From: jewell@MACE.CC.PURDUE.EDU (Larry Jewell)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: 'NamVet Newsletter Annual #2 5/7
Date: 26 Jul 92 01:30:49 GMT


     change.  Sometimes it is "silence - no matter how much
     another course of action is desired" that will prove the true
     exercise of Freedom, allowing others to be free.
     
     A tug on my line!  Was it Bert?  Or could it have been the
     thought:  "Freedom - is not without costs, not without
     constant awareness, and, most assuredly, not a one-way
     street!"
     

















     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 62
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

                        HOMECOMING III
     
                       by G. Joseph Peck
                       NAM VETs Managing Editor
                       VETLink #1  Pittsfield, MA
                       (413) 443-6313
     
     Silvery waters and a big yellow moon
       I'll be home friend, home very soon.
     
     I have seen the wars
       Watched other men die . . .
         Held their pain-wracked bodies
           Their existence - GONE in a sigh.
             A tear, a hug, a long last look
               "Hold my hand... read me the Book"
                                          ... and LIFE slips away.
     
       Who did they cry for with their last look at Earth?
         Who will miss them - and what's it worth?
     
           What's it worth when men fight and die,
             Never wanting to - never really knowing why?
           What's it worth when the bombs fall,
             Not killing one - but killing all:
               Newborn children, sisters and brothers
                 Happy families - fathers and mothers?
                                          ... and LIFE slips away.
     
     So loudly that you, too must hear
       Those battlefield cries ring in my ear:
         "Rivers of white.  Rivers of red.
           How hard we fought - how freely we bled!
             We gave 'em all that we had
               We fought for the good - not for the bad;
                 So that children could grow to be old,
                   Never going hungry - never being cold,
                 For Tomorrow - America - promises that are true
                   For Love - for Freedom - and especially YOU!!!"
                                          ... and LIFE slips away.
     
     An American Soldier
       From one battlefield I am free.
         I watch ... and remember:  "  Eternal Vigilance . . .
           " . . . the PRICE of Liberty!"
     













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     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989



     =================================================================
                    V e t e r a n s '   B e n e f i t s
     =================================================================

                VETERANS APPEALS COURT SEEKS HOME, PROCEDURAL RULE
                            Input By: Jim Hildwine
                                      NAM VET's Federal Benefits Editor
                                      Washington Zephyr BBS
                                      (703) 620-5418
     
         The  U.S.  Court of Veterans Appeals officially opened Oct 16, 
     but its fledgling staff has much work to do before considering its 
     first case.
         The tasks range from finding a permanent home to devising the
     procedural  rules that will guide its decisions,  said Chief Judge 
     Frank  Nebeker.   It is a challenge that convinced Nebeker to join 
     the court 
          "I  didn't  know it existed when I was asked in  February  to 
     serve.   But  I  knew  I wanted the challenge of putting  a  court 
     together  that  has no antecedent --  not only the  administrative 
     aspects but also to establish a brand new body of law by which the 
     court  and  those  concerned  with  veterans  affairs  are  to  be 
     governed, he said.
          Congress  established  the  court  last  year  as  the  first 
     judicial   body  to  review  Veterans  Affairs  Department  claims 
     decisions,  prior to that,  the last avenue of appeal for veterans 
     was  through the Board of Veteran Appeals,  an arm of the VA.   In 
     1988,  60 percent of veterans who appealed to the board lost their 
     claims decision.
          Creation  of the court ended years of fighting among veterans 
     groups  congressional  committees and the VA over the question  of 
     judicial review. "Congress thought that by keeping [review]  on an 
     informal basis and non-adverserial, it would help veterans,"  said 
     Williams  Rehnquist,  chief  justice of the U.S.  at  the  opening 
     ceremony for the court.
          But  the system effectively denied veterans their due process 
     rights and Congress decided in establishing the court.
         "We have nothing, no antecedent.  We're starting from scratch" 
     said Nebeker,  who continued to serve as director of the Office of 
     Government Ethics just one week before the court made its debut.
          Nebeker,  a  former  associate  judge with  the  District  of 
     Columbia  court  of  Appeals,  spent  the summer  trying  to  find 
     permanent offices for the court in Washington DC.
         "I was out pounding the pavement looking for space, and in
     government warehouses looking for furniture," he said. 
         Nebeker's  search is made more difficult by the court's unique 
     need  for a room with at least a 15-foot ceiling,  a tradition  in 
     federal  courts.   "That a big problem;  it adds to the  cost"  he 
     said.   The  court is temporarily located at 1625 K  Street,  N.W, 
     where the ethics office was headquartered until April.
          Within five years, Nebeker would like to see the court housed 
     in  its  own  building.   He  is  working  with  a  city  planning 
     commission  to see if the court can obtain some space in a federal 
     complex being built on Pennsylvania Avenue.     
          The  rules used by the court will mirror those used by  other 
     appeals courts,  but some procedures must be specifically tailored 
     to its claimants -- the veterans -- Nebeker said.
         "We  need  to decide how someone files a paper in  the  court.  
     You  could  file  it  in  person,  but  veterans  aren't  here  in 
     
