See this episode and all of our previous episodes here at https://www.vvmf.org/echoes. There are more than 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; Note:If we denied your claim in the past and we think you may be eligible now, well try to contact you. Since the Vietnam War ended, thousands of Vietnam veterans have died each year due to Agent Orange exposure, PTSD and other illnesses as a result of their service. The debate over whether there are definitive links between a particular type of cancer and Agent Orange exposure has been raging for decades. These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make to give you better functionality and preferences such as text size, fonts and other customizable website elements. The estimated delivery window for the shirts. This change expands benefits for Gulf War era and post-9/11 Veterans. A VA disability lawyer can help you with this process. Since the Vietnam War ended, thousands of Vietnam veterans have died each year due to Agent Orange exposure, PTSD and other illnesses as a result of their service. In 1979, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of 2.4 million veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange during their service in Vietnam.. How many died from Agent Orange? receive communications related to AARP volunteering. Two years ago, the VVA received 50 thousand dollars from the state to do just that. The National Academy of Medicines 2018 report, which will rely on datasets collected up until 2016, isnt due until this fall, said spokeswoman Dana Korsen. Kate, 66, now lives alone with her dog, Cabernet. Cabby was Petes dog, an aging black lab that happily barks and gamely bounds to the door whenever visitors drop by. exposure to herbicides in a location other than the Vietnam or the Korean demilitarized zone. WebHow many REAL Vietnam vets are alive today? This "presumptive policy" simplifies the process for receiving compensation for these diseases since VA foregoes the normal requirements of proving that an illness began during or was worsened by your military service. We encourage you to file a Supplemental Claim. You can also call the Agent Orange Help Line at 1-800-749-8387 or send an e-mail to GW/AOHelpline@vba.va.gov. But will they? Learn how vehicle tech like blind spot warnings and drowsy driving alerts can help make driving safer. You were discharged or released between September 11, 2001, and October 1, 2013, You havent enrolled in VA health care before, High blood pressure (also called hypertension), Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), Any U.S. or Royal Thai military base in Thailandfrom January 9, 1962, throughJune 30, 1976, Laos from December 1, 1965, throughSeptember 30, 1969, Cambodia at Mimot or Krek, Kampong Cham Province from April 16, 1969, through April 30, 1969, Guam or American Samoa or in the territorial waters off of Guam or American Samoa from January 9, 1962, through July 31, 1980, Johnston Atoll or on a ship that called at Johnston Atoll from January 1, 1972, through September 30, 1977, Cleanup of the Air ForceB-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons off the coast of, Response to the fire onboard an Air Force B-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons near, Open burn pits and otherairborne hazards. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Because the VA decades later added ischemic heart disease to its list of Agent Orange-related diseases, the widow was able to make the case that she should have been getting benefits all those years. If you dont have an upcoming appointment, or if you want to get the screening sooner, contact your local VA health facility. You can view the current Compensation Rate Tables to determine the amount you may receive. About 40 people showed up to hear the speakers. Your eligibility depends on your service history and other factors. It is more common in men, in white people, and in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, but researchers cant explain why. How Many Vietnam Veterans Have Been Affected by Agent Orange? For example, a veteran diagnosed decades ago with type2 diabetes may not have noticed when the government later added the condition to its list of ailments linked to Agent Orange, says Linda Schwartz, special advisor on health to the Vietnam Veterans of America. Well send you a decision notice when we complete our review. The disease moved swiftly. Part of HuffPost Politics. My husband and 69 percent of the veterans in our group were treated for their glioblastoma at a civilian hospital and never seen at a VA facility, she said. It was quite a moment because they couldnt question his integrity, said Wilcox. DePodesta says that for many years his eye injury qualified him for a disability rating of 30 percent and a monthly payment of under $400. Before Peter died, and after Peter died, he was my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night, said Kate, tearing up. