Grant Hachmann, a veteran U.S. Air Force pilot from Goodyear, has battled many enemies. The Vietnam War vet flew sorties out of the country as a fighter pilot.

“It would be hours of boredom interrupted by moments of sheer terror,” he said. 

When he signed up for VA benefits after he retired from the Air Force in the late 1980s, a screening question asked if he was exposed to a Vietnam-era chemical called Agent Orange. That’s when he found out from a VA admin rep that he could have been exposed to the cancerous agent.

“Did you drink the water while you were over there? Well, obviously I did,” he said. “And the rep said, well, then you are exposed to Agent Orange.”

Agent Orange was an herbicide used by the U.S. to strip Vietnamese jungles that offered the Vietcong enemies a formidable defensive terrain to mount resistance against the U.S. forces.

The herbicide’s moniker stems from the orange stripe on the barrels in which it was stored.

Years later, in 2020, Hachmann developed a rare cancer tied to Agent Orange called multiple myeloma.

According to the VA, multiple myeloma is one of several conditions linked to Agent Orange exposure. It’s a cancer that attacks plasma cells, weakening your immune system.

“I called the City of Hope’s 800 number and was immediately impressed with the folks answering the phone and getting me set up to become a patient,” he said. 

Hachmann became one of the first patients in their new Goodyear stem cell transplant facility.

According to City of Hope, the most effective treatment for myeloma is high-dose chemotherapy combined with stem cell transplant. In 2021, City of Hope in Goodyear set up one of the Valley’s largest and most successful transplantation programs, and Hachmann was going to be one of the first to see if the facility flew right.

“I went and had my cells harvested in October of 2021,” he said. “I ended up having my transplant in September of 2022. At the collection process, as well as the transplant itself, I've been very fortunate in that I didn't have any reactions to any of it.”

Hachmann credits  Dr. Jeffrey Schriber and his supporting staff’s optimism and professionalism for his successful procedure. 

“Dr. Schriber, as well as the entire staff I had contact with, were all very positive,” he said. “I was in the best of hands. If I was going to make it through, there wasn't a better place to be.”

The veteran also credits his physical fitness as helping him pull through. In great shape and a self-proclaimed bicycle nerd, the 80-year-old Hachmann would bike 100 to 105 miles a week.

“I almost got grounded there,” he said. “It's now obviously been a little over a year. I'm still doing fine.”