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     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     Washington.
         "Should  it  be filed by mail and by what  time?   Should  the 
     deadline  be  at  the  time received by the court or  when  it  is 
     postmarked?   And what if the paper comes from a private courier?"  
     he said.
          Nebeker said he has received funding to take the court on the 
     road, to areas where veterans have filed many claims.   But,  he's 
     not sure how such hearing would work.
         Prior to the legislation establishing the court, veterans were 
     prohibited from hiring attorneys.   An 1863 law prevented veterans 
     from  paying  more then $10 to a lawyer.   So veterans  turned  to 
     service organizations for legal representation.
         The  Court of Veterans Appeals will continue to allow  service 
     organizations  to represent veterans.   "Our bar will not only  be 
     lawyers, but also non-lawyer representatives," Nebeker said.   And 
     some  type  of certification process must be developed  to  insure 
     those representatives and lawyers are qualified, Nebeker said.
         Nebeker must also recruit a staff of 75 which he hopes will be 
     composed of people with experience in court administration.
          The  court  expects  to  handle 5,000  appeals  per  year,  a 
     caseload  which  Nebeker said is heavier then any other  appellate 
     body in the country, except New York's appellate court.
          To manage the load as efficiently as possible, the staff must 
     be  able  to use the most modern case  management  techniques,  he 
     said.
         Nebeker  said every veteran who exhausts administrative review 
     of his or her claim will "GET THEIR DAY IN COURT"  but their cases 
     may not actually be argued before the panel.
         Instead,  many  may require screening and review by the judges 
     and their law clerks in order for a decision to be reached.
         Any  veteran  who  filed  a notice of  disagreement  with  the 
     federal ruling on or after Nov. 18, 1988 is eligible for a hearing 
     before the court.
          The  court is accepting those claims now.   Arguments on  any 
     claim will not take place before 1 Jan, he said.
          The  president may nominate up to seven judges to sit on  the 
     court  for 15 year terms,  but only two besides Nebeker have  been 
     appointed so far.
          Kenneth Kramer is a Harvard law graduate and former member of 
     Congress  from Colorado,  who most recently served as an assistant 
     secretary in the Army.  John J. Farley II, was Justice Department
     Administrator.
     
     SYNOPSIS OF APPEAL AND ATTORNEY FEE PROVISIONS OF THE VETERANS
     JUDICIAL REVIEW ACT.
     
     Judicial review of individual claims for benefits
          A  person adversely affected by the decision of the Board  of 
     Veterans  Appeals  (BVA)  may obtain judicial review by  filing  a 
     notice  of appeal with the Court of Veterans Appeals (CVA)  within 
     120 days after the date of the BVA decision;
          The  CVA,  based  in  the District  of  Columbia,  will  have 
     exclusive jurisdiction to review BVA decisions; it is scheduled to 
     commence  operations on September 1,  1989,  or when 3 judges have 
     been appointed, whichever comes later;
          There is as yet no mailing address for the CVA,  and no rules 
     of practice have been issued to govern procedural matters.
         The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)  will not be permitted 
     to appeal BVA decisions;
     
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     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

         Judicial   review  by  the  CVA  will  be  on  the  record  of 
     proceedings before VA;
          The  BVA's  finding of fact will be subject to  the  "clearly 
     erroneous"  standard  of  review,  and  the CVA will  also  review 
     conclusions of law;
          VA will be represented by General Counsel in the CVA:
         An  attorney  or other representative must file a copy of  any 
     fee  agreement with the CVA,  which will have authority to  review 
     the reasonableness of such fee;
         Judicial  review  in the CVA is available only to persons  who 
     file  a  notice  of  disagreement  with  the  agency  of  original 
     jurisdiction  on or after the date of enactment of the Act,  i.e., 
     November 18, 1988.
     
     FEE FOR REPRESENTATION BEFORE VA
          No fee may be paid to an attorney or agent for representation 
     of  a claimant or appellant before VA prior to an initial decision 
     by the BVA on the matter at issue;
          Subsequent to a decision of the BVA,  a reasonable fee may be 
     paid  to an attorney or agent for representation before VA on  the 
     matter  at issue,  if the attorney or agent is retained within one 
     year of the BVA decision;
          An  Attorney  or agent must file a copy of any fee  agreement 
     with the BVA and the BVA will have authority to reduce such fee if 
     found to be excessive or unreasonable, subject to CVA review;
          VA  will deduct a contingent fee from past-due benefits  and, 
     upon approving the fee, pay it to the attorney or agent if the fee 
     does not exceed 20 percent of the amount of past due benefits;
          Violation of the attorney and agent fee provisions will be a
     misdemeanor;
          The  new  attorney  and agent fee provisions  apply  only  to 
     situations  in  which  the notice of disagreement is filed  on  or 
     after the date of enactment of the Act, i.e. November 18, 1988.
     
