School Of Americas Vigil Atlanta Convoy - Saturday, November 21, 2009

For the Convenience of Members and Friends of

American Friends Service Committee ~ Atlanta Veterans Alliance ~ Code Pink
~ Courage to Resist ~ Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition ~ Georgia Veterans
Alliance ~ Grandmothers For Peace ~ International Action Center ~ Iraq
Afghanistan Veterans of America ~ Iraq Veterans Against the War ~ Peace
Network at UUCA ~ Physicians for Social Responsibility ~ Radio Free
Georgia WRFG 89.3 ~ Student Career Alternatives Program ~ Unitarian
Universalist Veterans Alliance ~ Veterans For Peace ~ Veterans For Truth
in Military Recruiting ~ Veterans Heart Georgia ~ Vietnam Veterans Against
the War ~ Vietnam Veterans of America ~ War Resisters League ~
Women's Action for New Directions (WAND) ~

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009

Fourteenth Annual
"PEACE CARAVAN TO SOA"

CARPOOL CARAVANS TO DEPART ATLANTA
at 0800, 0900 and 1000 from UUCA to the
gates of Fort Benning in Columbus, where through peaceful actions we will
petition
the President of the United States to
close down SOA!
~
SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS
SOA:  School of Assassins, Atrocities, Avarice

In Latin America, clergy, peasants, nuns, educators, women and children
are indiscriminately murdered
and disappeared by terrorists trained at SOA.  This
institution was first started by the CIA and Special Forces in the jungles
of Panama, but has long since
been moved to this state, where assassins, rapists and torturers are
trained for their vile mission.  SOA can only be stopped here at home
where it begins at Ft Benning, Georgia.  More information available:

www.soaw.org

SPECIAL SATURDAY EVENING EVENT 7PM
We're all invited to join AFSC, GPJC and other local sponsors at Country
Inn & Suites in Columbus for
a SOA Georgia peace advocates program. For further information about this
evening event contact AFSC
Peace Building Program Director Tim Franzen at tfranzen@afsc.org

Should you miss all three UUCA caravan departures from UUCA you'll still
be able to join our delegation in Columbus by calling 678-517-6790after
you get to the Fort Benning/Columbus area.  Saturday only!

- DIRECTIONS TO UUCA -
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA) is located along
the northbound I-85 access road between N. Druid Hills Road andClairmont
Road across from I-85 underpass 1/2 mile from NDH.

BRING POSTERS, BANNERS, BUTTONS & FRIENDS!

Don't forget food, water, camera and foul weather gear as SOA Watch has
not been cancelled for whatever reason since its inception in 1996.
AND WON'T BE UNTIL IT'S CLOSED!

Projected 2009 attendance 25,000.

www.VetSpeak.org

Veterans Day Musings: Something to think about as you watch the parades and fly-overs to honor Veterans......

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*


Harvard Healthcare Study Results
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Nov. 10, 2009

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Contact:
Mark Almberg, Physicians for a National Health Program, (312) 782-6006, cell:  (312) 622-0996, mark@pnhp.org

The Study

*Over 2,200 veterans died in 2008 due to lack of health insurance*

*Harvard researchers say 1.46 million working-age vets lacked health coverage last year, increasing their death rate*

A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.

The researchers, who released their analysis today, pointedly say the health reform legislation pending in the House and Senate will not significantly affect this grim picture.

The Harvard group analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s March 2000 Current Population Survey, which surveyed Americans about their insurance coverage and veteran status, and found that 1,461,615 veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 were uninsured in 2008. Veterans were only classified as uninsured if they neither had health insurance nor received ongoing care at Veterans Health Administration (VA) hospitals or clinics.

Using their recently published findings in the American Journal of Public Health (tinyurl.com/l7cy8u) that show being uninsured raises an individual’s odds of dying by 40 percent (causing 44,798 deaths in the United States annually among those aged 17 to 64), they arrived at their estimate of 2,266 preventable deaths of non-elderly veterans in 2008.
(See table below.)

“Like other uninsured Americans, most uninsured vets are working people – too poor to afford private coverage but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or means-tested VA care,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who testified before Congress about uninsured veterans in 2007 (tinyurl.com/yej6rnq) and carried out the analysis released today. “As a result, veterans go without the care they need every day in the U.S., and thousands die each year.  It’s a disgrace.”

Dr. David Himmelstein, the co-author of the analysis and associate professor of medicine at Harvard, commented, “On this Veterans Day we should not only honor the nearly 500 soldiers who have died this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the more than 2,200 veterans who were killed by our broken health insurance system. That’s six preventable deaths a day.”
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He continued: “These unnecessary deaths will continue under the legislation now before the House and Senate. Those bills would do virtually nothing for the uninsured until 2013, and leave at least 17 million uninsured over the long run. We need a solution that works for all veterans – and for all Americans – single-payer national health insurance.”

