February 12, 2006
Aloha Honorable Ken Ito,

Bill Stroud here. President of the Vietnam Veterans of Maui County, a 20 year old Not-For-Profit organization formed for the express purpose of representing the over 3,500 Vietnam Veterans and 7,500 Veterans from other wars residing in Maui County.

First of all let me say that Depleted Uranium will become the Agent Orange of this war and if we do nothing to detect this infection of Americans, we will be doing a real disservice to those we sent to maintain our way of life and represent the Will of our Country around the world.

The VVMC was instrumental in obtaining a Maui Veterans Clinic through its many years of lobbying the VA, our own State Senators, and numerous trips to Honolulu and Washington D.C. where we personally presented our medical needs case to those in charge of making decisions for our islands unique needs. We won that battle through uniting the Veterans Community and the government did spend 10 Million to build us a Clinic on Maui, but as you will see from this note, there are more battles looming just as important to us and, now, we need and want you to be our advocate. With the numbers of veterans residing on Maui enough to elect anyone we choose, we are working together to vote as a bloc this time in our coming State elections, and we will only vote for someone who represents our Veterans needs and has shown it through their deeds, not simply what they say.

Nearly 200 of Maui’s Reservists and National Guard have returned to Maui after serving their tours in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Many of these Citizen-Soldiers did ride in Humvees and Armored Personnel Carriers which were covered with armor which is made from depleted uranium and has been proven that when bullets or shrapnel go through the armor it releases depleted uranium into the air which has to affect every soldier who comes under these conditions. This depleted uranium is so heavy that it remains on the ground after the event and even though these soldiers may not have come under direct fire, they do all walk on the same ground and breathe the same air. (Remember that many of the clean-up workers at Chernobyl died soon after completing their task and many of their off-spring were born with gross deformities, and we did not even mention the number of Depleted Uranium Artillery Shells shot in these countries) Is this the result we want here on Maui or anywhere else in our State?

Because Maui’s Citizen-Soldiers have no one to represent them except entrenched bureaucracies, our organization, the VVMC, is taking the responsible position of speaking for them and putting our whole organizations weight behind the request for testing all of our returning soldiers for Depleted Uranium Exposure. I understand this request was going to be put to the Voters or State Legislature and that for whatever reason the bill never got past someone’s desk.

This is totally unacceptable to us and the whole veteran community. Besides making the sense that these tests could discover many medical problems which will arise given these prevailing conditions, our soldiers quality of life has been negatively affected by having to work under such harsh, damaging conditions; which affects them as well as their family members, as the poisons in their bloodstreams will undoubtedly affect their over-all health and behavior. It is well known that a depressed Immune System leads to many, many other types of diseases, infections and mental disorders.

The Veteran Community on Maui calls on you to be responsible to the citizens of the State you represent and to do everything you can to push the effort of medical testing for depleted uranium exposure on our returning Veterans. If we have to break open our bank account and push this legislation ourselves we will also expose the lack of response by our State Officials to this very critical situation which could, if proven correct, lead to unrepairable problems for our citizen-soldiers and be simply another example of people who get elected to office but fail to do their job representing their constituency.

Our local Veterans are well-connected throughout the State and we do not want to put any undue pressure on you to advance our cause, but if you look at the reality of our Veterans’ situation regarding the almost certainty of their being affected in some negative way by the amount of depleted uranium they were exposed to, then your compassion must extend to seeing that these citizen-soldiers, some of whom have paid the ultimate price, receive the attention they deserve in a timely manner. Your actions could have a positive effect in our state and be an example to the rest of our country as well.

There are many reasons to want to be elected or appointed to elective office and I/we sincerely hope that your reasons are to serve. Our returning Veterans need your help and if you are unable, or unwilling, to get some direct action on this matter, the next you hear from us may be at the ballot box, newspaper articles on inaction towards our states Veterans with names named, and possibly we will get someone like Michel Moore to follow our Legislators around with a video camera for a couple of weeks and see what, how and if, they are really serving the veteran community or simply involved in filling up time until they can retire with a large pension while the soldiers who fought to keep them in their functions are ignored. We sincerely hope this is not the case.

I do not mean, or want, to be confrontational but, Sir, I respectfully request that you pay attention to this very critical matter and instead of waiting to gather more information, use your guts, your heart and your brain to see that, indeed, this is a very critical situation which needs someone to take the lead and make the moves which will ensure that our Veterans receive the care they need in order to integrate back into our society and that their family life receives the help they need to function in a healthy and positive manner.

You will receive the respect of the Veteran Community if you do not balk at this matter but give it your best and prove that you are worthy of being in the office you currently hold.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and please do not think of not responding to my email. I have been asked by many to write this note to you in the hopes that someone will be able to reach you with the urgency and import of this matter and I would very much like to report to them that your service to the veterans reflects the trust we put into you by having you in office in the first place.

If there is any way I can be of service to you, please do not hesitate to contact me, and, at the very least, you could respond to me as to what you have actually done, what you are doing, and what remains to be done to bring this urgent matter to the attention of those who have the authority to approve this so needed physical review of our returning troops.

The VVMC is composed of many Decorated Combat Veterans and it has been proven by our past actions that a little administration does not frighten us enough to stop fighting what we fought for so many years ago. We are prepared to go to the wall over this one, and even though we want no guns to fight this war, the love we have in our hearts for our returning veterans will show a much stronger force than any arms we could muster against inactivity and apathy coming from those who may care, but don’t show it in reality through their actions.

We don’t want a battle. We don’t want to fight. We just want you to do your job and take care of our Veterans like you would want a family member of yours to be taken care of after such an experience as our Veterans had. If it was your mother or father, I’m sure you would want these tests for them! And, if you think in human terms, all these returning soldiers are in actuality your brothers and sisters. Join the family of Humanity and hold up your end of this matter by using the influence of your office to fight for your brothers and sisters.

I/we applaud those efforts on your part which have already happened and want to let you know that we are with you all the way if you are with us. “As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap”

William F. Stroud (Bill)
Life Member: VVMC/DMV
Member: VFW, AI
President/Secretary
Vietnam Veterans of Maui County

Cc: Maui County Veterans Council/DAV
Cc: Maui Peace Action
Cc: VFW
Cc: Senator Inouye
Cc: Senator Akaka
Cc: Representative Abercrombe
Cc: Representative Case
Cc: Maui Reserve Family Readiness Group
Cc: Maui National Guard Family Readiness Group