     APPELLATE REVIEW OF CVA DECISIONS
          U.S.  Court  of  Appeals  for the Federal Circuit  will  have 
     exclusive jurisdiction of appeals from CVA;
          The  court of Appeals may review conclusions of law,  but may 
     not review findings of fact, except for constitutional facts;
          Either  party  may  appeal  a CVA decision to  the  Court  of 
     Appeals.
     
     JUDICIAL REVIEW OF VA REGULATIONS AND GENERAL COUNSEL OPINIONS
          An  aggrieved  person may seek direct judicial review  of  VA 
     rules  and  regulations in the United States Court of Appeals  for 
     the  Federal  Circuit,  under  chapter  7  of  the  Administrative 
     procedure Act.
     
     AVAILABILITY OF THE VETERANS JUDICIAL REVIEW ACT
         To obtain Public Law No. 100-687, contact:
     Superintendent of Documents
     Congressional Sales Office
     U.S. Government Printing Office
     Washington DC 20402
          Enclose a check or money order for $1.25 per copy, payable to 
     "Superintendent of Documents."
     


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     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989



     =================================================================
                          A g e n t   O r a n g e
     =================================================================

                              November 6, 1989
     
     From:  Martin H. Kroll
            Rt. 7 Box 7702
            Chatsworth, Ga.  30705
     
     To:    Honorable George Bush
            President of the United States of America
            The White House
            1600 Pennsylvania Ave
            Washington, D.C. 20500
     
     Dear Mr. Bush,
     
          I am writing this letter to you in behalf of all Viet Nam
     Veterans, their spouses, and their children.  Ironically, this
     letter is also in behalf of all citizens of the United States of
     America as well as the United States Government.  To get right to
     the point, Agent Orange is what is on our minds.
     
          I am a Viet Nam Veteran that volunteered for service in the
     Army on May 1st, 1966.  I went to Nam without question, completed
     my three year period of active duty and was honorably discharged.
     I came home to face discrimination, denials from the government
     about Agent Orange, and to fight a long twenty year battle to get
     where I am and it has been uphill all the way.  To be quite
     frank....I am DISGUSTED with the way our Government has handled
     the Agent Orange issue!
     
          Mr. Bush, I have followed your Vice Presidency, your campaign
     for President, and your first months in office as President of the
     greatest nation on the face of this earth.  I am convinced that
     you care about people.  I am convinced that you will do whatever
     is within your power to help those who are in need.  I am
     convinced that I am writing this letter to the right person.
     
          I will not waste your valuable time with statistics
     pertaining to amounts of Agent Orange and "other" chemicals
     sprayed in Viet Nam, toxicity levels, abnormally high rates of
     cancer among Viet Nam Veterans, etc.  You have access to all of
     those and you are aware of the problems just as well as almost
     everyone else in this country.  Veterans have suffered physically
     and emotionally for twenty years and still have very few answers
     and no compensation for being exposed to Agent Orange.  This is
     not to say that we feel that the Government owes us a "cushy"
     retirement or lump sum settlement for our ills.  We do feel that
     the Government owes us a much better explanation as to how our
     lives and health can be affected and the assurance that no matter
     what, our health needs will be taken care of.
     
          Many Veterans have given up on the system and others are
     turning radical.  They view the Veteran's Administration as their
     enemy!  Viet Nam Veterans have now come of age and are gaining
     more and more publicity as each day goes by.  As the government
     continues to whittle away at GI benefits and refuses to give the
     
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     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     care to Viet Nam Veterans that is long past due, the public
     sentiment continues to shift towards the Veterans.  Can this be
     healthy for our great nation?  I don't think so.  After seeing how
     Veterans have been treated, what young man would want to volunteer
     to go to South America if the need arose?  What kind of morale
     would the armed forces have if the draft were reinstated?  What
     kind of effectiveness could we expect from soldiers who know very
     well how things have gone for the Viet Nam Veterans?
     
          Mr. Bush, I am no expert on public relations, but I feel that
     you can do very much to restore faith in our Government and pride
     to our Veterans.  Let's face it, were it not for our Veterans of
     all wars, this nation would not be the great nation it has become.
     I recall seeing a statistic lately that says that one out of every
     six home mortgages is guaranteed by the Veterans Administration.
     This would indicate to me that the Veterans of this country could
     truly be a political force to have on your side.  Members of
     Congress want a pay raise.  Let them earn it by paying a long
     overdue debt to our Viet Nam Veterans.  We realize that running
     our Government is no easy job with the budget and national debt
     being what it is but we also know that the government cannot
     continue to drag it's feet on the issue of Agent Orange.
     
          The class action lawsuit and settlement was nothing but a
     class action joke!  We were sold out on that one for sure.  One
     hundred and eighty million dollars sounds like a lot of money on
     the surface.  The fact is that it would not even begin to pay for
     just an initial physical examination if divided equally among all
     the Viet Nam Veterans that were exposed to Agent Orange, much less
     pay for any treatment.  To top it all off, the chemical companies
     involved are now absolved and didn't even have to admit any guilt.
     I received my Agent Orange Registry kit yesterday and it says
     "You must be totally disabled to apply for benefits under this
     program."  I applied to the VA in 1972 for service connected skin
     conditions related to Agent Orange.  Of course my claim was
     denied.  What is the Government going to do for us Veterans that
     are not totally disabled, but our lives and health never-the-less
     affected by exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Viet Nam?
     
