Vets exposed to Agent Orange honored with Quilt of Tears

Vets exposed to Agent Orange honored with Quilt of Tears
The News Herald
Christ Olwell
November 7, 2013

Sheila Snyder helps her husband Henry hang quilts at VFW Post 2185 on Wednesday. The quilts are comprised of blocks created by families of the veterans who have died or are sick from Agent Orange contamination during the Vietnam War.
HEATHER LEIPHART News Herald

HILAND PARK — Henry Snyder came home from the Vietnam War and put his experiences there behind him. For nearly 40 years he didn’t talk about the war and he didn’t associate with other veterans — until one day when his wife convinced him to go to an event for men exposed to Agent Orange.

When he arrived, a small woman came right up to him, planted a kiss on him and said something no one else had said to him before: “Welcome home.” The greeting was a stark contrast to the one many Vietnam vets received when they returned.

“You just fall in love with her,” he said.

Snyder and his wife, Shelia, began to frequent Jennie LeFevre’s events. In 1998, LeFevre stitched a quilt that became an organization called the Agent Orange Victims and Widows Support Network. After awhile, she began to call the Snyders her “angels in training,” but they just thought it was nickname.

But LeFevre had been ill, and after she died in 2004 they realized what she meant when she said “in training;” she had been grooming them to take over the network and the Quilt of Tears, which the Snyders brought to Panama City this week from their home in Davenport.
read more here

Agent Orange Quilt of Tears tours for a reason

Never forget the price of Vietnam is still being paid by those we sent and their families.

Agent Orange Quilt of Tears balloon release

Agent Orange Quilt of Tears
There is a video on this site plus news reports for the sake of our Vietnam Veterans dying of Agent Orange.

get the tissue box

Leo students see faces of war

Leo students see faces of war
Vietnam Memorial replica coming to school.
By Sarah Janssen
The lights switched off and a photo was projected on the wall of a group of men, Vietnam veterans, most with thick hair and mustaches.

“Which one was shot in the leg four times?” asked one student. His history teacher at Leo Junior-Senior High School, Mike Lance, pointed to the photo. “This guy,” he said.

On Friday, Lance finished the Vietnam War lecture he began earlier this week to the seventh-grade class.

Teachers at Leo have incorporated the war into English and history lessons throughout the week to prepare students for the arrival of a traveling half-size replica of the Vietnam War Memorial wall called the Wall That Heals and the accompanying Agent Orange Quilt of Tears. Both honor veterans who died in the war or from complications and injuries from the war.

See exhibit

♦The Wall That Heals and the Agent Orange Quilt of Tears will be on display 24 hours a day 6 p.m. Wednesday-dusk Sunday at Leo Junior-Senior High School, 14600 Amstutz Road.

♦The Wall That Heals will be in the south lot of Leo and the Agent Orange Quilt of Tears will be in the front entryway of the school.

♦An opening ceremony honoring local fallen soldiers will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

♦A traveling museum and information center will be available.

Leo students see faces of war

Shelia Snyder's tribute to veterans

Beautiful!

It is the Veteran, not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Veteran, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Veteran, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Veteran, not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the Veteran, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Veteran, not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.


It is the Veteran who salutes the Flag,

It is the Veteran who serves under the Flag,

Eternal Rest Grant Them O Lord
And Let Perpetual Light Shine Upon Them
~Sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance~

I honor and remember our military, both past and present. I help with health and well being issues of our Veterans of all Era’s and for the active duty military of today.
This is the focus, this is our purpose, this is what we owe to our Veterans.
Shelia Snyder
Agent Orange Quilt Of Tears

Agent Orange Victims & Widows Support Network
Home Of The Agent Orange Quilt Of Tears
http://www.agentorangequiltoftears.com
~Sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance~

Health Effects of the Vietnam War The Aftermath

I really adore my friends. This one came in from Shelia over at Agent Orange Quilt of Tears

Opening Statement of Hon. Bob Filner, Chairman, Full Committee on Veterans' Affairs
I would like to thank everyone for attending today’s hearing entitled, “Health Effects of the Vietnam War—the Aftermath. The stated purpose of today’s hearing is to examine the health effects that our veterans sustained during the War in Vietnam as a result of being exposed to the toxic dioxin-based concoctions that we now generally refer to as Agent Orange.

