Agent Orange Legacy changes name in fight to bring families together whose children are affected by the veterans exposure to toxic military exposures

Legacy of Our Veterans Military Exposures (LOVME) was built on the experiences of a widow of a Vietnam veteran exposed to Agent Orange and their daughter. Their daughter, Dee Reyes, has been ill all of her life due to her father’s exposure while serving in the ‘brown water’ Navy from 1966 – 1969.

Sharon L. Perry and her daughter, Dee Reyes founded Agent Orange Legacy in 2007. After years of researching Agent Orange, Sharon and her daughter, Dee, learned Agent Orange was just one of a multitude of military exposures affecting our veterans and their families.

This understanding was the foundation for expanding their existing efforts.

Today our troops are exposed to an onslaught of harmful toxins at a magnitude never before seen. We have learned from the Vietnam war that harmful toxins such as TCDD (Agent Orange) will not only affect the veteran it will also affect the veterans’ descendants for seven (7) generations.

The DOD has been irresponsible and reckless in the disposal of harmful toxins. The problem is so immense that the EPA listed 130 military installations as Superfund sites. Our veterans, left in the dark, about the chemicals many have been exposed to and their health effects. During the Cold War Era our veterans, many without their knowledge, were exposed to chemical and biological warfare materials such as nerve agents, blister agents, hallucinogens and biological agent testing.

Americans are also affected by these U.S. military installations added to the Superfund site, by the manufacture and testing of war time weapons such as Agent Orange along with other biological and chemical warfare agents. We are all affected when war time technology is transferred to the commercial sector. Nuclear power plants and Genetically Modified crops resistant to Roundup (a herbicide) are a couple of examples of war time technology being transferred commercially.

Not only are our veterans and their offspring being poisoned so are all Americans. We have an epidemic of cancers, autoimmune diseases, learning disabilities in our children such as Autism (1 in 160) and ADHD, food sensitivities and food intolerance to food additives such as gluten and soy.

As Americans we need to reassess how our way of life affects the world we live in. We can no longer afford to be wasteful and turn the other cheek. There are many changes we can make in order to insure our children’s future.

LOVME asks all Americans to begin this journey and help us to protect our veteran’s children because protecting our veterans’ children will also protect your children.

You can visit our website at this link>>>http://lovme.org/

VA Telehealth Services Served Over 690,000 Veterans In Fiscal Year 2014

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced that its national telehealth programs served more than 690,000 Veterans during fiscal year 2014. That total represents approximately 12 percent of the overall Veteran population enrolled for VA healthcare, and accounted for more than 2 million telehealth visits. Of that number, approximately 55 percent were Veterans living in rural areas with limited access to VA healthcare. With more Veterans seeking health care, telehealth is rapidly becoming an attractive option, especially for those Veterans who don’t have a VA health care facility close to home.

“We have to adapt to meet Veterans wherever their needs are,” said VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald. “A brick-and-mortar facility is not the only option for health care. We are exploring how we can more efficiently and effectively deliver health care services to better serve our Veterans and improve their lives. Telehealth is one of those areas we have identified for growth.”  

Currently, there are more than 44 clinical specialties offered to Veterans through VA’s telehealth programs. One program at the Miami VA schedules close to 90 clinic connections every week for dermatology, eye exams, the women Veterans program, podiatry, mental health and other clinical specialties.

One tangible example of the success of VA’s telehealth program is its burgeoning TeleAudiology program because of large population of Veterans living with hearing loss. The TeleAudiology program has grown from 1,016 Veterans in fiscal year 2011 to more than 10,589 in fiscal year 2014.

For more information about VA’s telehealth program, visit www.telehealth.va.gov/.        

Source:http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2646

VVA supports H.R. 5484 the Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2014

September 19, 2014

Legislative Alert – Ask your Representative to Support H.R. 5484  the Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2014

Representative Dan Benishek, (MI-1), has introduced H.R. 5484, the Toxic Exposure Research of 2014 formerly H.R. 4816, the Toxic Exposure Research and Military Family Support Act of 2014, VVA strongly supports this bill, which reflects positively on one of our foremost legislative goals. Not only would it help achieve a measure of justice for the innocent victims of the use of toxic substances in times of war, but it offers unlimited possibilities for scientific research into the effects of these toxic chemicals.

This comprehensive legislation will construct a common mechanism and procedures that will encompass all past and future toxic wounds, as needed.