          I wish that we had all the answers to make things right, but
     unfortunately we do not.  We do however have some suggestions that
     could go a long way toward making things better.  First, and most
     importantly is the health care issue.  Health care does not do a
     bit of good if no one knows what they are entitled to.  We feel
     that the Government should not only provide Agent Orange related
     health care, but should initiate a "MASSIVE" publicity campaign
     via television, radio, newspapers, and magazines to make certain
     that every single Viet Nam Veteran, their spouses, and their
     children know that they have not been forgotten and that they may
     obtain proper evaluation and treatment.  Make every effort to
     reach all Veterans that served in Viet Nam.
     
          Many Veterans would like some sort of compensation for "pain
     and suffering" due to exposure to Agent Orange.  This is a just
     request considering not only the adverse affects to our health and
     lives, but also that our Government and the chemical companies are
     quick to rush off to compensate almost everyone around the globe
     except our Veterans.  We could cite cases but that is not really
     necessary either.  We realize that it would take a staggering
     
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     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     amount of money to compensate Viet Nam Veterans and we really do
     not want to deal a fatal blow to our Treasury Department, but
     there is a way that it can be done.  Exempt Viet Nam Veterans from
     a fair percentage of their Federal Withholding taxes and encourage
     the States to follow suit!  In a year that Congress again seeks a
     pay raise that is larger than most Veterans earn in a year this
     would seem like a good idea.  This would also increase the
     Veteran's income substantially, would be much easier for the
     Government to handle, would help to restore faith in our system,
     and would help to boost the morale of our armed forces and
     veterans.  Think about this one.......... The effects could be far
     ranging!
     
          You, I, and everyone else knows that Veterans have been
     severely shortchanged.  Isn't it time that something is done to
     rectify this situation?  Will you try to do whatever you can to
     help our Veterans?  Are you the man that can get the job done?
     
          This letter will be published in the NamVet International
     newsletter, Veteran's Day issue, and anywhere else that we can get
     it published.  We feel that not enough has been done and our goal
     is to get answers and action on the Agent Orange issue.  We would
     like to be able to publish your reply also.
     
     Respectfully,
     
     
     Martin H. Kroll
     
     
     P.S.  I have a small wager with a friend.  He says that you will
     never see this letter personally, that you won't reply, and my
     time and efforts are wasted.  Do I win or lose?
     

























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     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     Let me tell you where I've been
      An interview by Janice Rogovin
       Input by: G. Joseph Peck
       NAM VETs Managing Editor
       Vetlink #1  Pittsfield, MA
       (413) 443-6313
     
     Thomas J. Murphy III:
       I  joined  the  Marine Corps when I was eighteen.   I  went  to
     Vietnam twice, once in the latter part of 1966 and again in 1969.
       I'm proud of it.  That's about it.   It's something to be proud
     of.  Back  at that time,  anybody could join the Marine Corps but
     not  anybody  could  be  a Marine Corps sergeant at  the  age  of
     twenty.   I  was  the  youngest  platoon sergeant  in  the  whole
     regiment.   Sometimes  that  was good,  but whenever there was  a
     dirty job to do, I was the one they picked.
       I wanted to be good.   I wanted to make a career out of it.   I
     didn't want to be a private and scrub floors,  or do shitty jobs.
     I  wanted to be a sergeant telling privates to do that.   I  just
     worked  extra  hours.   I was always up a half hour early to  get
     squared  away.   I  learned how to read a map and compass in  Boy
     Scouts, and that's what really allowed me to go up in rank.   And
     I  studied like heck.   The only way to get it is to earn it.   I
     didn't have to brown-nose anybody.
       I got shot on a night ambush,  nine times.   I laid there for a
     long  time.   An  Army M.A.S.H.  unit finally picked  us  up.   I
     remember  waking up with a tracheotomy and a machine allowing  me
     to  breathe.   Then they transferred me to Japan to two different
     hospitals.   I  got hurt October 4th,  1969 and I arrived in  the
     United  States on Halloween night.   When I got to Chelsea  Naval
     Hospital,  they  took  off my body cast and weighed me -  I  only
     weighed  eighty-five pounds.   I had a colostomy,  and there were
     hundreds  of  maggots all over the place.   I remember when  they
     were taking it off, one of the nurses saying, "Oh, no,"  and then
     running  out to throw up.   Then they gave me an injection and  I
     went back to sleep.
       That  ended  it.   They retired me.   I got the same medals  as
     everybody else got so no big thing.  I wasn't a hero or anything.
     I hadn't had time to stand out as one.
       If I didn't get hurt the second time I probably would have went
     back  to Vietnam the third time.   I'm an American.   My family's
     made  up  of  veterans.   Remember  Vic Morrow and  the  TV  show
     "Combat"  that  used to be on Thursday nights?   He was my  hero.
     He's what I wanted to become.   And I did.   I was quite proud of
     that.   I  reached his rank and even had more responsibility than
     he did.  But he had fights every week,  big battles,  and we only
     had them, if we were lucky, maybe once a month.
       To somebody sitting a hundred miles away we were just a pawn on
     a big board and he was moving us along.   They'd tell us to climb
     a hill and check it out, and we'd sit down and take our packs off
     and  rest and five minutes later they'd tell us to put our  packs
     back  on and walk down the hill and walk up another one.   I used
     to feel useless and tired.
       Since  then I've spend about six years total in and out of  the
     VA hospital.  I've had about 154 operations.  Even though I had a
     bum  leg,  and  a bum insides,  it didn't stop me from doing  the
     things that I liked doing.  I've traveled around the world.  I've
     lived  in South America,  I've lived in Central America.   I  was
     going  to settle in Central America,  but changed my mind at  the
     
