I need help with this Epilepsy and agent orange

Re: I need help with this Epilepsy and agent orange

Submitted by wldhrt13 on Thu, 2006-11-02 - 23:25

Well it's tricky to get an truthful answer about the effects of agent orange on the offspring of exposed veterans. The reason being is pretty simple....cost. If the government recognizes the extent of birth defects it caused, they have to pay out alot of dough. The Government claims immunity based on the fact that Agent Orange was not considered a poison at the time it was used. There was a class action lawsuit filed against the Federal Government in the late 1980's and my mother got my name placed on it. We have never heard anything since that time. My father did two tours in Vietnam and was exposed to Agent Orange as well as the other Agents used: Agent White, Agent Blue, there is a plethora of other herbicides used as defoliants. Their particular chemical composition and corresponding levels of dioxin is located here at this link: http://www.gmasw.com/aotalk1.htm Dioxin is the most toxic substance known to man and is the by product of many chemical industry, including but not limited, to Herbicide Manufacturing. You may remember Soviet Leader Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned with Dioxin a few years back: http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/12/11/yushchenko.austria/index.html The herbicides that were used in Vietnam for defoliation such as agent orange were contaminated with Dioxin. The Dow Chemical company swears it was within "safe" levels. But put another way....Look at any can of pesticide/herbicide that they sell at Agway, it says not to get any on your skin etc...Many veterans were literally showered with this substance repeatedly as it came down by hovering airplanes. Many had to walk through the "white and orange dust" which had accumulated on the ground and vegetation. And many could not shower for weeks at a time. Studies were done on rats/mice and show that not only exposed mice suffer disease from agent orange, but genetic mutations occured in their DNA and consequently showed up in offspring. Our own scientists have concluded that agent orange it carcinogenic and mutagenic as well. The offspring/children born to Vitenamese refugees have suffered grave deformities and birth defects as their people didn't leave the area after the war was over, but remained in highly contaminated areas. So there is only one "accepted" birth defect that the Federal Government recognizes as resulting in the offspring of Vietnam Veterans exposed to agent orange, and that is Spina Bifada. To any thinking person, it is obvious that offspring were effected in a much more extensive way. But who knows if it will ever be offically recognized. Here are some links on Birth Defects in Offspring of Vietnam Vets - Agent Orange: http://www.vn-agentorange.org/ http://www-tech.mit.edu/V116/N12/agentorange.12w.html http://www.uthouston.edu/Media/newsreleases/nrSpecial/genetics/dioxin.html http://www.tpromo.com/usvi/agent-d1.htm http://www1.va.gov/agentorange/docs/ao12-1-8-96.PDF