Plan Of Action

BY HERB WORTHINGTON, CHAIR

Since taking on the chairmanship of this committee, it has been a whirlwind ride. We are working with many VVA committees and with AVVA. Currently we are in the process of getting stories from members and other veterans around the country and recording them to build a registry of sorts. Then, when our legislation is written and brought before Congress, we can mobilize our network to inundate our representatives in Washington to approve the legislation for Medical Centers of Excellence to take care of exposed veterans and their children.

In this same vein, I need to hear from all state council presidents and their Agent Orange chairs. The committee needs their contact information so that when we plan town hall meetings or mobilize for a specific vote, we can get in touch with someone in each state without delay. We would like names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, and email addresses. This information can be sent to me at hworthington@vva.org

There are two other very important things you need to do. First, if you have not already done so, contact the Birth Defects Research for Children, Inc., at www.birthdefects.org or call Betty Mekdeci, its director, at 407-566-8304 and register your children. It doesn’t take long and is another way of reaching out.

The second thing you all need to do is go to www.va.gov and find VA Form 21-0304. Fill it out and send it in to the VA, even though it is for Children of Women Veterans of Vietnam. Your claim will be denied, but it will cause a record to be established.

Once this is done, should the VA change its policies and allow male veterans’ children more than spina bifida as a presumptive for our exposure to Agent Orange, we then will have recourse. Don’t forget to keep a copy of the completed form for your files. 

At the January BOD meeting in Silver Spring we reviewed the issues to be brought before the Convention in Florida. We also proposeed that Faces of Agent Orange take on its own identity as a subcommittee of the Agent Orange Committee. It will have two co-chairs and one manager who will report to the committee.

We remain very interested in your stories and your children’s health issues. So please don’t stop emailing them to me at hworthington@vva.org

Remember: You don’t have to be a VVA member to send us your story.