The loss of Kerry Ryan

[proud2BlibKansan]

Agent Orange still a battle for some
August 30, 2006


The death of Kerry Ryan last week at age 35 was both the sad end of one family's long struggle and a stark reminder that the bitter issue of Agent Orange is far from over.

Kerry was born with 22 major birth defects, after her father, Michael, served in Vietnam in 1966. Like thousands of others, he was exposed to Agent Orange, a herbicide that American forces sprayed from the air and on the ground to deny jungle cover to the forces opposing the United States.

The herbicide was contaminated with dioxin, one of the planet's deadliest toxins. Michael Ryan, then a Suffolk County police officer, became a party to a class-action suit. Ultimately, the plaintiffs settled in 1984 with seven U.S. firms, who set up a $180-million fund to compensate veterans, but did not accept any liability. Nor did the settlement directly compensate children of veterans - like Kerry.

The Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes a list of illnesses as associated with Agent Orange and pays some compensation. But major issues remain unresolved. Veterans left out of the settlement are trying anew to sue the manufacturers. As for the people of Vietnam, where dioxin lingers lethally in the soil and the food chain, last year a federal judge in New York dismissed their suit. The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation has a Ford Foundation grant to help victims in Vietnam. Our government should do much more.

more . . .
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpagt304870210aug30,0,7390548.story?coll=ny-editorials-headlines

[Monkeyman]

1. RIP from a vet who has a 30 year old son that got the effects of what

I got sprayed with

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Will we ever know the cost in lives and suffering caused by Agent Orange?

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. I doubt it

I had a good friend who had a baby in 1978 who had severe birth defects. The doctors said Agent Orange was the only explanation. But of course the VA would not accept that or offer any help to my friend and her husband.

[Nutmegger]

4. Thank you for this proud2Blib

:cry: