Legacy of Our Veterans' Military Exposures
Justice - social, environmental, human
Protecting our veterans' children™

Reports link Agent Orange exposure and birth defects

Protecting our veterans' children

Official Logo for Legacy of our Veterans’ Military Exposures (LOVME)

Mark Cash’s father, a U.S. Air Force security policeman, was stationed at Andersen Air Force Base in late 1966.

His job on base mainly involved walking patrols – specifically, the area along the flight line, the fence perimeter, and the path of the above-ground fuel pipeline. “He told me about seeing people spraying,” Cash said. “He said he’d driven through it, walked through it, over and over again.”

His father didn’t know, Cash said, what exactly was being sprayed. Just something to keep the jungle at bay.

His father, mother and two sisters had been living on base for right around nine months when Cash was born prematurely. At birth, his liver did not function, and he was diagnosed with hyperbilirubinemia.

Cash’s family didn’t make the connection at the time. “I was just a sick little boy who needed many blood transfusions to survive,” Cash said. He has since made the connection between his health problems and the use of Agent Orange on Guam.

Since the end of the Vietnam War and the realization that herbicides like Agent Orange caused serious health problems, much attention has been paid to Vietnam veterans who have filed for medical benefits with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans stationed on Guam have historically struggled for recognition that Agent Orange was used here, despite denials from the U.S. Department of Defense.

On Feb. 3, Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Florida, introduced the Fighting for Orange-Stricken Territories in Eastern Regions (FOSTER) Act, which would extend presumptive Agent Orange exposure status to Vietnam War-era veterans who served in Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa.

However, little has been said about the families of veterans who were stationed on Guam — three generations of spouses, children, and grandchildren still grappling with diseases and birth defects related to Agent Orange exposure.

In Dec. 2015, the Hawaii Journal of Medicine and Public Health published a study entitled “Disparities in Infant Mortality Due to Congenital Anomalies on Guam.” The study was authored by Jonathan Noel, Sara Namazi, and Robert Haddock, a territorial epidemiologist with the Guam Department of Health and Human Services Office of Epidemiology and Research.

The study conducted a village-level analysis in an attempt to explain large disparity between Guam villages in infant mortality due to congenital anomalies during the 1970s and 1980s. According to the study, during that period some villages reported no infant deaths due to congenital anomalies, while others reported death rates as high as 5.62 deaths per 1,000 live births – a figure “that was two times greater than the overall cause-specific death rate on Guam and in the US.”

The study examined behavioral, structural and environmental factors, including the assumed presence of Agent Orange. That assumption was based on VA rulings in 2005 and 2013 which “concluded that herbicides, particularly Agent Orange (AO), were used on Guam from 1968 to 1970.” The study also utilized sworn testimony, including that of Leroy Foster, to determine village-level spray estimates and to determine “AO and non-AO spray areas.”

After examining 11 “high risk” and eight “low risk” villages, the study ultimately concluded that “AO spray area was the only statistically significant predictor of infant mortality due to congenital anomalies under invariable and multivariable conditions.”

While he does not discount civilian exposure, Haddock believes “that the impact of AO was much greater on Air Force personnel and their families living on AAFB than on civilians because only a very few civilians were directly exposed to AO.”

These findings were considered consistent with previous studies showing increased rates of birth defects in the children of exposed Vietnam residents and veterans, in addition to an increased risk of infant death linked to paternal exposure.

Ultimately, the study concluded that more studies were needed given existing constraints – lack of official military records, small sample sizes due to village population, and lack of data confirming exposure.

A 2016 ProPublica analysis entitled “The Children of Agent Orange” went further, examining the VA’s own registry to determine the relationship between Agent Orange and birth defects.

The analysis, based on at least 34 years of records in which the VA asked questions about birth defects in the children of veterans, found that “the odds of having a child born with birth defects during or after the war were more than a third higher for veterans who say they handled, sprayed or were directly sprayed with Agent Orange than for veterans who say they weren’t exposed or weren’t sure.”

ProPublica found that since 2001, the VA had received claims for benefits from more than 8,100 people citing spina bifida and other birth defects, but that only 1,325 claimants had received benefits.

Spina bifida is the birth defect most commonly accepted by the VA to be a direct result of Agent Orange exposure. Yet, other birth defects are reported as common by children of Vietnam veterans, including shortened or missing limbs, webbed toes, extra or missing vertebrae, degenerative spine disorders, spinal cord fusion or detachment, and a range of neurological, reproductive, immunological and developmental disorders.

Source

Legacy of Our Veterans' Military Exposures
Widow of a Vietnam veteran exposed to Agent Orange and founder of Agent Orange Legacy.
  1. Terry De Geus Reply

    Does anyone out there know if VA IS HELPING A/O KIDS OF VETERANS W HO HAVE THESE CYSTS AND DEGERATIVE ISSUES AND ARE THESES CYSTS RELATED TO A/0.