As such, we will follow-up on VA’s outstanding promise to finally conduct the National Vietnam Veterans Longitudinal Study (NVVLS). In this vein, we will try to stop the stovepiping in VA by also looking at how all of these issues relate to providing benefits for all Agent Orange combat veterans for presumptive conditions under current law.

I want to ensure that we do not leave any of our veterans exposed to Agent Orange while fighting overseas uncompensated for their injuries and left behind due to VA technicalities. It has been 10 long years since Congress mandated that the VA study the long-term lifetime psychological and physical health impact of the Vietnam war on the veteran of that era. In 2000, Congress required that the VA conduct a longitudinal study by building on the findings of the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study of 1984.

The 1984 study was a landmark study, which provided a snapshot of the psychological and physical health of Vietnam veterans. A follow-up longitudinal study is needed to understand the life course of health outcomes and co-morbid events that have resulted from the traumas our men and women endured during the Vietnam war.

Initially the VA adhered to the letter of the law, but halted the NVVLS study in 2003 by not renewing a three-year non-competitive sole source contract that they awarded back in 2001. The VA cited cost reasons, noting that the original estimate for completing the NVVLS had ballooned from $5 million to $17 million.

The VA took no further steps and ignored the law until this Committee received a proposal from former Secretary Peake in January of 2009. Former Secretary Peake recommended substituting the NVVLS with a study of twins who served in the Vietnam War and a study of women Vietnam war veterans, which would cost about $10 million.

Given the cost of the alternative option, it seems to me that the VA could have completed the NVVLS on time had the Department chosen to allocate the $10 million to the original contract award back in 2003.

This Committee did not see the merit of the alternative proposal and has continued to advocate for the completion of the NVVLS. In September 2009, Secretary Shinseki committed to carrying out the NVVLS study and while I applaud the Secretary for his commitment, I remain cautious and vigilant about this issue.

Through today’s hearing, I would like to better understand the progress that the VA has made in conducting the NVVLS study. I also hope to learn about the potential barriers that we can proactively address so that VA remains on track to complete the study. Also, Congress passed several measures to address disability compensation issues of Vietnam veterans.

The Veterans’ Dioxin and Radiation Exposure Compensation Standards Act of 1984 (P.L. 98-542) required the VA to develop regulations for disability compensation to Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange.

In 1991, the Agent Orange Act (P.L. 102-4) established for the first time a presumption of service-connection for diseases associated with herbicide exposure. The Agent Orange Act authorized the VA to contract with the IOM to conduct a scientific review of the evidence linking certain medical conditions to herbicide exposure.

Under this law, the VA is required to review the biennial reports of the IOM and to issue regulations to establish a presumption of service-connection for any disease for which there is scientific evidence of a positive association with herbicide exposure. However, VA illogically back-tracked on the Agent Orange Act regulations by reversing its own policy to move to require a “foot on land occurrence” by Vietnam veterans in order to prove service-connection. This means that the Vietnam Service Medals, etc. would no longer be accepted as proof of combat.

This change excluded nearly 1 million Vietnam veterans who had served in our Navy, Air Force, and in nearby border combat areas. This is an unfair and unjust result that has been litigated endlessly-- and ultimately against these veterans. I am trying to undo this injustice in my bill, the Agent Orange Equity Act of 2009, H.R. 2254. I thank all of my fellow colleagues for their support of my bill and urge all Committee Members to become a co-sponsor.

Today, I hope to hear from VA why it reversed its policy that now excludes our Blue Water service members from presumptive consideration for service-connection and treatment. I also want to know why it is ignoring the latest 2009 IOM recommendation that members of the Blue Water Navy should not be excluded from the set of Vietnam-era veterans with presumed herbicide exposure. I know that VA has asked the IOM to issue a report on Blue Water veterans in 18 months, but that’s 18 months too long.

The “foot on land” requirement is especially unreasonable when you consider that these servicemembers were previously treated equally to other Vietnam Veterans for benefits purposes. Moreover, several Australian Agent Orange studies long ago concluded that their Blue water veterans who served side-by-side with our Blue Water veterans were exposed to Agent Orange and because of the water distillation process on the ships ingested it more directly.

