U.S. Found Slow in Aiding Sick Veterans

The American Legion, criticizing the federal government for its sluggish pace in handling Vietnam veterans’ health problems, released a study Friday that shows an “alarming” trend of physical and emotional problems among soldiers who were involved in heavy combat.

According to the study, “combat intensity significantly relates to a history of high blood pressure, ulcers, arthritis, rheumatism, kidney problems and more,” Dr. Steven Stellman said at a press conference. He and his wife, both researchers at Columbia University, conducted the study for the American Legion.

The research also shows that veterans involved in heavy combat are much worse off in the areas of income, divorce, general satisfaction and psychological state, Stellman said. The study involved 6,810 Vietnam-era veterans, 42% of whom were stationed in Southeast Asia during the war.

‘Increase With Dose’

“The way to interpret this is that we have found significant relationships that increase with dose,” said Dr. Jeanne Stellman, the other half of the research team.

She said that exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange did not appear to be a significant factor in causing health problems in initial findings but stressed that the relationship merited further research. Dioxin, a chemical in Agent Orange, has been shown to cause cancer and birth defects in laboratory animals.

The study, conducted from 1983 to 1988, randomly selected veterans from Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Most of the survey participants were middle-class white males, and all were members of the American Legion.

Legion spokesman John Minnick said that the group conducted its own study on Vietnam veterans’ health because “the Veterans Administration dragged its feet and dragged its feet for a number of years.” He added that “it became apparent that the (VA) study was not going to be conducted to our satisfaction.”

The researchers and Legion spokesmen called on the incoming Bush Administration to effectively address the health problems of Vietnam veterans. “The Veterans Administration has an obligation to look at these problems and not run from them,” Legion spokesman John Hanson said in an interview after the press conference.

Post-Traumatic Stress

One of the psychological problems the study addressed, post- traumatic stress disorder, was shown to affect 15% of the veterans involved in heavy combat.

“These (stress victims) are people who joined the Legion and supposedly have readjusted well,” said H. F. (Sparky) Gierke, national commander of the Legion and a justice on the North Dakota Supreme Court. “The rate of suffering surely is higher for our fellow veterans who have not readjusted.”

Although the study’s findings on Agent Orange were inconclusive, spokesman for the American Legion believe that Vietnam veterans who were exposed to the widely used defoliant are suffering ill effects from the chemical.

The Legion hopes to use the study to “induce some major initiatives in Congress for compensation for those exposed to Agent Orange,” Legion spokesman Minnick said. “The study is just the tip of the iceberg. It really shows some alarming things.”