By Peter S. Gaytan

 

Finally justice will be served for hundreds of Vietnam Navy veterans whose Agent Orange claims were initially denied because of a paperwork mistake. Senator Daniel Akaka requested a review of disability claims made by veterans who served in Vietnam’s rivers and tainted waterways, or whose boats were docked in Vietnam. They are considered “Brown Water” vets. By law, VA presumes that veterans who served in inland waterways were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides. Any veteran who suffers from certain diseases, and their survivors, may qualify for monetary benefits and health care. In addition, monetary benefits and care are provided to Vietnam veterans whose children have spina bifida. Senator Akaka also identified a group of veterans who may have been exposed to Agent Orange while serving on the perimeters of Air Force bases in Thailand, areas in which the VA now acknowledges the herbicide may have been used..

 

Many of these cases involved “Blue Water” veterans, those who served at sea. But many Navy vessels, thought to have remained at sea, actually traveled into the inland waters of Vietnam – thereby potentially exposing service members to the toxic herbicide and leaving them at risk for certain diseases and illnesses.

 

Senator Akaka’s staff discovered that in many cases, the initial claims for disability were denied because VA failed to obtain key military records. In order to prove exposure to Agent Orange, a veteran would have to submit a deck log from the ship on which he served, showing that it entered Vietnam’s inland waters or docked there. Research revealed that a significant number of cases in which regional VA offices had rejected claims before requesting the deck logs.

 

VA decided it would order a full review of 16,820 Brown Water veteran claims. This will take months to complete because VA personnel have to pull each claims file, then determine if the deck logs were requested, and search for other evidence of Agent Orange exposure. (The Deck Logs are kept at the National Archives.) Accurately reading and interpreting what the different locations noted in the logs means is critical to substantiating a veteran’s claim. This review comes at a time when VA is already under pressure dealing with an unprecedented number of claims from veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as well as an uptick in claims from Vietnam veterans based on three additional diseases that have been added to the list of recognized Agent Orange-related illnesses.

 

For more information on the Brown Water review, as well as links to ships in the area, go to: http://akaka.senate.gov/press-releases.cfm?method=releases.view&id=7502439e-1d69-4782-b186-a4c86470302c

 

Peter S. Gaytan is the author of For Service To Your Country – Updated Edition: The Essential Guide to Getting the Veterans’ Benefits You’ve Earned (Citadel, 2011), available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other booksellers. He has served as an advocate in securing and protecting the earned benefits of America’s veterans for more than a decade. Gaytan is the Executive Director of the American Legion, the largest veterans service organization in America.