ORANGE HEART FUND CAMPAIGN

VST YEAREND REPORT - ORANGE HEART FUND CAMPAIGN - CALL TO ACTION
During the past five months we have continued working with the local Veteran Organizations as well as   Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) local chapters.  There can be no question that the DVA has failed to live by its motto: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan."  This is exemplified by its malfeasance, falsifications and deceptions regarding the true impact of Agent Orange on the children of those "who have borne the battle" in Vietnam.

Let us introduce you to Gordon Lenke, a Vietnam Veteran that was exposed to Agent Orange many times and wounded while serving in Vietnam.  He has a child suffering from deformities caused by his exposure to Agent Orange.  Gordon joined VST as a volunteer and has been meeting with veteran groups and their families throughout Northern Idaho and Northeastern Washington. He has also handled the distribution of hundreds of copies of "FORGOTTEN" to our Congressional Delegation and to all VVA State Presidents.  Gordon also serves on VST's Board of Directors.

I was asked to address the September Spokane Valley VVA Town Hall meeting.  At the end of my presentation I stated that, "scientists have stated that we must get an Epidemiological Study of Vietnam Veterans completed with independent money and independent scientists because we cannot trust our Government to tell us the truth."  Many Vietnam Veteran families who attended this meeting had children harmed by their dads' exposure to Agent Orange and indicated a strong approval of this statement.

At the Spokane Valley meeting one of the veterans suggested we should start a fundraising campaign by collecting "scrap metal," an idea that was totally new to me.  Therefore, Pacific Steel & Recycling, Inc. (a large Northwest Company) was contacted.  They stated that this was not only possible but they would help us.  Pacific Steel & Recycling has 32 recycling facilities located in Idaho, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, North and South Dakota.  Most of the facilities are located in Idaho, Washington and Montana.  

The first question is; will this really work and generate revenue?

To answer this question we need to first look at the process:  

1.  Pacific Steel & Recycling (Pacific Steel) has agreed to provide the large containers in which metal scrap can be deposited.  There will be no cost for this service.  

2.  As the containers are filled, Pacific Steel will deliver new empty containers, pick up the full containers and take them back to the Spokane facility for processing.  There will be one collection location in the Coeur d'Alene area and another in Post Falls where scrap metal can be dropped off.  You will be notified of the locations in a couple of days.  The "Trading Company" has already committed for the Post Falls area. 

3.  The process is completely computerized.  As the scrap metal is processed it will be tracked as belonging to the Orange Heart Fund and revenue is transferred directly to the Orange Heart Fund Account. ($80 per ton of scrap metal, delivered.)

The next and key question is;  How can this possibly generate enough money to get the Vietnam Veteran Epidemiological Study completed, which is the first step in fixing the problems related to our children being deformed and ill due to the exposure of their fathers to Agent Orange?

Here is the answer.  210 of you called or e-mailed us regarding the Agent Orange Survey.  But for various reasons only 124 of you (3.54% of the Vietnam Veterans in our area) actually took the Agent Orange Survey.  If the 200 of you who called in could get other veterans and friends to join you and contribute up to 1 ton for each of you over the 7 day test period, we would generate $16,800.  Underscore this with the fact that the Coeur d'Alene Press may be publishing an article about our Scrap Metal Program ("Program") during the seven day test period.  We will also be advertizing.  

Now, multiply these dollar amounts by the 32 Pacific Steel locations and assume that the same 6.2% of Vietnam Veterans at each location agree to participate.  The amount generated increases to approximately $537,600 for the 32 seven (7) day periods.  Following the introduction program, metal scrap containers will continue to be placed and picked up around towns throughout Pacific Steel's market areas.

Is this possible?  You bet it is, and with only the small percentage of Vietnam Veterans that  responded to the CDA Press articles that introduced the Agent Orange Survey.  Has this ever been done before?  NO!  According to Steve Ball, Manager of the Pacific Steel & Recycling plant in Spokane, this is a first and it can work.  Can you imagine what would happen if we got 10% or 20% of just our own Vietnam Veterans to step forward and help raise the money to get the required Vietnam Veteran Agent Orange Epidemiological Study completed?  It would be a resounding notification that we are proud of the service we were called to perform.  It also tells our Government and the DVA that we have not faded away and that our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren will continue to grow.   

