STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Federal officials are taking steps to help some Veterans of the Vietnam War nearly 50 years after the official end of the conflict.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) announced bipartisan legislation on Thursday at the Vietnam Memorial in Castleton Corners that would add certain ailments to the list of those recognized and covered by the federal government.
At least Parkinson’s disease, bladder cancer, and hypothyroidism will be included in an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act set to pass next week, according to Schumer. The version of the amendment House of Representatives will also include hypertension.
President of the Staten Island chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America Gene DiGiacomo said he was pleased with the news, but said the coverage should’ve been a priority for decades. He attended Thursday’s event press conference with other members of the chapter’s executive board -- Vice President Nicky Castoro, Treasurer Al Paolucci, and Secretary Frank Russo -- along with Veteran’s activist Michael Sulsona.
“It is so long overdue. How many men and women are suffering from these diseases?” DiGiacommo said. “This is bipartisan, which is good, but it should’ve been done years ago.”
Schumer pointed to years of fighting to secure coverage for Vietnam Veterans, and blamed the federal bureaucracy, particularly the “damn bean counters” at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, for the delay.
The diseases to be added in this year’s NDAA amendment join a host of others linked to Agent Orange, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, respiratory cancer, and diabetes.
“It’s been a struggle, and we’ve had to fight disease by disease by disease in terms of getting it done,” Schumer said. “There is no doubt that Agent Orange, the herbicide, caused these illnesses.”
The U.S. military used Agent Orange to reduce the dense jungles of Vietnam in an effort to help the soldiers fighting in the southeast Asian country.
Rose, who along with Schumer was joined by Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island), said legislation like the amendment announced Thursday is how the nation can truly honor Veterans.
“It’s not enough just to thank our Veterans for their service,” Rose, who is a Veteran of the war in Afghanistan, said. “This is how we thank our Veterans -- by being there for them with real services.”
The military’s use of “burn pits” in Afghanistan and Iraq have drawn comparisons to what was done with Agent Orange more than 50 years ago.
According to the Department of Veterans Affair, open-air burn pits were used at deployed military bases to dispose of waste like chemicals, paint, medical and human waste, metal and aluminum cans, munitions and other unexploded ordnance, petroleum and lubricant products, plastics, rubber, wood, and discarded food.
BurnPits360 is a Veterans’ advocacy group founded by Army Captain Le Roy Torres and his wife after he developed severe breathing problems he links to his exposure to burn pits during his deployment to Iraq from 2007 to 2008.
According to the organization’s website, some “of the devastating health conditions suffered by Veterans exposed include: neurological disorders, pulmonary diseases, rare forms of cancer, and many unexplained symptoms.”
The VA does not yet recognize long-term harmful effects linked to burn pits, but has kept a database since 2014 of Veterans possibly exposed. As of June 22, 208,492 Veterans and service members had completed the registry’s questionnaire.
DiGiacommo said the responsibility of protecting enlisted men and women both during and after war falls to the governments that sends them.
“What has to happen is when you send men and women off to war or to a foreign country, you have to be responsible for them,” he said. “Any elected official that doesn’t want to recognize that should not be in office.”
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