While I applaud VA for recently adding the three new presumptions for Parkinson’s Disease, ischemic heart disease and B-cell leukemias for Agent Orange exposed veterans, those are three new presumptions for which Blue Water veterans may suffer and will not be treated for or compensated. I urge VA to start compensating these veterans now. Just like it reversed itself in 2002, I strongly urge VA to reverse itself now and compensate these deserving veterans.

Finally, I want to know for sure that VA plans to make sure Blue Water veterans are also included in the NVVLS so that they and their families and survivors have a chance to get the benefits they deserve on equal footing with other Vietnam veterans. I look forward to hearing from all of our witnesses today and thank you for being here to examine these long-standing issues.

Health Effects of the Vietnam War – The Aftermath
Room 334 Cannon House Office Building Multimedia Link
Opening Statements
Hon. Bob Filner, Chairman, Full Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Hon. Harry E. Mitchell, a Representative in Congress from the State of Arizona
Witness Testimonies
Panel 1
Richard A. Fenske, Ph.D., M.P.H., Professor and Acting Chair, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, and Chair, Committee on Review of the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbices, (Seventh Bienniel Update) Board on the Health of Select Populations, Institute of Medicine, The National Academies
Charles R. Marmar, M.D., Chair, Department of Psychiatry, New York University Langone School of Medicine, New York, NY
Randall B. Williamson, Director, Health Care, U.S. Government Accountability Office
Panel 2
Richard F. Weidman, Executive Director for Policy and Government Affairs, Vietnam Veterans of America
Joseph L. Wilson, Deputy Director, Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission, American Legion
Commander John B. Wells, USN (Ret.), Cofounder and Trustee, Veterans Association of Sailors of the Vietnam War
John Paul Rossie, Executive Director, Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association
Vivianne Cisneros Wersel, Au.D., Chair, Government Relations Committee, Gold Star Wives of America, Inc.
Panel 3
Joel Kupersmith, M.D., Chief Research and Development Officer, Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Victoria Anne Cassano, M.D., MPH, Director, Radiation and Physical Exposures and Acting Director, Environmental Agents Service, Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Panel 4
Submissions for the Record
Reserve Officers Association of the United States, and Reserve Enlisted Association

Quilt of Tears part of Memorial Day observance

When we remember the loss of life from wars we need to also remember that the loss does not end when the guns go silent. When it came to Agent Orange, the death count for Vietnam veterans has still not been reached. It still claims lives everyday. Just as with PTSD, we don't seem to remember the lives lost because of combat as well as we remember the lives lost during it.

April 12, 2010 Orland Park News Highlights

Memorial Day services for Veterans planned in Orland Park

ORLAND PARK, IL – The Village of Orland Park’s Memorial Day Ceremonies are poignant tributes to those who have died serving our country. Flags from each of the 50 states billow as they provide a colorful frame for the village’s towering memorial, Ara Pace – Place of Peace. Bagpipes wail as veterans file in for the presentation of colors as audience members silently rise to their feet.

This year’s ceremony will be the first in almost twenty years without retired US Air Force Colonel Father Leo Lyons who passed away at the age of 87 on February 18, 2010.

“Father Leo never missed one of our ceremonies,” said Mayor Dan McLaughlin. “He was a true veteran’s veteran and made sure he participated every Memorial Day and Veterans Day,” the mayor recalled.

Orland Park’s observance of Memorial Day 2010 will span four days with the Agent Orange Quilt of Tears on display in the Jane Barnes Annex of the Orland Park Civic Center from 9:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m., May 28 through May 31. Vietnam War era memorabilia will be on display for the four days with guest speakers and presentations planned for each of the days the quilt is in Orland Park.
read more here
http://www.swnewsherald.com/news_frontpage/2010/04/041210op_vets.php

Delano woman organizes Agent Orange event in memory of father

Delano woman organizes Agent Orange event in memory of father
Delano resident Jen Bakken is organizing an Agent Awareness Event in memory of her father, Steve Emery, who served in Vietnam and then lost his battle with Agent Orange related cancer on July 23.

The event will take place during Agent Orange Awareness Month at noon, Friday, Oct. 23, near the Vietnam Veteran Memorial, in front of the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Medical Center. Veterans, their families and the public are invited to attend Steve Emery Agent Orange Day.