YES, it is possible.  Consequently, VST has established the "ORANGE HEART FUND" to receive the proceeds from the Scrap Metal Program.  A new logo has been created specifically for this campaign.  The Logo and Banner are attached (the Banner is six feet long).  The 7 day test Program will be launched in Northern Idaho and the Spokane area on January 20th with help from the Coeur d'Alene Press.  Based on the results, we will expand the Program throughout the Pacific Steel Northwest locations, then Nationwide.  If 6.2% of our 3,700,000 Nationwide Vietnam Veterans generate 1 ton each, that equals $18,352,000.

The success of this Program will depend entirely on the number of Vietnam Veterans that are willing to help with physical and verbal support.  That means we need YOU. We must have your help NOW in getting your neighbors and friends to contribute their scrap metal to the Program.  We need volunteers to help at the Container locations - three teams of 4 to man 4-hour shifts.  We also need to develop a "Pickup brigade" to help people bring their scrap to the Container locations.  We can take old washers, dryers, stoves, barbeques, car parts, hardware, all types of scrap metal.   If you know any farmers, ask them to donate.  They frequently have lots of scrap metal lying around.  Large amounts will be scheduled for pickup by Pacific Steel.

In the Spokane area donations can be delivered directly to Pacific Steel & Recycling located at 1114 North Ralph.  Take Freya North to Trent.  Turn Left (West) on Trent, then in two short blocks turn Right (North) on Ralph.  At the entrance simply state that your scrap metal load is for the Orange Heart Fund.  You will receive an "Orange Heart Fund Card" confirming your donation.  We also need a Spokane "Pickup Brigade."

We have waited over 45 years for our Government and the DVA to get the job done and they have failed, time and time again.  We can get the job done ourselves.  Raise the money needed, hire highly qualified Epidemiological and DNA scientists to complete the research and develop the programs needed to help care for our children deformed by their fathers' exposure to Agent Orange.  

Please let us know that you, and possibly your family, can help.  We need all of you if we are to succeed in getting the care needed for our hurting children.  Call 208-457-1305 to volunteer.

Let's not wait any longer for our Government and the DVA to keep their promises.  Let's get the job done without them.  NOW!  

Richard E Phenneger
Veteran Services Transparency, Inc. 
 rep@VSTNow.org
208-457-8382

Gordon Lenke 
Veteran Services Transparency, Inc.               
208-457-1305 

AGENT ORANGE RESEARCH TIMELINE

Vietnam veteran and activist Dick Phenneger, founder of a nonprofit called Veterans Services Transparency, is working to help Vietnam veterans and their families cope with the devastating effects of Agent Orange. He's  interviewed more than 200 area Vietnam vets and their families and assembled a chronological table on Agent Orange findings. Included with this update is that chronological table, which Phenneger has made easy to follow and understand.

Agent Orange Timeline HERE

AGENT ORANGE- Fighting for the Next Generation

Vietnam vets push for help, recognition of Agent Orange's effect on their children

After Al and Sharon Martinelli had their first son who was born with short limbs, they thought they had the assurance they needed before having their second child.

"One of the questions that we asked a team of doctors is, if we have more children, what are the chances (of having another child with a disorder)," Al said. "They looked at me in the eye and said the chances would be a million to one."

The Cocolalla couple also had family history on their side. Neither Al nor Sharon had a history of any disorders in their families.

But, three years later, their second son was born with Down syndrome.
"We saw one of the doctors we had seen three years before, and you should have seen the expression on that man's face," Al said. "He was devastated when he saw Chris. That poor guy didn't know what to say."

Martinelli said having two sons with conditions was devastating for the young couple starting out after he had served in the Navy Reserve during the Vietnam War.
"
It was a tough situation," he said, fighting back tears. "Having children with completely different maladies - one with a bone disorder and one with a chromosome disorder - was pretty amazing according to the doctors. But we came to the conclusion that it is what it is, and we'll make the best of it."