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. The Reagan White House wanted to cut funding for veterans centers and Agent Orange epidemiological studies that had begun under Max Cleland and Jimmy Carter, said Hagel, who from that era to now has been widely lauded as a champion for veterans. But since then, thousands of Vietnam veterans have fought illnesses related to Agent Orange exposure. Rab Cross, a doctor with the Central Western Massachusetts Veterans Health Administration, said he could not comment specifically on Naylors case without all the information, but cautioned against making such definitive claims on the causes of a disease. Apply for VA health care, find out how to access services, and manage your health and benefits online. Any man or woman thats served who walks into the VA should be taken care of.. CCK Recognized for Donations to American Veterans Disabled For Life Memorial, CCK Successfully Argues for a Precedential Decision About Protected Work Environment, A Day in the Life of a Paralegal (Claims Advocate) at CCK. We will do our best to respond within a reasonable amount of time (usually 3 to 10 workdays). These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make to give you better functionality and personal features. They cant do this by themselves, says Schwartz. By Haley FosterValley News Live The toll in human terms caused by the war is staggering. After he died, I only got survivor benefits from Social Security, $500 a month. These conditions are: That being said, you can also receive service connection for a condition not on the above list by supplying medical evidence that your condition was at least as likely as not caused by your exposure to herbicides. File for VA disability compensation online, Learn more about how to file a disability compensation claim. It makes it hard. Dewinski commissioned him to research and analyze the available evidence on veterans service-related Agent Orange exposure and illnesses for the report. The https:// ensures that you're connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and sent securely. Roughly 300-thousand veterans have died from Agent Orange exposure -- If we denied your disability claim in the past and we now consider your condition presumptive, you can submit a Supplemental Claim. We did everything they told us to do. Cookies help us deliver the best experience on our website. Additionally, Agent Orange is an extremely powerful herbicide. He was 76 years old and had recently had Covid and pneumonia. to the list in a request to OMB last fall, but the agency was still looking at data and reviewing financial estimates. A photo of Pete hangs over Kates left shoulder as she sits at the kitchen table, on the red brick backsplash he built her. Toxic exposure screenings are available at VA health facilities across the country. Roughly 300-thousand veterans have died from Agent Orange exposure -- that's almost five times as many as the 58-thousand who died in combat. Review boards are not required to consider precedent decisions, meaning there are no easy answers for people attempting to navigate the VA the whole thing is somewhat of a crapshoot. Hypertension and bladder cancer are two examples of diseases the academy listed in its 2016 report as having some research suggesting a link with service exposure, but which the VA has thus far not added. 2. If youre a Veteran or survivor, you can file claims now to apply for PACT Act-related benefits. There are other locations in which veterans were likely exposed to Agent Orange, including the Korean Demilitarized Zone and Thailand. The federal agency, known as OMB, controls the VAs purse strings and has in the past been hostile to the idea of adding costs to the budget for veterans services. But she didnt find an easy answer. Exception: Blue Water Veterans with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma may be granted service-connection without showing inland waterway service or that they set foot in Vietnam. So why is every veteran and widow who files a disability or survivor claim forced to re-litigate the issue?. Curt Cashour, press secretary of the VA, told The Daily Beast the agency relies on medical evidence from internationally recognized scientific authorities, as well as its own independent review of the latest science, to make its determination on Agent Orange-related claims from veterans and their families. If we added your condition after you filed your claim, well still consider it presumptive. And you can file a claim for PACT Act-related disability compensation or apply for VA health care now. No doubt. Enrollment is free. And your care may be free as well. WebIt is difficult to say how many Vietnam veterans have been affected by Agent Orange. Pete, a stone mason who lived in Housatonic, Massachusetts, began having difficulty swallowing in the fall of 2014. While he would not comment specifically on the type of claims coming from the Blue Water Navy or glioblastoma patients and families because he has not studied their claims, Hagel said all who file an Agent Orange claim need to be heard and respected by the VA. When you are dealing