While many Americans believe that all veterans can get care from the VA, even combat veterans may not be able to obtain VA care, Woolhandler said. As a rule, VA facilities provide care for any veteran who is
disabled by a condition connected to his or her military service and care for specific medical conditions acquired during military service.

Woolhandler said veterans who pass a means test are eligible for care in VA facilities, but have lower priority status (Priority 5 or 7, depending upon income level). Veterans with higher incomes are classified in the lowest priority group and are not eligible for VA enrollment.

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The table showing the excess deaths of veterans due to lack of insurance can be found by scrolling down to the bottom of this document:
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/over_2200_veterans_.php

A December 2007 paper in the American Journal of Public Health estimating the number of uninsured veterans from 1987 through 2004 can be found here:  
tinyurl.com/yk8ous5

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Note:  If you are an uninsured veteran having difficulty getting health care and would like to tell your story to the media, write a short note to Mark Almberg at mark@pnhp.org.

Physicians for a National Health Program (www.pnhp.org) is an organization of 17,000 doctors who support single-payer national health insurance, often called an improved Medicare for All. To speak with a physician/spokesperson in your area, visit www.pnhp.org/stateactions or call (312) 782-6006.

Physicians for a National Health Program
29 E. Madison St., Suite 602
Chicago IL 60602
(312) 782-6006
info@pnhp.org
www.pnhp.org
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www.VetSpeak.org

_______________________________________________

VA, Agent Orange, Vietnam, and Veterans' activism...

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Ed Note: I am posting this article from Thanh Nien News in it's entirety.  Our own Chuck Palazzo is quoted extensively, as is another Vietnam Veteran activist, named Paul Sutton.  Chuck has been in the forefront of the debate surrounding the inclusion of Parkinson's as presumptive, here on our pages.  He is our Interim Agent Orange Editor, and a member of VVAW, an organization that has been in the Agent Orange fight, from th very beginning.  You can follow his work here at VetSpeak.org.  

It is  work that is having an impact, as demonstrated by this incredible Veitnamese news article, quoting two former enemy combatants, announcing the VA's inclusion of these three additional presumptives, regarding US Veterans compensation.  In this article, neither Chuck, nor Marine Vietnam Veteran, Paul Sutton, let our government off the hook for the original war-crime of chemical warfare, or for it's failing to properly compensate Vietnamese people for the devastation that Agent Orange has caused to them, and the ecosystem of their country. 

Most importantly though; I am posting it in recognition how important each of our efforts are in the struggle for peace and justice, in this case, the resolving the social injustices of chemical warfare, on not only the enemy, but of our own troops, as well.  No matter how discouraged you might become; never give up, never surrender!  Chuck and Paul...both have a history of struggle that has helped to bring about this small, but important, victory, recognized as far away as in the land of our former enemy. Never forget what got us all here. WH
Thanh Nien News/ Health/ US government recognizes more illnesses linked to Agent Orange

US government recognizes more illnesses linked to Agent Orange

The US Veterans Affairs Department said Tuesday it plans add three more conditions to the list of ailments linked to Agent Orange exposure for which Vietnam veterans can receive medical benefits.

(Two airplanes spray herbicide in Southern Vietnam in a file photo taken during the Vietnam War.)

Relying on an independent study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Eric K. Shinseki decided to establish a service-connection for Vietnam Veterans with the three specific illnesses based on the latest evidence of an association with the herbicides referred to as Agent Orange.

The illnesses affected by the recent decision are B cell leukemias, such as hairy cell leukemia; Parkinson's disease; and ischemic heart disease.

Paul Sutton, Staff Sergeant of Marines in Vietnam 1964-1965 and 1967-1968 welcomed the decision, but said it didn’t simply wipe away years of suffering.

“This determination by General Shinseki is right for the times. As someone who's been in this fight since October 1977, I've watched the VA and the system allow our brothers and sister suffer and die needlessly for too long.”

Chuck Palazzo, a former US Marine and combat veteran in Vietnam (1970-1971) who now lives in Da Nang, told Thanh Nien Weekly the decision was a step in the right direction that would have “a positive effect on many thousands of veterans who would otherwise not have received medical assistance from the government.”

But the day was not one for full celebration for people suffering from Agent Orange related maladies, or for the families of those who have already passed on.

“The additional illnesses, sadly, have already taken many lives,” said Palazzo. “Had the VA acted quicker, they could have prevented many unnecessary deaths.”


He said the 15 presumptive illnesses now recognized by the VA were “still way short of the possible hundreds of afflictions caused by exposure to Agent Orange or being an offspring of someone exposed.”

He also pointed out that not only US veterans had been suffering.

“The US Government has not done enough for its own Veterans and families. They have done less for the Vietnamese citizens and their families who were exposed to Agent Orange... what we have given to the Vietnamese in terms of assistance is pennies compared to what is truly needed.”

The decision had been a long – and not easy – time coming, according to Sutton.

“Because of my support for the Vietnamese efforts to get the US government to put their money where their mouth is vis-a-vis cleaning up the toxic mess below the 17th parallel, I have taken a lot of crap from brother veterans over the tears, but, fair is fair. Help one, help everyone.”

