On August 10, 2022 Agent Orange Awareness Day we will bring light to the continuing dark toll of the war. 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. Javascript must be enabled to use this site. He served for nearly three years, including 11 months as a helicopter crew chief in Vietnam. A VA disability lawyer can help you with this process. WebVA presumes that Veterans were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides if they served: In Vietnam anytime between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975, including brief Note:If we denied your claim in the past and we think you may be eligible now, well try to contact you. I would like to try to find a way where we can resolve that issue for them, rather than make them continue to wait, Shulkin said. A photo of Pete hangs over Kates left shoulder as she sits at the kitchen table, on the red brick backsplash he built her. Pete was honorably discharged on March 19, 1971. Since then he says he's made a vow to raise awareness. The VA has no idea how many people are actually being diagnosed.. Enrollment is free. Note:If we denied your claim in the past and we think you may be eligible now, well try to contact you. 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 she didnt find an easy answer. We consider a condition presumptive when it's established by law or regulation. Like veterans, survivors also can sometimes get retroactive payments in addition to qualifying for monthly death benefits. Expedition Orange Goals To raise national awareness 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. You served your country. You can also file by mail, in person, or with the help of a trained professional. The report included information from studies published in 2013 and 2014 that focused on Korean veterans of the Vietnam War (South Korea sent around 300,000 troops to the fight alongside the United States.) [See Veterans Day 2021 - The Wars End But Casualties Continue To Mount] So far his two adult daughters seem to be fine. 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. If you meet the requirements listed here, you can get free VA health care for any condition related to your service for up to 10 years from the date of your most recent discharge or separation. Jesse Trevino, the internationally acclaimed artist who served a combat-heavy tour of duty with the U.S. Army 9 th Infantry Division, died February 13 in San Antonio where he grew up. Well send you a decision notice when we complete our review. Once a disease is put on the list, it is easier to get disability compensation for it because the VA presumes the disease is a result of exposure to Agent Orange for veterans who served in Vietnam or its inland waterways between 1962 and 1975. 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. VA presumes Lou Gehrig's Disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS) diagnosed in all Veterans who had 90 days or more continuous active military service is related to their service, although ALS is not related to Agent Orange exposure. Cookies help us deliver the best experience on our website. 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. In Memory. 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. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site. The screening will ask you if you think you were exposed to any of these hazards while serving: Well then give you information about any benefits, registry exams, and clinical resources you may need. Her husband, Frank Josenhans, spent six years in the waters off of Vietnam as a Navy diver. However, I furnished them with information Petes medical bills, Kate said, were covered by a combination of Medicare and insurance through Kates job. Additionally, Agent Orange is an extremely powerful herbicide. Call us today at 800-544-9144. To get a VA disability rating, your disability must connect to your military service. Finally, we invite you to contact us and we welcome your calls, letters and electronic mail. Do You Qualify for Long Term Disability Benefits? See this episode and all of our previous episodes here at https://www.vvmf.org/echoes. There are about 50 diseases connected agent orange exposure and nearly 20 birth defects recognized in the children of Vietnam veterans. These conditions include certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, and other illnesses. By using this information, you understand that there is no attorney-client relationship created by you reading or using the information contained on this website or in this newsletter, article, or blog. There are also other locations where we presume that you had exposure to radiation. 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. I do not believe there will be scientific data [to] give us a clear answer, like we do have on the Agent Orange presumptive list. So why is every veteran and widow who files a disability or survivor claim forced to re-litigate the issue?. 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. In the next 24 hours, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription to receive emails In these cases, VA requires all of the following: Monthly payment rates are based on the Veteran's combined rating for his or her service-connected disabilities. The .gov means its official. 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 a direct link is made to Agent Orange exposure in a particular case, then service connection could still be granted, says Beth Murphy, VA Compensation Service Director. WebJesse Trevino, 1946-2023. On the 60th anniversary of the first use of Agent Orange in Vietnam, we bring you a couple of personal stories from people whose lives are still marked by the use of this deadly toxin. Attention A T users. In some cases, the resistance to adding more to the list has not been the VA but, rather the Office of Management and Budget, . Fred Wilcox, a former professor of writing at Ithaca College and the author of two books on Agent Orange exposure, said that much of that dismissal was related to class in the years just after the war. The toll in human terms caused by the war is staggering. medical opinions of three doctors who believed another veterans exposure to the defoliant had caused his esophageal cancer were enough to tilt the scales in favor of recognizing his widows claim. VA presumes that Veterans were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides if they served: If you fall into either category listed above, you do not have to show that you were exposed to Agent Orange to be eligible for disability compensation for diseases VA presumes are associated with it. The two spoke for about 10 minutes, and Evans suggested she ask for a hearing. that focused on Korean veterans of the Vietnam War (South Korea sent around 300,000 troops to the fight alongside the United States.) That high cost is why many veterans advocates think the government has been so resistant to adding more diseases to the list. 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. Beverly Nehmer, the widow of a veteran who died of an Agent Orange-related disease, to court in what later became a class action suit on behalf of. The employees and the company gave a total of $1,500 dollars to this cause. Your donation to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund will help expand our mission to honor, educate and heal. Kate filed more paperwork a few months after her husbands death for spousal compensation. 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. If you think youre eligible for VA health care and benefits, we encourage you to apply now. If we denied your disability claim in the past and we now consider your condition presumptive, you can submit a Supplemental Claim. A 2016 study by the American Cancer Society estimated 2-3 cases per 100,000 people worldwide, with a median survival time from diagnosis of one year. We honor and remember their sacrifice. Veterans with glioblastoma and their family members say the process of filing a VA claim is painstaking and at times downright cruel. In 1966 they told me, We will always take care of you, said Kaderlik. In late March, the Pittsfield Veterans Services and the local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter held an open meeting for veterans in western Massachusetts who have questions about Agent Orange exposure and navigating the VA bureaucracy. Veterans who were exposed to More than 5,000 veterans have been added to theIn MemoryHonor Roll since the program began. There are a number of ways to spread Agent Orange Awareness and you can do it right in your own community. , which was resolved with a consent decree in 1991, forced the VA to address its responsibilities to veterans exposed to Agent Orange. To learn more, visit our topics page about Agent Orange. Im pleased to see the House Veterans Affairs Committee approve the legislation, Yates said. 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. The idea reportedly has bipartisan support in the Senate, too. One way for veterans to get started if theyve never explored a link between their medical ailments and Agent Orange is to see if they qualify for afree Agent Orange exam. "Its an everyday question kind of, you know, what's passed on, what's not passed on," said Busby. Shamefully, the deception, fraud and political interference that has characterized government-sponsored studies on the health effects of exposure to Agent Orange and/or dioxin has not escaped studies ostensibly conducted by independent reviewers, Zumwalt wrote, a factor that has only further compounded the erroneous conclusions reached by the government., The government could ignore blue-collar veterans, but an admiral was a different story. The studies authors found that veterans with a higher rate of exposure to Agent Orange were 2.49 times more likely to develop esophageal cancer than those with lower levels of exposure. 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. Even if you did not serve in Vietnam or the Korean demilitarized zone during the specified time periods, you can still apply for disability compensation if you were exposed to an herbicide while in the military and believe it led to the onset of a disease. The legacy of the defoliant will outlast its immediate victims, said Kaderlik. You are leaving AARP.org and going to the website of our trusted provider. We're all going to die from it, eventually, or a lot of us will," said Stenvold. 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. To see the House veterans Affairs Committee approve the legislation, Yates said https: //www.vvmf.org/echoes and benefits, encourage... 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