Local Veteran Fighting For Benefits For Family After Agent Orange Exposure 1 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00you're watching prices Valley this
2. 0:02morning on TV TX news 3 taking claims
3. 0:06from Navy veterans who served offshore
4. 0:08during Vietnam and were exposed to Agent
5. 0:10Orange it's taken years for those
6. 0:11veterans to be recognized to get or even
7. 0:14get benefits I spoke to a Brian man who
8. 0:16served in Vietnam and is now fighting a
9. 0:18new battle Thomas Powell knows what
10. 0:23fighting feels like the retired US Navy
11. 0:31lieutenant commander spent 30 years
12. 0:33fighting for our country now his battles
13. 0:37are at home type-2 diabetes chronic
14. 0:39obstructive pulmonary disease congestive
15. 0:42heart failure cardiovascular disease
16. 0:46peripheral vascular disease and
17. 0:49peripheral neuropathies doctors believe
18. 0:52all of that is tied to one thing we went
19. 0:54through areas that were completely
20. 0:56defoliated we knew nothing about Agent
21. 1:00Orange the United States used Agent
22. 1:02Orange to clear the jungles of Vietnam
23. 1:04making the fight against the enemy
24. 1:06easier for our troops they will bomb
25. 1:08craters with water in it we weren't
26. 1:10getting resupply of water so we drink
27. 1:12the water out of the bomb craters what
28. 1:14was just survival for Tom during the war
29. 1:16is now turning his own body against him
30. 1:19and the fight to survive is now a
31. 1:21generational one it wounded me more than
32. 1:24any gunshot to know that I gave my
33. 1:28granddaughter a problem it well she made
34. 1:32her life
35. 1:33Tom's granddaughter Lia was born with a
36. 1:36genetic disorder called
37. 1:37neurofibromatosis causing tumors on the
38. 1:40brain spinal cord and nerves this kind
39. 1:42of deletion was seen in about two
40. 1:45percent of veterans offspring prior to
41. 1:48Vietnam and in about 13% after Vietnam
42. 1:52Leah's mother Kate has done her own
43. 1:54research finding other families with
44. 1:56health issues connected to service in
45. 1:57the Vietnam War really validating for me
46. 2:00to find other people who are struggling
47. 2:02with the same issues to know that you
48. 2:05know it's not just my family it's not
49. 2:07you know we're not by ourselves
50. 2:09in fact three million people were
51. 2:11exposed to Agent Orange and B
52. 2:13nom the Department of Veteran Affairs
53. 2:15just this year started accepting claims
54. 2:17for Navy veterans that served offshore
55. 2:19fill craft with the honorbound
56. 2:21foundation says they've been helping
57. 2:23families for decades
58. 2:25recent studies are showing now that
59. 2:27they're expecting five generations worth
60. 2:30of birth defects based on the exposure
61. 2:34to the original Vietnam veterans
62. 2:36honorbound helps veteran families
63. 2:38medically and financially but Kraft says
64. 2:41he won't stop fighting until veterans
65. 2:43families get help from the VA - maybe
66. 2:45they're waiting for enough of us to die
67. 2:47so that they can say yes you were right
68. 2:51it did cause all those cancers and we're
69. 2:54not going to compensate the families but
70. 2:55by golly we love our troops
71. 2:59Tom's legacy of service is something
72. 3:02he's proud to leave behind he just
73. 3:04wishes it wasn't at the expense of his
74. 3:06granddaughter's health yeah I think that
75. 3:09the government just needs to step up and
76. 3:11figure out how they're gonna take care
77. 3:13of these people in Brian
78. 3:14they sent us there Erika Fernandez news
79. 3:173 now if you're a veteran and believe
80. 3:20that you've been affected from Agent
81. 3:22Orange exposure the Texas Veterans
82. 3:23Commission suggests filing a claim
83. 3:25through the local VA clinic completely
84. 3:28for free there'll be more information on
85. 3:29how to do that with this story online
86. 3:30right now at kbtx.com