When the military kills you how do you know?

When the military kills you how do you know?
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
March 3, 2013

When Irish died in Washington DC, a shockwave went out across the country but unless you were paying attention to what was going on and what this woman was doing to try to fix the way female veterans, as well as males, were treated, then you wouldn't have known. This is a copy of the testimony she gave.
September 14, 2006 Before the VA Disability Commission in Washington, DC It wasn't the first time she went to Washington and it wouldn't be here last. That came in 2008.
This is just part of what she said in 2006

I wish to address the VA's hierarchy’s constant, immoral and intentional denial of service connected compensation and entitlements to veterans exposed to these chemical agents and total disregard to the regulations pertaining to this exposure. And to their widows/widowers and most of all the innocent, who bear our service, the children and grandchildren who die from Agent Orange or those who lived and bear the scars of their parents or grandparents service. The Agent Orange babies. I am one of those Agent Orange ( Dioxin) victims, service connected, who have been denied entitlements, medical care and compensation. Diagnosed at Walter Reed Medical Hospital, on active duty, source of exposure identified as Fort McClellan, Alabama. Fort Ritchie, Maryland and Fort Drum, NY have also been identified as Agent Orange sites and I have served on these Installations also. I have had this poison of multiple chemical exposure, including Agent Orange, in my body since I was 20 years old and I will be 56 years old next month.

Capt. Agnes "Irish" Bresnahan.

Jun 16, 2009 My sister was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with Full Military Honors yesterday Monday 15,2009. I would like to thank you for your support for my family and ask that you pray for all the vets and active duty servicemen especially my nephew, Matt Gatley who was deployed the day before the funeral of his aunt. I would like to personally thank Chris Abel of Rainbow whose actions allowed me to attend my sisters funeral. All the best to you and yours, sincerely , Jim Bresnahan

Most people were shocked when they heard about Camp Lejeune and the contamination. Unfortunately friends of mine are very upset because they didn't know some of the bases they were on were also contaminated.

How could they know? It isn't as if the mainstream media has had time to report on any of this. After all, they have too many other news stories to cover like a murder trial of a sports star in South Africa along with every other topic that should only get about a couple of seconds worth of coverage, if that much. But we have our 24-7 news shows now? People were a lot more informed when they had less because the news stations we had way back did more with the time they did have.

There is a conversation going on about Fort McClellan and a friend of mine that served there. She didn't know it was contaminated. Now she's shocked no one told her or how she could have ended up with the health problems she has had for years. It turns out she served on two bases that have been found to be contaminated.

This site has been up for a long time, so it isn't as if it was a huge secret as long as people were searching for it.
Blue Water Navy Veterans
The problem is, most people rely on the media to tell them and assume if it is an important story, they will stay with it. Ha, ha, ha. As if that has happened in a long time. Anyway, while I'm sure we're going to get every detail about the trial in South Africa and be treated to endless hours of England's Queen in the hospital, our veterans will be shoved aside.

The following 59 U.S. military bases were suffering from significant water or soil contamination a year ago, according to the Department of Defense's interpretation of its latest hazardous waste survey. DoD officials say not every base suffering such contamination is on the list, because information was not available for all bases. The list is based on the latest status report for DoD's Installation Restoration Program.

Here's the list of bases. Go to the link to read about them.

Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
Fort A.P. Hill, VA
Fort Belvoir, VA
Fort Devens, MA
Fort Dix, NJ
Fort Lewis, WA
Fort McClellan, AL
Redstone Arsenal, AL

Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Center, NJ
Moffett Field NAS, CA
Whidbey Island NAS, WA
China Lake, CA
Indian Head NOS, MD
Jacksonville NAS, FL
Miramar NAS, CA
Pabmont River NAS, MD
Roosevelt Roads NS, Puerto Rico

Castle AFB, CA
Dover AFB, DE
Griffiss AFB, NY
Hill AFB, UT
Mather AFB, CA
McChord AFB, WA
McClellan AFB, CA
Norton AFB, CA
Robins AFB, GA
Tinker AFB, OK
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio

I miss my friend very much. I think she'd be very ashamed knowing after all of her years of dedication fighting for justice, not just for herself, but for all veterans, has resulted in veterans still not knowing that while the enemy didn't kill them, the military may have.

Old news about women at war never dies

I finally have some time today to collect pictures for a new video I'm working on. While searching I came across some really great stories on our "sisters" in the military. Feeling very nostalgic, thinking about my friend Capt. "Irish" Bresnahan, who passed away March 2009 and missing her deeply, it seemed like a good time to work on another video for female veterans. That's why you're seeing some older stories all of a sudden on this blog today.

The stories may be old to us, but the truth is, for them, for the men and women going into combat, the stories never get old and more often than not, are never told enough.

