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Congress Must Act Now to Restore Earned Benefits to All Vietnam Veterans
Including “Blue Water” Vets!
“We owe it to our veterans to fulfill the promises made to them as a result of their service,” said Ranking Democratic Member Filner. “If, as a result of service, a veteran was exposed to Agent Orange and it has resulted in failing health, this country has a moral obligation to care for each veteran the way we promised we would. And as a country at war, we must prove that we will be there for all of our veterans, no matter when they serve. The courts have turned their backs on our veterans on this issue, but I believe this Congress should not allow our veterans to be cheated of benefits they have earned and deserve.”
H.R. 812 would clarify the laws related to VA benefits provided to Vietnam War veterans suffering from the ravages of Agent Orange exposure. In order to try to gain a better military vantage point, Agent Orange, which we now know is a highly toxic cocktail of herbicide agents, was widely sprayed for defoliation and crop destruction purposes all over the Vietnam War Battlefield, as well as on borders and other areas of neighboring nations.
H.R. 812 is intended to clarify the law so that Blue Water veterans and every service member awarded the Vietnam Service medal, or who otherwise deployed to land, sea or air, in the Republic of Vietnam is fully covered by the comprehensive Agent Orange laws Congress passed in 1991. “Time is running out for these veterans,” concluded Ranking Democratic Member Filner. “Many are dying from their Agent Orange related diseases, uncompensated for their sacrifice. There is still a chance for America to meet its obligations to these noble veterans. This is not a partisan issue and I hope the new Chairman of the Committee will join me in working work with our colleagues to provide the earned disability benefits and health care to the thousands of veterans and survivors that earned this care for their selfless service to our nation.”
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=88426
Posted by Veterans Today on Mar 18 2011, With 0 Reads, Filed under Benefits, Vet News, Veterans Affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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There they go again…wanting to exclude the veterans from GUAM WHERE I SPRAYED AO FOR TEN YEARS. 2.7 MILLION GALLONS OF AO NOT DROPPED FROM THE SKY NOR MIXED IN RAIN DROPS BUT HAND PUMPED IT, HAND MIXED IT AND POWER SPRAYED IT…CAN’T GET MORE DIRECTLY EXPOSED THAN THAT CAN YOU ?
Generally, in tort liability cases, you must prove “proximate” cause in the sequence of qualifying tort requisites: 1.Damages;2.Cause (proximate) 3. Duty and 4. Breech of duty. Those who were in the field in Vietnam, mainly infantry, were clearly damaged by the “proximate” cause of direct exposure to Agent Orange. Those, in the military, who were not in the field, as per the aforementioned, must prove under current tort law, that it is “more likely than not” that their damages “health problems associated with Agent Orange” were the result of exposure to Agent Orange. I have never seen any acceptable proof that substantiates this “more likely than not” standard of proof for those not in the field in Vietnam. Rather, what I do see, is that non-combat veterans obtain disability payments under standards of proof which are substantially less than that of combat veterans. This is an inequity and injustice to combat veterans and others who served in the field and who were directly exposed to Agent Orange who deserve compensation for the same the many other environmental, psychological, and physical insults which non-combatants were not exposed to.
Mr. Shaw, I agree with you on this, but than there still has to be more giude lines put into place as far as what medical problems AO causes for the VA to use as guide lines… I myself am 100% service-connected for my cardio problems( 3 heart attacks) and other cardio problems, but secondary to my PTSD which I am 30%… That took 10 years to finally get, and had to hire Lawyers Hill&Ponton to get me that… I also have had checkups at the VA for AO, and even though I was exposed to that crap not only in Viet Nam, but also in Cambodia where we used it on the HOMO Trail… They told me i didn’t show enough signs of exposer according to the VA guide lines… Those guide line have not been updated in many years, and unless congress forces the VA to get off their asses and update them , No one will benifit from any changes in this article…
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it….
God bless America and her Veterans
i can totally agree with you both..my hubby is a saudi veteran…at 90% still fighting for his 100%…keeps getting run around…what about these vets who have families who cant afford healthcare for there families…we just get thrown out..i fight for veterans daily to get there claims in…living only on 1739.00 is gone same day it comes in…im lucky if we can get my meds..so we are in that HURRY UP AND WAIT GAME….great healthcare while he was active now a vet family gets screwed….
SUE, Keep all records and get what ever your missing,,, Organize them by dates, months and years, get all medical records from the VA Hospital he goes to,you can do that on the computer now once you register if that’s easier for you..
