On October 16, 2011, Kelly L. Derricks (TRUTH TELLER)traveled to New York City where she gave a public speech about Agent Orange after being invited by Millions Against Monsanto to participate in the rally event for World Food Day. Below is the video recording of that speech.
Kelly has battled severe health issues since she was born that continue today. Some of her illnesses, presumed to be associated with the inter-generational effects of Agent Orange, include but are not limited to the following:
*Her complete list of illnesses staggers to 30 different things.
Kelly continues to fight for the Children of Vietnam Veterans as well as Vietnam Veterans and their families. In January of 2012 She Co-Founded The Non-Profit Organization (COVVHA) Children Of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance INC
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During the Vietnam War, 25,000 barrels of Agent Orange were stored on Okinawa, according to a recently uncovered U.S. army report.1 The barrels, containing over 1.4 million gallons (5.2 million liters) of the toxic defoliant, had been brought to Okinawa from Vietnam before being taken to Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean where the US military incinerated its stocks of Agent Orange in 1977.
The army report is the first time the U.S. military has acknowledged the presence of these poisons on Okinawa – and it contradicts repeated denials from the Pentagon that Agent Orange was ever on the island. At the same time that the document was revealed, a series of photographs was also uncovered apparently showing the 25,000 barrels in storage on Okinawa’s Camp Kinser near Naha City.
The army report, published in 2003, is titled “An Ecological Assessment of Johnston Atoll”. Outlining the military’s efforts to clean up the tiny island that the U.S. used throughout the Cold War to store and dispose of its stockpiles of biochemical weapons, the report states, “In 1972, the U.S. Air Force brought about 25,000 55-gallon (208 liter) drums of the chemical Herbicide Orange (HO) to Johnston Island that originated from Vietnam and was stored on Okinawa.”
The Children of Vietnam Veterans and Those Exposed To Agent Orange & Dioxin is an organization founded by children of Vietnam Veterans dedicated to finding justice, finding answers and offering support for the generational victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin. This is the first group of its kind because it was founded by children of Vietnam Veterans who desperately want our peers to no longer feel alone. They acknowledge the vast amount of people around the globe who have come into contact with Agent Orange such as Americans, Australians, Vietnamese, Koreans, Canadians, Japanese, People of Guam and many more. Because the generational victims are rarely recognized, COVVHA seeks to collectively bring about change and make the voices of those affected heard.
Kelly L. Derricks is the daughter of deceased Vietnam Veteran Harry C. Mackel, Jr. Harry died in 1982 at the age of 37 after being exposed to Agent Orange while serving two tours in Vietnam in addition to a tour on Johnston Island. After serving with the United States Air Force, Harry went on to serve the City of Philadelphia as a highly regarded and awarded officer of the Stakeout Unit with the police department. Kelly was only seven years old when her father died.
Kelly has been working as an independent Agent Orange/Dioxin advocate since early 2007. She has expanded her work under the name “Truth Teller” to legislative areas, environment and agriculture, public speaking, blog authoring, and medical awareness, while tying everything back to encompass her main platform of seeking justice for those exposed.
Kelly’s COVVHA partner Heather A. Bowser, is also an Agent Orange activist. Heather was born with multiple birth defects due to her father’s exposure, as a US solider during the Vietnam War, to the chemical defoliant, Agent Orange. Heather was born in 1972, two months premature; she weighed three pounds, four ounces. Heather is missing her right leg below the knee, several of her fingers, her big toe on her left foot, her remaining toes were webbed.
Heather started her activism early in her life along side her parents in the late 1970’s. As a young child, she had a passion to explain what the chemical Agent Orange had done to her family. Like how Mother Sharon, suffered three unexplained miscarriages and her Father had five bypasses at the age of thirty eight and died of a massive heart attack at age fifty.
As former high school teacher, and current mental health licensed professional, Heather uses her skills to reach out and educate others on the devastation that is Agent Orange. Heather has a strong belief in empowering all second and third generations of Agent Orange survivors, to use their voice when possible to speak out and tell others about Agent Orange. Heather’s wish is all Agent Orange survivors will find justice.