Irish didn't stop fighting for this country. She never stopped fighting for women veterans as well as male veterans, but her heart knew the additional burden women carried after war. Irish was wounded by PTSD and Agent Orange. To her, anyone fighting for their claim to be approved or trying to be taken care of, was personal to her because she knew it first hand. Irish never saw justice for herself.

In March she was in Washington for another hearing on her claim. No stranger to Washington since she had testified about the burdens veterans carry trying to open up the eyes and hearts of congress, this was nothing new for her. She was excited to have some time to go to see the monuments this time, but her health had her pretty weak. While there, she became very ill and passed away in the hospital far from New Hampshire where she lived, but she passed away where she loved and dedicated her life to.

She would call me all the time and I can still hear her laugh and I know the female veterans in this country have a real angel watching over them.

Here's a couple of videos on female veterans.

The Voice, Women at War

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 10, 2009

Click to Play View Details

Women at War, Sisters After War

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 10, 2009

Click to Play View Details

Women at War, Hardest Times

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 10, 2009

Click to Play View Details

Women At War

Posted to Great Americans by SM on January 15, 2009

Click to Play View Details

Women at War

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 10, 2009

Click to Play View Details

Think of it this way. Old news never really dies even though they do. I miss you Irish!

Bill: Ease Agent Orange claims for Navy vets

While this is great news, it comes too late for too many like my friend Capt. Agnes "Irish" Bresnahan. She died in Washington DC after going there for another hearing on her claim. She had PTSD and Agent Orange illnesses but died before she saw this day.

Bill: Ease Agent Orange claims for Navy vets

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday May 11, 2009 11:18:09 EDT

Saying “time is running out” for blue-water Navy veterans of the Vietnam War who have had difficulty proving their ill health is the result of exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange, the chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee has reintroduced legislation that would presume sailors who patrolled Vietnam’s shoreline faced the same risk as ground forces.

“We owe it to our veterans to fulfill the promise made to them as a result of their service,” said committee chairman Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif..

Filner has cited the same imperative in support of his effort to push through legislation providing pensions to World War II Filipino Scouts who served alongside U.S. troops but never got promised benefits.

He also is working on legislation that would provide a $1,000 monthly benefit to Merchant Marine veterans who aided the military during World War II.

In this case, Filner said that the Veterans Affairs Department, Congress and the courts have devised laws and policies that provide unequal treatment for Vietnam veterans.

His Agent Orange bill, HR 2254, would revise VA rules so that any Vietnam War veteran suffering from a health problem that could be the result of Agent Orange exposure would be presumed to have a service-connected disability. The bill would apply to veterans who received a Vietnam service medal and were deployed on the land or in the air and sea of Vietnam during the war.
go here for more
Bill: Ease Agent Orange claims for Navy vets

Final arrangements have been made for Capt. Agnes "Irish" "Jackpot" Bresnahan

I still cannot believe I'm posting this. My heart is breaking over the loss of Irish. Aside from her friendship, she was one of the rarest there were in this nation. She served in uniform but kept on serving after. I have met very few like her. We all work hard for veterans and that is never in doubt but Irish kept going no matter what pain she was in and put the needs of other veterans first in her thoughts and deeds. When she could have been spending all of her time fighting to have her own claim honored and be awarded the justice she truly deserved, she set herself aside when others came to her for help. I can't remember how many times we were talking on the phone and she would bring up one veteran after another needing help, hardly mentioning her own problems. I know when I meet her once again as Christ promised we would, I will have a lot of questions to ask but above all why she had to come to her last day without seeing the justice she worked so hard for. I do know this nation is a lot better than it was before she came into in and today, is a little bit colder now that she's gone. She rests now in the arms of the angels but knowing Irish, she'll be nagging them real soon to help her beloved female veterans and then take care of the other veterans she spent her life serving.

Message to Irish
On Wednesday I'll have a mango margarita for you! Maybe even more.

Dear Friends,

Please help & circulate this.

After talking with Pam Sullivan & the Bresnahan Family this is the correct info for services & wishes in Irish's honor:

For those wishing to send cards please send to the following:

To Irish's mother & the Bresnahan family:
Teresa Bresnahan
144 Berkeley St.
Lawrence MA 01841


To Irish's Caregiver & soulmate:
Pam Sullivan
10 Marblehead Rd.
Windham, N.H. 03087

http://www.pollardfuneralhome.com/Obituaries.html

Agnes M. Bresnahan, Captain, Retired U.S. Army, of Windham, New Hampshire, known to her friends and family as “Irish,” died after a long illness on March 11, 2009. She was the beloved daughter of the late John C. Bresnahan and Agnes Scanlan Bresnahan. Irish attended Presentation of Mary Academy in Methuen, Massachusetts and graduated from Trinity College in Burlington, Vermont on the ROTC program in 1972. She studied at the University of Texas in the post-graduate program.

