The Blue Water Vets Are Injured, Angry, and Not Taking Anymore!

http://www.prlog.org/12374222-the-blue-water-vets-are-injured-angry-and-not-taking-anymore.html
Sep. 22, 2014 - Members of the Blue Water Navy are caught in a failure of logic. According to the rules of logic, either the concept of “presumptive exposure” needs to be consistently applied or it must be abandoned. But it cannot be contradictory, randomly interpreted or selectively assigned.
         ‘Presumptive Exposure’ is based on the concept that a lack of data precludes any one individual from providing definitive proof of exposure to a substance (in this case, herbicide used in Vietnam). If individual A is a member of a group that was potentially exposed, and that individual later presents with specific disease deemed to be related to herbicide exposure, then individual A is ‘presumed to have been exposed’ by virtue of two elements: proximity to the exposure area and diagnosis of a specific disease.
         The original area of acknowledged exposure, as written into the VA’s 1991 M-21 Manual, was the Theater of Combat, as demonstrated by the award of the Vietnam Service Medal. By definition, the Theater of Combat was the identical area designated for eligibility for award of the Vietnam Service Medal. Attached are: an image of the boundaries of the Theater of Combat AND the identical area of eligibility for the Vietnam Service Medal; and the history of eligibility for presumption of exposure to herbicide as written in the M-21 Manual, showing changes from 1991 through 2002.
         In 2002, the VA changed the definition of a Vietnam veteran to “someone who actually served on land in the Republic of South Vietnam (RVN).” For the purposed of herbicide exposure, that eliminated previously eligible veterans whose feet did not touch the soil of South Vietnam, or a dock or a pier that can be considered an extension of the land.
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