Dear @retairforceman,

Although I have never experienced combat, I want you to know that you and every soldier, in our eyes, is a selfless, valiant hero, deserving of so much more.

War is horrible, but remember, as @macbeth and @johnjames, and other members have said: you were following orders; you were like a sheepdog, protecting your herd. You may not know how to feel about what you've seen and done, but you should know that ALL of us matter; we need each other. Even the strongest of us need someone.
There are thousands of supporters who can learn from you, from all the hidden wounds that you bear, and from your strength to "do or die."

@retairforceman, we will never experience what you have gone through, but, for what it's worth, there are people here on Connect who care enough to try and provide some comfort, to show you the light when you cannot see it yourself.
You deserve to be safe, healthy and happy now.

@kanaazpereira What a great message of appreciation!

Post62- I also remember very clearly seeing agent purple in Viet Nam- not that many times, compared to agent orange- but it's something you can forget- purple sprayed over such a large area of green jungle grass.

@johnjames I had never head of agent purple before. Thanks for your post, it helps to educate us all.

I handled, mixed by hand and power sprayed AGENT ORANGE HERBICIDES which included agent purple, agent white, agent orange and silvex which is the most deadly of all the herbicides because of its concentration of tcdd dioxin 7 times the amount in AGENT ORANGE. DR ROBERT HADDOCK CHIEF EPIDEMIOLOGIST FOR THE GUAM DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COULD USE ALL OF THE MAYO CLINICS HELP WITH THE HEALTH EPIDEMICS CAUSED BY AGENT ORANGE HERBICIDES ON GUAM. HE IS FIGHTING A LOOSING BATTLE WITH THE US GOVERNMENT IGNORING THE HOLOCAUST I CAUSED.

Thank you for sharing this. My husband is being seen by the neurology department at the VA. He has 9-12 ‘full body spasms’ daily. It doesn’t matter what he is doing and we never know when they are going to happen. He has been given a UStep rollator by the rehab department in order to help keep him from falling during a spasm. He has had full body and neck MRI’s which show no damage to the nerves around either of his lamenectomies - neck and lower back. He is on Parkinson’s medication yet after all of this and my questioning if he could have Parkinson’s due to daily AO exposure in 1968 the doctors refuse to acknowledge that AO could be the cause.

We would like to seek a second opinion on the outside and live in San Antonio. Does anyone have a referral? This has been going on since 2012 and as his care giver I need rest and as the patient he needs resolution. Thank you.