Results 1 to 16 of 16
  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    2,507

    Thumbs Up After Years of Struggling, Finally some light at the end of the tunnel

    We have been fighting this fight ever since the end of the Vietnam war. Finally it appears we are making some headway. The bill myered in committee for years and finally it has got out and onto the house floor. Hopefully by the grace of God this gets passed and signed into law by the President.

    For those of us affected by this, it can't happen soon enough!! Myself and many others like me that served on board the ships in the gulf of Tonken suffer from the effects of agent orange everyday of our lives. For all these years we have been denied any benefits as the VA has turned their back on us and have ignored the facts. Now maybe, just maybe this will finally get resolved before we all die.

    https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr299

  2. Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Cato MO
    Posts
    2,874
    #2
    I've never heard a politician that will publicly speak against the military, but a bunch of them sure vote against them getting the benefits they were promised. Only cure is make politician use the VA care system, then you'd see some changes.

  3. Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    1,466
    #3
    Glad to see something positive happening for you guys, but I have to ask this question (my mother, teachers, mentors, etc. always told me I ask to many questions); what is the difference in a military veteran serving on a ship off the coast of Vietnam and a veteran that has been assigned duty in support of the Vietnam War at Guam, Okinawa, Thailand,etc.? Agent Orange was a herbicide/defoliant used by the military on many bases in these countries and veterans were exposed to agent orange in many ways. Veterans are still being denied the truth and veterans benefits that they deserve. They may not have served in direct combat or in-country; but tens of thousands were transferred to those countries as direct contributors to helping the in-country (Vietnam) carry out there missions in Vietnam. I know why the military and the US Government does not want to recognize them (Veterans of the Vietnam War) and it is called "MONEY, BUDGETS, COST".

  4. Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    2,507
    #4
    Quote Originally Posted by B-47 View Post
    Glad to see something positive happening for you guys, but I have to ask this question (my mother, teachers, mentors, etc. always told me I ask to many questions); what is the difference in a military veteran serving on a ship off the coast of Vietnam and a veteran that has been assigned duty in support of the Vietnam War at Guam, Okinawa, Thailand,etc.? Agent Orange was a herbicide/defoliant used by the military on many bases in these countries and veterans were exposed to agent orange in many ways. Veterans are still being denied the truth and veterans benefits that they deserve. They may not have served in direct combat or in-country; but tens of thousands were transferred to those countries as direct contributors to helping the in-country (Vietnam) carry out there missions in Vietnam. I know why the military and the US Government does not want to recognize them (Veterans of the Vietnam War) and it is called "MONEY, BUDGETS, COST".
    You are dead on target regarding cost. For this bill they have worked out a way to pay for it. I don't recall all the details but they are going to get it from VA home loans. Their study says it would cost the veteran getting a VA loan and added amount of around $2.45. I'm not sure I agree with the Veteran having to pay for it even though it is basically an insignificant amount, it's the principle that I have a hard time agreeing to. As much money as the US congress pisses away, you'd think they could come up with a better way to pay for this. If this was money needed for a welfare program or some other reason, you can bet they'd come up with a way to pay for it.

    Regarding your other comments, the VA in their infinite wisdom, deemed that if you did not have "Boots on the Ground in Vietnam" you weren't exposed to agent orange. Of course that is hogwash and has been proven to be wrong time after time. Common sense says that if you spray millions and millions of gallons of a toxin, and given the amount of rain in Vietnam, the toxin gets washed out to sea. The ships suck up sea water and desalinate it for use in washing clothes, cooking, bathing and all other things you'd use water for. Additionally test have shown that the desalination process increases the toxin in agent orange 10 times its normal strength, yet the VA continues to deny that those of us onboard the ships in the gulf of Tonkin were not exposed to AO. One other thing, studies have been done on those of us that were on those ships compared to those that had "boots on the ground". They determined that we are having the same diseases as those that were on the ground and even at a higher percentage rate.

    Just as you said, those of us that were onboard the ships are not the only veterans that were exposed to agent orange. There are thousands more of us!

  5. Member wmitch2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Fresno, Ca
    Posts
    4,319
    #5
    Go to the list of ships and down load it. If your ship is listed and you were aboard during the time listed, you automatically qualify for Agent Orange compensation.

    https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensa...ent_orange.asp
    Ranger Boats / Mercury Motors
    G Loomis Rods / Shimano Reels
    Raymarine / MinnKota Ultrex
    Garmin / Live Scope Plus
    Pepper Jigs / Robo Worms
    Troll Bridge / V-T2 Vents


  6. Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    2,507
    #6
    Quote Originally Posted by wmitch2 View Post
    Go to the list of ships and down load it. If your ship is listed and you were aboard during the time listed, you automatically qualify for Agent Orange compensation.

    https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensa...ent_orange.asp
    I'm aware of that list and those were ships that operated in what they are calling "brown water" or the intercoastal waterways. Unfortunately that list does not include the aircraft carriers, destroyers and other support ships that operated in the gulf of Tonkin. This bill would allow those veterans to be included as presumptively exposured to agent orange. In my mind, there is no doubt that we were exposed in ways I mentioned in my earlier posts. Personally, I have had prostate cancer, kidney cancer, type 2 diabetes, neuropathy and high blood pressure. High blood pressure is not one of the diseases on the presumptive list but recent studies have shown that high BP can be caused by the toxin in agent orange. Those other disease are all on the list that the VA has determined can be cause by AO exposure.

