PBS Stations, Last Ghost of War waits

This is to alert you to a must-see program that will soon be made available for your viewing. On July 24th you'll be able to select from 40-50 clips of films being offered to PBS stations. I strongly urge you to view the 3:15 clip called "The Last Ghost of War", which will be available free to PBS stations in November. Please vote for it.

Please see the attachment above for a short synopsis of "The Last Ghost of War". To find out more about the film just visit www.gardnerdocgroup.com, and/or contact Producer Janet Gardner at Gardnergroupinc@gmail.com

(05/07/08. ) The spine-chilling documentary Bong Ma Cuoi Cung Cua Chien Tranh (The Last Ghost of War), about the corrosive effects of Agent Orange (the toxic defoliant used by the Americans during the war in Viet Nam), will be aired for the first time on Vietnamese television today.
The film, made possible by a grant from the US’s New Jersey Council for the Humanities, was produced by Pham Quoc Thai and Janet Gardner, directed by Janet Gardner and narrated by Kevin Cline, from the New York-based Gardner Documentary Group.
The 56-minute film starts at 2pm on VTV1.
The film focuses on the physical and spiritual plight of terminally ill Agent Orange (AO) patients at Tu Du Hospital in HCM City.
“Thirty years after the end of the Viet Nam War there are several million people diagnosed by the Vietnamese [health services] as victims of Agent Orange,” says the Gardner Documentary Group’s website www.gardnerdocgroup.com.
“In The Last Ghost of War we meet several people who are plaintiffs in a class action against 32 US chemical companies. Attorneys, activists, scientists, and a military historian take us to a new battlefield.

http://vietnamtravelnotes.com/2008/07/08/the-last-ghost-of-war-broadcasts-today/

and on this subject


Chairman Bob Filner, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
William G. Jeff Davis, Blue Water Veteran
Ron Abrams, Executive Director, National Veterans Legal Services Program
John Rowan, Vietnam Veterans of America

What:
Introduction of the Agent Orange Equity Act, a bill to ensure that veterans receive their earned benefits

When:
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at Noon
(Staging begins at 11:30 a.m. in Cannon Room 334)

Where:
Cannon House Office Building Terrace
The intersection of New Jersey and Independence Avenues, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20515

go here for more

http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/hcva08/hcva071808-1.htm

When communities rely on each other Post Traumatic Stress is not as strong

During the years of trying to eliminate the stigma of PTSD, one of the suggestions I've been making, especially in the videos, was that veterans reach out to help each other heal. Most experts thought if anyone could understand, lend support, compassion and a listening non-judgmental ear, it would be a combat veteran. Isolation is a big problem with PTSD. They are afraid to talk about what's going on in their minds. They think it is all too "crazy" while they are dealing with it on their own terms in silence. This is one example of how a community can alleviate part of the problem.

It does not matter if the trauma came from combat, which is the number one cause of PTSD, from public service, from natural disasters or from crime, when it comes to the aftermath of trauma. All humans with PTSD will suffer the same, endure flashbacks and nightmares as their characters are attacked. The greatest strength comes from leaning on each other.


Vietnamese community relies on each other
Groups monitor mental health
By JOSHUA NORMAN
jdnorman@sunherald.com

BILOXI --Bien Bo lost track of his love, Tuat Nguyen, about 40 years ago when he joined the South Vietnamese army and war tore his country apart before expelling him from his homeland altogether.
Bo, 71, lost everything again in 2005 to Hurricane Katrina; his Biloxi home, two cars, his shrimp boat that was his livelihood, all of which were uninsured. He wandered in a daze around town following the storm after barely surviving the surge, depressed and mentally adrift, until he decided to visit an old friend.
He walked into the living room and there she was, Nguyen, his love lost so long ago.
Bo's friend was Nguyen's sister, and Nguyen, 63, was visiting from California after Katrina to help.
They cried, hugged, laughed and have been merrily side by side ever since, she a widow and he with a wife severely disabled by stroke.
Bo and Nguyen's story illustrates how South Mississippi's Vietnamese community has survived the sometimes debilitating mental strain of post-Katrina life. The Vietnamese community came together for support and healing. Despite the destruction in the center of their community, Point Cadet, they have shown remarkably few outer signs of strain or mental decay.
The Vietnamese community, already slightly separated from their neighbors by language and cultural barriers, sought refuge within themselves. The post-Vietnam war Vietnamese community service organization, Boat People SOS, set up offices in Biloxi for the first time ever post-Katrina, and many in the Vietnamese community received help and support from it.
go here for the rest
http://www.sunherald.com/living/health/story/154205.html