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     last  second  because  I met June.   She is my  second  wife.   I
     married her in 1981.
     
       Then  last November I noticed a little pea-sized growth  coming
     from  my left buttocks into my anal area.   I didn't do  anything
     about  it  until  after Christmas,  because my son Tommy  from  a
     previous marriage was coming down for the holidays.   Right after
     the  holidays June insisted that I go to a doctor.   I  did.   It
     turned out to be malignant.
       They  gave  me  what  the doctor said is the  largest  dose  of
     chemotherapy  that he's ever given.   It was a triple  dose.   It
     made  me very ill.    For months its taken away the feeling in my
     feet  and my fingers -  I have a hard time writing.   And now I'm
     having radiation and my bottom is fire-engine red from burns.  It
     really really hurts.
       I think it's terminal and I'm going to die.   It's not a morbid
     attitude.  It comes from reading about what I have.
       I  figure  I got cancer from being in an area while  they  were
     spraying Agent Orange.   There were always planes going over.   I
     remember  once a lieutenant told us that they were going to spray
     something to take the bush down,  so that we could see the enemy.
     Or  it  could have been from drinking the water,  we drank  water
     right out of the stream.
       I'm  really  angry  that I survived getting  shot  nine  times,
     having  all those operations,  spending a sixth of my life in the
     hospital,  and  now  I might die because of a chemical.  And  I'm
     angry  that  I got cancer from something that Dow  Chemical  made
     that  was  supposed  to protect us but was  misused.   A  lot  of
     literature  I  read  says we oversprayed.   One other  thing  I'm
     really  vexed at,  all this money that Dow Chemical and the other
     chemical  companies gave out,  out of it I was told that I'm only
     going to get $12,500.
       In retrospect, I think the war was politically motivated.   The
     chemical companies made a lot of money,  the oil companies made a
     lot  of money.   And I don't think you should fight a war  unless
     you're going to win it.  The United States of America is good for
     a  lot  of things,  they've just got to have another  revolution.
     Let people with open minds revamp the government.  Start with the
     VA.
       I'm  angry  at the VA for not taking proper care of us  in  the
     hospital.   I'm  angry  that they used me as a guinea  pig.   I'm
     angry  about Vietnam but please don't misconstrue this.   I'm not
     against  the  war  in Vietnam.   I'm angry that they  had  me  so
     brainwashed,  ever  since  I  was  a little  boy,  that  I  would
     automatically  be  one of the first ones down at  the  recruiting
     station.  There was never a doubt about joining the marines.  But
     I thought we were going to win.  And I really think we could have
     won.  All we had to do was get mad at the enemy instead of trying
     to have all those talks with them.
       And  I'm  really shocked at the way we treat Vietnamese  people
     here.   These  people that live here weren't our  enemies.   They
     were  our allies.   We made them promises up and down and then we
     just left them.  That's the reason June and I would like to adopt
     a  Vietnamese  or Cambodian child.   It would be nice to  have  a
     little  boy  or girl around the house.   Someone who we can  help
     nurture,  grow,  and  someone who we can help expand their minds,
     and reach their potential in life.
       I  really believe that we owe them.   Even Americans that  were
     against  the  war.   I think they should adopt these people  too.
     
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     We're known for our humanity here in America.   We're not showing
     it.
     
