If someone had told me two years ago that
I would be dying of a terminal cancer caused by my service and exposure
to the herbicides in Vietnam 25 years ago, I would have laughed
at him. From time to time I had heard of Agent Orange
but I didn't think I had or would ever have problems caused by it.
Then, after noticing that in our part of the country quite a few
Nam vets who were between 45 and 50 years old were dying of Cancer,
I thought I might as well go in for a checkup. So, in January
of 1992, 1 went to the local VA hospital for the "Free" Agent Orange
exam.
The exam consisted of a blood
test, EKG, Chest x-Ray, a very thorough physical exam and the taking
of a verbal history. It took about four hours. About two
weeks later, I received a form letter stating that all my tests
looked good and if I noticed any problems to come back, but as far
as the VA was concerned I had passed with flying colors.
A few days later, I received
a call from the doctor who did the exam. She told me on one
of my tests my blood levels showed an abnormal high level of "M"
protein and asked if I could come in for more evaluation.
After more testing, including a bone marrow biopsy, my doctor advised
that I had bone marrow cancer. I was told that I had two to
five years to live. At age 45, that was something I was not
expecting to hear. However I wasn't going to give up.
I am going to fight this battle. I served with the 3rd Security
Police at Biên Hòa from 1967 to 1968. I survived that place and
also survived a battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Now with a little luck and a Bone Marrow transplant I just may survive
this battle.
Jerry
Gryzmala
Bad Moon Rising
On
March 22, 1996, Jerry Gryzmala gave his life
for his country. Jerry succumbed to a long battle with cancer
that was due to exposure to Agent Orange. Along with the bad
news notifying me of Jerry's death came a note that said, "no wonder
that he got cancer, the Agent Orange barrels were stored right next
to the Security Police area at Biên Hòa." How many more will have
to endure the effects of this exposure we will only know in the future.
The only sure thing is that Jerry suffered a fatal wound in 1968--and
never even knew it. [Read: Were
you Killed In Vietnam?]
Another
sad note, Paul Brown, a member from Michigan, also passed away due
to a massive heart attack while sleeping. I met Paul and his
wife last September in Kokomo, Indiana while attending the Nam Vet
reunion. We should all count our blessings that we have our
health and our senses. It would be easy to dismiss these deaths
as being, "part of nature", but myself, I say these deaths are a result
of an "act of war."
May their souls rest in peace....
John Langley
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