    • admin Reply

      Hi Terry, The VA only recognizes spina bifida in the children of male Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. There are a number of birth defects observed in the children of women Vietnam veterans. There a form that you can use to apply for benefits, however. It will be denied. It is important to file none-the-less because if birth defects and illness is recognized eventually, you would be eligible for retroactive benefits. Here is a link to the application>>>https://lovme.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/vba-21-0304-ARE.pdf

  2. Michael A Mancuso Jr Reply

    Its very unfortunate what our fathers went through in Vietnam it breaks my heart to even think of it. They bravely volunteered for this nevermind the hundreds of thousands that were drafted and forced , these guys were mostly just kids barely shaving, next thing they know they are in a foreign jungle with a gun in there hand. Then unknowingly walked through these areas, drank the water from craters,
    and bathed in these waters and areas that had been sprayed with a herbicide, dioxin also known as Agent Orange. They known it as Agent orange because of the containers came with an orange band around it. My father like many others not knowing continuing effects of Agent Orange about 13 years later I was born what’s spina bifida and my first surgery at 3 and many more since , then 42 years later he was diagnosed with kidney cancer luckily he was able to beat it but almost didn’t. I just want to thank our soldiers doing their jobs keeping our nation safe these types of things the soldiers are not to blame , but unfortunately we are the way we are and nothing is going to change that , so all we can do is be the best that we can be, keep up with our doctor visits , practice a healthy lifestyle and being good examples for children who follow in our foot steps! Now I know I don’t have is the easiest I also don’t have it the worst there are others that are worse that need all of our support ! If I had to do it all over again, I would but I would be stronger when I was weak and smarter when I was thinking taking the easy way out! I take plenty of medication 10 to 12 different medications a day diagnosed with 15 different things never gets any easier hopefully through some groups like this we can support each other go through it together and say God Bless America God bless our troops , and God bless us the unfortunate ones , the causalities of war that nobody sees, but we need support ourselves and each other. Never forget we live in the greatest country in the world! God bless President Donald J Trump !!!

  3. Hilda Lewis Reply

    I just lost my father a little over a year ago he did 3 tours in Vietnam in the Army. I have heart problems and anklosing spondolititis. I’m almost positive that it is because of his exposure to AO that I have these problems how do I get help with my father gone?

    • admin Reply

      Hi Hilda, I am sorry for your loss. I have a link that should answer many of your questions or find helpful>>>https://lovme.org/important-links-for-children-of-veterans-exposed-to-agent-orange/. If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact me at aolegacy@gmail.com

  4. Danielle S. Smith Reply

    All of my father’s children have been diagnosed with or have problems with so many of the disease on the list.
    Degenerative Disk and joint disease, autoimmune, spinal stenosis, addiction problems with several siblings, several forms of arthritis, had one sibling born with her intestines on the outside of of her skin and died 32 days later. Problems with fibroid cysts, fatty tumors, learning disabilities, and so many more.
    My 2 children have problems as well, not sure about nieces and nephews but I’m going to say they will eventually have problems if they don’t already.

  5. Marilyn Epstein Reply

    Does Tourette’s Syndrome have anything to do with Agent Orange. My two granddaughters have it .

    • LOVME Reply

      So sorry for delayed response. I do not know if it does or does not have anything to do with it. I do know that there is a high incidence of autoimmune and rare disease, cancers, mental health illness, learning disabilities among the children of male veterans exposed to Agent Orange. You can learn more at this link>>>https://lovme.org/important-links-for-children-of-veterans-exposed-to-agent-orange/

  6. Michelle Zierenberg Reply

    My name is Michelle Zierenberg. My father was Army infantry in Vietnam. He died in 2001 because of agent orange. Now I am getting bad at 42 years I’m not sure how much longer I got. I was born with 2 uterus and I’m on disability due to mental illness. I currently have at least 13 masses in my back by my spine that drs don’t want nothing to do with because I said agent orange. After they took out my uteruses I started forming severe endometriosis and endometrioma in which are also currently taking over my stomach area. The masses in my body grow quickly and get huge. Whatever these are on my back I know is affecting me neurologically and I am in constant pain and getting tired of being denied and left to die. Like my father did before me.

    • LOVME Reply

      So sorry for delayed response, also very sorry for loss of your father. Here is a link where you can get answers to your questions>>>https://lovme.org/important-links-for-children-of-veterans-exposed-to-agent-orange/

  7. Pingback: LOVME » IMPORTANT LINKS FOR CHILDREN OF VETERANS EXPOSED TO AGENT ORANGE

Leave a Reply to Marilyn EpsteinCancel reply