Tomorrow, I'm dropping off my Agent Orange paperwork

[gmerkt]

Last year, the Congress expanded the the list of presumptive diseases resulting from Agent Orange exposure. One of the additions was hypertension (high blood pressure). Which I was diagnosed with decades ago. I've filled out the paperwork, assembled the documentation, and written a narrative. The VA has been accepting these applications for disability since Oct. 1, 2022. I'm already a compensible veteran, if approved the Agent Orange thing would expand that but not greatly.

My time in Vietnam was 1970-72. You didn't have to be out in the jungle to get sprayed. Agent Orange was used to clear brush around the perimeters on the installation where I spent most of my time. The C-123's that sprayed insecticide over us to kill mosquitos were the same craft that were used to spray Agent Orange. Do you think they rinsed out the tanks between missions? I doubt it. Once sprayed onto the soil, activity upon the earth in the dry season probably kept the chemical suspended in the air to some extent. In any case, the actual cause in fact doesn't need to be established. It's already been ruled, if you were there, you were presumed to have been exposed.

One of the men in my unit whom I've been in touch with is badly off with Parkinson's Disease. Which is on the list and which he believes was caused by exposure to Agent Orange. He went on to become an MSC branch officer and retired as a full colonel in the USAR. His civilian job was related, as he was a hospital administrator for the US Army. So he probably knows more about this stuff than I do.

Mrs. Merkt asked me, "How does anyone know, maybe they would've gotten high blood pressure anyway. Having nothing to do with Agent Orange." She has a point. Maybe that's why it's taken so long for the list of presumptive diseases to get expanded. I think there is some element of, "Congress is waiting for us to all die out."

The PACT Act also granted disability coverage to many Gulf War and Afghan War veterans, the ones exposedf to toxic "Burn Pits." I noticed that there is a graduated scale being applied to when those veterans may apply for consideration. Which seems like another case of "waiting for them to thin out."

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[Provincial]

My wife lost her first husband, a Viet Nam vet, to leukemia. He was in his early 40's, and left behind daughters 16 and 12 years old.

 

[gmerkt]

As mentioned, I went down to the Seattle VA Regional Medical Center today. I can say it isn't as easy as they let on in the VA mass mailings that they've sent out.

First I must say, I attempted to do this application online, sounded easy. It wasn't. I spent two hours trying to set up an online account with Login.gov. Which I was able to do the first step of, although some of the password verification options were non-starters for me in terms of technical capability. Login.gov is an online portal for many various US government agencies. Once you set yourself up in that, next you must "graduate" to the next step of getting into the specific agency site. Which in my case of course was the VA. That was beyond my capability. The stumbling block that I wasn't able to remove was getting the system to recognize my driver's license for ID verification . You get five tries, then it shuts you out. It wouldn't take jpg images scanned through my PC. Last try, I took the option of doing it through a smart phone. I spent a lot of time on that exercise, finally it fully failed and I was denied. After that, I basically gave up trying online application because all the contact phone numbers went to recordings and you couldn't talke to a human to discuss the problem.

Hence my decision to physically take the application down to the regional center. When I got down there, I stopped at the admissions office and they directed me to the "Comp and Pen" office. That's Compensation and Pensions. I was told this was the office to handle it. I finally found this office and the counter was closed. There was a sign up saying an appointment was required. Nothing was said about this anywhere I'd checked when looking into it online. There was no one around the area to ask about it. The service organizations (VFW, DAV) have Veteran Service Officers on site, sometimes, but I later found out that they are on an appointment basis now as well. Plus, their office has been moved. So I was sitting around deciding what to do and one of the VA Patient Advocates happened to come by and asked me if he could help. Which was a completely serendipitous occurence. This guy (retired US Army master sergeant with double CIB and fairly heroic credentials) picked up the baton and ran with it. He found an address in West Virginia where this thing is supposed to go and we got it finished and mailed off.

Over the years, I've been satisfied with the VA in my limited dealings with the organization. BUT: In this region, they are going to have to streamline the "manual process" for taking these applications. Or just get an established process set up. I'm sure I'm not the only old timer who can't manage doing it online with all the security obstacles.

 

[Heyjoe]

Here's hoping all is smooth sailing from here on out.

I don't give a dang if your health issues were caused by the gross negligence of the REMF's and politicians of the time, you and your compatriots who served honorably deserve better.

As a taxpayer I'd be happy to help fund the needs of our warriors and protectors. I'll bet we could find ample funding for said after cutting the salary's of no good bureaucrats and usurping politicians - maybe then they would think long and hard about what wars cost and if a war is truly worth fighting.

Thank you for your service and sacrifice, sir!

 

[gmerkt]

The VA got my paperwork, next step is a compensation evaluation by a contract physician.

I've gotten a couple of emails from the VA warning me against fraud attempts. Where there is money, there is potential for fraud. Remember the free money thing when Covid hit? The government(s) have been out billions on that deal. So the VA has given me a list of the only addresses they will use in contacting me.

I've also seen a boat load of solicitations from ambulance chasers who want to process comp claims for veterans. The PACT Act has given these vultures new fields to till. The VA has also sent me an email warning me not to engage the services of same, pointing out the steep fees involved.

 

[Flopsweat]

The VA got my paperwork, next step is a compensation evaluation by a contract physician.

I've gotten a couple of emails from the VA warning me against fraud attempts. Where there is money, there is potential for fraud. Remember the free money thing when Covid hit? The government(s) have been out billions on that deal. So the VA has given me a list of the only addresses they will use in contacting me.

I've also seen a boat load of solicitations from ambulance chasers who want to process comp claims for veterans. The PACT Act has given these vultures new fields to till. The VA has also sent me an email warning me not to engage the services of same, pointing out the steep fees involved.

This should be a free service. I'm sure if one existed, there would be plenty of folks willing to volunteer.

 

[gmerkt]

This should be a free service. I'm sure if one existed, there would be plenty of folks willing to volunteer.

There is such a thing. There are Veteran Service Officers with the VFW and DAV who do this. My first claim was filed by one who works for the VFW.

 

[Flopsweat]

There is such a thing. There are Veteran Service Officers with the VFW and DAV who do this. My first claim was filed by one who works for the VFW.

They don't help with the online stuff then?

 

[gmerkt]

They don't help with the online stuff then?

My experience with the VSO at VFW was that he interviewed me, then filled out the paperwork and sent it in. That may have been before the online option. Some older and otherwise disadvantage veterans don't have access to "online" so I suppose the VSO's process the claims that way.

The VSO's know the ins and outs of claims applications, things the average guy usually doesn't. In the case at hand with Agent Orange, that is a presumptive condition and my impression is that not a lot of documentation is going to be required to support a claim. (1) The individual was there, and (2) He has medical documentation to support the condition claimed. By far and away, claims for diseases resulting from Agent Orange exposure involve medical care that has been on-going, not recently manifested.

The VSO's can also assess potential consequential conditions. That is, medical issues that arouse in connection with the presumptive ones. Using diabetes as an example, which can cause a cascading effect of consequential conditions.

 

[clanhanson]

Don't forget the lingering effects of AO on the children of those exposed. Nasty stuff that will follow a family through generations...