How the government killed my dad

Two miles east of Fowler, Kansas, in the early hours of a September morning in 1968, drunk driver Edson Ellsbury, 50, hit the vehicle of Frank Brannan, 54, who was driving with his wife, Meade County Treasurer Fern Brannan (D), 51, in the front passenger seat.

Asleep in his dorm room at Hutchinson Community College, a young Richard Douglas Brannan (better known as Doug) would wake up to a knock at his door. A week into his sophomore year and “hungover like crazy,” Doug went to the door where his cousin informed him that his dad was dead and his mother wasn’t expected to live.

“I put on some cutoff corduroy pants, a t-shirt, tennis shoes, and I stumbled out of my dormitory,” Doug said in an interview just months before his death. “I would come to find out that it was vice versa. My mom was dead, and my dad was hurt pretty bad. He got physically over it, but he never got over it mentally.”

Doug said the incident turned his life upside down.

“I kind of half-assed went to school back at juco and ended up flunking out by the end of the semester,” Doug said. “I went to another business college for about another six months in Hutchinson. There was an army recruiter over there and I talked to him, and he got me interested in taking a physical up in Kansas City.”

Doug signed up with the ASA (Army Security Agency) after being convinced to do so by a recruiter who assured him that he wouldn’t go to Vietnam if he did so. The significance is that those who are drafted only serve two years, while those that enlist serve for three. However, those who sign up with the ASA must serve for four years.

“He said something about I would have security clearance so that they wouldn’t want to send me to Vietnam. I would have too much ‘value,’” Doug said. “So, I decided to go four years.”

This, however, would be one of many lies the government would tell Doug while he served. Another significant lie being that the chemical herbicide Agent Orange is “safe.”

After exposure to the chemical, many Vietnam veterans began to die after the war from its dangerous side effects. In fact, according to an article from 2015, an estimated 300,000 veterans have died from Agent Orange exposure—nearly five times the number who died in combat (58,000). And more veterans, like Doug, are still dying from it, and this doesn’t even include the veteran’s children whose health is also being affected by it.

In 2006, Doug was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease linked to Agent Orange that the government originally told him was safe after the government convinced him he would not go to Vietnam if he signed up a specific way, only for the government to ship him off to Vietnam anyway.

For more than 17 years, Doug, 74, who was otherwise a healthy man, fought the government-given Parkinson’s Disease until he succumbed to the illness on October 18, 2023 at 11:58 p.m. at the Missouri Veterans Home in Mt. Vernon. Upon his request, Doug was cremated and laid to rest on Monday, October 30, 2023, at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Springfield. However, despite being the reason Doug deteriorated for 17+ years until he died from a disease he shouldn’t have had, the government still wanted to make things difficult for his family.

Jeanine Brannan, wife and advocate of Doug, fought the government for years to ensure he was being treated well and to get him to 90 percent disability. On Doug’s headstone, she was given the chance to put words—an epitaph—to remember him by. She, with the support of her children, asked the government to inscribe the words, “Damn Parkinson’s!” as that was a phrase Doug would always say. The government told her no, because “damn” is an expletive word. As her son, I suggested, “Too valuable to go to Vietnam” a reminder of the government’s lies that took him away earlier than he likely would have gone. Jeanine opted for, “Our Doug. Peace and John Prine.” With the reasoning being Doug loved John Prine and always made the peace sign in pictures.

I write all this for a number of reasons. First and foremost to honor my dad, Doug, and ensure that his memory lives on. He was a quiet man, but he was always there, and he was always kind. Secondly, to remind people that the government is not something to trust as it’s only really good at doing four things: Killing people, killing animals, taking people’s property, and spending other people’s money recklessly. Thirdly, to remind people, especially right now, that war is not just something we go do. There are real consequences for real people and real families that last decades and these government funded genocides should be denounced every time, because it is not the government that truly pays but rather the people who are either innocent civilians or who have been lied to by a corrupt and tyrannical government into fighting a war that is more for the benefit of elites than anyone else.

The fourth and final thing is this: I will always respect veterans because they are men and women who served with pride for our country and their duty was performed with the intention of keeping Americans safe, even at the expense of their own lives. However, I do not hold that same regard for recruiters as they regularly lie and use predatory tactics to convince young, often directionless people into fighting for the government as such a recruiter did to my dad after he lost his mom. It is because of that, it is my sincere belief that recruiters have no business being in schools—especially in K-12 schools, where they can prey on these kids who are still struggling to figure out what is best for their lives.

With all of this being said, I hope everyone has a wonderful Veterans Day, and to those of you who are veterans, I sincerely thank you for your service.