with these deadly toxic chemicals, we owe it to these people to take a closer look, he said. Go to a VA regional office and have a VA employee assist you. Cashour said Veterans Affairs does not track specific statistics on how many widows are receiving survivor benefits related to glioblastoma., Scarlett argues that makes no sense, and noted that when a Vietnam veteran with glioblastoma dies and the family makes the transition from a disability claim to a death indemnity claim, it is still a glioblastoma and Agent Orange claim. Learn about other hazardous materials presumptive conditions that may make you eligible for care or benefits. If youre a surviving family member of a Veteran, you may be eligible for these benefits: You can submit a new application for VA dependency and indemnity compensation (VA DIC). Yes the US government sprayed Agent Orange in areas where American troops were operating. And it didnt just have an impact on the veteran. I was i Check the list of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships that operated in Vietnam to confirm whether your service aboard a ship allows VA to concede you were exposed to Agent Orange.. Our staff offers a free case evaluation. She sees the research noted in the National Academys last report as an encouraging sign that the science may eventually come down on their side. But Evans didnt offer many options for families like the Naylors stuck navigating the system. To enter and activate the submenu links, hit the down arrow. Have you been affected by Camp Lejeune water contamination? Ask to get screened by the toxic exposure screening navigator. Attention A T users. Every Veteran enrolled in VA health care will receive an initial screening and a follow-up screening at least once every 5 years. Nehmer v. Department of Veterans Affairs, which was resolved with a consent decree in 1991, forced the VA to address its responsibilities to veterans exposed to Agent Orange. We left Washington feeling very optimistic,said Scarlett,who was accompanied by two other widows of Vietnam veterans who died of glioblastoma, Kathy Josenhans and Laurel Holt, who also gave short but substantive speeches. What he found was explosive. Pete was honorably discharged on March 19, 1971. He also received a large lump sum payment compensating him retroactively to his first diagnosis with ischemic heart disease. The plaque on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial site in Washington, D.C. that honors these veterans was dedicated in 2004 and reads:In Memory of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service. That exposure came from such things as ingestion of polluted water, cleaning off planes covered in Agent Orange, the onboard storage of Agent Orange, and missions to Vietnam that did not make it into personnel records.. A veteran of the Vietnam War, he has been working on issues relating to Agent Orange exposure since 1989. The diseases now on the VAs Agent Orange list are ischemic heart disease, lung and trachea cancers, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma, Hodgkins disease, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Parkinsons Disease, type 2 diabetes, peripheral neuropathy, AL amyloidosis, chronic B-cell leukemia, chloracne, early-onset peripheral neuropathy, porphyriacutaneatarda, and soft tissue sarcomas. Do You Have Long-Term Disability Insurance Coverage? That number is almost 5x There are 430 confirmed Vietnam veterans with glioblastoma now in Scarletts database. Its a long time coming. Veterans who are not enrolled and who meet eligibility requirements will have an opportunity to enroll and receive the screening. Find out how to file a Supplemental Claim. That toxicity is coming back to haunt veterans and it's also affecting their children Well my dad was a Vietnam veteran, my brother has brain cancer believed to be caused by Agent Orange passed through my father, said Ashely Busby, daughter of a Vietnam Vet. Furthermore, as to case summaries, reports of past results, individual lawyer biographies, news posts and other information pertaining to past and present cases, these descriptions are meant only to provide information to the public about the activities and experience of our law firm. An official website of the United States government. i am dieing from it and most of my mortar unit is dead. we spent all 1968 in the bush or in some freeking lz or firebase that was sprayed or we had The total goes up every day. The total number of is estimated at 2.8 million US veterans who were exposed to the poisonous chemical while serving a The two spoke for about 10 minutes, and Evans suggested she ask for a hearing. The Blue Water Navy veterans were exposed to Agent Orange in many different ways that VA has known about for years, Moore said. This type of case requires a lot of medical evidence and is harder to provebut not impossible, says Felicia Mullaney, deputy director of Veterans Benefits, Vietnam Veterans of America. Other medical professionals would hesitate to make such a strong statement. We must wait