     JUNE MURPHY
       I  thought at first that Tom was a hopeless alcoholic,  then  I
     thought  that Tom was hopelessly mean and manipulative.   It took
     me years to understand that he was living with this war.
       We were married in March 1981 in San Antonio.   By September we
     were separated.  There have been a lot of separations.
       The  first time was when we were driving somewhere one day,  he
     gave  me a black eye.   He'd been drinking and he was angry about
     the  war.   I don't remember what but something about Vietnam and
     the VA.   He'd just been to the VA in San Antonio.   He was livid
     with rage.  We separated and stayed in touch.  We knew we were in
     love  with each other but we were both afraid of Tom's rage.   We
     didn't know what to call it then.
       Tom  felt that he didn't have a chance to do anything with  his
     life because of Vietnam.  He wanted to go to school and there was
     some snafu about the paperwork.   He was very angry.   And he was
     angry  because  he'd  go  to the VA hospital  for  treatment  and
     there'd be red tape.   Almost anything would set him off in those
     days.
       I  felt  that  I  had to leave for  my  own  safety.   Tom  was
     irrational,  he  was drinking almost all the time and very,  very
     depressed.   I  think rage was more of a companion to him than  I
     was.  It was like being married to rage and anger and bitterness.
       We  were going to get a divorce and we seemed to be on friendly
     terms.  We seemed to have accepted it,  that our marriage was not
     to  be.   We  could get along for short periods of time until  an
     episode  of anger would come up.   But all of that seemed not  to
     matter anymore  when  I heard that he was sick.   I  was  in  the
     process of moving to Tallahassee, Florida, where my sister lived,
     and  looking for a job.   I called him on his birthday and that's
     when I heard he had to have the biopsy.   He asked me to come the
     following Monday and I really had mixed feelings about it.  I was
     trying  to put our relationship in the past but I couldn't do  it
     anymore.  I went back to him because I loved him.
       In the two years that we were apart I never stopped loving him.
     I  just knew that he had to deal with some things before I  could
     live with him in peace.
       The  only way that I could take care of Tom and retain some  or
     most of my sanity was just to love him and remember that it might
     not be easy but he's worth it.  I think that Tom's life has meant
     something  to other veterans and to other people in general.   He
     has  a  real tenacious spirit.   I think I would have given up  a
     long  time  ago.   It's been hell seeing him suffer  and  feeling
     there's so little I can do.   But the main thing I can do is love
     him  and  comfort  him.   that's something I can  do  instead  of
     focusing on what I can't do.
       I  think  that  there's  a sense of  doing  what's  right,  and
     expecting that you won't necessarily be rewarded,  but that there
     will be an outcome that will be fair and just and right.  Because
     that's the way it is.  But it wasn't that way.   There's no sense
     of fairness, no meaning, no happy ending.   I guess maybe some of
     the  people  in  ur generation expected that there'd be  a  happy
     ending, and there wasn't one.  There was no closure to it.
       We had talked about adopting for awhile, but we've never really
     gotten  our act together enough to do that.  We had talked  about
     adopting a Vietnamese or Cambodian child.  For myself,  there's a
     
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     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     special feeling about a Cambodian or Vietnamese child.   My heart
     goes  out to them,  and I don't think of them as the enemy or  as
     someone to be shuffled off.  It would complete it for me, because
     of what Tom has been through.  And I'm not able to have children.
     It  would be a good thing to do.   It would keep a certain spirit
     alive.  And it would say, it's okay.   This is over,  and this is
     how we go on with life.
     
     JANICE ROGOVIN
       Tom  Murphy was with Charlie Company,  First Battalion,  Fourth
     Marines, from the latter part of 1966 until 1967,  in the Dong Ha
     area.   During  his second tour in Vietnam in 1969,  Tom was with
     the  same company but was transferred from the Third to the First
     Marine Division in the southern part of the country.
       Tom  was wounded in Vietnam in October 1969.   He was sent back
     to the States and from October 1969 until May 1971, he was in the
     hospital.   First  he  was told that he didn't have very long  to
     live, then,  that he would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his
     life, and that he would never be able to have children.  When Tom
     got married in the fall of 1971,  he walked down the aisle.   His
     son Tommy, Jr. was born two years later.
       Tom  wasn't  physically able to hold a steady job and  received
     100  percent disability from the government.   He pursued various
     activities  that interested him.   He organized a drug prevention
     program and ran for alderman in Reading,  his hometown.   He went
     to school to study nursing, marine biology,  and psychology.   He
     joined  a theater group,  and kept a journal of poetry and  short
     stories.  He was active in the PTA at his son Tommy's school
       The  cold  bothered  him  terribly so  he  traveled  to  warmer
     climates  where  he lived for extended period of time  -  Mexico,
     Belize, Colombia.  Tommy,  Jr.  would  visit  or travel with  him
     during summer vacation.   Tom was a long-term member of a Vietnam
     veterans'  support  group at the Boston Vet Center,  where he had
     very close friends.
       After  his  treatment  for cancer in Boston in the  spring  and
     summer  of 1986,  Tom and June stayed with his family in  Florida
     for  recuperation,  and then moved back to their home in Alabama.
     Tom  and June were together,  separated and then together  again.
     Both  were  attending college in the fall of 1987 when  Tom  went
     into  the hospital in Alabama with a relapse of his cancer.   His
     condition deteriorated steadily and June spent her days with him.
     He died on January 7, 1988 in his sleep.
       Tom  left instructions that he wanted his body cremated and his
     ashes sprinkled over Boston Harbor.   A memorial service was held
     on May 22,  1988,  attended by friends,  family members,  and the
     veteran community.
     
     VETLink  #1 Note:   This is but one of seven interviews contained
     within  this book by Janice Rogovin -  Editorial Consultants John
     Grady  and Sarah Rogovin.   Many who helped prepare the book  are
     friends of mine and yours.  You'll recognize them -  they're part
     of  me  and you.
      






