Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Advocates: VA needs to make rules to compensate Guam Agent Orange vets

Military Veterans Advocacy, a veterans advocate group base in Louisiana, is urging Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie to have the VA quickly create rules to compensate vets who served on Guam and Johnston Island and were exposed to Agent Orange.
The request was first made a year ago.
 ‘No policies have yet been crafted’
"Last spring, MVA representatives met with Wilkie, who said he would look into the issue. Wilkie visited Guam in July, but no policies have yet been crafted or implemented to provide care to sick and terminally ill veterans with Agent Orange-related illnesses," MVA said in news release.
The organization has acquired and presented substantial evidence that veterans who served on Guam between 1972 and 1980, and on Johnston Island from 1972 to 1977, were exposed to toxins of Agent Orange, Cmdr. John Wells, the MVA lead attorney, said in the release.
"Secretary Wilkie has that information. We understand that federal agencies require some time to implement policies and new rules, but our first request to Sec. Wilkie on this matter was on Dec. 3, 2018 – 366 days ago. Veterans are sick and dying and can't get proper benefits from the VA," he added.

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