for funding approval from Congress and put the needed systems in place before we can process these claims. Many vets think the VAs refusal to give esophageal cancer a blanket recognition is because the agency is less than enthused about the costs of adding more of them to the list. Organize banner/sign hangings around the community. Hypertension and bladder cancer are two examples of diseases the academy listed in its 2016 report as having some research suggesting a link with service exposure, but which the VA has thus far not added. www.aarp.org/volunteer. Last November, I traveled to the East Coast to attend the burial of a friend of over 50 years who also served in Vietnam. We encourage all Veterans and survivors to file for benefits now. Its not that I want to be some kind of a trailblazer for this cause, she said, but perhaps it will help or encourage other vets and their families to pursue their claims.. In Memorywas created in 1993 by the group Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. Kate believes the fight is worth continuing. Only years later, when veterans exposed to Agent Orange started getting sick and dying, did doctors and researchers begin to draw a link back to the chemical. However, any veteran who served in Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, is presumed by the VA to have been exposed to Agent Orange. According to Stenvold, one tablespoon of Agent Orange in the drinking water of Los Angeles would kill the entire city. The fact is, we needed to know more about Agent Orange then, and we still do., a Facebook page for veterans with glioblastoma. WebAgent Orange was a blend of tactical herbicides the U.S. military sprayed from 1962 to 1971 during the Vietnam War to remove the leaves of trees and other The federal agency, known as OMB, controls the VAs purse strings and has, been hostile to the idea of adding costs to the budget for veterans services. During the Vietnam War era, the generally accepted definition of territorial seas was three nautical miles offshore. Hit enter to expand a main menu option (Health, Benefits, etc). The Vietnam Veterans of America nonprofit has been working to expand the VAs list of service-related illnesses for years. The Veterans Health Administration's Public Health website lists these diseases VA presumes are associated with exposure to Agent Orange or other herbicides during military service: If you are seeking service connection for one of the diseases VA presumes is associated with exposure to herbicides during service, VA requires the following: If you believe that you have a disease caused by herbicide exposure, but that disease is not on the list of diseases associated with Agent Orange, you may still apply for service-connection. There are about 50 diseases connected agent orange exposure and nearly 20 birth defects recognized in the children of Vietnam veterans. The admiral believed these illnesses were the result of his sons exposure to the defoliant during his time as a patrol boat lieutenant in Vietnam from June 1969 to August 1970. Based on the PACT Act, weve added 2 new Agent Orange presumptive conditions: You may also be eligible for disability compensation based on other Agent Orange presumptive conditions. He died of glioblastoma in 2011. That high cost is why many veterans advocates think the government has been so resistant to adding more diseases to the list. To access the menus on this page please perform the following steps. Before they would even have a chance of receiving disability or survivor benefits, veterans and their family members must prove that the glioblastoma was at least as likely as not to be caused by Agent Orange exposure. These veterans dont need to prove that they were exposed to Agent Orange to qualify for benefits related to ailments on the list. In addition, VA has determined there is evidence of exposure to Agent Orange for Air Force and Air Force Reserve members who served during the period 1969 through 1986 and regularly and repeatedly operated, maintained, or served onboard C-123 aircraft (known to have been used to spray an herbicide agent during the Vietnam era). Free online workshop! There shouldnt be a category for you to get help, said Kaderlik. Veterans Crisis Line:
In Memory. In addition, she argues the VA is making decisions about glioblastoma based on incomplete numbers. again. DePodesta, a retired mortgage banker who works occasionally as a substitute teacher and serves as a prison chaplain, says the monthly benefits together with the retroactive payment made a pretty big change in my lifestyle. It is a mixture of equal parts of two herbicides, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D.In addition to its damaging environmental When you visit web sites, they may store or retrieve data in your web browser. These veterans, who served on ships in the bays, harbors, and territorial seas of Vietnam during the war, and their loved ones have been fighting Veterans Affairs for decades to get their claims approved. 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