AGENT ORANGE PRESUMPTIONS NOT JUST FOR VIETNAM VETS

 Readers of Tom Philpott’s Military Update column sound off

 

Will the new ruling on heart disease for veterans from Agent Orange include those of us who served on the DMZ in Korea?  Everything seems to be slanted toward Vietnam veterans.

Some VA people are not even aware there at victims of Agent Orange exposure from the second Korean Conflict.   I am one of them.

I have diabetes and heart disease which necessitated a by-pass operation four years ago. My claim was honored.  20 % for insulin dependent diabetes and 30% for heart disease related to diabetes.

R. SCHOENFELDT

Saukville, Wis. 

 

The presumption of exposure to Agent Orange also extends to veterans who served in certain units on the Korean DMZ between April 1968 and July 1969, when tactical herbicides were used there. Those units were primarily infantry and artillery that operate on the DMZ during that period.  Also, the Department of Defense has provided VA with a list of locations where testing, storage and transportation of tactical herbicides, such as Agent Orange, occurred.  If evidence shows a veteran was involved with tactical herbicide handling or testing at one of these locations, or was exposed in some other manner, then VA will acknowledge exposure on a facts-found, occupational or direct basis, say officials.  Veterans exposed this way are eligible for presumptive service connection of the same herbicide-related diseases as veterans who served in Vietnam or on the Korean DMZ during the designated time frame.

VA officials suggest it is difficult to provide one-size-fits-all advice on such a complex subject.  Therefore, they encourage veterans to contact VA directly or work through a service organization representative to see how their individual situation may relate to general policy on AO exposure.  – Tom Philpott

 DON’T WORRY ABOUT TAXPAYERS

Your article about VA adding three more diseases to its list of illnesses presumed caused by exposure to Agent Orange noted how this was going to hit taxpayers’ wallet.  Mr. Philpott, compared to the billions spent or given to banks and others during the bailout, this is a drop in the bucket.

Remember, Vietnam veterans gets hit twice: once in the wallet as a taxpayer and once in the heart.

Don't worry, it is likely most who would benefit from this are dead already or soon will be. Maybe the government should wait another 10 to 20 years to implement this and 90 percent of us will have died.

Just think how many lives and how much money we would have saved if we didn't go to war at the drop of a hat.

RANDALL CHAPMAN

Master Sergeant, Retired...

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