In
1977, the first claims of Agent Orange exposure came flooding into the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). But it took 14 years for Congress
to actually listen, take action and give our Vietnam veterans the
benefits they deserved.
The Agent Orange Act of 1991 was implemented to provide much-needed
care to veterans who were exposed to the harmful chemical cocktail Agent
Orange. Many of us thought the fight to get the medical attention we deserved was over, but that wasn’t the case.
In 2002, the VA amended its initial plan and excluded thousands of
“Blue Water” Navy vets -- vets who served right off the coast -- from
receiving our rightful benefits. Because we hadn’t served on land, the
VA tried to say we were unlikely to suffer the effects of Agent Orange
poisoning.
Even though we didn’t serve on Vietnamese soil, we were still exposed to Agent Orange.
In fact, a 2011 study by the National Institute of Medicine found that
Blue Water veterans could have been exposed in multiple ways, including
via the ships’ water distillation system and through the air. The
National Institute of Medicine also stated, “Given the available
evidence, the committee recommends that members of the Blue Water Navy
should not be excluded from the set of Vietnam-era veterans with
presumed herbicide exposure.”
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