Within a few hours after The New Haven Register ran an article describing Linda Schwartz's study on Agent Orange, the research scientist at the School of Nursing received four calls from local Vietnam veterans concerned that their own illnesses might be related to their exposure to the toxic herbicide.
Before seeing the article, none of the veterans had ever considered a possible link between their illnesses and their service in Vietnam.
"The sad fact is that there has been so little publicized about the effects of dioxin [the carcinogenic chemical in Agent Orange] on veterans that many don't know their illnesses could be associated with it," says Schwartz. "And many have died without ever knowing that they truly died for their country."
The Yale scientist, a Vietnam veteran herself, hopes that some of her own research, as well as her recent Congressional testimony, will change that fact (see related story).
Schwartz served for two years during the Vietnam War as a U.S. Air Force nurse stationed in Japan, where she treated those injured in the war. It wasn't until more than a decade after the war's ending, however, that Schwartz became an active advocate for veterans. A personal trauma heightened her awareness of some of the issues many faced after their service.
While a master's degree candidate at the Yale School of Nursing and an Air Force reservist in the mid-1980s, Schwartz was on an Air Force flight training exercise when the door flew off her airplane at 30,000 feet. She suffered decompression illness of the brain and spinal cord, which left her with impaired memory and speech.
"I couldn't remember my phone number, the name of the U.S. president or even that I had a six-year-old daughter," recalls Schwartz. She was further wounded when her doctor told her she would not be able to finish her nursing program and should "go home and bake bread."
Schwartz remembers that her first thought was that her doctor's suggestion would be impossible; her husband, who owns a restaurant, is a talented baker, and would not be satisfied with her bread.
Her nursing professors encouraged her not to give up her schooling, and helped her build skills that could compensate for her disabilities. In addition, they assisted her in working through various bureaucracies to get the rehabilitative services she needed.
The experience taught her how difficult it can be to "navigate through the government maze" to get support and compensation as a disabled veteran. "When you are a disabled veteran yourself, you can't deny the experiences of other veterans," says Schwartz, who retired from the military as an Air Force major.
During her long and difficult recovery, Schwartz began devoting herself to veterans' causes. She eventually began testifying before Congress to help improve services offered to veterans and active members of the armed forces, and was instrumental in establishing the Vietnam Women's Memorial in Washington, D.C. She has also served as president of the Vietnam Veteran's Assistance Fund, a charitable organization that assists Vietnam and Gulf War veterans and their families, and is president of Project Partnership, which helps homeless and disabled veterans in the West Haven area. In addition, she serves on the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs Advisory Committee on Women Veterans and was vice chair of its Advisory Committee on the Readjustment of Combat Veterans.
Schwartz became interested in the effects of Agent Orange several years ago while a doctoral student in public health at Yale. Working with colleagues on a national study of veterans, she realized that the study was the first to reveal evidence of health problems in women who served in Vietnam. Schwartz was initially reluctant to dig further into the issue, which she was afraid would be a "ubiquitous hole" in terms of proving a connection to Agent Orange, she says, but was encouraged to pursue the matter by Sally Horwitz, associate professor of epidemiology and public health.
Schwartz decided to focus her doctoral research on Agent Orange, gathering data that showed an increased level of certain cancers, miscarriages, stillborn births, autoimmune diseases and other health problems in women veterans. Her recent trip to Vietnam, which she made as a delegate of the Vietnam Veterans of America Veterans Initiative Program, helped confirm that these illnesses are dioxin-related.
"We now have irrefutable evidence that the hottest spots for dioxin are where we had U.S. bases," states Schwartz, who exchanged documents, photos and other information on Agent Orange with Vietnamese doctors and scientists.
It takes anywhere from 20 to 30 years for symptoms of dioxin exposure to appear, according to Schwartz, which means that many Vietnam veterans may just be beginning to experience illnesses associated with Agent Orange.
"We are about to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ending of the Vietnam War," says the Yale nurse. "So that time is now. The government owes it to these veterans who have been harmed by Agent Orange to get them the support and assistance they need."
Schwartz says her determination to get the message out about the effects of Agent Orange on women who served in the war is due, in part, to her loyalty to fellow women veterans who were her friends, some of whom have since died. On her office bulletin board is a picture of her friend Dora, a nurse and Vietnam veteran who died last year of lung cancer at age 46. Schwartz says there is "no question" that her friend's cancer was related to Agent Orange exposure.
"She is the one who reminds me that I'm not just talking about percentages and numbers," says Schwartz. "My hope as a researcher is that I never forget that."
The Yale scientist says she is discouraged by the fact it costs $1,000 to test one blood sample for dioxin levels, which could serve as an impediment to her efforts to convince the government to test veterans for exposure. On the other hand, she is uplifted by the fact that during her trip to Vietnam, the Vietnamese for the first time agreed to make a joint effort with U.S. scientists to develop a research agenda on Agent Orange.
"While I was there, I gave them my list of all the places in Vietnam where emergency dumps of Agent Orange were made during the war," says Schwartz. "They only had information on 42 of those places, so to find out about the others was like a gift for them. The Vietnamese are seeing the effects of Agent Orange on second and third generations, so they are very determined to learn more."
For her groundbreaking work on Agent Orange and her advocacy on behalf of veterans, Schwartz was presented a School of Nursing Distinguished Alumna Award last year. In a statement made on the day of Schwartz's Congressional testimony, School of Nursing dean Catherine Gilliss praised the determination of her colleague and emphasized the school's support of her research.
"I am enormously proud of Linda Schwartz's work on behalf of her fellow Vietnam veterans and particularly of her tireless search for the truth about the herbicide Agent Orange. ...," Gilliss said. "A quarter-century after the war's end, scientists still face a huge challenge as they study this complex and politically charged issue. It is difficult work but we are committed to it.
"As scientists, we have a great passion for truth. As nurses, we have a special interest in seeing that women veterans have their health concerns addressed. In every armed conflict that the United States has ever entered, nurses have put themselves in harm's way to do their jobs. They have often gone unrecognized for this service, largely because the majority of them were women. Linda Schwartz is a longtime advocate for women veterans and helped make the Vietnam Women's Memorial in Washington, D.C. a reality. I believe her research on the health of women veterans will be her own memorial."
-- By Susan Gonzalez
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