Irish trained with the U.S. Army at Fort McClellan in Alabama and proudly served her country stateside and in Germany from 1971 until 1977. She earned The Army Commendation Metal four times, twice with the First Oak Leaf Cluster; she also received The National Defense Metal twice. After retiring from the military, she worked at the IRS as a computer systems analyst until 2005. She was a staunch advocate for veterans’ rights. She was a member of the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Disabled Veterans of America, the United Female Veterans of America, and the American Legion, among other veterans’ groups.


Irish is survived by her mother, Agnes J. Bresnahan of Lawrence, Pamela Sullivan of Windham, John and Leslie Bresnahan of North Andover, Michael Bresnahan of York, Maine, Kathleen and Al Augevich of Haverhill, Patricia and Charles Gately of Wareham, Mary Bresnahan of Methuen, Claire Bresnahan of Houston, Texas, James Bresnahan of Pacifica, California, Thomas and Janice Bresnahan of Haverhill, Theresa Bresnahan of Lawrence, Margaret and Ernesto Hernandez of Houston, Texas, Maureen Bresnahan of Lawrence, many nieces and nephews, one great nephew, and many, many friends. She was predeceased by her father, John C. Bresnahan, a former Massachusetts state representative.


Calling hours will be at the Kenneth H. Pollard Funeral Home 233 Lawrence Street in Methuen, MA on Tuesday March 17 from 3:00 until 9:00 P.M. A funeral mass will be held at Saint Monica’s Church, 212 Lawrence Street in Methuen on Wednesday at 10:30 A.M.


In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the
Agent Orange Victims and Widows Support Network, Inc., P.O. Box 90, Davenport, FL. 33836 (http://www.agentorangequiltoftears.com/ )

or NamGuardianAngel #154 5703 Red Bug Lake Road, Winter Springs FL 32708-4969
(http://www.namguardianangel.com/).




Online tributes posted:

Agent Orange Victims & Widows Support Network

http://www.agentorangequiltoftears.com/Chat.html


NamGuardianAngel
http://woundedtimes.blogspot.com/2009/03/when-gods-help-does-not-come-blame-one.html


Veterans Info
http://www.veteransinfo.org/irish.html



HELPPP!, the Herbicide Exposure Legislative Proposal & Promotion Program
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AgentOrange-DioxinExposureBill-HELPP/


The Valley Patriot
http://www.valleypatriot.com/VP040208hero.html



Agent Orange Victims & Widows Support Network
Home Of The Agent Orange Quilt Of Tears
http://www.agentorangequiltoftears.com/

Sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance

When God's help does not come, blame the one He sent

Papa Roy's daily devotional hit me especially hard today. My friend, Capt. Agnes "Irish" "Jackpot" Bresnahan passed away in Washington DC yesterday two days after going for yet another hearing on her VA claim. Aside from the loss of a very dear friend, I'm struggling with the fact that her years of constant battle with the VA to honor her claim, tirelessly fighting for other veterans, suffering physically and emotionally with PTSD, has ended without the justice she truly deserved.

When terrible things happen to us and we turn to God for help, that help all too often does not come. This happens to all of us. It seems especially unfair when we are fighting for others and suffering because of doing it. Read the devotional and then you'll understand what I have to say after.

Bring it to a Lord who cares

It wasn't any trivial miracle, it was the beauty of the simple Savior meeting man on the simplest level of his life and supplying his simplest need. Does that tell you something about Christ in your life as a Christian? He literally moves creation to supply the simplest need. Does Christ supply our food? (John MacArthur)

John 2:5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

Jesus is tied to the events of your life. He is not just some remote supernatural being who is totally removed from our need. He cares about the smallest details of your life, and waits for you to call Him into our times of need so that He can minister to you. What is your need today? Salvation? Are you backslidden? Some burden? A bad situation? Some circumstances beyond your control, but not beyond your ability to worry over? Do as Mary did, bring it to a Lord who cares. Bring it to Jesus! (Alan Carr)

Pray for our nation

Give wisdom to our President & our leaders and bring your comforting peace through the power of your Holy Spirit. Help us here to reach to those that have been affected by tragedy.

In God we trust: Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; and let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified!” (Psalm 70:4)

Papa Roy IFOC Chaplain

One last thought: Jesus worked a miracle because a few people knew the value of listening to Him intently and obeying Him explicitly. I want to be like those faithful few, don’t you?

There have been many times when I was in dire need of help. I prayed my heart out until I could find no more words to use. Strength to get thru it came, patience when I needed it, hope after I prayed replaced hopelessness but sooner or later all of that faded away as the help I waited for did not come.

