Page created by: Cindy Jensen

My Father was an incredible person. He would give the shirt off of his back to help people in need in his life. After being in Korea and in Vietnam, he was affected by Agent Orange. He even came home with what is now known called PTSD, but unrecognized by the government as an ailment caused by the war. I see Veterans and or just regular people that are suffering, not immediately nor all of the time, but it is so important for our country to understand that Parkinson's is a horrible disease. Although our family had less recourses at the time of his ailment, we did the best we could. He did the best he could. I could never have been prouder of him. The hardship on my mother, not being able to get the correct care from the VA. I think of other veterans out there or families of veterans who suffer from his ailment or others, created by Agent Orange, and our government unwilling to even recognize some diseases caused by the Vietnam or Korean wars. They were even spit on upon return, called baby killers. While I firmly believe that most in our country would never want this to see this happen to Veterans, or their families having to feel helpless in wanting to give them the best care but having no answers.
I do not wish for this to be taken as a negative or sorrow story but rather informative. We had fought for an Acorn Stairlift from VA two years before his death, approved only 2 days or so after his death. Families have to strong whom also suffer through this so much with little support from the VA, even being told after calling and calling for help to the Veterans Administration, to only have their veterans money taken away the day after they die. Spouses that go through this not only are left to beg for their survivor benefits or are threatened if they get angry in the slightest because they wait for months and months to even get someone to recognize them in anyway, that if they get upset their case would be thrown under the stack of all others and they would have to wait in line all over again. I always inform veterans since that can help them in better ways then the VA. I am not sure how the site of getting help is today on the Veterans help pages of the .gov area, but to even find help with dealing with Parkinson's or ailments related to Parkinson, upon looking it up myself, I found that Agent Orange issues are only listed under PUBLIC HEALTH. This was a very sad thing to find.
Most Veterans from the Vietnam wars or Korean wars, first began with Social Security, through paper, and today in order to help themselves they now are forced to go on the Internet or they have to go to support groups to try and get help, that often have their hands full but do the best they can. If they were considered 100% disability under Social Security the electronic records are not caught up nor the creation at the time of the VA never considered this and started fresh like there were no older veterans who could be proven to have been disabled as long as they actually were, because according to the VA there is just no proof. Back in the day of when Veterans families could understand the system better, by going in person to the Social Security offices near them, they were then forced to go to polices only far away, and if they had no money to get to these places, they were threatened that if they did not, no diagnoses would be accepted unless it was by a VA doctor, whether they had the money to travel as far away as they could be or not.
Parkinson can afflict many, however, when a person afflicted is a Veteran they are always given less options or ignored completely. For my Father, I know in his heart, he would want to know that if not for anything else, this information be shared, if not only to help others that suffer the same fate with Parkinson's from the Army, experimenting with gases to help conquer the enemy they did not understand would be so harmful. I wished we could have been given the correct needed support, whether fiscally, or just purely in kindness, swiftness, and with a sense of urgency. He never received that benefit, nor did his family. I think this story should be available to others that may be able to find that they need not suffer aimlessly and to get some sort of help with good intention and straight up recognition whether a purple heart, a Bronze Star, or just a filing clerk. Maybe this account of what happened to vets I worried about and heard from in ways I tried to help or look for avenues that would be dead ends to help find answers and the help that they not only need but deserve. While things are seemingly better today for our veterans finally, it took the government to cut red tape that should have been never put into place in the first place.
Upon double checking here is the link, that shows the advice for ailments of agent Orange is found absolutely under PUBLIC Health. Not Veterans health, which I find to surely confuse people and intentionally so. I hope this problem is made more clearly in the future.