In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show on Thursday May 24,2012 at 4p.m. EST, host, June Stoyer talks to Kelly L. Derricks and her COVVHA partner Heather A. Bowser. Join in and Stay tuned at the link below!
Geophysical Warfare — “Rainmakers.” During the Vietnam Conflict, our warfighters needed a way to interdict enemy traffic on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. “Project Popeye” helped answer the call. China Lake adapted its cloud seeding technologies to enhance rainfall thereby significantly deterring enemy activity on the trail. This highly successful China Lake technology was also used in hurricane abatement, fog control, and drought relief.
Source: http://thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/03files/Project_Popeye_001.html#Project_Popeye_.281966.29
(Reuters) – Puerto Rican residents lost a bid on Tuesday to force the U.S. government to recognize the health effects on the local population of testing of weapons and experimenting with chemicals on the island of Vieques for decades.
A U.S. appeals court in Boston ruled that the federal government has immunity from any lawsuit over its actions.
For about six decades after World War II, the U.S. Navy used a portion of Vieques as a weapons-testing ground and firing range, detonating bombs and experimenting with chemicals from napalm to Agent Orange and depleted uranium. The military abandoned the base in 2003 under political pressure.
Juanita Sanchez, a resident of the island, sued on behalf of her daughter and some 7,000 others in 2007. The suit accused the U.S. military of causing illnesses among inhabitants, including a 30 percent higher cancer rate compared to Puerto Rico’s main island.
But the appeals court agreed with a lower court that had dismiss the case. Courts should be cautious about interfering with the exercise of military authority, Chief Judge Sandra Lynch wrote on behalf of two members of the three-judge panel.
The third judge, Juan Torruella, who comes from Puerto Rico, issued a vehement dissent. The government was aware of the toxic impact of its activities in 1979, he wrote. Its decision not to warn residents was not an exercise of judgment entitled to immunity, he added.
“Nowhere does the medieval concept of ‘the King can do no wrong’ underlying the doctrine of sovereign immunity sound more hollow and abusive than when an imperial power applies it to a group of helpless subjects. This cannot be a proper role for the United States of America,” Torruella wrote.
All three judges agreed that the suit raised serious health concerns that should be brought to the attention of Congress. The opinion included an instruction for the court clerk to submit copies of the decision to leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate.
“Even the majority recognized the individuals here have not been well-treated,” said Carter Phillips, the lawyer who represented the Vieques residents.
Charles Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, declined to comment on the litigation. Source
(Reuters) – Puerto Rican residents lost a bid on Tuesday to force the U.S. government to recognize the health effects on the local population of testing of weapons and experimenting with chemicals on the island of Vieques for decades.
A U.S. appeals court in Boston ruled that the federal government has immunity from any lawsuit over its actions.
For about six decades after World War II, the U.S. Navy used a portion of Vieques as a weapons-testing ground and firing range, detonating bombs and experimenting with chemicals from napalm to Agent Orange and depleted uranium. The military abandoned the base in 2003 under political pressure.
Juanita Sanchez, a resident of the island, sued on behalf of her daughter and some 7,000 others in 2007. The suit accused the U.S. military of causing illnesses among inhabitants, including a 30 percent higher cancer rate compared to Puerto Rico’s main island.
But the appeals court agreed with a lower court that had dismiss the case. Courts should be cautious about interfering with the exercise of military authority, Chief Judge Sandra Lynch wrote on behalf of two members of the three-judge panel.
The third judge, Juan Torruella, who comes from Puerto Rico, issued a vehement dissent. The government was aware of the toxic impact of its activities in 1979, he wrote. Its decision not to warn residents was not an exercise of judgment entitled to immunity, he added.
“Nowhere does the medieval concept of ‘the King can do no wrong’ underlying the doctrine of sovereign immunity sound more hollow and abusive than when an imperial power applies it to a group of helpless subjects. This cannot be a proper role for the United States of America,” Torruella wrote.
All three judges agreed that the suit raised serious health concerns that should be brought to the attention of Congress. The opinion included an instruction for the court clerk to submit copies of the decision to leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate.
“Even the majority recognized the individuals here have not been well-treated,” said Carter Phillips, the lawyer who represented the Vieques residents.
Charles Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, declined to comment on the litigation. Source