Those affected by Agent Orange will be encouraged to share their stories. Orange balloons will be given out to the first 60 people in attendance, along with orange ribbon pins. The balloons are to be released and will include a message about Agent Orange. Those who attend are encouraged to come in uniform or wear orange.

The purpose of the event is to inform Vietnam veterans about the related disease and health risks to themselves, their post-war children and families. All veterans are encouraged to obtain health examinations for Agent Orange related diseases and health risks. Event organizers also want to promote public awareness and recognize the victims of Agent Orange and their families..

Bakken, of Delano, lost her father and "best friend" to Agent Orange related cancer "at the young age of 60 years old."

"The battle with Agent Orange doesn't end with the Vietnam veterans," she said. "It affects families, and friends. There are many victims."

Bakken hopes this event will promote awareness about Agent Orange and offer support to others affected by it, in memory of her father. She hopes to share with others how Agent Orange "broke her heart."

Agent Orange was one of the weed-killing chemicals used by the U.S. military in the Vietnam War. It was sprayed to remove leaves from trees that enemy troops hid behind. Agent Orange and similar chemicals were known as "herbicides." Agent Orange was applied by airplanes, helicopters, trucks and backpack sprayers. There is a large list of diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure.

For more information regarding Agent Orange visit www.va.gov. For information about the Agent Orange Awareness event, contact Bakken at jlynnb70@yahoo.com





Please Join Us For The 2nd Annual Veterans Day Agent Orange Balloon Release!
Click Here For Info
Home Of The Agent Orange Quilt Of Tears
Agent Orange Victims and Widows Support Network
Home Of The Agent Orange Quilt Of Tears


Sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance

Quilt of Tears recalls Agent Orange victims

Quilt of Tears recalls Agent Orange victims

By Audrey Stanton
Register-Herald Features Editor

By Audrey Stanton

REGISTER-HERALD features editor

RAINELLE — Living veterans aren’t the only ones honored in Rainelle this weekend.

Under a large white tent in the town’s industrial park, “The Quilt of Tears” exhibit features a collection of 26 quilts honoring victims of a deadly herbicide used primarily during the Vietnam War.

“It’s an emotional sight for many of the veterans who see it,” said Henry Snyder, a veteran who is suffering for the ill effects of Agent Orange. He and his wife Shelia travel with the exhibit, sharing its message anywhere they can. The Florida couple took over the cause after the widow who started it could no longer do so.

They say hundreds of thousands of Vietnam veterans have suffered and died from the effects of Agent Orange. Yet an accurate figure is anyone’s guess because most cases aren’t traced. They place it around 500,000. Most death certificates list the cause of death as cancer unless a widow states otherwise, the Snyders say.
go here for more of this story
Quilt of Tears recalls Agent Orange victims

Email from Sheila and Henry


Dear Friends,

Henry & I just got home yesterday from our trip to Rainelle, W. Va. where we displayed The Quilt Of Tears during the L.Z. Rainelle Veterans Reunion 2009 (http://www.lzrainelle.com/). It was a very nice town & event which began with a biker group Task Force Omega from Kentucky (http://www.greasyonline.com/events/tfo_rainelle.pdf) traveling & stopping in Rainelle on their way to The Wall in DC. Part of "Run For The Wall".

The color scheme used for the L.Z. Rainelle Veterans Reunion this year was orange & black. I've included a beautiful wreath that was given to us & was displayed with The Quilt of Tears during the event.

Rainelle is a pretty small West Virginia town but during the five day Quilt display we had the special opportunity to meet many Veterans & families that are affected by illnesses that AO has caused.

The school children from Rainelle Elementary also visited us during that time which is always a pretty special experience & one that we enjoy.

I believe that we helped many of those people with information along with education about AO & the Quilt Of Tears project. We were honored to have been in Rainelle.

Rev. John Steer (***see note below) joined everyone in Rainelle & performed Sunday morning services, which is an honor but one that Henry & I missed.

