Iowa Veterans Home to Hold Agent Orange & Toxic Exposure Town Hall Meeting

The Iowa Veterans Home will host a Agent Orange and Toxic exposure Town Hall meeting for Vietnam Veterans and families. The event will be held at the Iowa Veterans Home on Saturday, April 7, 2018 in the Malloy Leisure Resource Center. The meeting will consist of two sessions. The morning session is scheduled from 9:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m. with the afternoon session for 1:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. The Vietnam Veterans of America, Story County, Chapter 1102 will host the event.

All Vietnam War veterans and their families are invited to talk about all health effects they are experiencing because of wartime exposure to Agent Orange and Toxic Exposure. All modern day warriors are encouraged to attend. The Town Hall is part of a campaign that was started eight years ago by the Vietnam Veterans of America to raise awareness of toxic effects of the herbicide Agent Orange and other toxic chemicals that were widely sprayed during the war.

“We are honored to be able to be part of this event for Vietnam Veterans and their families. The exposure of Agent Orange containing a cancerous element called dioxin has already claimed the lives of many Vietnam Veterans throughout the years to include their children and now their grandchildren. We wanted to afford the VVA of Story County, Chapter 1102 the opportunity to host this Town Hall meeting at IVH. We want to continue to educate our Veterans and their families,” said Commandant Oujiri. Agent Orange was made with tetraclorodibenzodioxin, or dioxin for short, and is a potent cancer causing agent. Several publications have been published to show increased rates of Leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, soft-tissue sarcoma and chloracne in people exposed to it and may be associated with other cancers and neurological disorders as well. With the exception of liver cancer, these are the same conditions the Veterans Administration has determined may be associated with exposure to Agent Orange/Dioxin, and are on the list of the conditions eligible for compensation and treatment. Vietnam Veterans of America organizations believe that their children and now grandchildren of exposed veterans also are suffering from cancer, birth defects and other health impacts. There was 22 million gallons of sprayed Agent Orange used in Vietnam. The use of this chemical has left many Vietnam Veterans sick and disabled. Military personnel who were involved in storage, mixture and transportation including aircraft mechanics, and actual use of the chemicals were probably among those who received the heaviest exposures.