 veterans can’t find a job in this country. And yet, the Department of Labor tells us there are more than three million job openings right now,” Wong said. “They say employers are having trouble finding workers with enough skills and training.

“Do we have to draw them a picture? They should all be hiring well-trained, disciplined individuals who work well with a team and accomplish the goals they’re given — in other words, they should be hiring veterans.”

On Nov. 7, three American Legion national staff members stood behind President Barack Obama as he told an audience gathered at the White House Rose Garden that congressional stubbornness and party politics were halting the passage of his jobs bill for veterans. he president reiterated his arguments in favor of the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior tax credits. These are two provisions of the politically contested American Jobs Act now being considered by Congress.

The Returning Heroes Tax Credit offers firms that hire unemployed veterans a maximum credit of $5,600 per veteran. The Wounded Warriors Tax Credit would give firms a maximum $9,600 tax credit for each veteran hired with a service-connected disability. On Nov. 4, Peter Gaytan, the Legion’s Washington office executive director, issued a statement in support of the proposed tax credits.

“The American Legion, on behalf of its 2.4 million members, appreciates the efforts of President Obama and Congress to curb the unacceptably high rate of unemployment among the men and women who have selflessly served our country,” Gaytan said. “Tax credits will augment the good and patriotic intentions of employers with tangible, financial incentives. The rewards will be great for them and, most importantly, for the most deserving of our citizens – our military veterans.”

During Obama’s 15-minute speech yesterday, he said no veteran “should have to fight for a job at home after they fight for our nation overseas. Congress should pass the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior tax credits, but we can’t wait for Congress to act. That’s why today, I am directing my administration to move forward with three initiatives that will help make it easier for veterans to find jobs when they return home.”

Obama then asked veterans’ service organizations to promote three online government resources now being made available to job-seeking veterans:

• Veteran Gold Card -Entitles post-9/11 veterans to enhanced services at the Department of Labor’s One Stop Career Centers nationwide.

• My Next Move for Veterans – An online tool that allows veterans to enter their military occupation specialty code and match it to equivalent civilian jobs.

• Veterans Job Bank – Designed to help veterans find job postings from veteran-friendly employers.

These three services can be accessed by visiting www.whitehouse.gov/vets.

Shortly after the president completed his Rose Garden address, the chairs of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., and Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., issued a press release commending a bipartisan agreement reached to boost employment opportunities for veterans.

“Today, we are putting aside politics and putting America’s veterans first. This is the how the process should work,” Miller said in the press release. “The VOW (Veterans Opportunity to Work) Act, which passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support, provides the framework for this legislation and gets to the root of many of the employment problems our veterans face such as the inability to compete in today’s job market and issues surrounding a seamless transition from active duty to civilian life.”

“This agreement is a bipartisan and comprehensive approach to getting our nation’s veterans back to work,” Murray said in the same release. “It includes Republican and Democratic ideas because getting our veterans the financial security and dignity a job provides should never be partisan. For too long in this country we have patted our veterans on the back for their service and then pushed them out into the job market alone. By advancing this legislation we are giving our veterans the job skills to get their foot in the door and incentivizing employers to make sure that door is open to them.”

Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri is sponsoring a House bill that will create a registry at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for veterans diagnosed with disorders associated with exposure to burn pits.

The announcement regarding Akin’s “Open Burn Pits Registry Act of 2011″ was made at a Nov. 3 press conference in Washington. It is Akin’s hope that such a registry will provide VA with better understanding of adverse effects from burn pit exposure, and how it can improve treatment for veterans suffering from those effects.

The American Legion National Commander Fang A. Wong recently sent a letter of support to Akin, writing that the bill “is an important first step toward providing much-needed safeguards for those men and women who protect America and our freedoms.” Wong also noted in the letter that The American Legion has learned, “often the hard way,” that exposure to battlefield hazards such as Agent Orange and ionizing radiation demands “early and aggressive action” to cope with the long-term effects.

“This registry will enable the (VA) to better track those exposed to dangerous burn pits and help facilitate further research to ensure we do not leave these exposed veterans behind in treatment,” Wong wrote in the letter.

Tim Tetz, the Legion’s legislative director, said Akin’s bill “is an important first step, but we need to keep our attention focused on burn pit hazards and make sure we don’t overlook the potential dangers of long-term exposure.”

Tetz said The American Legion assisted in bringing the dangers of Agent Orange exposure to VA’s attention in the 1980s and supported VA in its efforts to improve its health care for Gulf War veterans.

“We need to make sure that we monitor the potential health hazards burn pits have on our men and women serving overseas, and make certain we do the right thing by seeing to their health-care needs as veterans,” Tetz said.

Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri is sponsoring a House bill that will create a registry at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for veterans diagnosed with disorders associated with exposure to burn pits.

The announcement regarding Akin’s “Open Burn Pits Registry Act of 2011″ was made at a Nov. 3 press conference in Washington. It is Akin’s hope that such a registry will provide VA with better understanding of adverse effects from burn pit exposure, and how it can improve treatment for veterans suffering from those effects.

The American Legion National Commander Fang A. Wong recently sent a letter of support to Akin, writing that the bill “is an important first step toward providing much-needed safeguards for those men and women who protect America and our freedoms.” Wong also noted in the letter that The American Legion has learned, “often the hard way,” that exposure to battlefield hazards such as Agent Orange and ionizing radiation demands “early and aggressive action” to cope with the long-term effects.

“This registry will enable the (VA) to better track those exposed to dangerous burn pits and help facilitate further research to ensure we do not leave these exposed veterans behind in treatment,” Wong wrote in the letter.

Tim Tetz, the Legion’s legislative director, said Akin’s bill “is an important first step, but we need to keep our attention focused on burn pit hazards and make sure we don’t overlook the potential dangers of long-term exposure.”

Tetz said The American Legion assisted in bringing the dangers of Agent Orange exposure to VA’s attention in the 1980s and supported VA in its efforts to improve its health care for Gulf War veterans.

“We need to make sure that we monitor the potential health hazards burn pits have on our men and women serving overseas, and make certain we do the right thing by seeing to their health-care needs as veterans,” Tetz said.

Meals will be offered at Veterans Cantee Service cafeterias to homeless veterans attending their first VA medical appointment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is reaching out to homeless veterans by providing free meals and spending money to eligible homeless Veterans. The free meals will be offered at Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) cafeterias to homeless veterans attending their first VA medical appointment.

New veterans participating in the Housing and Urban Development and VA Supportive Housing program who present signed leases will also receive a $20 coupon to be used in VCS retail stores located at every VA medical center.

VCS also facilitates vendor donations to various homeless programs, including local VA stand downs and community organizations. VCS operates more than 170 retail stores and cafeterias at VA medical centers across the nation, providing competitively priced food and merchandise to VA patients, their families, caregivers, VA employees, volunteers and visitors.