For a long time I wondered where the promises made by God and Christ were in my time of need. The Bible is filled with loving, caring messages, but the Sermon on the Mount seemed the most promising. All I needed to do was ask God. After all, when we're in financial trouble, He could pile gold bricks on the floor with a simple wave of His hand if He wanted to. He could provide anything we needed if He wanted to but when it does not come, the usual route we take is to think that He doesn't want to help us and it must be because we are not worthy, He cannot hear us or He's testing us. But that is all limiting God instead of thinking beyond His hand and thinking about other people in this world.

As a Chaplain and helping veterans all these years, I missed the obvious. It's not that He does not care, cannot supply what we ask of Him or is ignoring us. It's more the people He's trying to send are ignoring Him. I am like many people on this earth and spend my days trying to help others simply because I know what it's like for them to feel alone and because it's the right thing to do according to what Christians are commanded to do. We are to treat our neighbor (other humans) as we would want to be treated. In other words, help them the way we would want to be helped. When someone is in need they pray to God for help and He turns to us to supply that help. He tries to use us to fulfill His promise but too often we do not act on it. We come up with excuses to not go and visit a friend in need or set aside time to just listen to someone when their heart is breaking. We find reasons to not do what He's trying to get us to do. There is a cycle in a chain that is broken when we do not listen and let Him lead the way.

Many times in my life I was pulled to do something. The older I got, the more I understood that if God wanted me to do something, He'd figure out a way for me to do it. Financially there were obstacles to travel most of the time. If He wanted me to take a trip, I put out the word that I needed help getting there and the money came to get me to where I was needed to go. In the process there was someone there in dire need of help. Most of the time it was not just the person I was sent to help but others involved in what was going on needing help as well. When I left, there were people aided by God thru me and then they in turn helped others after. All they had to do was listen to the still small voice inside of them guiding them and miracles happened.

I often wonder how many other people are just not listening to Him calling on them to help when they are able to but not willing to. How many times has He called on you to reach out your hand to someone? How many times has He asked you to share what you have, either financially or emotionally? How many times has He laid the burden of someone else at your feet and just walked over it? Feeling guilty? Welcome to my world because I'm just as guilty as you are on that point. I've done just that too often in my own life while I do my best now to listen. We all tend to focus too much on our own problems. That is especially true when millions of people are losing their jobs, veterans come home from combat wounded and there is so much suffering across the nation. It seems we are all asking God for something at the same time but nothing is happening.

What if you had an abundance of shoes without laces and someone didn't have enough shoes but had a stockpile of laces? If you do nothing, you're stuck with useless shoes and they are stuck with the laces. Now you could toss them in the trash or combine forces and then you have perfectly usable shoes for someone without any. This can be accomplished if you listen to God asking you to open your mouth and ask for what you need but listen to what someone else needs at the same time.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AgentOrange-DioxinExposureBill-HELPP/
Irish spent her life taking care of and helping total strangers simply because they needed help. It's your turn now.

Originally donations were supposed to go to Irish's family but they must have changed their minds since the day I posted this. This is the information being sent out now.

Thank you for all of your condolences and outpouring of love.

Please rest assured that we have the necessary resources to bring Irish home.

Irish wanted donations to go to the Agent Orange Victims & Widows Support Network (www.agentorangequiltoftears.com) or Nam Guardian Angel(www.namguardianangel.com).

Donating to these charities will honor her memory and help her good work to continue on.

The Bresnahan Family

Remember that if help does not come when you need it, it's not that God is not answering your prayers, but other people are not answering His call to help.

Capt. Agnes "Jackpot" "Irish" Bresnahan last battle ended today

A hero died today. Irish's battle with her illnesses, her battle with the government for justice, was fought for the last time this week. She passed away this morning in Washington DC after giving testimony on Monday about her claim. Her caregiver, friend and constant companion, Pam, traveled with her and is waiting for Irish's sister to fly to Washington. Please keep them in your prayers.

For those of you not aware of who this hero was, how do I begin? She's all over the Internet, a fierce fighter for veterans rights and the obligations we owe to all our veterans but above all, she was a tiny women with an enormous heart. She fought the VA for years trying to find justice for herself, but when that justice was offered for her and her alone, she turned the offer down because other Fort McClellan veterans would not receive a dime unless they managed to fight just as hard as she did. Instead Irish waged a battle for all veterans this country owed a debt to.

Over the years, she always stunned me with her level of compassion for others while the pain of Agent Orange taking over her body and the constant battle with PTSD tried to defeat her, but she wouldn't give in. She just kept putting others first.

There will be more I'll have to say about Irish later, in a few days, because above all, she was also my friend and I'll miss her sense of humor she held onto, her smile and this world is a much better place for her having been here.

