Decades after returning home from a combat tour in Vietnam, Tom Poirier thought he’d never have to look back.
He was deep into a lifelong career with Northwest Natural Gas, and he and his wife were going on 31 years of marriage. He blocked out most of his memories from the war. He had established a new normal. He was finally out of the woods.
That is, until his first heart attack in 2001.
“I remember a doctor asking me if I had ever been around heavy chemicals,” he says. “‘I said no, I’ve never been around heavy chemicals. Not that I’m aware of.’”
He didn’t connect the dots until he got home, when his wife reminded him he was exposed to the deadly herbicide Agent Orange on the front lines as a Marine in the Vietnam War. Poirier is one of the tens of thousands of veterans exposed to Agent Orange during the war.
“I contracted heart disease from Agent Orange,” he says. “I thought I was done with everything. I kept telling myself, ‘I don’t deserve this.’”
Despite the connection, for a long time, he was unable to claim disability benefits as a result of his exposure. But with assistance of the Multnomah County’s Veterans’ Services Office, Poirier is finally getting the help he needs.
The Veterans’ Services Office is part of the Department of County Human Services. It’s the go-to place for county residents who have served. The mission: represent veterans in their claims for benefits. The staff is fully-versed in state and federal laws. They use their expertise to file claims for veterans who have encountered obstacles along the way around housing, health and other issues.
Eric Ensley is the manager of the county’s Veterans’ Services Office. He says there are many veterans in Multnomah County, just like Poirier, in need of help. His team’s goal is to reach out to all of them.
“Vietnam vets have always been our highest percentage of vets we serve,” Ensley says. “But our work doesn’t stop with them. Our mission is to reach all veterans who have served--from World War II to today.”
Ask Poirier, 67, and he’ll tell you he’s one of the lucky ones. He’s spoken with countless disabled veterans who said they’ve either given up trying to receive the benefits they’re entitled to through their service or simply don’t know how to access resources. That’s why the Veterans’ Services Office is so important.
Poirer’s story shows the power of connecting with the office. He grew up as an only child in a quiet Northeast Portland neighborhood. He lived in the same house with his parents for most of his young life. His parents kept a tight rein on him, and he didn’t really complain.
It wasn’t until he graduated from Grant High School in 1967 when he began looking for a change. College wasn’t going to work for him and he wanted to find his freedom elsewhere.
That’s when he decided to enroll in the U.S. Marine Corps.
“I walked down to the local recruiting office and I asked, ‘How soon can you get me in the Armed Services?’” he says. “They said, ‘How’s five hours sound?’ I said, ‘OK, where do I sign?’ Five hours later, I was on my way.”
After that Poirer quickly completed basic training. Then he went through advanced training. After that, it was onto his staging battalion. In due time, he was flying overseas to Vietnam.
When he landed at Da Nang Air Base in Central Vietnam, he jumped in the back of a five-ton truck headed to a base up north. He was only 18.
“I had no idea what I was getting into,” he says. “None of us knew what we were getting into. I had no idea I was going to go into a combat zone. All I knew was that there was a war over there and I wanted to help out.”
The jungle was harsh. It was hard to trust others. The meals in his C- and K-rations were nothing like his mother’s food back home. And then, he had experiences that left him numb.
“I became numb to my friends I was there with because I’d be talking to them and two hours later, they wouldn’t be there no more,” he says. “What am I supposed to do? How are you supposed to feel?”
Agent Orange was everywhere around him. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates as much as 19 million gallons of the herbicide were sprayed over six million acres in Vietnam over the course of the conflict. In villages, locals unknowingly fed him food contaminated with the herbicide. And countless times throughout his tour, the U.S. planes covered him in it flying overhead. The Marines thought it was harmless.
When his 15-month combat tour ended, Poirier was relieved to finally be back in the United States. He got married and worked in construction to support his family.
It wasn’t until his heart attack when he found out that he had developed heart disease, diabetes and neuropathy from exposure to Agent Orange. On top of that, he had trouble getting his disability claims accepted by the VA.
The disability claim battle lasted for years and Poirier was about to give up when his son referred him to the Veterans’ Services Office at 421 S.W. Oak, in 2013. He decided to schedule a meeting with a service officer to discuss his condition.
“I was just looking for help,” Poirier says. “I went in there and said, ‘I’ve got Agent Orange issues.’ I got further in the first hour with Veterans’ Services than I had gotten all those years before. She knew exactly what the process was and the paperwork needed to apply for benefits.”
Katie Pereault is the veteran service officer who helped Poirier. She’s an expert in connecting veterans with critical benefits. When a veteran comes in and asks for help, she sits down with them and listens to them describe their situation. Line-by-line, she then helps them fill out an application for benefits.
Pereault served in the Army and knows firsthand the struggle some clients face. She and the three other service officers on staff work with a wide array of veterans seeking different services. The team is equipped to help all veterans who served--from older folks who served in World War II to young people who served in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Pereault helped Poirier file a new claim for disability benefits and he was approved.
“I ended up with 80 percent of my disability claim,” Poirier says. “I was literally crying. I didn’t think I’d ever get it. I couldn’t believe it.”
With his disability benefits, he’s able to better manage his health conditions. And the VA covers all of his medical visits, free of charge.
Pereault isn’t stopping. She wants to get Poirier’s benefits to 100 percent.
“This work is really rewarding,” she says. “Getting someone’s disability claim accepted can really improve their quality of life. It can be life-changing.”
For Poirier, the wait was worth it because of Pereault and Multnomah County.
“A tremendous weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” he says. “And now that I’ve gotten help, I’m more open to talk about my experience. (Pereault) has gotten me through a lot. I want every veteran in Multnomah County to come and see her.”
