The Department of Veterans Affairs has expanded its list of Navy
ships whose crews may be eligible for disability compensation as a
result of exposure to the toxic defoliant Agent Orange during the
Vietnam War.
Alphabetized Ships Li
VA announced Monday it has added ships to the “Brown
Water” inventory, meaning the vessels were found to have operated on
inland waterways and all personnel who served aboard them are presumed
to have been exposed to Agent Orange.
The new additions include
the Navy survey ships Sheldrake and Towhee, attack transport ship
Okanogan, submarine rescue ship Chanticleer, destroyers Frank Knox and
James E. Kyes, and transport ship General W. A. Mann.
VA also
expanded the dates of eligibility for sailors who served on the
destroyer Fechteler and said veterans may be eligible for presumptive
status if they went ashore from the guided missile cruiser Dewey or
attack transport ships Pickaway or Paul Revere during certain periods
during the war.
VA pays disability compensation to veterans or survivors for 14 medical conditions associated with exposure to Agent Orange.
The
VA ship list is not static; officials said vessels will be added based
on documentation such as deck logs, ship histories and cruise books
often provided by veterans as well as records kept in the National
Archives.
For a full catalog of vessels, http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/shiplist/index.asp
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