Luck of the Draw

An excerpt from my new book, War Against The US Navy

The navy veterans who comprise this story; those who are still alive, are all over fifty years old. The average reader will probably not know any of them personally. But think of them as your own father, or grandfather, or husband or uncle. Better yet, think about them as your own sons, or brothers; as when this all happened they were only 19, 20-years old. They manned the decks of the greatest navy in the world, on large ships and small, determined mostly by the luck of the draw.

And it was this “luck of the draw” which has now left the majority of them without benefits for their service, a double-whammy, if you will, as the benefits in question are the ones no Vietnam veteran wants to apply for in the first place. This is their story. It contains some startling revelations, one in particular, you will find hard to believe.

This has to be one of the strangest stories in the history of America’s armed forces. As a nation, from the very days of our revolution, we have always provided some measure of care for those citizens, and their families, that we have sent off to war in defense of our nation, and in particular, those who incurred physical injuries as a result of their service.  It would be difficult to find any American citizen who would not agree that this is simply the right and honorable thing to do.

The story you are about to read involves a particular group of American citizens who, like generations before them, volunteered to go off to war, and now find that their real enemy is their own government, specifically, entrenched government bureaucrats who wield the power of life and death over our country’s veterans, and in this case, have chosen death. These men get no benefits at all for their service-connected disabilities, and, in perhaps the greatest irony of this whole story, the disabilities from which they are now suffering, and dying, were inflicted upon them by their own government in the first place!

Agent Orange is the term used to describe a combination of deadly dioxins which were repeatedly sprayed over Vietnam for the purpose of defoliating the jungles below as hiding places for enemy soldiers. The term originated from the Orange stripe around the barrels of chemicals that were used in this ill-fated experiment. Most of this deadly stuff was flown out of the large base at Da Nang, Vietnam, under the mission term of Operation Ranch Hand.

It was literally dumped by the tons from the skies from large multi-engine aircraft, often three and four abreast, and it did indeed transform much of Vietnam into a deadly wasteland. It also exposed American servicemen and women to the origins of numerous cancers that now have them dying at a rate of 13 years earlier than their counterparts who did not serve in Vietnam. When all this was taking place, the military was told there was nothing to fear from Agent Orange.

After years of denial in a prolonged battle by Vietnam veterans, the government finally acknowledged the disabilities caused by Agent Orange, and a system was established to process claims for those who now have one or more of the related diseases recognized by VA as caused by exposure to these chemicals. The legislation was clear in that anyone who served, whether on land or sea, was presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange. Obviously, the one claim no veteran would ever hope to file with VA would be for Agent Orange benefits. The stark reality is that you must already have cancer to qualify.

For many, it was too late, including Elmo R. Zumwalt III, the son of then Vice Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr, Commander of Naval Forces, Vietnam. The younger Zumwalt was a swift-boat skipper who died of cancer in 1988 at the age of 42. It was also too late for my friend, Captain Robert B. Scholl, USMC, whom I had talked into joining up with me in 1958. Bob flew 324 combat missions out of Da Nang during two tours, one in F4 Phantoms, the second as a helicopter gunship pilot. He would die of cancer at the age of 52. His younger brother Jim would follow him into the Marines, into Da Nang, and into the grave, from cancer.

The main conclusion of this story is there is a controlling group of senior bureaucrats within the United States Department of Veterans Affairs who are relentlessly determined to prevent United States Navy veterans of the Vietnam War from receiving benefits that are automatically granted to all other Vietnam veterans.

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Author:

Bob Ford is a former Marine. In 1971 he was appointed by President Nixon as Pennsylvania State Director of the Selective Service System, becoming, at age 31, the youngest Draft Director in the history of the United States.

A long-time veteran’s advocate, Mr. Ford states,

I have written this story as a direct challenge to the President to use his given power to bring justice in this matter and restore the lost benefits to the United States Navy.

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Here’s how you can help:

1. Alert the veterans you know — especially Navy vets — and urge them to visit this blog and read War Against The US Navy, partially excerpted in the Harrisburg Patriot-News.

2. Spread the word among your local veteran’s organizations and support groups.

3. E-mail the President and demand he help Vietnam Navy veterans whose health has been compromised due to Agent Orange exposure.

4. Download my complete e-book  (War Against the US Navy) for your Kindle or Kindle-enabled device today. Don't have a Kindle? Then just download a free Kindle reading app for your desktop, Blackberry, Iphone or other device...and then buy and read my book.

5. Continue the discussion by posting your questions or comments for me here.

6. If you'd like to book me as a guest on a radio or TV program to discuss the VA's mistreatment of Navy vets from Vietnam, or other veterans=related issues, please e-mail me.

(Please note: I will donate a portion of the proceeds from the book to the Wounded Warrior Project.)