On Jan. 1, 2020, the Department of Veterans Affairs said it
began processing disability claims for veterans exposed to Agent Orange while
serving aboard ships in the territorial seas of Vietnam.
But a veterans advocacy group says the new policy still
excludes some veterans exposed to the deadly herbicide on ships and in aircraft
during the Vietnam War.
VA is expected to start processing Blue Water Navy claims
Jan. 1. Here's what to know.
“This may be a good
start,” Rob Maness, retired Air Force colonel and executive director of
Louisiana-based Military-Veterans Advocacy (MVA), said in a statement. “But the
battle continues. The new policy specifically exempts those veterans who flew
close air support missions and those who served outside of the territorial
sea.”
In 2019, a federal court ruled that VA must recognize
veterans exposed to Agent Orange who served offshore, the so-called Blue Water
Navy Vietnam Veterans. Congress and the president passed and signed into law
the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act to further codify that decision.
But some veterans could be left out.
“The VA has chosen to
interpret the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act too narrowly,” said retired
Navy Commander John B. Wells, MVA chairman of the board and director of
litigation. “The Congressional action was poorly worded and provided
ambiguities seized on by the VA to limit coverage. Although the Act did not replace the original
law and did not supersede Procopio, the VA’s constricted reading effectively
does so."
That could be particularly true for pilots, who were not
explicitly included in the Blue Water legislation or in the court decision.
“Often these Air
Force and Navy pilots flew through clouds of Agent Orange to perform their
mission,” Maness said. “They should be covered.”
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