Navy veterans who served primarily on warships off the coast of
Vietnam during the war cannot sue for Agent Orange benefits, a federal
judge ruled. "The court is sympathetic to the many challenges faced by
veterans and their families," U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote 11
MAR. "However, Congress chose to shield VA benefits decisions from
review or channel them into specific courts, and the court therefore has
no jurisdiction to hear these claims."
U.S.
forces sprayed Agent Orange and petroleum across the Vietnamese
countryside in the 1960s and 1970s as part of Operation Ranch Hand, a
program to defoliate Vietnamese jungles and destroy food supplies during
the Vietnam War. The chemicals washed into rivers and streams and
eventually into the bed of the South China Sea. Under the Agent Orange
Act, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs affords a presumption that
Agent Orange is responsible if any veteran "who served in the Republic
of Vietnam" develops a certain disease. Those veterans are entitled to
benefits without actually proving exposure, but the VA has published a
series of regulations defining service in Vietnam over the years.
Veterans who were not "on the ground" in Vietnam and have thus been
denied an Agent Orange presumption sued the VA in 2013 through two
organizations, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association and the
Military-Veterans Advocacy Inc. They say proving Agent Orange exposure
is nearly impossible given the death of records about the chemical's
use.MORE
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