Contact Hill&Ponton in Daytona Beach Florida, as I finally did last January 2010, If possible get your husbands records from your Local VA Office that you submitted your claims through… That will speed up the process… They will charge 20% but will also work with you on the final amount as they did with me once I got my retro money from Uncle Sam, it saved me 5 grand… I couldn’t find a Lawyer here in California that was registered with the VA to help me, so after some research, I found Hill & Ponton on this website, and they did a good job for me… As a matter of fact they are still tring to get me my PTSD increase, and also getting them to go farther back than 2004 for my back pay…
I hope this helps you… Let me know if you want, bobbyo5054@yahoo.com
think this one through..i fought the VA for 25 yrs. They finally gave me service connection for the
ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE 100% (EMERGENCY OPEN HEART SURGERY AND 50 HEART ATTACKS AND 2 STROKES) PER MY CLAIM CAUSED BY DIRECT AGENT ORANGE EXPOSURE
CHLORACNE SCARRING 10 % CAUSED BY DIRECT AGENT ORANGE EXPOSURE
SPINAL STENOSIS CERVICAL SPINE 30%
SPINAL STENOSIS, BI LATERAL SPONDYIOLYSIS JOINT DISEASE LUMBAR SPINE 40 %
COMP AND PEN EXAMS COMING UP FOR HEMMOROIDAL BLEEDING, POLYPS, DEMENTIA/PARKINSONS DISEASE AND NEUROLOGICAL EXAM FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, AUTOIMMUNE DISESASE, AUTO INFLAMMATORY DISEASE, AUTONEUROLOGICAL DISEASES, EDEMA, PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY IN ALL LIMBS, HEARING LOSS AND EYESIGHT LOSS, PSORIASIS.
YET THEY DENIED AGENT ORANGE EXPOSURE ON ANDERSEN AFB GUAM WHICH I PROVIDED AIR FORCE DOCUMENTATION SHOWING MY DUTIES SPRAYING THE AO HERBICIDES,SEVERAL EYE WITNESS TESTIMONIE, FIRST EXPOSURE DISEASES, . WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT ?
WOW MSgt, and I thought I was all f–ked up from that crap…. I see they did the same thing to you as they did to me to give me my 100%… I almost had another heart attack when I read that my heart problems was SECONDARY to my PTSD… All I was going for was an increase from 30% to 70% for PTSD… The thing I think was the Main factor was my UNEMPLOYABILITY…. Once I infomed my lawyer about me being on SSDI and not able to work anymore, it only took 4 months for the VA to give me my 100%, after me going back and forth for almost 10 Years with them… Why do they beat around the bush, and not directly address the the real problem??? Seeing your on here means that your still alive, and you must be getting your medical help at a VA Hospital I asume.. I am , and so far they have done a good job for me, and getting all my meds is a big thing to me too… Hang in there, and good luck….
It’s a start..I guess. But the VA will be jerking that topic around for years.
What I have hoped and pushed for,for years, is an increase in monthly compensation rates for a service-connected disability. Not the piddly COLA
that we have gotten screwed out of for the past two years, but something with
substance so that we can live “a decent quality of life”. For those veterans
who sole source of income is that benefit we are unable to have much of any thing
after paying for the staples of monthly living. A commission study was done 3 or 4 years that came back with the recommendation that a 50% increase would be viable. Heck, I would be happy with a 25% increase ! For the record , that study/
recommendation was TABLED……..never to be heard from since !!! When, and if, we
get another COLA increase it WILL NOT be even close to what the actual C-O-L is.
Semper Fi
25%, Your Dreaming…. More like 2.5%, hell where is our increase the last TWO years for that and SSI???? Remember Bachman wants to subtract SSDI from our VA Comp!!!! 25%, Ha Ha Ha , I needed a good laugh this morning… I did read the same story, I think it was on this site if I remember… I could use the extra 800 bucks… Than maybe I could fill my gas tank once a month, HA HA HA…
We will have to get an increase next year, before the Election, but I’ll bet what farm I have left it’ll be less than 5% for either…
Hell man, the BoneHead Weeper and his golfing buddies think we are getting to much money now, read that on here too….
Keep the faith and remember this at election time….
I am REALLY sorry but…look at the disaster in Japan..heaven help them…but really look at it…We watched really close to what the weather and wind was doing..we stopped helicopters from flying over certain areas..we allowed our diplomats and families to leave..people were asked to close windows, doors and stay inside..U. S. Navy ships were moved 125-150 MILES away from the Japan Coast !!! even Dr. S. Gupta moved several miles to safety…all due to air-borne radiation..I’m reminded of our trusting military personel who Served During the Vietnam War…THIS IS PROOF….ANY VETERAN who honorably served within 120 miles of the Vietnam coastline WAS EXPOSED…there WAS wind currents over the South China Sea…Agent Orange IS air-borne…and 2 + 2 = 4, Even our elected officials on Capital Hill can figure that math out..!!! Thank You, Mike
NPRC lost my medical records and admits it and because they lost my medical records the VA denies my claims, This is so unethical, inmoral how the government is treating veterans when they admit to wrong doing. I been waiting 5 years now going through appeals, now I’m waiting for the Local VA board of appeals.
We need laws that protect us from the government wrong doings , they can loose your records and too bad. The VA even has the letters from NPRC admitting they misplaced them, they canot find them and they had them. and the VA reply too bad so sad, no reocrds no claim approval.. Where is the justice, I even wrote my polticians to the white house which was the biggest waste of time, no one cares. We need laws that protect us from government doing wrong to us like lossing our records, which we need for claims. HEY if your active duty steal or copy your records before you get out there losing them intentally and there is no law that protects you if they do. Dishonered Women Veteran