While visiting the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association website, I found some eye-opening statistics: As of 12-16-2009:
- Total Number of Veterans Deployed to Southeast Asia at the End of the Vietnam War:
OVER 3, 403,100!!
- Total Number “in-country” (boots on the ground) 2, 594,000.
- Total Number “off-shore” Blue Water Navy: 514,300.
- Current estimate of Vietnam Veterans still living: (less than) 850,000.
- Total Number of Vietnam Era Veterans Receiving Compensation: 1,015,410.
- Total Number of Vietnam War Veterans Who Died Between 2000 and 2007: 490,135.
- Potential Number of “off-shore” Vietnam War Vets Still Living: 168,525.
- Potential Number of TLC (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia) Still Living: 96,600.
From everything I’ve been able to find, many Blue Water Vietnam Veterans are still fighting to get benefits for their exposure to Agent Orange. It seems they are fighting an uphill battle in these times of tight budgets. This is an injustice of huge proportions. I found the numbers of Vietnam Veterans who died between the years 2000 and 2007, to be staggering. Continue reading 'Some Interesting Statistics on Vietnam Veterans'»
In an article by William R. Levesque, he writes that a bill in Congress provides a seemingly straightforward answer to a question that has vexed tens of thousands of Americans who served in the U.S. military.
Who is a Vietnam veteran?
The answer is vitally important to Navy personnel who served in Vietnam’s territorial waters. For now, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs definition of a Vietnam veteran does not include these men and women.
Legislation introduced in the House would change that, clearing the way for Navy veterans to get disability payments and free health care for ailments linked to the herbicide Agent Orange, from type II diabetes to a variety of cancers. Continue reading 'Navy Vietnam Veterans Seek Equal Benefits'»
In an article by Kurt Schauppner, he writes of the bill that was signed in California. “In front of Vietnam veterans and active-duty Marines, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law an assembly bill calling for March 30 of every year to be known as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” in California.
One of the Vietnam veterans in attendance was Andy Grow, who served in the Navy from 1961 to 1970 and served in Vietnam in 1963 and 1965. “We didn’t get a very nice welcome when we came home and we were pretty angry about it. All we were doing was trying to liberate those people from the communists and we were the bad guys.”
Creation of “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day”, Grow says, acknowledges that they were not the bad guys. “If they have parades, I will go to the parades and celebrate that we made it.” Continue reading '“Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” is Now a Reality'»
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Themocracy