Albert Lean Gene Nietzel was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam and contracted diabetes as a result. He died in July of 2005 of esophageal cancer, not related to Agent Orange, and his widow Diane credits a friend in the Veterans Administration with helping her family find their way through the VA process.

Bob Sabin worked for the local VA office from 1991 to 2001, helping veterans cope with the often complex and bewildering task of getting needed help for their service related health problems. He is a 14-year Navy veteran, forced to retire from service in 1985 after suffering his third heart attack. He continued helping fellow vets after his retirement from the VA.

“Bob was a great friend to Gene and to me. He really cared, he took the time to explain things,” Diane Nietzel said.

She said the VA took care of all of her husband’s medical bills, as well as paying for transportation for his trips to hospitals in Minneapolis and Rochester. Diane and Gene were one month short of their 25th wedding anniversary when he died, and Diane said she felt a little lost. Once again Bob Sabin came to her aid.

“We were out looking for a headstone for Gene’s grave when Bob suggested that he thought I would be eligible for a widow’s pension. I had never heard of that program before he mentioned it,” she said.

Sabin helped her fill out the paperwork and the pension was duly awarded. Now disabled after suffering two strokes in a four day period in August, 2007, Diane Nietzel thinks back fondly of her big-hearted husband, who played Santa Claus for the kids out at Beaver Trails. She said she truly appreciates all the help and advice she has received from the local VA office, and especially from Sabin.

“Bob has watched over me. I don’t know what I would have done without him,” she said.

American soldiers exposed to the chemical often contract debilitating diseases which can impact their lives, and they are only one part of the ongoing story of the challenges faced by soldiers, sailors and airmen returning home from war. The Veteran’s Administration is charged with helping servicemen and women cope with these problems.

Jon Rhiger, who runs the VA office in Albert Lea, said the new generation of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have changed the pace of his work.

“When the National Guard units come home they all come at once. So that increases the workload for us,” Rhiger said.

Returning servicemen from this area are processed out of the service at Fort McCoy, Wis.. They receive mental and physical evaluations there. This and other information is then sent to local VA offices, one packet for each soldier. Local VA offices then process this information and begin contacting the soldiers, who are encouraged to come into the office and get help if they need it. Traumatic brain injury and hearing loss are two of the more common problems affecting the recent returnees. VA hospitals in Minneapolis and St. Cloud and a clinic in Rochester provide help to veterans with health issues.

Veterans of the Vietnam War often feel the effects of that conflict many years later. For those exposed to the chemical defoliant code-named Agent Orange, the problems can be devastating to them and their families. The thick jungles of Southeast Asia can be difficult to traverse at the best of times. For soldiers going into combat it’s a nightmare. Fighting an unseen enemy, often at close range, soldiers in Vietnam couldn’t see their opponents in many combat situations. Enter Agent Orange, the code name for a chemical defoliant, dropped from the air, and designed to kill the vegetation of the Vietnamese jungles, thus creating better visibility for infantrymen.

Chuck Gaines served two hitches Vietnam from 1968 through 1970. He was a sniper in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, and was exposed to Agent Orange. Now suffering from a variety of health problems related to chemical exposure, he travels to the VA hospital in Minneapolis at least once every two weeks for treatment. He said he is pleased with the help he has gotten from the VA, but he wishes he had acted sooner. A longtime construction worker in the Albert Lea area, Gaines was forced to quit working when his health problems became too severe.

“I started having problems back in the mid-70s. I didn’t know what was causing it. Looking back, I waited too long to get help,” Gaines said.