On Memorial Day, we honor the sacrifices of military service members who gave their lives in defense of their country. But we tend to only focus on those who died in battle.
There is rarely a commemoration — or even public acknowledgment — of the millions of U.S. veterans who have been made grievously sick or died due to exposure to toxins during their time of service.
Far too many veterans have died without care or benefits, with their spouses and families left to fight an uncaring bureaucracy.
I became one of those veterans after being exposed to Agent Orange during Vietnam — and I am not alone. Today, U.S. active-duty service members, veterans and their families are still being exposed to lethal toxins on a daily basis. Meanwhile, too many elected officials treat our lives as disposable even as they pretend to honor us for our sacrifice.
When I went to Vietnam, no one told us about Agent Orange beforehand. The chemical is a “tactical herbicide” that was sprayed over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia between 1962 and 1971. It contains traces of dioxin, the same compound used to poison Ukrainian politician Viktor Yushchenko in 2004. Millions of U.S. service members and Vietnamese civilians were exposed, leading to birth defects, cancers and a host of other serious health problems.
I served in Vietnam as a member of an explosive ordnance disposal team, and we drove through areas where Agent Orange was sprayed several times a week. As a result, I have been diagnosed with polycythemia vera, a rare form of blood cancer. My condition is treatable, but not curable. There is a chance it will turn into deadly leukemia, and I have to live with that.
It took 50 years for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to include my cancer on the approved list for veterans’ disability compensation, yet I still have to fight tooth and nail for treatment and compensation. This is all too common for veterans suffering from toxic exposure.
And the problem has only gotten worse since Vietnam. Just look at the devastating impact that burn pits have had on veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. But toxic exposure isn’t just happening in war zones and military bases — it’s happening here at home, too.
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a group of chemicals that the military first started using as firefighting foam. Dubbed “forever chemicals” for their persistence in the environment, PFAS are linked to a wide range of cancers and diseases. And, for years, the Department of Defense exposed millions of service members stationed overseas and on more than 1,000 bases in the United States.
This crisis has the potential to dwarf the Agent Orange problem. What we need now is action from Congress to compel and fund Veterans Affairs to address this issue.
Currently, there are several bills in Congress aimed at saving lives and supporting those who put their own lives on the line for our freedoms, including the Honor Our PACT Act, the Filthy Fifty Act and the Clean Water for Military Families Act. These bills are being blocked by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and the Republican filibuster, actions made more despicable when these same senators are sure to claim their support for fallen service members, veterans and their families this holiday.
So many veterans have served bravely and returned home only to find they had a ticking time bomb growing inside them. And far too many veterans have died without care or benefits, with their spouses and families left to fight an uncaring bureaucracy.
This Memorial Day, let’s honor service members and our veterans not by words but by action. This cannot wait, because thousands of lives are at stake — including my own.
This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, which is run by The Progressive magazine and distributed by Tribune News Service.