|
I humbly give voice to over a quarter million of my sisters
who served in the military during the Vietnam Era—at
home, around the globe, and in Vietnam. No matter where we
were sent, all of us were invaluable ingredients contributing
to the American military effort worldwide. And it depended
on us. Admittedly or not, you know it always has.
Vietnam: Over eight thousand of us were there. Most of us
were nurses, working in Field, Evac, and Surgical Hospitals
from the Delta to the DMZ. But nearly a thousand of us weren’t
nurses. Not to be forgotten, we were specialized, dependable,
and capable troops, working in a variety of fields, including
logistics, administration, security, and intelligence. Our
military roles were expanding. We were teetering on the edge
of major change. We could feel it, and we could taste it.
We served at a time when our nation faced formidable challenges,
upheavals, and unrest fueled in part by our Vietnam involvement
and the antiwar turmoil that were painfully dividing the
nation. Factor into this the human and civil rights movements.
And let’s not forget women’s rights. [read
complete article ]
The soldiers are dying. But, even more tragically, the children
they have left behind are suffering. Sometimes at Birth Defect
Research for Children we hear from veterans, but usually
it is wives and children who send us poignant messages:
“I lost my husband from a cancerous brain tumor 13
months ago. My son has many disabilities, including Tourette’s
syndrome, mental retardation, mild cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus,
and he is profoundly deaf. He will never be able to live
on his own.”
“My father passed away in 1998. He had many health
problems, including type II diabetes. He was only 50 years
old. Agent Orange has been a part of my life from the moment
I was born. I was born without my right leg, several of my
fingers, and my big toe on my left foot. My mother had three
miscarriages. My younger brother (age 29) has to wear bifocals
and suffers from chronic joint pain.”
“I served four tours in Vietnam. We have three children:
one daughter with a heart defect, another with scoliosis
and digestive problems, and a son born with a defective optic
nerve that has left him blind in the right eye. There is
no history of birth defects on either side of our family.”
Since 1991, we have recorded thousands of such cases in
our National Birth Defect Registry. [read
complete article]
“A great day for Vietnam veterans,” I heard
someone say during the height of the huge parade along Constitution
Avenue that VVA sponsored on Saturday, November 10, in Washington,
D.C., to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the dedication
of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It was a great day, too,
for VVA, for putting on a memorable and meaningful event
in the Nation’s Capital. [read
complete article]
Late in the war, American troops were supposed to be withdrawn
in tandem with improvements in the South Vietnamese armed
forces. It has become an article of faith among some that
Vietnamization produced a supple, effective Republic of Vietnam
Armed Forces (RVNAF) that could have won the war but for
the termination of American aid. Claims about the effectiveness
of the ARVN produced a mountain of press releases at the
time and included official testimony before Congress, progress
reports, statements at press conferences, and a plethora
of materials flowing from American sources in Saigon.
Like just about everything else regarding the Vietnam War,
those claims require examination. Most recent articles on
this subject go little further than repeating the numbers
in the press releases. That is misleading because statistics
only scratch the surface of the story. There is much more
to be said. [read
complete article]
Honey Sue Newby is 36 years old now. Born in 1971, her father
served eight years in the Marines and saw three combat tours
in Vietnam. When Honey Sue was born, her mother, Suzanne
Nesler, knew something was wrong.
“Something was amiss,” Suzanne said. “Honey
Sue had severe jaundice and they kept her in the hospital
for further observation.”
What was wrong turned out to be spina bifida, a congenital
disorder that involves incomplete development of the brain
and spine. One of a group of abnormalities known as neural
tube defects, spina bifida is caused by the failure of the
spinal column to form correctly during the first month of
pregnancy.
[read
complete article]
|
fWar.jpg){kind=small}
