ROBIN SPENCE (ORANGE HEART MEDAL FOUNDATION) CHECKS IN WITH AN UPDATE 4/29/26

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

And here she is, Robin Spence. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me, Lisa. I appreciate it. Good morning. Um, and we talked to you for quite some time on Friday. And I invite people to go on to our talkradio mb.com website, scroll down, you can listen to the first um hour of our segment. Um of course we talked to Robin throughout the ceremony uh or throughout the show. So uh you can really delve deep into her story. But for those who didn't hear your story, tell us how you became involved with Agent Orange Foundation, the um Orange Metal Foundation.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Well, uh actually um my husband was a Vietnam veteran and he passed away in 2018 because of the effects of Agent Orange exposure. And um things being as they are, there are not a lot of support groups for survivors of military loss. And so I was searching the internet and I f came across a another nonprofit TAPS, which is Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. And I uh attended a couple of events that they had but then while I was at one of their events, uh one of the ladies was there and she said, Have you heard about the Orange Heart Medal Foundation? And I said, No, of course, you know, so you know, did some more research and got in touch with uh Ken Gamble, the president in Springfield, Tennessee.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

And we interviewed him in the seven o'clock hour. Yes, you did.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

And he he's he's quite the character, but he is a he's got a heart of gold. He's a a very good man. And he actually introduced me to Bobby Tiner. And so Bobby called and got uh, you know, my backstory about my husband passing away, and he actually is the one that presented me with my husband's Orange Heart medal. So that's how it got started. And that was in I wanna say June or July of 2020. And I was told then that there would be a dedication of a m the Orange Heart Memorial in Springfield, Tennessee on Veterans Day that same year. So I decided, you know what, I'm gonna go. And it was one hundred percent an overwhelming, humbling experience because uh, you know, not only had Ken started this this foundation and started with honoring the Vietnam veterans that returned home that were exposed to Agent Orange Deoxin with the Orange Heart Medal. Like he was. Yes, yes, absolutely. But he had um been awarded a a grant by the state of Tennessee and also Springfield Memorial Gardens and uh cremation center had donated a piece of property to have this memorial built on. So I went and at that time there were four tablets that were complete and each tablet had sixty names on it, and so then Now what why are there names on it?

SPEAKER_02 3:10

What was the qualifier?

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Well the qualifier for that is um uh after the Vietnam War, then the Vietnam Memorial was built and placed in I you know in Arlington, and all of the names of the ones that were killed in action were placed on the wall. But you have hundreds of thousands of Vietnam veterans that returned home that received no recognition because of their exposure to Agent Orange. The fact that they just returned home, that they made it was something. And so Ken decided not only was he going to do this um medal and was trying to get legislation passed at the federal level to recognize the veterans that were exposed as combat wounded uh because there's no purple heart for the veterans that are exposed to agent R. And injured. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. Um the purple heart is for those with uh visible wounds, visible injuries. Yet the deoxin, you know, is an internal wound. People can't see that. And it can lie dormant in the veteran for decades before all of a sudden, you know, diabetes shows up or heart disease or cancers, cancers of the skin, respiratory cancers, uh, amyloidosis, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Parkinsonism, Parkinson's disease. You know, there are 19 presumptive conditions uh that are automatic qualifiers by the VA as compensable. You served correct there. If you if you served there in any capacity, yes. And you were exposed to deoxin.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Even the planes you were saying that would come back, the people that worked on the planes that were contaminated.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Correct. Uh, you know, if they were on the ship, you know, people want to say, well, they weren't boots on the ground. Well, if they were on the ship, then they were exposed, pardon me, they were exposed to the the air where the planes flew over and they dropped it. Or the planes came back to be um, you know, reloaded with the deoxin, or to be cleaned that were already covered in the deoxin. And they were also in the waters. You know, these guys that were on these ships weren't just on the ship. Some of them had to go into, you know, into the rivers and things like that. So um not only was it sprayed from the air, then when it landed, uh it absorbed into the foliage and it it basically annihilated the foliage. You know, one day you're you you're surrounded in the jungle and the next day there's nothing there. You know, the enemy is just one hundred percent exposed. And so you know, which is a good thing for us as far as, you know, exposing the enemy. However, when the monsoon season hits and the rains come and it's months of rain, all of that runoff is going into the rivers. And it's the same water that our soldiers walked through. It's the same w water that some of them bathed in, you know, and uh uh cooked with things like that. So not only was it uh coming from above, then they also ingested it. It got on their skin, you know, it was it was uh it was just toxic, one hundred percent toxic, deadly. And so then it actually alters the DNA of the veteran because it it com completely reconstructs the cellular level. So it affects the veteran. Then the research has shown that was done at Vanderbilt University, that up to the fourth generation in male veterans can be affected and up to the fifth generation of female veterans can be affected by the deoxy exposure. So if you take that into consideration, we're already now uh 51 years post-Vietnam war and so now technically you've got th the fourth generation already coming up. Yeah. And so that's just where the research stopped. It doesn't mean that it can't go farther than that. That means that's as far as the research went. And so we we know that that's happening. And you have children that are born with uh birth defects that there's no rhyme nor reason, there's no family history when you go back to look, other than dad, granddad, great-granddad was a Vietnam veteran.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

