Dear Editor,
Fifty years ago, I
fought the Vietnam War from the flight deck of the USS America, operating in
the Tonkin Gulf.
I lost hearing working
among the jet engines.
After examination at VA
in Albany, I received my benefit letter.
Determination:
"Acoustic trauma, service connected."
My award was calculated
as 0 percent. Yes, zero. No benefit.
I was suffering from
diabetes; my doctor prescribed Invokana. I sent a script to the VA and never
got meds. I asked, "Where is my medicine?” Their response: "Too
expensive, we will not fill prescriptions for Invokana.” I have to go private
and pay a $179 co-pay.
We fought for years to
get the VA to admit that Agent Orange wafted into the (Tonkin) gulf and
affected the sailors on these ships.
Ten years ago, we
started a lawsuit that made it to the Supreme Court. In January 2019, the court
found in our favor. Congress passed the Blue Water Navy Act of 2019 and
demanded the VA approve our claims and pay our benefits.
Benefits were to start
January 2020. But the VA figured out a loophole: It determined that the
carriers were operating outside an imaginary 12-mile limit from shore.
And so the VA has
determined that the thousands of men on the carriers will be excluded from the
benefits of the Blue Water Navy Act and will not be awarded compensation. We
appealed to Congress and it refused to allow the carriers to be included.
Robert Carroll
Aviation Electronics
Mate
Attack Squadron 82
Arkville, N.Y.
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