Agent Orange & Dioxin Committee Update March/April 2018
BY MAYNARD KADERLIK, CHAIR
At the 2017 Convention the committee went over the fourteen resolutions on the books and made basic word changes. I will report on the most pertinent.
AO-1 Research on Agent Orange Effects.
We still are waiting for the VA Secretary to determine presumptions based on the March 10, 2016, IOM report. VVA continues to remind the Secretary that this needs to be done.
AO-2 Agent Orange/Dioxin Children’s Registry.
We have worked closely with this registry in getting more Vietnam veterans’ children registered and in gaining evidence of conditions due to veterans’ exposure to toxins. We have also at the Agent Orange town halls provided the VA Form 21-0304 for the children and grandchildren to file with a certified service representative. It will go to the Regional Office and will be denied. Then it will be archived with the VA in Denver. As the VA moves forward with S.901, which was passed for the children and is now law, they will deal with these archived forms.
AO-4 VVA Agent Orange/Dioxin Guides.
The committee continues to supply these guides to veterans and organizations throughout the country and at town halls. When VA Secretary David Shulkin reports on the March 10, 2016, IOM findings, we will update the guides with the new presumptives.
AO-5 Assure Proper Implementation of the Agent Orange Act of 1991.
Government Affairs and the Agent Orange Committee will work together to establish legislation for research on presumptives, as the act expired recently.
AO-6 Dioxin Disposal Methods.
Two words were added on the disposal method on bedrock that would continue on to the water below.
AO-7 Children’s Health Care.
S.901, which addresses children’s health care, passed December 16, 2016, and is now law. VVA will continue monitoring the VA.
AO-8 Agent Orange/Dioxin Network.
Information is supplied to veterans though VVA’s Self-Help Guide. At the Leadership & Education Conference much information is supplied to attendees, who take that information home and spread it to their chapters. Town halls, too, spread the word.
AO-10 Ban the Manufacturing, Sale, and Use of 2,4-D.
Many of us have read that states are banning the use of these toxins. More states will follow when they realize how toxic this poison is.
AO-16 Blue Water Veterans’ Exposure During the Vietnam War.
We will continue to help Blue Water sailors who suffer from their exposure to Agent Orange. We will help to get legislation passed as they, too, are victims of Agent Orange.
The Agent Orange & Dioxin Committee:
Maynard Kaderlik, Chair; Jack McManus,
Vice Chair; Bob Behrens, Vice Chair. Members:
Sandie Wilson, Roland Mayhew, Marc
McCabe, Mike Demske, Dennis Andras,
Bruce Dobson, Stephen Bowers, Nate Washington,
Rossie Nance, and Luther Newberry.
Special Advisers: John Weiss, Tom Owen,
Paul Sutton, Jim Doyle, Steve House, John
Rossie, Wes Carter, Robert Cummings, Ken
Holybee, John Wells, Billee Culin, Betty
Mekdeci, Sandra Morgan, Elizabeth Bowers,
Herb Worthington, Robert Grabinski,
Carlton Rhodes, Frank Arminio, John
McGinty, and Joe McIntyre. AVVA Advisors:
Nancy Switzer, Kathy Andras, and Pricilla
Newberry.
Staff Support: Mokie Porter, Rick Weidman, and Bernie Edelman.
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