Vietnam Veterans of America - Standing Tall for C-123 Veterans!

(Testimony of VVA Presented by John Rowan, National President/CEO before the House and Senate Veteran’s Affairs Committees Regarding VVA Legislative Agenda & Policy Initiatives March 6, 2013)

"VVA shall continue to advocate on behalf of the veterans of the crews who flew C-123 transports contaminated by the remains of the barrels of Agent Orange they once ferried into and out of Vietnam and are now suffering some of the same peculiar health ills as in-country Vietnam veterans."

We C-123 veterans remain in debt to President Rowan and his fantastic Agent Orange committee which long ago recognized our just claims for Agent Orange exposure.

A note: I have advised President Rowan that, in fact, the C-123 was primarily used for actually spraying Agent Orange which was the mechanism for its becoming contaminated, rather than the transport of Agent Orange barrels.

 Legislative Testimony March 6, 2013

16

•

VVA urges Congress to investigate if our nation’s minority veteransare given lesser treatment for health conditions at VA medical centersand community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs).

•

VVA urges Congress to mandate that the VA provide brochures andother information for Spanish-speaking veterans, particularly thoseresiding in Puerto Rico, inasmuch as many male veterans areconvinced to seek VA medical assistance by members of their family,who may speak Spanish exclusively.

Agent Orange/Dioxin & Other Toxic Substances

•

VVA calls on Congress and the President to take steps to declassify

all 

documents from the years of the Vietnam War, including memos between agencies, dealing with Agent Orange/dioxin and make them public – now, almost 50 years since our government sprayed some 20million gallons of extraordinarily toxic compounds over five millionacres of the former South Vietnam.

•

VVA shall continue to support legislative efforts and other initiativesto achieve justice for naval personnel serving aboard ships plying thewaters of Yankee and Dixie Stations in the South China Sea and theGulf of Tonkin by getting the VA to recognize that they are deservingof the same health and other benefits as in-country “boots-on-the-ground” veterans.

•

VVA shall continue to advocate on behalf of the veterans of the crewswho flew C-123 transports contaminated by the remains of the barrelsof Agent Orange they once ferried into and out of Vietnam and arenow suffering some of the same peculiar health ills as are in-countryVietnam veterans