The situation of the Martinellis and some other Vietnam veterans is at the core of fellow Vietnam vet Dick Phenneger's research and findings on Agent Orange, an herbicide used during the war.

Phenneger, of Post Falls and founder of a nonprofit called Veterans Services Transparency, has interviewed more than 200 area Vietnam vets and their families, assembled a chronological table on Agent Orange findings and has mingled with several lawmakers, scientists and foundations in pursuit of finding more help for those affected by the herbicide.

Agent Orange was intended to defoliate forest, depriving guerrillas of cover. The herbicide was later discovered to be contaminated with a toxic dioxin compound that resulted in deaths, illnesses and birth defects.

When Martinelli participated last year Phenneger's survey of Vietnam veterans, a light came on.

Several of the questions about exposure to the herbicide and medical conditions that resulted afterward to both himself and his children were relevant.
"I'm convinced, after doing a lot of research, that some of my problems and those of my children are the result of my exposure to Agent Orange," Martinelli said.
The duty of the ship Martinelli served on was to offload and retrieve Marines and keep them supplied.

"During the course of our action in that area, they were spraying Agent Orange along the river banks and any roadways they used to transport supplies that we offloaded," he said. "I saw aircrafts spraying it as they'd come off the river. Materials we handled had been exposed. It was everywhere.

"During that time, not knowing it then, but knowing it now, we were exposed to large amounts of Agent Orange both in the water and air."

Martinelli isn't eligible for benefits associated with exposure to the herbicide because he was not "boots on the ground" in Vietnam. He said he has had both physical and psychological effects from the war, but declined to discuss the details.

While Martinelli said he realizes the government won't likely recognize his conditions and those of some fellow Vietnam veterans as being eligible to receive benefits associated with herbicide exposure during his lifetime, he's hoping there will be breakthroughs with studies and research for his children's generation and future generations.

The Martinellis have insurance to help with their children's conditions, but "the monetary strain on the family has still been tremendous," Martinelli said.

Phenneger plans to submit his findings and research to federal lawmakers in hopes of sparking an independent national epidemiological study on the effects of Agent Orange on veterans and their children.

Phenneger said 20 percent of the Vietnam veterans he interviewed had children with birth defects or related illnesses.

Phenneger, who has made trips to Washington, D.C., to discuss his efforts with key players, said the study would cost an estimated $19 million. His talks lead him to believe that amount is reachable.

"This is a drop in the bucket for Congress," Phenneger said.

He said the study can't be completed without the assistance of government agencies that have the records needed.
"So congressional approval of the study with independent scientists is a must," he said.

Phenneger said he hopes the study will result in a national Children of Agent Orange Trust Fund to assist those who were affected by the herbicide.

"The veterans who I have spoken with during the past year have said, 'Dick, what has happened to us, has happened, but we've got to take care of our kids,'" Phenneger said. "That's why I'm shifting focus to getting action to address that Agent Orange causes birth deformities."

Phenneger said the government has fallen short of taking care of Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange, more needs to be done and previous government-funded efforts on the subject have fizzled.

The Department of Veterans Affairs in Spokane directed questions seeking comment to the federal office in Washington, D.C.

Randy Noller, a spokesman for the V.A. in Washington, said children of Vietnam veterans may receive benefits if they are born with spina bifida, a developmental disorder, or with certain other birth defects born to a female veteran. He said such benefits could be expanded to others.

"V.A. makes these decisions relying on our scientific advisers from the independent Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences," Noller wrote in an e-mail. "IOM has ongoing analysis of the scientific literature looking at questions of health effects from exposure to Agent Orange, including birth defects."

Martinelli said Phenneger's efforts to assist veterans and their families is a "noble cause." He said while the time is ticking to help Vietnam veterans, there's hope to help their children and younger generations of veterans.

"The biggest reward for us would be that the folks coming up the line are treated with more respect and get more help," Martinelli said. "It's not going to be a perfect world - we realize that - but when you come back from the combat zone you should be taken care of in a manner that shows respect for these people."

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