Agent Orange Widows & Survivors Awareness Coalition was founded at Stand Down 1999 Long Beach, a 3-day event that provided outreach services to homeless Veterans.
This is my Bob, Robert Douglass, Vietnam Veteran ‘69-‘70, died on 2/19/1999 from non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, due to exposure to Agent Orange & other chemicals used during the Vietnam War. He was never sick until his diagnosis in 1997; 18 months later Bob entered eternal Heaven at the young age of 49; 30 years after his military service.
Bob had thought all those years that he had escaped the ravaging negative effects of the Vietnam War, but fate proved otherwise. Left behind was me, his wife of 27 years, our 2 sons, Shawn at age 26 & Daniel USMC at age 21, plus Daniel’s wife Candice- just married 7 months, and Bob’s mother Irene Douglass Frey & his sister Sharon, disabled at birth. Many other extended family members, friends & coworkers share in the loss of Bob. He was a humble man, who made a powerful impact in other’s lives, that continues to this day.
Two months before the Stand Down 1999 Long Beach event, through the VVA Chapter 756, I met Karen Olszewski, another widow who called herself an Agent Orange widow.
My response was, “Oh my God, is that what I am?”
So in June of 1999, Karen, Pastor Ron Beckham, and I went to learn more & visit with veterans.
Another day, being a cosmetologist, I volunteered to provide haircuts & conversation to those in need. It was amazing, we learned so much. A world I did not really know.
We realized that we knew too much now to keep this information to ourselves. We needed to pass it along, educate others & help walk them through the challenging VA system. We knew now the questions to ask and the correct answers to those questions. So, God directed me to start an outreach ministry to Veterans, their widows & families 4 months after Bob’s death. We called our organization The Agent Orange Widows Awareness Coalition. Our mission was to assist & comfort others on a similar path.
So, the story of two Bob’s from Long Beach, CA, who served in the Vietnam War, one combat, one a cook in a base camp, both diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma & died 3 years apart from each other, continues to be shared by their widows, Genevieve and Karen.
Karen is a VVA Service Officer & continues to help Veterans, their widows & families through the claim filing process at the VA Medical Center in Long Beach, CA. Twenty-one years later, I continue the mission of AOWSAC in helping Veterans, their widows, widowers, and survivors.
God bless you all.
Semper Fidelis,
Genevieve
Founder, Agent Orange Widows & Survivors Awareness Coalition