And we had met one young man who is uh fourteen years old. He was at the event on Friday and he had his grandfather on both sides.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Correct, right? Correct, and Bobby Tiner is one of those grandfathers. And so, you know, it's um uh and and of course then Katie's husband's father, Katie's father-in-law, was also Vietnam veteran. And so when you when you take into consideration the likelihood of that happening, it's just mind-blowing. And you know, he's had I think 40 or 42 surgeries.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Unbelievable, yeah. And and he's just a blessing. Young boy. Um so Robin, so I I asked you to come on today, and if anybody had any questions on the budget blinds text line, you can text in 843-798-talk 798-8255. You have um every Wednesday, today is Wednesday, every uh Wednesday morning, this Orange Heart Medal group meets, so you don't have to come to one of our shows to get an Orange Heart Medal. So tell us about the Wednesday um event, um, ongoing event, and also any upcoming events.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Okay, every Wednesday we have what we call the Agent Orange Awareness Breakfast, and that is held at the Veterans Welcome Home Resource Center Cafe and Grill, um, right over, you know, just like two miles from here. Yes. Um, and Scott Douglabon and his staff are absolutely wonderful to us. Our board member, Roddy Lewis, is our group leader. Now he um uh Bobby assigned him as the one to step into into his shoes and and groomed him to and he's a wonderful leader. Uh he's the leader of the group, but he's also a sitting board member. And so um we have 100% brotherhood, camaraderie, fellowship, support. Uh if there's anyone out there that is a Vietnam veteran or a surviving family member of a Vietnam veteran, or if you're just curious, you know, and you don't have to be impacted by H at R's. You do not. You do not. Right. Um, and you don't have to be a Vietnam era veteran. If you just want to come in and sit down and have have breakfast and and meet some some absolutely wonderful people and find out why you have the freedoms you have today. Because, you know, those guys there and ladies, you know, the survivors and the ladies, uh, they're absolutely wonderful. And um you can if you are a Vietnam veteran or a surviving family member of a Vietnam veteran that was exposed to Asian Orange, and you haven't received your Orange Heart Medal, we always have applications with us, and we always have Orange Heart medals with us. And very rarely do we have a Wednesday that we don't uh have the pleasure to present an Orange Heart Medal to someone, and that's always and Nick, you can um chime in here, of course.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

Uh it's always amazing and really cool to watch the ceremony part happen. Yes, because uh a lot of well all of them are so humble and they're always so moved and impacted by the words that are said to them right into their eyes. Um it's always emotional to watch, but also when you are presenting one to a veteran that is not there or who has already passed on, but you're doing it with uh one of their children.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Like me.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

Like you, like Mike. Remember, Mike was there? That's right. Um I I think um the way you thank the family for their way of serving or their trials and tribulations. I mean, it it's so moving, it really is.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

It to me, what's really and I love it is you when when you're talking to the veteran or families up, and you say the words that are coming from your heart, and I know they come from your heart, there's no script. No, you just have you know, you say what you need to say as far as Orange Heart Metal Foundation, maybe a brief little whatever, or something particular that per pertains to the individual you're addressing, but everything's from the heart. And it's the look on their eyes and the family, it's like the first time they're hearing those words, and that's indicative of the treatment they got when they came back here. Absolutely, which is it was to be ignored and not talked about. That's right, and you're talking about it.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

Well, we have to let them know, you know, you're not forgotten.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

I see them almost inside emotionally start to crumble, but in a good way. Oh, absolutely. They need that release, and you do that.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

It's it's my it's your voice crumbling in the voice. It's an honor.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

I felt like I was gonna lean into you and you were put your arm around me. And it's you know, yeah, it's you're amazing.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

That's all I got to say. Yeah, it's my honor. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

Uh you're definitely amazing uh what you do. There's also a uh motorcycle ride. Yes, there is.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

We have uh every year we have some uh wonderful support from the uh motorcycle riding community and also the Jeep community. And on this year, Saturday, June the 27th, we will have our sixth annual ride. Uh the Life is Good Motorcycle Ministries uh is going to sponsor that one, host it for us. We're going to start at the Beaver Bar that morning. We're going to have registration starting at uh 10 o'clock. Kickstands are up at 12, and they're going to take a ride. Uh the route is still yet to be determined, but we will end at Jam and Leather. Uh again, another one of our wonderful um sponsors. Jamie and his crew are absolutely wonderful. They're going to uh do a live auction for us, and we're gonna have 50-50 raffle tickets and uh door prizes as well. So it's open to the public. Anyone is welcome to come. We urge you to please come out and support this wonderful organization because what these proceeds are going to do, all of the money that we raise will go back into the Orange Heart Metal Foundation. And that money is used strictly to purchase the Orange Heart Medals that we present to the Vietnam veterans that were exposed or to a surviving family member 100% at no cost.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

I did post the flyer on our Facebook page. You can go to our talk radio page and click on that or go to orangeheartmetal foundation.org. Correct. And um you can find all those links on our page. Robin Spence, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. If someone wanted to reach out to you, I know you're on Facebook, but what's like an email or best way to contact you?

SPEAKER_01 14:35

Uh best way to contact me is Robin J.Spence at gmail.com. They can contact the foundation directly at uh orangeheartmetal foundation at gmail.com. And you know, really go on the website, orangeheartmedal.org, and you can research the uh the law that has been passed at the state level. We have 20 states now that honor the uh Vietnam veterans that were exposed as combat wounded, and they honor the Orange Heart Medal, and we're not gonna stop till we have all 50.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

All right, thank you so much. And uh we look forward to recording those PSAs in just a moment, so stick around. Awesome. We'll be back.