In March, now-dismissed VA Secretary David Shulkin told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that he had recommended adding a handful of conditions to the list in a request to OMB last fall, but the agency was still looking at data and reviewing financial estimates. You can also file by mail, in person, or with the help of a trained professional. Since then he says he's made a vow to raise awareness. If someone you know has lost their battle to Agent Orange learn how to honor them in our In Memory Program. These ratings are based on the severity of the disabilities. By April, he was dead at 68. You served your country. There are more than 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; Expedition Orange Goals To raise national awareness We encourage all Veterans and survivors to file for benefits now. Check VA's Guide to Agent Orange Claims to learn more about how to establish eligibility to disability compensation and how much VA pays. The National Veterans Legal Services Program has been working on Agent Orange cases since its founding in 1980, said Bart Stichman, the groups executive director. The information these cookies collect will not personally identify you, and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites. From 1962 to 1971, the U.S. Air Force sprayed nearly 19 million gallons of herbicides in Vietnam, of which at least 11 million gallons was Agent Or 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. Pete Naylor was born on March 18, 1947, and enlisted in the Army in July 1968, at age 21. In fact, he was 21. When she gave her speech last fall, Scarlett was still fighting for her survivor benefits. The military used Agent Orange to clear foliage during the Vietnam War, depriving enemy fighters of cover. "Its amazing how many Vietnam veterans don't know about it and you know it's really opened the eyes, I gotta thank the North Dakota legislature because two years ago they had enough faith in us to go out and do what we're doing and it's working," said Stenvold. 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. More U.S. Vietnam War vets have died by suicide than died in the war. In a 2007 ruling. But since then, thousands of Vietnam veterans have fought illnesses related to Agent Orange exposure. 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. If you served on active duty in any of these locations during these time periods, youre now eligible to apply for VA health care: If you havent filed a claim yet for the presumptive condition, you can file a new claim online now. How Much Life Insurance Do You Really Need? The agency can go weeks or months without replying to an appeal, while sending back paperwork with a hard and fast deadline later. Nearly 3 million service members served in Vietnam and most returned home. visit VeteransCrisisLine.net for more resources. Watch your email for a shipping notice/tracking link that will come from Custom Ink after the order closes. How Many Vietnam Veterans Have Been Affected by Agent Orange? list of government-accredited Veterans and Military Service Organizations, Find out how AARP helps veterans and their families. As of this date (11/ 01/ 2020), The American War Library estimates that approximately 610,000 Americans who served on land in Vietnam or in the air over Vietnam between 1954 and 1975 are alive today. Any man or woman thats served who walks into the VA should be taken care of.. Were not wealthy, he says. Part of HuffPost Politics. "Agent Orange" refers to a blend of tactical herbicides the U.S. military sprayed in the jungles of Vietnam and around the Korean demilitarized zone to remove trees and dense tropical foliage that provided enemy cover. The Vietnam War may be over, but the battle continues for many Vietnam veterans. Have you been affected by Camp Lejeune water contamination? 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. WebIt is difficult to say how many Vietnam veterans have been affected by Agent Orange. However, any veteran who served in Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, By Haley FosterValley News Live These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make to give you better functionality and personal features. In April, she did. 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. [See Veterans Day 2021 - The Wars End But Casualties Continue To Mount] So far his two adult daughters seem to be fine. Former Secretary David Shulkin, who was fired by President Trump in late March, voiced his support of the Blue Water Navy during his tenure. Its been three years since Kate Naylor lost her husband, Pete, after his short battle with esophageal cancer. We have updated our Privacy Policy. But the VA told Kate that it was denying her claim because in the agencys opinion, there is not enough evidence of a link between esophageal cancer and Agent Orange exposure. 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. Some veterans and their widows have won their glioblastoma cases at VA, she said. to search for ways to make a difference in your community at And what he found was that, obviously, the veterans had been telling the truth.. 988 (Press 1). There are 430 confirmed Vietnam veterans with glioblastoma now in Scarletts database. Enrollment is free. During the Vietnam War era, the generally accepted definition of territorial seas was three nautical miles offshore. 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.. - Maynard Kaderlik, Vietnam Veterans of America, When the diagnosis came, both Pete and Kate were sure they knew the cause: Petes. WebHow many Vietnam veterans had Agent Orange? The Blue Water Navy veterans were exposed to Agent Orange in many different ways that VA has known about for years, Moore said. We must wait for funding approval from Congress and put the needed systems in place before we can process these claims. It was quite a moment because they couldnt question his integrity, said Wilcox. Like veterans, survivors also can sometimes get retroactive payments in addition to qualifying for monthly death benefits. Veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during military service may be eligible for a variety of VA benefits, including disability compensation for diseases associated with exposure. If a veteran is seeing a civilian doctor who isnt well-versed in veterans issues, she says, the doctor wouldnt necessarily associate the diagnosis with Agent Orange. Free online workshop! He was 76 years old and had recently had Covid and pneumonia. APPLICATION 202. WebVietnam War Veterans health issues. This deadly toxin has impacted the lives of thousands of veterans and their families but is largely unknown to most Americans. If you meet the requirements listed here, you can receive care and enroll during a special enrollment period between October 1, 2022, and October 1, 2023. Weve added more than 20 burn pit and other toxic exposure presumptive conditions based on the PACT Act. 