Ft. McClellan Veteran Takes Case to Washington

Whatever comes into our lives, it leaves us with choices. Do we pick ourselves up and move on, or do we reach back after others and help them? Most of the people involved with fighting for veterans are either veterans themselves or personally connected to them. In my case, I was born into it and married into it. In the case of Captain Agnes “Irish” Bresnahan, in her own struggle for justice, she reached back to help other veterans.

Captain Agnes M Bresnahan I came here today to a...
source of exposure identified as Fort McClellan, Alabama. Fort Ritchie,. Maryland and Fort Drum, NY have also been identified as Agent Orange



It began with Fort McClellan veterans, then female veterans leading into all veterans. She has been a tireless fighter for their rights even while she has been seeking justice for herself. Irish has traveled to Washington several times and testified before Congress, but now she will be traveling for her own hearing on her claim that has been tied up for years. It's been one thing after another, one excuse after another for what was caused by her willingness to serve the country.

February 20, 2009


On behalf of Captain “Irish” Agnes Bresnahan I made my personal journey to Washington DC today to hand deliver the video DVD historical story of Captain Bresnahan; Her chemical exposure service related illness to herbicides – Agent Orange.

DVD copies were delivered to Members of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, Chairman – Congressman Bob Filner, California.

Subcommittee for the House on Veterans Affairs, Chairman,
Congressman John Hall, NY - Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, Arizona.

Also to Congressman Steve Kagen M.D.

These congressional representatives in Washington are the first ever to have the opportunity to know this historical case of Captain Bresnahan’s exposure to chemical herbicides on U.S soil at Ft. McClellan Alabama 1971 – 1977.

It is now up to these congressional representatives to respond and take an action to correct the injustices exposed in this story to Captain Bresnahan for her and for all Vietnam Veterans exposed to chemical herbicides, state-side, in the Republic of Vietnam, or any other place while in military service serving the United States of America.

Do we get a response?

Best,
Carlo Albanese

There are many times when our elected representatives go to Washington, get their names in the news for what they do, but hardly ever have what they do not do publicized. Ignorance may be bliss, but in the cases of our veterans and the way they get treated, it's also deadly. I can't remember how many times I was on the phone with Irish and she was telling me about one more knife in her back regarding her claim or the countless other cases of other veterans seeking justice.

When we hear the word "justice" that is really all these veterans want. They don't want handouts. They don't want free rides and they don't want to take anything they is not required because whatever is wrong with them has been caused by their service to the nation. It's as simple as that. I'm not talking about the frauds running around managing to get what they did not earn. Thankfully those cases are very few while the vast majority are veterans forced by circumstances to begin to regret they served. Even with that regret, these men and women would do it all over again no matter how they were treated.

Washington's quote about how we treat veterans was also a warning.

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

We do not treat them right. We train them to do their "jobs" and give them what they need to do those jobs. In the civilian world, workers are trained, but if they end up getting hurt on the job, workman's compensation reimburses them for lost income. In the military world, the DOD and the VA are supposed to reimburse them for lost income if they are hurt because they served. That's what too many people miss.

If we are placed in dangerous situations, OSHA steps in to make sure employers are doing the right thing. If servicemen are placed in dangerous situations, it's just taken for granted. Doesn't matter that chemicals they are exposed to destroy the rest of their lives as well as their family members. They have to take their cases one by one to the DOD and the VA as if they are the only one affected instead of the DOD contacting all veterans they know were exposed. They have records of who was exposed and should automatically compensate them the way justice demands.

If we are exposed to sexual assaults, law enforcement steps in and the perpetrator goes on trial and then jail. In the military, the victim is blamed and the perpetrator is transferred, much like the Catholic priest accused of sexual assaults on children were simply transferred from one parish to another.

If we are exposed to sexual harassment, again it is considered illegal and the perpetrators are punished. Yet again in the military it happens all the time and is viewed as just part of the culture.

If we are injured on the job because it's part of our job to be in dangerous positions, such as law enforcement or fire departments, we are compensated for the incomes we can no longer earn. Yet if servicemen are injured on their jobs, they have to fight longer and harder to have their cases resolved.

When it comes to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, civilians are taken care of a lot faster with Social Security Disability, private disability insurance, workman's compensation and their medical insurance pays to have them treated. When it comes to the DOD and the VA, they are required to not only prove they were where the traumatic events happened, they were injured by the event, they also have to prove it couldn't have occurred for any other reason. When they finally do have their case approved for compensation, they are hardly ever presented with the full compensation they should received and then must fight all over again to prove they should receive more.

Supposedly the DOD and the VA are so appreciative of the men and women willing to serve this nation, they "take care of their own" but if "their own" end up disabled, they are no longer one of them but belong to someone else and become the "issue" of someone else. In other words, someone else's problem.

