WASHINGTON — The U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will begin deciding claims for the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019
at 12:01 a.m., Philippine Standard Time, Jan. 1, 2020, as the the Philippines
is the farthest east VA regional benefits office.
The Act extends the presumption of herbicide exposure, that
include toxins such as Agent Orange, to Veterans who served in the offshore
waters of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Signed into law Jun. 25, the law specifically affects Blue
Water Navy (BWN) Veterans who served no more than 12 nautical miles offshore of
the Republic of Vietnam between Jan. 6, 1962 and May 7, 1975, as well as
Veterans who served in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between Jan. 1, 1967
and Aug. 31, 1971. These Veterans can now apply for disability compensation and
other benefits if they have since developed one of 14 conditions that are
presumed to be related to exposure to herbicides. Veterans do not need to prove
that they were exposed to herbicides. The specific conditions can be found by
searching the term “Agent Orange” on www.va.gov.
“For six months, VA
worked diligently to gather and digitize records from the National Archives and
Records Administration to support faster claims decisions,” said VA Secretary
Robert Wilkie. “These efforts will positively impact the claims process for
Veterans filing for these benefits.”
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