I do think he would have understood & forgiven us though... A local elderly WW2 Veteran come to see what The Quilts were all about & led to quite a long, very enjoyable visit. He talked of Rainelle, where he spent all of his life with the exception of his service in WW2. (I just love talking & listening to folks like that :o) He had such a proud, knowledgeable soft spoken way about him that blended sense of humor as most of the older Vets do. He left us for a little bit then returned with an old painting of the local area years before, explaining how it used to be. It was indeed a joy to listen to him & tears came to his eyes as he said " You know there is people today that say the Holocaust never happened" I hugged him wiping my own tears & knew that I was exactly where I should have been for Sunday services.

Unfortunately, Henry & I were unable to take extra time off from our jobs this year to travel on to DC to display The Quilts near The Wall on Memorial Day but perhaps next year we will have the time to display both places.

Agent Orange Advice regarding service in

Kurt is a Thailand Veteran & very experienced herbicide researcher that has recently been successful in winning his case for Diabetes due his AO exposure in Thailand & wishes to help others if at all possible. Kurt's website
"The Bottom Line" is located at http://tmai18.spaces.live.com
and it is packed full of information on the herbicide issues in Thailand.

Below is Kurt's ideas that may help other Thailand Vets

1. Tell your VSO that the claim is for 'direct exposure to herbicides outside Vietnam', and is not a claim under P.L. 102-4 for presumption of exposure to herbicides in the country of Vietnam 38 CFR 3.307(a)(6) and 38 CFR 3.309(e). As evidence, make sure the following is submitted. Agent Orange use was terminated November 26, 1971, so use 'herbicides' as defined in M21-1MR, Part IV, Subpart ii, Chapter 2, Section C, paragraph 10a (http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/admin21/m21%5F1/mr/part4/subptii/ch02/ch02%5Fsecc.doc ) and 38 CFR 3.307(a)(6)(i),


Evidence: Your Military Orders to Korat with the dates of the assignment and DAFSC.
Evidence: A statement or performance report which states you performed duties along the perimeters of the base or in the MMS area.
Evidence: Attached copies of 'Mission Policy on Base Defense', 11/1/1969 from AFHRA FOIA 08-0020, this is the FOIA letter, you have the actual policy.
Evidence: Attached copies of 'Project CHECO: Base Defense in Thailand', excerpt from AFHRA FOIA 07-066, this is the FOIA letter, I believe you should include only the top letter and the attached excerpt.

2. Tell your VSO that your claim is filed in accordance with current regulations, laws, and court decisions, and is in no way reliant on your award of the Vietnam Service Medal and that: 'Notwithstanding the aforementioned provisions relating to presumptive service connection, which arose out of the Veteran's Dioxin and Radiation Exposure Compensation Standards Act, Pub. L. No. 98-542, § 5, 98 Stat. 2,725, 2,727-29 (1984), and the Agent Orange Act of 1991, Pub. L. No. 102-4, § 2, 105 Stat. 11 (1991), the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has determined that a claimant is not precluded from establishing service connection with proof of direct causation. Combee v. Brown, 34 F.3d 1039, 1042 (Fed. Cir. 1994); see also 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d).

Home Of The Agent Orange"Quilt Of Tears"
A Traveling Tribute, Honor & Memorial to Veterans
To Visit Our Site! Click Here!
Agent Orange Victims & Widows Support Network, Inc.

Agent Orange: HR5729 needs support now

Hello. It's us, the Nesler family again! Writing about the Agent Orange, Congress, the VA and Spina Bifida Children.

HR 5729 a piece of legislation to improve the health care services provided by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to the roughly 900 Agent Orange Spina Bifida children such as our daughter Honey Sue was recently passed by the House of Representatives. In the House it was sponsored by Congressman Brad Ellsworth (DEM of IN) and Co-Sponsored by Congressman Steve Buyer. (REP of IN)

The VA already acknowledges these children under existing law and provides them SOME health care compensation. But this bill (HR 5729) will improve and increase the level of care provided by the VA.

Now HR 5729, having passed in the US House of Representatives has been sent to the US Senate. The urgent need NOW is to prevent it from dying in a Senate committee. Which is often the fate in the Senate of House of Representatives' bills effecting only small politically insignificant numbers of war veterans and our families.

I am now asking that you help by writing to your two Senators asking that they provide real TANGIBLE support for this bill. Without which the bill will NEVER move out of committee for a vote. If you are willing to help you may use the suggested FORM letter below to contact your two Senators. If you will print out the suggested letter below, adding your name and address to the signature block, and send it to your two Senators it will help immensely.