Rank and file become veterans and end up taking care of their own against the leaders they thought they could trust with their lives once their lives were no longer of service to them. It's wrong and has been wrong for too many generations. Washington would have never accepted any of the conditions the rest of us expect the members of the military to tolerate. After all, we don't when it comes to civilian life but we expect them to tolerate it when they return to civilian life no matter what they carry with them.

Pray for Irish that justice for her will lead to justice for all Fort McClellan veterans and every other veteran forced to fight the nation they risked their lives for.

Deploy, deny, dishonor, repeat. Vietnam to Afghanistan

The year listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall and other monuments is 1975. That was the year people assumed the dying stopped due to the Vietnam War. Oh, how very, very wrong they are. It's been suggested that if we were to count all the death associated with combat in Vietnam, between PTSD and Agent Orange, the Wall would have to be big enough to hold over 300,000 names, plus the names that have been acceptable combat related deaths.
The Vietnam War did not end when 1973 rolled around and documents were signed. As of this very day, they are still dying because of Vietnam. PTSD is still killing them as they succumb to the elements of life on the street homeless and abandoned. While they self-medicate. While they find themselves so hopeless, they can no longer find another reason to want to wake up tomorrow morning. While they run out of options as their claims are yet again denied and yet again they feel dishonored for their service to this nation. They die a slow death because they were exposed to the enemy in Vietnam and the enemy sent to Vietnam in the form of Agent Orange. Their children carry the chemicals within them and perhaps their children's children. All of this adding to the finally tally of Vietnam that is still not concluded.
There are quiet heroes all over this nation fighting for themselves, but also for every other veteran that has "borne" the wounds of battle and of combat with all it entailed. They fight for women that were raped by their own "brothers" in arms while they were deployed to tend to the wounded. They fight on. One more case of deploy, deny, dishonor and repeat.
I want you to meet one of them. She is a tiny terror! She's also very well known if you travel in Veteran's circles. Irish has gone to Washington several times to offer testimony on what she's been going thru but also brining testimonies of women and men that would not have had their stories heard otherwise. Most reporters say that Vietnam is old news and they are only interested in the newer veterans but as the saying goes, those who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it. If they do not report on what is still happening to the veterans of Vietnam, then we will be facing the same problems thirty years from now with the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. As it is, between claims being denied, misdiagnosed PTSD, contaminations to toxic chemicals, along with everything we are failing these veterans for, it looks as if it will all be an endless nightmare for them.
This is the testimony Irish gave and I really want you to read it. Then understand as her claim is continually denied, documents lost, she has been suffering all these years but instead of just caring about herself and her own problems, she's been standing as a hero to others not as bold as she is.