Used in Vietnam to defoliate trees and remove concealment for the enemy, Agent Orange left a legacy of suffering and disability that continues to the present. Between January 1965 and April 1970, an estimated 2.6 million military personnel who served in Vietnam were potentially exposed to sprayed Agent Orange.

In practical terms, Veterans who served in Vietnam during the war and who have a "presumed" illness don't have to prove an association between their illnesses and their military service. This "presumption" simplifies and speeds up the application process for benefits.

The Secretary's decision brings to 15 the number of presumed illnesses recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Other illnesses previously recognized under VA's "presumption" rule as being caused by exposure to herbicides during the Vietnam War are Acute and Subacute Transient Peripheral Neuropathy

• AL Amyloidosis
• Chloracne
• Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
• Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2)
• Hodgkin's Disease
• Multiple Myeloma
• Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
• Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
• Prostate Cancer
• Respiratory Cancers, and
• Soft Tissue Sarcoma (other than Osteosarcoma, Chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, or Mesothelioma)

Source: Agencies-Thanh Nien Weekly
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 19 October, 2009, 12:34:05 (GMT+7)
Copyright Thanh Nien News

http://www.vetspeak.org/

VETERANS DEPORTATION - ACTION ALERT: Seeking Personal Testimony re Military Recruiting and US Citizenship

*ACTION ALERT*

Please give this top priority and distribute ASAP to all members and any and all veterans groups and or individuals.

Fellow Vets & Supporters,

The email request below is an "URGENT REQUEST" from a Pro Bono Attorney here in San Diego that is assisting us with the Deportation of U.S. Military Veterans Issue. Specifically for a Vietnam Veteran who has been deported. Please review her short request for assistance for background information based on your personal knowledge and experience and email her directly. Please Cc me as well at jan.ruhman@vetspeak.org. Her email address is at the end of her email request below. Thank you.

Jan A. Ruhman
VVAW & VFP
San Diego
Cell # 858-361-6273

************************************************************

Request for support

I am a pro bono attorney representing a Vietnam War vet who was recently deported back to Mexico. We are filing some legal paperwork to have a prior conviction vacated in county court but the judge wants additional evidence to support my client's assertion that he was promised automatic citizenship when he enlisted in the army back in 1973. Is there anyone who, either from personal experience or through others, knows whether or not this was common practice by Military Recruiters (e.g. making promises of US citizenship) to induce immigrants to enlist into the military? Or even after enlistment, did superior officers or NCO's tell immigrant soldiers that they would be given citizenship because of their military service?

I acknowledge that this was not the official policy of the United States military but even a few anecdotes to demonstrate that this did in fact happen on a few occasions would be exceedingly helpful. Please feel free to contact me via email at van.nguyen@lw.com, if you have further questions, comments, or suggestions.

Many thanks in advance.

Van T. Nguyen, Attorney at Law
LATHAM & WATKINS LLP
600 West Broadway, Suite 1800
San Diego, CA 92101-3375
Direct Dial: +1.619.238.2823
Fax: +1.619.696.7419

http://www.vetspeak.org/

From Vietnam to Afghanistan: The more things change, the more they remain the same...

A Poor Place To Have To Defend To Begin With

By

Chuck Palazzo

Interim Agent Orange Editor and VVAW Member

As you are all aware, my main interest right now is Agent Orange - what can be done about the required medical attention by those who are victims - either directly sprayed, having living in contaminated areas, and of course their offspring - Americans, our allies and of course the Vietnamese - and as I am learning, the widespread contamination reaches much, much further - Canada, Guam, Japan - I hope to write on that soon as I gather more information. I have also taken up an interest in UXO, am far from qualified to even write or comment about it, but I am a very strong supporter of the clean-up efforts involved, and the killing and maiming of innocents that occurs each and every day throughout the world.

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The story that the link below will take you to, I found as a result of UXO research. Its actually more about how the US put itself in harms way by basing a small camp, then trying to defend it, in a nearly impossible scenario. Our involvement in Afghanistan, fighting against brave warriors that defeated the Russians, and a fighting force that are defending their country, their families, their religion. A country that has fought on horseback, and in an impossible environment - long story short, they know what they are doing and in my opinion, we have no reason to be there. I personally draw many parallels between Vietnam and Afghanistan.
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Here is an eyewitness account of COP Keating - I use the term "eyewitness" loosely because it was provided by a General from a CP from who knows how many klicks away from the actual battle. But nonetheless, the words speak for themselves. It brought back vivid memories of some of our impossible missions in Vietnam - fighting for ground that was meaningless, no advanced air or artillery support, etc...
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Here is the link:
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http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/10/10/the_battle_of_cop_keating_an_earwitness_account

Semper fi! and my condolences go out to the family members who's sons, brothers, fathers, husbands were KIA as a result of this yet, another waste. What was achieved? Death.

http://www.vetspeak.org/