Alfred Procopio Jr. left the Navy in 1967, decorated with
medals for his service on the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier deployed off
the coast of Vietnam. He also came home with health problems the U.S.
government has linked to exposure to the toxic herbicide Agent Orange.
Procopio is one of an estimated 52,000 veterans nationwide
who were stationed on ships during the Vietnam War but are not eligible for the
same disability benefits as those who put boots on the ground or patrolled the
country’s inland rivers.
His case, argued in December at a federal appeals court in
Washington, could extend coverage for ailments associated with the infamous
herbicide to a group of sailors known as the “blue water” Navy veterans.
Parallel efforts in Congress to broaden benefits have
stalled in recent years.
This spring, the House unanimously approved a measure, but
the Senate balked in December because of concerns about cost and demands for
more scientific study.
“We do not have another year to wait. Some of our veterans
will not last that long,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate
floor. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
The legislative and legal questions are intertwined: Did
Congress intend to give these sailors the benefit of the doubt when it comes to
showing their medical conditions are connected to toxic exposure?
At stake for Procopio, 73, and a leader of the veterans’
group, Mike Yates, is as much as $3,000 a month.
During the war, U.S. naval forces patrolled Vietnam’s
1,200-mile-long coastline, supplied Marines on land and provided long-range
artillery support. Those stationed offshore like Procopio and Yates were
referred to as the “blue water” Navy in contrast to the “brown water” sailors
who operated on inland waterways.
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