     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 73
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989



     =================================================================
                      R e m e m b e r   T h e m ! ! !
     =================================================================

            THE VIETNAM VETERAN IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
                           by G. Joseph Peck
                              NAM VETs Managing Editor
                              VETLink #1  Pittsfield, MA
                              (413) 443-6313
     
       Crouching low in the underbrush, his weapon at the ready, 19-
     year-old Jeremy carefully slithered toward the village where his
     friend was being held as a prisoner of the Vietnam war.  The
     slightest unnatural sound would give his position away and would
     most likely result in his being captured.  Adrenal glands furiously
     producing their now-needed commodity, Jeremy feared the rushing in
     his ears would be audible to the villagers.
     
         He moved forward, waited to be sure no one was near his friend,
     then slipped in and untied him.  Together they sprinted to freedom,
     Jeremy experiencing an exhilarating "high" from this close
     encounter with danger - a "high" that would become addictive in his
     later years.
     
         Jeremy completed his tour of duty in Vietnam after successfully
     completing many more missions like the one just cited.  As his
     Freedom Bird (airplane flight home) gently touched the California
     runway, he looked anxiously at the terminal ahead hoping to catch a
     glimpse of his family or girlfriend.
     
         "They're probably inside," he thought, gathering up his duffle
     bag, boonie hat, and instinctively reaching for his rifle - amused
     when he realized what he had done.  "Don't need it here," he
     laughed, "this is the hero's home turf.  Boy!  Wait 'til I get my
     arm round that gal of mine!"
     
         The terminal was empty as Jeremy and the 135-or-so other
     soldiers, all still in combat gear, trudged inside.  Jeremy rushed
     to the telephone and, once in the booth, hurriedly dialed the
     familiar number.
     
         "Hello, Mom?  It's me!  Jeremy!  I'm home!  Where's Dad?  Can
     you come pick me up?"
     
         The tone of her voice dripping with annoyance and what seemed
     to be disgust, Jeremy's mother replied.  "Your father's at the
     antiwar demonstration in Golden Gate Park.  He won't be back 'til
     late.  He'll be tired.  Why don't you come over tomorrow?  I'm sure
     you and he have a lot to talk about.  Good-bye."
     
         Dazed, he hung up the telephone and started walking out of the
     terminal towards the highway.  A group of young men just about his
     age was coming.  They were carrying banners and placards that read
     "Stop the War" - "Baby Killers!" and "Hell No!  We won't go!".  As
     Jeremy got closer, he recognized a couple of them as friends he had
     graduated high school with only 2 years ago.  He quickly turned and
     walked away.
     
         "Nineteen hours ago I was in the bush over in 'Nam fighting for
     
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     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     those damned kids," he said, toying with the long-dreamed-of
     American beer the man he had hitched a ride with had bought him.
     "What the hell's the matter with 'em?"
     
         "Whaddya 'spect, kid?  You guys go over there and destroy
     villages, kill women and children, bomb the hell out of innocent
     people.  Waddya' wan' us to treat ya' like - heroes?  I heard about
     Calley, an' I seen that naked gal' a runnin' down the road, an' I
     seen that kid get his head blowed off.  Hell, man, you guy's is
     just plain murderers."
     
         Jeremy never did see his dad or his mom.  A familiar pulsing in
     his ears as blood raced through his veins.  He fought himself for
     control - and lost when somebody spit.  The ensuing fight
     saw three men hospitalized, one of them with critical head
     injuries, and a tavern so extensively damaged it would be at least
     two months before it could reopen.  Handcuffed and being put into
     the back of a police car, the last thing he remembered hearing
     before he saw the officer's nightstick come crashing down on his
     skull was: "You have the right to remain silent..."
     
         Two of the men recovered.  The one with critical head injuries
     had been reduced to a vegetable-like state of existence.  Jeremy
     was charged with attempted murder.
     
         A popular TV game show at that time was "Family Feud" - a show
     that asked questions of the contestants concerning a variety of
     everyday topics.  The "winning answer" wasn't always the "correct"
     answer but one which had emerged the victor in an audience poll.
     The "law of the land", too, was akin to Family Feud - the "correct"
     law wasn't always the one that had been enacted by the voters and
     the legislature.  Jeremy was listening as the Public Defender
     matter-of-factly told him he could plead guilty to the lesser
     offense of assault and battery with intent to do great bodily harm
     when the news came that the hospitalized man had died. "We'll get
     you off with second degree," said the Public Defender, as Jeremy
     suddenly realized that any benefit he had earned as a veteran had
     suddenly vanished, any freedom he had fought for would not be his.
     
     "We, the jury, find you guilty of murder in the second degree."
     
     Jeremy couldn't believe his ears as the judge sentenced him to 20-
     years-to-life in the state penitentiary.  He hadn't been taught
     criminal thoughts or behaviors by his family or peers.  He didn't
     even have a juvenile record.  On the contrary, he had always been
     taught to obey the rules.
     