Agnes “Irish” Bresnahan)testimony before VA disability commission

I came here today to address the total and intentional failure of the VA in
processing and approving service connected entitlements for women and men exposed to weapons of mass destruction in the performance of their military duties both stateside and overseas.
Exposed and lied to and denied proper medical attention. Unknowingly we women and men in uniform were used as experiments dating back to the 1950's exposing us to chemical agents which include but are not limited to PCB, mustard gas, nerve gas, seran gas and many other chemicals containing dioxin/Agent Orange.
I wish to address the VA's hierarchy’s constant, immoral and intentional denial of
service connected compensation and entitlements to veterans exposed to these
chemical agents and total disregard to the regulations pertaining to this exposure.
And to their widows/widowers and most of all the innocent, who bear our service, the
children and grandchildren who die from Agent Orange or those who lived and
bear the scars of their parents or grandparents service. The Agent Orange babies. I am one of those Agent Orange (Dioxin) victims, service connected, who have been denied entitlements, medical care and compensation. Diagnosed at Walter Reed Medical Hospital, on active duty, source of exposure identified as Fort McClellan, Alabama. Fort Ritchie, Maryland and Fort Drum, NY have also been identified as Agent Orange sites and I have served on these Installations also. I have had this poison of multiple chemical exposure, including Agent Orange, in my body since I was 20 years old and I will be 56 years old next month.
There is no such thing as Agent Orange... a colored stripe on a 55 gallon drum. Yet
there were many other colored stripes on Legislation: Carolyn Tyler hundreds of thousands of 55 gallon drums.
All had one thing, Dioxin. This is what is killing those who were exposed. And Dioxin
is why the reproductive systems of women and men in uniform pass on to our children
and grandchildren. Our DNA is mutated and our immune systems are compromised. Yes both for women and men and in many ways more for women.
The Dioxin, after traveling and destroying each and every organ of our bodies, takes
and destroys the reproductive system.
And I know the suffering of men who have bore this. But only in the past few months
have I come to understand so deeply the pain and sorrow that women in uniform
have suffered.
The medical conditions of Agent Orange do not discriminate. AO doesn't care where you were exposed. AO is an equal opportunity poison. I have the same brain
damage, nerve damage, bone disease, multiple chemical sensitivity, chronic pain,
chronic fatigue and a long list of other AO illnesses as anyone who served in Viet
Nam, Korea, Cambodia and Laos.
I have come here at a great financial expense, because the VA Commission does not post when it will be convening in advance. Those of us who come to be heard are unable to take advantage of hotel and airline discounted prices. This short notice of the hearings has precluded many from coming here today. These women and men who cannot be here today have asked that I bring their testimonies with me. I am honored to do so and request that these statements be read out loud and entered into the official record of these hearings.
I have been in a Leave Without Pay status since September 21, 2005 from my position
as a GS12/9 Computer System Analyst with the Department of the Treasury, Internal
Revenue Service, Andover, Massachusetts.
I have a pending reconsideration of Disability Retirement with the Office of
Personnel Management. As OPM required PAGE 8 THE FOUR FORTY EIGHTHE EIGHTER
causation of the Agent Orange diagnosis supported by clinical and scientific
evidence which" my doctors" used, the VA Hospital, Office of the Chief of Staff
advised him that he was advised by the legal department that he could not do that because it would amount to "expert testimony". Including my active duty and my IRS Federal Service, I have over 30 years of service. My position at the IRS was
eliminated due to a reduction in force and was a violation of OPM regulations and
laws that protect active duty disabled 30% or more, including the Viet Nam
Readjustment Act of 1974.
The Viet Nam Readjustment Act was the law that I was hired under at the IRS in
August of 1983. During the reduction in force, I was placed in a position and shift
that management knew that I could not physically do. The VA Hospital and Parkland Medical Center submitted letters to support my medical condition and my limitations. But they were ignored by all levels of management. My medical conditions worsened after 2 and a half days of working after the RIF stand up date of September 19, 2005. Since that date I have been homebound and require assistance from my friends and family in all aspects of daily routines. The only money I receive is the $870.00 VA compensation and much of that is used for medical services and medications which the VA will not provide or cover.
My military career came to an end as the physical pain, chronic fatigue, the multiple
chemical sensitivity, brain and nerve damage and other AO illnesses was so great that I could no longer do my job as a Combat Support Signal Officer. If not for
the exposure the Army would have been my career, as I loved being a soldier.
A civilian again and walking wounded and dying, My outward appearance remained
unchanged until 2001 when I went through "wasting again" and the Dioxin, which is
stored in fatty tissue, once again traveled through my body. Since my exposure,
internally my body raged with poison. Outside it appeared normal.
The challenge to find a good paying job, that I could perform with the chronic pain
and fatigue and other AO illnesses, took years. And I went from a GS 4 in 1983 and I
crawled my way in pain to a ladder position 7/9/11/12 Computer System Analyst. This was a job that I could do and excel in and I did and I received the maximum performance ratings for years.
Overcoming the physical obstacles of my AO illnesses with the pain. Never pain free
but manageable pain. Pain and fatigue was my motivation to work each day.
Every day that I went to work was another day that I lived and the Agent lost. I was
productive and had the dignity of a pay check and I was not a burden. On the
days and sometimes for a week, that I could not work, due to the pain, the Agent
did not win, I would tell myself that my body needed to rest and this is how it must
be.
All those who are chemically exposed must reach far into themselves to pull all
that is there and push away smells, visual memories of service and sounds that send
fear and hate to our minds and heart. To search our minds for words, to search for
the name of a common object or the name of a loved one or how to spell a simple word. We must work around the brain damage. How well it is done depends on where the brain damage is.
We must do this in order to survive and to function. And many do so and for those
that don't there is comfort for them in other veterans who understand. Been there,
done that. Then comes the VA, established by Abraham Lincoln, that the real battle
begins. And in many ways it is more painful then any battle ever fought. To have to beg and plead for their compensation and entitlements only to be told to prove it and the proof is ignored and rejected and slapped down. And when the entitlement is for a spouse or a child that the pain is so intense that it eats away the soul.
Those of us who have PTSD and the brain and nerve damage, which Admiral E.R.
Zumwalt Jr. stated in his classified report to the Secretary of the Department of
Veterans Affairs dated May 5,1990 and other writings of Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Jr...
the label of PTSD does not address the brain and nerve damage which is a significant attribution to PTSD, but rather the label of PTSD is a stigma of mental frailty and/or a personality defect and not a valid condition. PTSD carries a stigma which the VA and other government agencies have used to negate valid and life threatening conditions to prevent the filing of service connected illnesses.
Dealing with the VA will cause PTSD and I am serious about that because you go
back to every day that you served. For me it was back 36 years.
The VA assignment of 30% disability for central nervous system disorder, effective
June11, 1977, is not adequate nor was I given proper medical care for the other
illnesses which triggered other medical conditions, such as immune diseases and
disorders.
In 1994 I received the Agent Orange form letter from the VA which states that you
were exposed to herbicides and pesticides used in Viet Nam. (Agent Orange)
When I reopened my claim and filed for Degenerating Bone Disease and Disc Disease, it was denied. "Your 214 does not show service in Viet Nam". I reopened my claim for the brain and spinal, central nervous system...DENIED "it is as likely as not" that your neurological condition is caused by anxiety and depression and your military medical records are silent for anxiety and depression. This was refuted by a complete neurological exam done by Derry Neurological Associates and the damage I have is not a result of anxiety and depression. My MRI and neurological exams by both the VA and civilian doctors confirm and validate the diagnosis made by Walter Reed Hospital.
And my fight with the VA goes on. I went before the Decision Review Officer, Appeals on May 10, 2005. As my medical exposure was diagnosed on active duty and the denials of the VA were so blatant, I still brought medical documentation to support my claim. But I ask this commission why that was necessary and still I have been denied over and over again by the VA. The decision of the DRO increased my service connection compensation from thirty to sixty percent. But it was not retroactive to June, 1977. I filed papers for entitlement to 100% unemployability. The VA rating guide states that the employment will not be held against the veteran. It also states to err on behalf of the veteran.
I also submitted for entitlement for my mother, who will be 81 in January, for loss
of my financial aid. I have always been able to assist my family with financial,
emotional and physical support until my second wasting. Also my entitlement for
my primary care taker. Entitlement for assisted living and adapted housing which
was all denied by the VA. Why, because the veteran is gainfully employed even
though I have not been able to work since September, 2005. This veteran has not
been able to do many things and I have to hire people to maintain my home and
yard. The many things I used to love to do myself, like cook and garden, are long
gone. I am confined to the first floor of my home and among the things that I cannot
do, unless someone is with me, is to walk up the stairs and take a bath.
Where is the dignity, the honor, the self esteem and the self worth of the officer
and the soldier I was and still am-- denied by the VA. DELAY, DENY UNTIL WE ALL DIE.
This replaces the words of Abraham Lincoln----TO BIND THE NATION'S WOUNDS, TO CARE FOR HIM WHO SHALL HAVE BORNE THE BATTLE, AND FOR HIS WIDOWS AND ORPHANS.