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. Call us today at 800-544-9144. Nearly 58,000 Americans and 2-3 million Vietnamese, many of them civilians, were killed in the war. Veterans who were exposed to 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. You can also manage your communication preferences by updating your account at anytime. Today, many believe over 400,000 Vietnam veterans are currently suffering from their exposure and tens of thousands have already died. They may also be used to keep track of what [products, video, links, etc.] 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. When we receive a Supplemental Claim, well review the claim again. In 1966 they told me, We will always take care of you, said Kaderlik. Most of them are deceased. Pete met his future wife, then Kate Kane, after returning home to Berkshire County in rural western Massachusetts. 11 million gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed in Vietnam over 20 million acres, putting three million Vietnam veterans and their families at risk. These were blue-collar veterans, so the VA wasnt listening, Congress wasnt listening, Wilcox said. The committee voted unanimouslyto send a bill to the full House. Zumwalts son, also named Elmo, died of lymphoma and Hodgkins disease in 1988. She has reapplied for the spousal benefit six times in the last three years, hoping the VA will reconsider its decision. In March, now-dismissed VA Secretary David Shulkin told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that he, had recommended adding a handful of conditions. VA recognizes certain medical conditions as being associated with Agent Orange exposure and thus provides presumptive service connection for these conditions to veterans with qualifying service. His cause of death was glioblastoma, a lethal brain cancer that is not on the VAs list of presumptive diseases, but is being diagnosed at an evidently accelerated rate in the past few years among Vietnam veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange. In the next 24 hours, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription to receive emails They quickly filed paperwork with the Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA, for disability payments. According to Stenvold, one tablespoon of Agent Orange in the drinking water of Los Angeles would kill the entire city. Since 2003, VA has granted service connection forglioblastomato 46 veterans out of 150 who have applied for disability compensation. He died of glioblastoma in 2011. Mike Yates, 68, who served on the USS Bainbridge off the coast of Vietnam from 1971 to 1972, has prostate cancer, which is on the presumptive list. Now they have to own up to their responsibility., It is my medical oncology opinion, DeLeo wrote, that advanced aggressive squamous cell carcinoma esophagus was directly related to Agent Orange exposure, given lack of other significant risk factors noted.. But will they? In 1986, the group helped bring the case of 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 all Vietnam veterans. ", Getting extra compensation certainly helps. 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. Agent Orange is the name given to a blend of highly toxic herbicides the U.S. military sprayed from 1962 to 1971 in Vietnam to remove foliage that provided enemy cover. fit the Department of Defense parameters for inclusion on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall). Please enable Javascript in your browser and try But there are also many other health conditions that we presume are caused by exposure to toxic (or hazardous)materials. An official website of the State of North Dakota. So, were going to have sit down and do what we think is right for these veterans.. This storage is often necessary for basic functionality of the web site or the storage may be used for the purposes of marketing, analytics, and personalization of the web site such as storing your preferences. The .gov means its official. 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. But the academy said that, due to gaps in the rigor of the study, such as a lack of information on the test subjects smoking and drinking habits and their exact levels of exposure, it would not revise its interpretation of the linkage. Petes oncologist, Dr. Michael DeLeo, said in an amended death certificate that he believes his extensive Agent Orange exposure during his time in Vietnam is the only thing could have caused his cancer. Mcneilus steel in Fargo made history as the first corporation in North Dakota to donate money to the VVA. EIN: 52-1149668, Copyright 2023 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display, Place your shirt order (online only) through our vendor Custom Ink between now and when the sale ends on, Shirts are produced and shipped after the order window ends on. There are other locations in which veterans were likely exposed to Agent Orange, including the Korean Demilitarized Zone and Thailand. DeLeos opinion could help Kates case, however. Cookies help us deliver the best experience on our website. What he found was explosive. It is difficult to say how many Vietnam veterans have been affected by Agent Orange. Dewinski commissioned him to research and analyze the available evidence on veterans service-related Agent Orange exposure and illnesses for the report. 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 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. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Javascript must be enabled to use this site. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands as a symbol of America's honor and recognition of the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War. 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