Because of 9-11 paper communication with members of Congress has become difficult. So I am including this link Complete E-Mail Addresses for Congress, Senate, Governors & State Legislators to a list of Senatorial fax numbers. So that you may fax rather than mail the letter if you prefer. Faxing is easier and cheaper and does not require the months of security Hoop La required for a paper snail mail letter to get through to a Congressional office.

But ANY way in which you can get the letter into the office of your state's two Senators will help to get this legislation out of the Senate committee and on the way to the Senate floor for a vote. If we do not get the support of at least a few Senators the bill will die in committee without ever being voted on. Please take the time to help Honey Sue and the other 900 or so Agent Orange children.

Below is the suggested form letter. It is also attached to this Email as a file if you want to open the file to print it. Remember that to be of help you must add your name and address to the signature block to prove you are a constituent of your particular two Senators. Otherwise it will go into the trash can as junk mail.

Also if you chose to write your own letter in your own words please remember that it is necessary to request that the Senator take the three specific pro-active steps listed in the suggested form letter. If you contact the Senator WITHOUT requesting these specific three tangible acts of support your letter will only generate a computerized response thanking you for writing and telling you that the Senator will sagely "consider your comments" while "monitoring the progress of the bill in committee." Which translated to plain English means they will do NOTHING and the bill will die in committee without ever being voted on.

By requesting the three specific actions you will greatly increase the chances that your letter to the Senators will actually be read by an actual human staffer. Possibly even answered by a human person rather than with a meaningless computer generated form letter. And in today's political world that in itself is a major accomplishment!

Thank you for whatever level of help you can render. The suggested letter is below our signature block. And it is also attached to this Email as a file for you to view and print. .


Ron and Suzanne Nesler....... Parents, guardians and care givers for
Honey Sue

HERE IS THE SUGGESTED LETTER TO SENATORS

Senator,


I strongly support America’s war veterans and their families from all wars. Both past and present. I am very interested in HR 5729 also known as the Honey Sue bill. This is a bill to improve VA health care services for the fewer than 1000 children of Vietnam War veterans. These few children of Vietnam War veterans are already acknowledged by the VA to be afflicted with birth defects resulting from a birth parent’s exposure to Agent Orange during that war. But are neglected for fair health care compensation because they are so few in number.

As you know HR 5729 has easily passed in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support and it’s financial cost is reported as insignificant by the Congressional Budget Office. But as you ALSO know this bill will die in committee in the US Senate UNLESS it receives your tangible support in the form of a companion bill to HR 5729 and a letter of support to the Veteran Affairs Committee. As well as a request for mark up on the bill to that committee.

I am writing to ask that you show TANGIBLE support of America’s past war veterans by sponsoring a companion bill for HR 5729 in the US Senate. And that you send a letter of support to the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee and make a request for mark up on this bill to that committee.

Will you provide this small tangible support for America’s past war veterans and their families?


Thank you very much.






Home Of The Agent Orange"Quilt Of Tears"
A Traveling Tribute, Honor & Memorial to Veterans
To Visit Our Site! Click Here!
Agent Orange Victims & Widows Support Network, Inc.

Agent Orange Quilt of Tears Memorial Day Display

I hope everyone has had a nice weekend and that Memorial Day has brought all of you a heart full of pride & love as you reflect upon the ones we honor & remember today. God bless all our heroes…past, present & future…every one!

Henry & I are still trying to catch up after our journey. We spent two days displaying The Quilt Of Tears on the East Knoll just a few hundred yards from The Wall. What an incredible two days! The weather was absolutely beautiful all weekend.

The first picture below of The Quilts was printed in the Monday edition of the Washington Times.

The photographer from The Times spent a really long time hanging out looking at The Quilts, reading the blocks, taking pictures & just basically taking in the effect of it all...I think she was very intrigued by it all. Before she left she told me that one of the pictures might be used in the paper & it was.