VVA urges you to go to our Legislative Action Center site athttp://capwiz.com/vva/home/  and Take Action NOW by entering your zip code and sending the prepared letter to your U.S. Representative, asking them to please join their colleagues Brownley, (CA-26), Conyers, (MI-13) Honda (CA-17) and Rahall (WV-3) to co-sponsor H.R. 5484, the Toxic Exposure Research Act of  2014.

Agent Orange Legislation 2014...for families of U.S. veterans exposed to Agent Orange

S.2738 TOXIC EXPOSURE RESEARCH ACT OF 2014

S. 2738 Toxic Exposure Research Act is supported by Agent Orange Legacy, Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America (AVVA) as many other group do as well.  
ACT NOW>>>http://capwiz.com/vva/issues/alert/?alertid=63293526&type=CO

Learn more about S. 2738 Toxic Exposure Research Act 2014>>>
http://www.agentorangelegacy.blogspot.com/2014/08/update-s-1602take-action-now-ask-your.html

VVA PRESS RELEASE S. 2738 Toxic Exposure Reserach Act 2014>>>
http://www.vva.org/PressReleases/2014/pr14-018.html

Do not confuse H.R. 2519 with S. 2738.  Our families should be united in supporting the legislation that best serves our veterans and our families.  Support S. 2738 Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2014.

H.R. 2519 WILL NOT SERVE OUR FAMILIES BEST
H.R.2519 -- Victims of Agent Orange Relief Act of 2013 Does Not Cover VVA’s Objectives>>>
H.R.2519 -- Victims of Agent Orange Relief Act of 2013

Does Not Cover VVA’s Objectives

It has come to our attention that Rep.  Lee of California has introduced legislation about Agent Orange.  Although Rep.  Lee’s legislation is meant to help many, it unfortunately does not cover Vietnam Veterans of America’s objectives for American service members and our children, grandchildren, and future generations.

Thank you for your consideration.

Herb Worthington, Chair 

Agent Orange and Other Toxic Substances Committee
hworthington@vva.org 

Source>>>http://agentorangezone.blogspot.com/2013/10/hr2519-victims-of-agent-orange-relief.html

Honoring One and a Generation

In a tearful moment, Marsha Morrison accepted a state flag flown over the capital in Salem to honor her husband, the late Al Morrison, during Monday’s Memorial Day Ceremony at the Oregon Veterans’ Home.

#Ed Van Dyke, deputy director of the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, presented the flag to Marsha following comments by Dallas Swafford, emcee for the program.

Continue Learning>>>http://www.thedalleschronicle.com/news/2014/may/27/honoring-one-and-generation/

Chronic Multisystem Illness in Gulf War Veterans

More than 2 decades have passed since the 1990-1991 conflict in the Persian Gulf. During the intervening years, many Gulf War veterans have experienced various unexplained symptoms that many associate with service in the gulf region, but no specific exposure has been definitively associated with symptoms. Numerous researchers have described the pattern of signs and symptoms found in deployed Gulf War veterans and noted that they report unexplained symptoms at higher rates than nondeployed veterans or veterans deployed elsewhere during the same period. Gulf War veterans have consistently shown a higher level of morbidity than the nondeployed, in some cases with severe and debilitating consequences. However, efforts to define a unique illness or syndrome in Gulf War veterans have failed, as have attempts to develop a uniformly accepted case definition.

Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Gulf War Veterans is a comprehensive review of the available scientific and medical literature regarding symptoms for chronic multisymptom illness (CMI) among the 1991 Gulf War Veterans. This report evaluates and summarizes the literature in an effort to identify appropriate terminology to use in referring to CMI in Gulf War Veterans. While the report does not recommend one specific case definition over another, Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Gulf War Veterans does recommend the consideration of two case definitions on the basis of their concordance with the evidence and their ability to identify specific symptoms commonly reported by Gulf War veterans. This report recommends that the Department of Veterans Affairs use the term Gulf War illness rather than CMI. The report recommends that that the Department of Veterans Affairs, to the extent possible, systematically assess existing data to identify additional features of Gulf War illness, such as onset, duration, severity, frequency of symptoms, and exclusionary criteria to produce a more robust case definition.

Continue Learning:  http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18623&utm_medium=etmail&utm_source=The+National+Academies+Press&utm_campaign=NAP+mail+new+2014.03.18&utm_content&utm_term