Deanna Hoak

I’m feeling better. Thank you all for your thoughts.

If you know anyone who was in Vietnam (or who worked on planes that sprayed Agent Orange once the planes were back in the States) and who has diabetes mellitus (type II), Hodgkin’s disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, prostate cancer, acute or subacute peripheral neuropathy, any and all respiratory cancers, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or soft tissue sarcoma, please refer them to http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/benefits/herbicide/.

The amount the government gives these veterans is paltry, but their families will be foremost in their minds as they deal with their illness, and every little bit helps.

In the event of death, you can have your loved one’s name read at a special ceremony at the Vietnam War Memorial, as my family did with my dad this year. The ceremony had hundreds of people who had lost loved ones to Agent Orange cancers. It was incredibly sad and frustrating. I attended not because my dad would have wanted it (he would have scoffed at it, frankly, I think), but because I feel it is important for this information to get out.

War takes a huge toll. I was one of the “lucky” ones, because at least my father got to come home from the war alive and be a daddy while I was a kid. I can’t help but worry what we’re doing to the young men and women that are over in our wars now.

My dad’s experience has caused me to distrust.