I really like the picture that was chosen & I think that it speaks for itself. I think by using the picture she took through the leaves of the near by trees sort of sends a unique message about herbicides... don't you?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/may/26/thunder-rode-again/
When the page is loaded go over on the right hand side where the picture of the Vet with the flag is... just below the picture you will see a button that says "enlarge"... please click on it & scroll thru the 4 pictures...Picture # 4 is of The Quilts & was printed in the Monday edition of the Washington Times.


As people leave The Wall they are automatically attracted to the blazon orange.... The Quilt Of Tears just beyond,that are displayed adjacently on the East Knoll.


On Saturday I don’t remember a time all day that there weren’t people standing shoulder to shoulder at the foot of each row of Quilts reading & looking at everyone single block.





Sunday was pretty much the same with the exception of a short slow down when the Rolling Thunder Ride started.




Home Of The Agent Orange"Quilt Of Tears" A Traveling Tribute, Honor & Memorial to VeteransTo Visit Our Site! Click Here!

Agent Orange Victims & Widows Support Network, Inc.

Kissimmee weclomes Quilt Of Tears April 19

They are called the "Quilt of Tears" for the many tears that have been shed by & for these victims.

Both living and dead, they have been forgotten by our government and this is our way to give them the honor and respect they so richly deserve. The Quilts have a life of their own and speak for themselves, adorned with victim's pictures, their service information, their Agent Orange health status, etc, etc. Love, pain and sorrow can be seen in each block. One veteran stated that "The "Quilts of Tears" was the most moving piece of art he had seen since the WALL in Washington, D.C.

See The Quilt Of Tears in KissimmeeApril 19th & 20th, 2008

America’s Best Value Inn Hotel Maingate will be hosting the Quilt of Tears in the hotel’s conference room Saturday April 19th from 10am to 10 pm and on Sunday April 20th from 10am to 6pm. Address is 7514 West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway (US 192), Kissimmee, FL.

Military rate for normal rooms will be $34.95 plus tax and resort fee
Visit the Quilt Of Tears Website

Memorial Day Quilt of Tears coming to Kissimmee FL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:Sheila and Henry Snyder

PO Box 90Davenport, FL

33836Phone: 863-422-7788

http://www.agentorangequiltoftears.com/ armrdangel@aol.com

Memorial Day comes a month early-Quilt of Tears Display to be held at Area Hotel Kissimmee, FL – March 28th –Sheila and Henry Snyder both work at local hotels by day to pay their bills. But their true life’s work, the one they find most enriching, is their traveling memorial “The Agent Orange Quilt of Tears.” Every Memorial Day, the Snyder’s use their paid time off to travel to Washington, DC to display their quilts that original founding member Jennie R. LeFevre first introduced on the lawn back in 1998.

LeFevre lost her husband in 1989, fifteen years after his retirement from the Air Force. He had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer through out various parts of his body. Sheila and Henry have honored her last wish by ensuring the Agent Orange Victims and their sacrifices are not forgotten, mainly by traveling the country with the Quilt of Tears display.

As Henry Snyder, both a Vietnam Vet and Agent Orange Victim, said, “It’s a well known fact that memorials help us in many ways. As humans, we use them to help us heal emotionally and spiritually. None of our Veterans should be denied an individual form of recognition, honor, or remembrance for suffering due to exposure that was inflicted during their service in the military.”

There are 25 quilts, measuring 80 inches wide by 100 inches long. Patches are contributed by Agent Orange Victims. “Not only are we helping Vietnam Veterans to become aware of their health issues, but we are also paving the way for Veterans of the Iraq war too.”

Since the Snyder’s support their cause by Donation’s only, the hotel where Henry works will display the quilts April 19th and 20th for all to see. “Supporting our Veterans and those that work for us is such an important cause and we are honored that Henry and Sheila will be holding their quilt display on property” said Denis Persaud, General Manager of the America’s Best Value Inn Hotel Maingate West where Henry works.

The display will be exhibited in the hotel’s conference room Saturday April 19th from 10am to 10 pm and on Sunday April 20th from 10am to 6pm. Address is 7514 West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway (US 192), Kissimmee, FL 3474.

For information: http://www.agentorangequiltoftears.com/

Henry and Sheila’s email: armrdangel@aol.com
Phone: 863-422-7788

Hotel website: http://www.abvimaingate.com/

Hotel Email: wrivera@abvifl1266.com