What happened when I filed for an IG Investigation and since then?
Unfortunately, not a whole lot. I did get to speak with Senator Tester’s aide, they said the material I gave them was too much to read. I had written a cover letter and all they had to do is read three pages and go to the documents’ pages I outlined in my cover letter.
Senator Tester’s aide did send my materials to Dr. Jeanne Stellman. She apparently is one of the Congress’ Agent Orange experts. She told me what I had found on the shipping documents was not the same as went to Vietnam because it was missing the n-butyl ester.
But if you’ve been following my blog that is simply not true. Vietnam may have had some OTHER STUFF that went there, but this item on the FT 410 5120620 (aka Agent Orange, according to the FCPC Reviews throughout the decades) is the same item that went to Vietnam and also was used in Panama. And that is a FACT!
I asked Senator Tester’s office to help Panama and was turned away. I was also told by Dr. Jeanne Stellman that “Agent Orange” was not used in the United States or anywhere else but Vietnam. And that too, is simply not true. A Panama veteran was trying to purchase federal property and received this documentation about Agent Orange being used on the property he was trying to purchase.
It makes no difference at all if it was “tactical” or “commercial”! All 2,4,5-T had unknown amounts of dioxin. Panama Canal Zone received hundreds of thousands of pounds of 2,4-D & 2,4,5-T (aka, “Agent Orange”) throughout the decades. The 2018 GAO Report on Page 11 states there is no difference in the dioxin content of “tactical” versus “commercial” 2,4-D & 2,4,5-T.
In the GAO report below the conclusions are: “DOD suspended the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam in 1970 and incinerated remaining stockpiles at sea in 1977, but concerns about the effects of exposure in U.S. locations have persisted. DOD developed a list that identifies locations and dates where herbicides, including Agent Orange, are thought to have been tested and stored outside of Vietnam, which VA has made publicly available on its website, but this list is neither accurate nor complete. Without assigning responsibilities for verifying the accuracy of the information included on the list; a process for ensuring that the list is updated, as new information is found; and clear and transparent criteria, indicating which locations should be included on the list, DOD and VA will not have assurance that they have the most complete information possible when informing veterans and the public of the full extent of locations where Agent Orange exposure could potentially have occurred. By relying on an inaccurate list, VA may not have quality information when making important decisions on claims for veterans who might or might not be eligible for benefits. Further, while DOD and VA both communicate with veterans in response to their Agent Orange inquiries, the two agencies do not have a formal process for coordinating on how best to communicate this information. Until DOD and VA develop a process for how best to coordinate to ensure that they are communicating information, veterans and the public may not have the information needed regarding their potential exposure to Agent Orange.“
And yet, when the Panama veterans bring forth evidence, our evidence is ignored, instead we get things like this veteran recently received (see below), even though the VA Secretary has agreed to our evidence and is looking into with the Federal Pesticide Review Board, the same folks that coordinated all the shipments to Vietnam and Panama.
While serving on the board at the Military Veterans Advocacy for the Panama veterans, we submitted our evidence and received a grant from the VA Secretary shown below:
The VA can’t find the evidence and issued this Ruling below for one of our veterans who is suffering qreatly. It is rather outstanding to me, a little ol blogger that I can find ample evidence to make Panama Canal Zone presumptive. Believe me, I have tried and tried to be heard. We have had four veterans win for herbicide exposure in Panama. Unfortunately, Panama veterans are still going unheard. I would like to know WHY and so would thousands of others who are suffering.