I hope this will help you. They will help you navigate the bureaucracy that is the VA healthcare system. The tanks were jettisoned by pilots when they were empty or to reduce weight. Brian is a Distinguished Graduate of Management from theUnited States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO and he holds an MBA from Oklahoma State Universitys Spears School of Business, Stillwater, OK, where he was a National Honor Scholar (Top 1% of Graduate School class). The rudimentary health care system in rural Laos means that few if any infants even get a diagnosis. But one Pa Co elder in Lahang, a place rife with birth defects, was bitter. Aluoi and Ta Bat bases were closed in 1965, being operational for less than one year. It was a not until recently that I was granted a ten percent, (10%) disability for Agent Orange Exposure and Prostate Cancer. Veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during service may be eligible for a variety of VA benefits, including an Agent Orange Registry health exam, health care and disability compensation for diseases associated with exposure. VA Releases Updated List of Agent Orange Exposure Locations AO was stored there at least during my tour 1968-70. In addition to the updated list of locations where service members may have been exposed to Agent Orange, The PACT Act expands eligibility for VA health care to post-9/11 combat veterans. Boivin later calculated that more than half a million gallons of chemicals had been sprayed on Laos, but other declassified Air Force documents show additional amounts not found in those initial records, and several village elders gave persuasive accounts of flights that didnt seem to conform to the official data. They were friendly with Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin, who was on her way to Washington, Chagnon recalls. This map represents the herbicide spray missions in Vietnam. The naval vessels operating on them are referred to as the Brown Water Navy and/or Mobile Riverine Force. Like most of his people, Kalod saw the border as an artificial construct. Veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during service may be eligible for a variety of VA benefits, including anAgent Orange Registry health exam, health care and disability compensation for diseases associated with exposure. This update was necessary to improve accuracy and communication of information, said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. By George Black May 13, 2019 There was no proof that dioxin was responsible, and Mirandas ailments were treatable with surgery and medication, but that hardly quelled Chagnons concerns about Agent Orange. While Agent Orange may be the most well-known chemical used during the Vietnam War, it wasn't the only one. I have been desparately ill with life threatening health problems all my life. or concerned about one, connect with our caring, qualified responders for confidential help. Their October 2019 trip was designed mainly to check up on cases they had already recorded, but they also found several new ones, like the boy in Labeng-Khok. Learn what youve been missingso you can FINALLY get the disability rating and compensation YOU DESERVE! The road that follows the Ho Chi Minh Trail south is a kind of living archive of the conflict, in which its remnants and relics have been absorbed into the fabric of everyday life. Everywhere the village soundtrack is the dull clang of cowbells made from sawed-off projectiles. Ken, Dont know if this will help or not While records of spraying operations inside Laos exist, the extent to which the U.S. military broke international agreements has never been fully documented, until now. My father also has Parkinsons from AO exposure in Vietnam. The VA will provide medical care and benefits to veterans who develop these conditions. The model has been evaluated twice by the Institute of Medicine, which recommended that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs use it to evaluate the chemicals' health impact. The 3-pronged attacks began in the north, center, and south of the country. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. In particular, the PACT Act recognizes service members who served in any U.S. or Royal Thai military base in Thailand between January 9, 1962, through June 30, 1976, who were most likely exposed to Agent Orange. A bomb crater near Phonhai, a village in Savannakhet Province. on a vessel not exceeding 12 nautical miles from the Vietnam-Cambodia border. Also once during that time he was strapped in the plane preparing to go when there was a hydrazine leak and he was more likely than not exposed. Colors in A. , B. , andC. correspond to volumes as shown in key. Welcome to our special blog post honoring the 2.7 million U.S. troops who served in the Vietnam War. The VA has updated its list of Agent Orange exposure locations where service members may have come in contact with the dangerous herbicide. In Vietnam, the magnitude of the problem made it impossible to ignore, Hammond says. In Laos, we need support from America, like they receive in Vietnam.. The whole body was soft, as if there were no bones. The women added Suk to the list of people with disabilities they have compiled on their intermittent treks through Laoss sparsely populated border districts. Now, the U.S. and Vietnamese governments have joined together in a massive cleanup project. The PACT Act also strengthens federal research on toxic exposure and improves VAs resources and training for toxic-exposed Veterans. the proof is documented. As a fellow disabled Veteran this is shameful and Im on a mission to change it. VA can get you a fold up motorized chair. Miami say they sent my Medical records to the Dublin, GA, VA Medical Center. Also VA can furnish you with a foldable You were assigned as a Reservist to certain flight, medical crew, or ground duties at one of the locations listed below. That one could not sit up, their great-uncle said. He worked on the planes that came back from Vietnam. This resolution was a matter of political pragmatism rather than hard science. His frustration with the8-step VA disability claims processled him to createVA Claims Insider,which provides U.S. military veterans with tips, strategies, and lessons learned for successfully submitting or re-submitting a winning VA disability compensation claim. The term "Agent Orange" also refers to the multiple "rainbow" herbicides used by the U.S. To access the menus on this page please perform the following steps. No nexus needed. A week after the launch of the offensive, Nixon decides to respond with a massive air campaign against the North. An Operation Ranch Hand plane with its full load of