I CAN'T RECALL WHEN THE WORD VETERAN... CAME TO MEAN WORTHLESS FREELOADER

Subject: I CAN'T RECALL WHEN THE WORD VETERAN... CAME TO MEAN WORTHLESS FREELOADER


TO ALL VETERANS FROM AGNES M "IRISH" BRESNAHAN US ARMY CAPTAIN SICG/MI 10 SEPTEMBER 1971 TO 10 JUNE 1977

T&P SC CHEMICAL EXPOSURE STATESIDE EFFECTIVE DATE 11 JUNE 1977 SITE OF CHEMICAL EXPOSURE FORT MCCLELLAN ALA, FORT RITCHIE MD AND FORT DRUM NY DIAGONESED AT WALTER REED MEDICAL CENTER 1973.


IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT ON TUESDAY 4 NOVEMBER 2008... VETERANS ARE VISABLE AT THE POLLING STATIONS AS VETERANS... WEAR YOUR DOG TAGS, HATS, ETC... ALL OF US MEN AND WOMEN NEED TO SHOW THAT WE ARE VETERANS VOTING... VOTING FOR WHAT WE EARNED, VOTING THAT ALL VETERANS THEIR WIDOWS/WIDOWERS CHILDREN.. ALL ERAS.. RECEIVE THE PROPER MEDICAL TREATMENT AND DIGINITY OF KEEPING OUR OATH... THE US GOVERNMENT HAVE NOT KEPT THEIR PART OF THE OATH... INSTEAD DEIND EVEN BASIC MEDICAL CARE... TOO MANY OF US HAVE DIED KEEPING OUR OATH. ALL OF US WOULD PROUDLY WEAR THE MILITARY UNIFORM OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY AGAIN. WE LOVE OUR COUNTRY EVEN THOUGH THIS GOVERNMENT THOWS US AWAY.... PLEASE PLEASE... ALL BRANCHES ALL ERAS LET ANYONE WHO SEES YOU ON 4 NOVEMBER 2008 KNOWS YOU OFFERED YOUR LIFE FOR OUR COUNTRY....STAND PROUD....

I SALUTE YOU YOUR FAMILY AND CHILDREN .... AS WE WILL BE KNOWN AS THE NOBLE GENERATION.


WELCOME HOME SIMPER FI... VOTE


IRISH BRESNAHAN