Initiatives for US Agent Orange Victims

 

The Order of the Silver Rose:  http://silverrose.org

Agent Orange, a chemical defoliant, is and was a weapon of war deployed by American Forces against the enemy during the Vietnam War. Accidentally, many of our own servicemen and women were also wounded and killed by it. For those wounds, according to statutory law and military specifications and regulations, as with all other wounds received in a combat zone, our Agent Orange heroes qualify for the Military Order of the Purple Heart. However, no Military Order of the Purple Heart has ever been awarded to a Vietnam veteran for Agent Orange wounds. This is a grave injustice.

It is the mission of this organization to recognize the courage, heroism, and contributions of American service personnel found to have been exposed to Agent Orange in a combat zone, and who have been identified under the 1991 Agent Orange Act of Congress.  It is for these reasons that we have created The Order of the Silver Rose. We will never stop praying that the doors to the Purple Heart will someday swing open wide enough to admit all service personnel who have earned it. Until that day comes, we cannot allow our particular demon to continue to run unchallenged in America. We battle the Dragon of Prejudice armed only with a Silver Rose, desiring to win simple honor and respect for these heroic personnel who have already earned it.

 

Quilt of Tears:  http://journals.aol.com/armrdangel/QUILTOFTEARS/

The Quilts of Tears  is a project started  by the Agent Orange Victims and Widows Support Network. The quilts are a memorial, tribute and honor to the Agent Orange Victims, both living and dead.. The project began in 1998 by Jennie R. Le Fevre, President of the Agent Orange Victims and Widows Support Network. Jennie passed away in the fall of 2004, however her friends are keeping her project alive in her memory.
 
The quilts are to draw national attention to the plight of  Vietnam Veterans affected by Agent Orange sprayed on them in Vietnam. The quilts are called the "Quilts of Tears" for many tears have been shed for these victims.
 
Family members of these victims are encouraged to submit quilt blocks in honor of their loved ones. The blocks are then sewn into quilts that are displayed at various veterans reunions and  functions.

 

Memorial Plaque Project  http://members.aol.com/vietwarmem/plaque.htm

Since Vietnam, Americans who served their country in Southeast Asia in this nation's longest war have continued to suffer premature deaths related to their service, due to Agent Orange induced illnesses post- traumatic stress disorder, and a growing register of other causes.

The Department of Veterans Affairs maintains no comprehensive records of these "hidden casualties of Vietnam." Their names will never be inscribed on the Wall.

There is a void at the Wall, in the words of one of these veterans' widows. To help bridge the void, the nonprofit Vietnam War In Memory Memorial Plaque Project formed in the mid-90's and obtained overwhelming Congressional approval for a privately funded ground-level plaque on the Memorial grounds, bearing no names, but designed and worded to acknowledge and commemorate these postwar casualties.