chemicals had been shot down in the nearby hills, and after the war villagers called the area the Leper Forest for the high incidence of cancers and birth defects. Is there any indication that anyone who served in stateside locations where AO was stored WHEN it was stored will / can file an automatic disability? We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Agent Orange Spray Maps Vietnam War FULL Collection of 4 pages of FIRE BASES, AIR FORCE BASES, Naval and Medical, BROWN WATER Naval, and any and all bases DOD during the Vietnam War 1963 to 1975 View spraying missions in Vietnam by date and location The map can be used to see defoliant spraying missions by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces Brian Reese here, Air Force service-disabled Veteran and Founder @ VA Claims Insider. As a result, many war veterans have developed health problems related to their exposure to the toxic herbicide. Blessings. Hammond has met several times with Leahys longtime aide Tim Rieser, who seems eager to see what the War Legacies Project has found when it presents its report to his boss this month. Copyright 2023 VA Claims Insider, LLC. Nan, 30, was the victim of a cluster-bomblet explosion, one of thousands in Laos killed or injured by unexploded ordnance leftover from the war. The effort was funded by a contract from the National Academy of Sciences to build an exposure model that could be used to assess the defoliants' health impact on U.S. veterans who served in Vietnam. After a period of testing, on this day in 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave final approval to "Operation Ranch Hand" a massive effort to defoliate the forests . Despite President John F. Kennedys strong reservations about crop destruction, the mission went ahead. Especially if you are sick. So did cassava, though it swelled to an outlandish size and became inedible Agent Orange accelerated the growth of plant tissue, killing most foliage. Visit USA.gov, This will take you to the MyHealtheVet website, This will take you to the Suicide Prevention website, This will take you to the VA Find a Form page, This will take you to the VA Publications page, VA releases updated DOD list identifying Agent Orange sites outside of Vietnam, #VeteranOfTheDay Army Veteran John J. Stanton, America's Warrior Partnership helps close resource gaps for Veterans, November 2018 Government Accountability Office report, https://www.publichealth.va.gov/docs/agentorange/dod_herbicides_outside_vietnam.pdf, https://vaww.blogstest.va.gov/VAntage/70885/va-releases-updated-dod-list-identifying-agent-orange-sites-outside-vietnam/, 100 years of advancing health care for women Veterans, Multiple Sclerosis: I plan to complete a marathon, Call TTY if you If there is anyone who remembers this incident, or has had a similar experience please contribute. The containers had to be repackaged several times as they were deteriorating. Helicopters delivered 55-gallon drums of a chemical herbicide to us, a forerunner of Agent Orange. Very few areas, including some of the places within the boxes to the right, are still not farmable land. Does anyone have any information on Ft Riley, Ft Polk, and Ft Richardson. In most villages, dozens were killed by the bombings or died of starvation. (Today, Bien Hoa is an important Vietnamese Air Force base.) Dear Veteran, Heres the brutal truth about VA disability claims: According to our data, 8/10 (80%) of veterans reading this message right now are underrated by the VA. Since 2017, the women have visited scores of villages in heavily sprayed districts in two of the four border provinces that were targeted: Savannakhet and Salavan. A short clip showing where and when Agent Orange was sprayed in Vietnam during my tour (June 68 - Aug 69). We have a buddy who flew C141s into Vietnam, gets the AO disability. Although there was growing evidence of the toxicity of the herbicides, studies of their health impacts were inconclusive and fiercely contested. Line width on the map is not an indicator of spray distribution. It was the first time anyone had tried to assess the present-day impact of the defoliant on these groups. He found very little, but pursuing his hunch about Agent Orange, he made an arduous trip into the remote border areas, where it was strongly suspected that the C.I.A. Bounta, 26, is paralyzed and has malformed ankles and wrists that may indicate arthrogryposis. He was an imposing 75-year-old named Kalod, tall, straight-backed, silver-haired, wearing a dark green suit with an epauletted shirt that gave him a military bearing. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. But in Laos it was on a smaller scale, and in remote places outside of the political mainstream.. In principle, the smaller scale of whats needed should make it easier to address. The map below can be used to see defoliant spraying missions by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces over Vietnam, as well as Laos and Cambodia. Many of the early spraying sorties had taken off from Tan Son Nhut, and she worried about her own exposure and the long-term effects if she had children. The war in Vietnam saw the first full-scale use of herbicides in warfare. Meanwhile, the affected people are running out of time. Setting Priorities: Addressing the Heavily Sprayed Areas Twelve provinces were the most heavily sprayed with Agent Orange during the war. Why wont the VA tell me, if agent Orange was sprayed on the fence line Was there anything they needed? Massed North Vietnamese Army artillery open a shattering barrage, targeting South Vietnamese positions across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Specifically during Vietnam war 1961-69 at Eaker Air Force bade (formerly Blytheville in Arkansas. The Air Force continued to store Agent Orange on the island until September 1977. It creates a framework for establishing future presumptions of service connection related to toxic exposure. In late April 1969, about 270 square miles of French and Cambodian rubber plantations in Kampong Cham Province were covered by sprayed Agent Orange. I am TDUI and do not drive anymore use a cane and roller to ambulate. A. , B. ,and C., represent known volumes of Agent Orange, White, and Blue sprayed by the U.S. military forces in 1961-1971. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. . Thousands of other Veterans in our Community are here for you. About 1970 to 1974+, Ft mcCullins in Alabama agent orange was stored and tested there. I feel like my medical records and the actual findings of my California test results of me developing fluid on the brain is being kept from me intentionally.

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