    I have been turned away for any VA medical care whatsoever, and I have filed at least 2 claims for AO exposure, both of which were flat denied. If this bill gets made into law, all that will be corrected.
    Last edited by Chopper; 05-18-2018 at 08:13 AM.

  7. Member wmitch2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Fresno, Ca
    Posts
    4,319
    #7
    [


    I have been turned away for any VA medical care whatsoever, and I have filed at least 2 claims for AO exposure, both of which were flat denied. If this bill gets made into law, all that will be corrected.[/QUOTE]


    Contact your AmVets rep ! Mine was in the VA hospital. He worked for ME, not the VA. Don't give up, if you can prove you were exposed, you should be compensated.
    Ranger Boats / Mercury Motors
    G Loomis Rods / Shimano Reels
    Raymarine / MinnKota Ultrex
    Garmin / Live Scope Plus
    Pepper Jigs / Robo Worms
    Troll Bridge / V-T2 Vents


  8. Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Northern California
    Posts
    222
    #8
    Any Veteran should be angry with our Commander and Chief appointing this DEEP STATE clown to be the Veterans Affairs secretary. This guy is going to be the worst secretary ever in the position. I said this about shulkin and veterans on this site were upset with me. This guy will be worse than shulkin.
    I am sure Pete Hegesth would be a fantastic Secretary. He is not a fan of the deep state bureaucrats that permeate the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    SP/4 Forrest Dale Grady, of Randleman North Carolina, died of brain cancer caused by agent orange back in the 70s. Forrest was in the Big Red 1 in Vietnam. It was a slow miserable death. Any Veteran who came in contact with that garbage should be rated 100% disabled. I was all over II Corps in Vietnam, Laos and I Corps once. My daughters both have disabilities. One has one leg and foot considerably shorter than the other. The older daughter has Mental Health issues. Nowhere in my and my wives family history's have such disabilities.
    The bureaucrats imbedded in the deep state of the Department Affairs are not going to ever give we Veterans our duo. They are going to fight, delay and refuse Veterans our benefits to maintain their positions.

  9. Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    2,507
    #9
    Well the bill (H.R. 299 the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017) made it out of the house with a 382 to 0 vote. Now if it can get through the senate and the prez sign it into law, we will finally be able to get VA benefits for agent orange exposure. Getting through the house with zero negative votes gives it a pretty good chance of getting through the senate. Actually I do not recall any bill that had zero negative votes. There is always someone that objects it seems. Not in this case. Thank God!

    Yall keep your fingers crossed on this one! It means a lot to around 90,000 Navy and Marine Vietnam Veterans.

  10. Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    St. Robert, Missouri
    Posts
    18,912
    #10
    Obama had better use for money that could have helped veterans, he loaded 1.7 billion dollars on a plane and gave it to our Iranian enemy. Just think how many veterans could have been helped with that money.

  11. Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    2,507
    #11
    A senate hearing was held on this by the Veterans' Affairs Committee last Wednesday. I listened to the testimony and the VA came out against passage of HR-299 that would provide agent orange presumptive illness benefits for those that served on board ships on Yankee Station in Vietnam. No surprise that the VA is against passage of the bill. They have to get off their collective asses and do something! It is a lot easier and cheaper for the VA to bury us than to allow us presumptive benefits.

    The good news is that the senators that are on the committee sounded like they were in favor of passage of the bill. But of course no senator is going to speak out against veterans publically. We will have to wait until the vote to see how they vote. Remember this bill passed by the house with no votes against. Hopefully the Senate will do likewise!

  12. Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    2,507
    #12
    This says it ALL


  13. Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    TX
    Posts
    3,464
    #13
    hold on, I'm still waiting for the list of ships to download from va website :cuss:

  14. Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    2,507
    #14
    The list of ships that are currently eligible for benefits is on the VA website. I don't think there is a list of the ships that this bill would cover but the general feeling is that it would cover almost all of the ships that were in the gulf of Tonkin which would be most of the carriers and support ships. Destroyers and etc. Someone mentioned that it would cover what was called Yankee Station which is where most of the carriers and their support ships operated from. Now that Sulkin is gone, the VA has came out against the bill. Nobody on our side has talked to this new dude that replace Sulkin but it is disappointing that the VA has came out against it. Of course, I shouldn't be surprised at the VA opposing the bill. It would mean that would have to get off their collective asses and actually do something.

  15. Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Uniontown,Ohio
    Posts
    1,767
    #15
    A friend of mine, was in the Armies Chemical Corps of engineers based out Chu Li.His job was to mix Napalm, phoo gas, and Agent Orange. He wasn't feeling good one day at work and fell of a small ladder. He couldn't get up, we called an ambulance, he never came back to work. We had a 50 thousand dollar life insurance policy at the time. He had exploratory surgery, they closed him up and said he was riddled with cancer. He passed six weeks later, the company screwed his family out of the insurance money. Three months later the company fired the plant manager,and paid part of it. The plant manager was brought up on fraud charges. A little too late in my book. He had six weeks, and was supposed to pay upon receipt of a death certificate. Final autopsy sited cause of death, Dioxin, Agent Orange. VA refused the autopsy report as a misdiagnosis.

  16. Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Uniontown,Ohio
    Posts
    1,767
    #16
    Probably the same way as Asbestos on board Navy ships. My claim wasn't even considered worth a review!?I was exposed to asbestos for two years, scraping paint,which was lead based, spackling compound containing asbestos. Then worked in a steel mill for 43 years,20 using asbestos heat protection.I was tested, in the back of a converted old bread truck, by some homeless looking bum who said (I don't see nuthin)?! Not sure if that was legit or just BS.