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As a C-130 airborne radio operator based at Nha Trang Air Force Base, U.S. Master Sergeant Gerald LeFevre's C-130 often flew low-level, open-cargo-door missions directly through clouds of Agent Orange being sprayed by other aircraft. The toxic herbicide, moreover, was stored 100 feet from LeFevre's barracks; mixing tank farms were right next door.

Gerald LeFevre died is December 1989 after suffering for fifteen years from (among other things) pulmonary disease, degenerative joint disease, emphysema, fibrous lungs, and cancer of the lungs, liver, stomach, pancreas, lymph nodes, kidney, bone, and diaphragm. "It was not a natural death of a man only 56 years old," LeFevre's wife, Jennie, tols a National Academy of Sciences panel last year. "Something caused all these medical problems, and I believe it was the result of his exposure to Agent Orange."

Sheila Winsett of Jasper, Alabama, has a similar story involving her husband, Gary Wayne Jacks, who dies in 1989 at age 44. "He came home safe, and we began a life together with the war behind us," she said in an interview. "How were we suppose ti know a tragedy from Vietnam would hit years after the war? Agent Orange is listed on his death certificate, and I live in a world of nightmares wondering if this is going to happen to our children."

In the summer os 1997, Jennie LeFevre--who lives in Shady Side, Maryland, and is a Korean War-era veteran and VVA member--came up with a unique way of honoring her husband add drawing national attention to the plight of other Vietnam weterans and their families exposed to Agent Orange. The idea evolved from a picture LeFevre sent to Danna Hughes, president of Vietnam Veterans Wives, an organization dedicated to teh assistance of Vietnam and Gulf War veterans.

"I sent her a picture of me wearing an orange tee-shirt that read 'Widow of Agent Orange Victim,'" LeFevre said. "She called me back and told me about the idea for the quilt." The idea was to make quilts to honor those who are sick and to memorialize those who have dies as a result of exposureto Agent Orange in Vietnam and to chemical and biological agents in Operation Desert Storm.

"It's very dear to my heart, and I am proud to be a part of it," LeFevre said in and interview. "I fully understand the grief and sorrow caused by Agent Orange from my own experience of what it did to my husband and what it has done to my life. I know and have heard first hand what Agent Orange has done to our servicemen ans my heart goes out to them. We hope the quilt project will be ongoing for years. We do not want these men to be forgotten."

AfterLeFevre and Hughes announced the project, they began receiving squares for the quilt from all over the country. Sheila Winsett stiched these words onto an orange panel: "Gary Wayne Jacks, Vietnam Vet, Date of Birth 4-7-45, Date of Death, 6-22-89." Susan Wolfson of Eurka, California, created a square for her husband, Fred David Wolfson. Victoria Nicely of Corvallis, Oregon, put together a panel honoring her son, John Robert Brejla, with a picture of him and the words "He believed in rainbows" sewn in black on an orange background. Some women sent in panels decorated with photographs of their husbands or sons in uniform. Other added medals to their panels.

"To walk beside these quilts and look at the dedication and love put into each of them, you can see how hearts would be touched and tears shed for our countrymen who served so well." Winsett said.

LeFevre took the squares and created what is offically known as the Agent Orange/Desert Storm Chemical Awareness Quilt. The "Quilt," actually is a collection of more than twenty 8-by-10 foot quilts. Most of the quilts are composed of 2-foot squares that we sent to Jennie and Danna from women from all over the country. Jennie and Danna stitch the panels together, four across and five deep, to create the final quilt. The Agent Orange and Gulf War blocks are interspersed to underscore the health problems suffered by veterans while in the service. Some quilts are sent in complete. They usuale are devoted to the memory of a single veteran and are not broken into panels.

The quilts were put on public display for the first time on the Mall in Washington, D.C., during this year's Memorial Day observances. They are avaliable for exhibit at veterans; reunions and other functions. They will be on display at the Sixteen Annual Veterans Festival in Kokomo, Indiana, September 18-20. The quilts are scheduled to return to the national Mall next Memorial Day for what is hoped to be an annual event.

The quilt "is our memorial to those who gave so much," Jennie LeFevre said, "It is also meant to bring public awareness to the plight of the Agent Orange and Desert Storm veterans. A loud shout should come up from the roots and depths of this country about what has happened to these men who faithfully served their country."

If you would like to know more about the Agent Orange Quilt, contact:

Please submit with  quilt block

I give my consent that the quilt block  I am submitting in honor of:                  will be placed in the Agent Orange Victims And Widows Support Network “Quilts Of Tears’ for all time, henceforth. I understand that the quilt block will permanently placed in a quilt. I agree to these terms out of love, respect and honor for our Nation’s Agent Orange Victims.

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