         "Jeremy" is a fictitious Vietnam veteran, created to illustrate
     some of the social attitudes and experiences of the Vietnam veteran
     during the latter part of the 60's and nearly most of the 70's.  He
     is only one of the 2000 Vietnam veterans in federal prisons (out of
     a total populace of 24000) and of 13000 out of an estimated 275000
     inmates in state prisons - as reported in the March 10, 1982
     edition of the New York Times.
     
         According to the "laws of the land" he has been justifiably and
     fairly imprisoned and has given up his individual rights and
     freedoms.  If Jeremy needs to see anyone from the Veterans
     Administration for information regarding any kind of veterans'
     
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     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     benefit, it will only be on a twice-a-year basis.  The
     Administrator of the Veterans Administration, in his 1982 Annual
     Report, has said "Service to incarcerated veterans began after
     World War II and has continued throughout the years.  However,
     recent budget limitations on travel have had an impact on our
     outreach to veterans in correctional facilities and semiannual
     visits to federal and state institutions are no longer being made
     on a routine basis."  With the implementation of the Gramm-Rudman-
     Hollings balanced budget act, the situation has only worsened.
     
         There is a bright side, though, for the Jeremy's of the penal
     systems.  A "bright side" in organizations such as Vietnam Veterans
     of America and its' legal defense system, in the Disabled American
     Veterans, and even in the federal courts.
     
         A federal judge in Boston, MA proposed that "parole boards
     across the nation give 'special consideration' to Vietnam veterans
     in prison because of the traumatic effects of their war
     experience."
     
         "The judge, D. J. Skinner, of the U.S. District Court, said in
     an unusual decision... that the nation's Parole Commission, which
     sets policy for the early release of prisoners, could serve 'a
     useful purpose' and decide a policy toward Vietnam veterans 'on a
     national basis.'"
     
         " 'It may well be that special consideration should be given to
     war veterans who have made great sacrifices for their country,'
     said Skinner, whose decision was immediately lauded by Vietnam
     veterans."     New York Times  March 10, 1982
     
         In case-after-case across the nation, according to numerous
     volumes of research - among them including the Service Officer's
     Manual of the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Disabled American
     Veterans Service Officer's manual, the Veterans of Foreign Wars
     Service Officer's manual - the service of the veteran and any
     possible extenuating circumstances are being taken into
     consideration.  An incarcerated veteran who has been diagnosed
     after sentencing as having Post Traumatic Stress (a natural
     reaction to the life-threatening episodes of combat), has many
     alternatives for utilizing that fact to attempt to speed his/her
     release from custody so that he/she can obtain treatment.
     
         The legal system which has incarcerated veterans such as
     "Jeremy" are systems that have become the regulatory mechanisms of
     life in America.  As an ordered society, we must attempt to comply
     with those laws, rules, and regulations that those we have elected
     as legislator's have enacted into being.  In some cases, though,
     our "system" can take extenuating circumstances into consideration
     - and prior honorable service to protect and preserve what we now
     call "Freedom."
     
         There is much work to be done, though, prior to release of the
     "Jeremy's" of this nation - if "release" is the verdict of the
     parole boards.  The veteran will need a place to go upon his
     release - a place such as a halfway house, where there is someone
     working to assist him in employment, medical and psychological
     services, Rap-Group counseling, schooling, and camaraderie.  While
     he is still incarcerated he needs help in  Family Assistance
     
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     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     Programs where his family's needs will be given every possible
     consideration, Parole counseling, Job and/or Vocational Counseling.
     If he/she has had difficulty with release from service (Discharge)
     there will also be matters of legality to consider.
     
         For this article, I have looked carefully, closely at the
     incarcerated Vietnam veteran.  I have looked at the situations
     surrounding many instances of incarceration.  The numbers and
     offenses have been many.  The troubled families have been many.  I
     have been touched by what I've read and seen.
     
         I have read of instances where the veteran has attempted to use
     his/her Vietnam service as a 'ticket to freedom' - a 'degree' of
     service.  Hopefully, I have learned the ability to perceive a
     veterans' actual motives when he/she has been charged with a crime
     - and whether or not the motivating factor behind the crime might
     have some relation to the negative public reaction the veteran
     received during his/her homecoming from battle, the negative
     employer reaction to hiring a Vietnam veteran (we are slowly
     growing past that in our Pittsfield, MA community), and the
     negative social reactions.  To ILLUSTRATE some of those REALITIES
     was the basic purpose of creating JEREMY - so that you, the reader,
     might FEEL what I, the writer of this report, have felt as I read
     report after report, case after case.
     
         In the final analysis, if there IS one, many Vietnam veterans
     judged "mentally fit" when they were sentenced to their periods of
     imprisonment, because of an undiagnosed and/or treated case of Post
     Traumatic Stress Syndrome (aka Vietnam Stress Syndrome), were NOT.
     Many of those cases are just now beginning to surface.
     
     JUSTICE - does work.  Sometimes, though, it takes a little longer.
     


























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