I have been involved with Agent Orange claims since 1977. By the time the first review was completed by the Centers for Disease Control I had filed over 1,100 claims in Columbus, Ohio.
When the Ranch Hand Study was released, I condemned the report as flawed and nearly lost my job as a result. My condemnations held true. The USAF has now admitted the report was flawed. In July 2004 I was allowed to testify before the national Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Medicine. That report is on my website.
Please read my book In Search Of The Truth For Vietnam Combat Veterans. Click below to go and take a look when you have the time.
http://www.geocities.com/dave_barker_amvet/index.html
Dave Barker

The Veterans And Agent Orange Update 2004 is due to be released any day. Here is my presentation to the National Academy of Sciences
Institute Of Medicine Veterans and Agent Orange
Update Committee made July 8, 2004.

David Barker brief background:
While earning my degree at Morris Harvey College, the University of Charleston, then my graduate work at Marshall University, I worked at the DuPont plant in Charleston, WV.

Included in my duties was periodic assignment to the Research and Development "Small Lots Production." This is where DuPont developed herbicides.

My last year employed by DuPont, I was a Detail Foreman in the construction of a new herbicide manufacturing site. I learned first hand the dangers of herbicides. DuPont chose wisely not to manufacture this herbicide, as they considered it to risky.

I am employed by Ohio AMVETS representing veterans before the VA.

I have filed over 15,000 Agent Orange related claims since February 1983. In 1984 I filed a claim for service connected compensation for a heart condition as a residual of exposure to Agent Orange for several clients. After all I had in my possession reports of the tests results of rats exposed to herbicides 2,3,6,7-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. There was mention of heart damage as well as other recognized conditions. Those claims were denied.

Any condition not recognized by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (then Administrator of the Veterans Administration), will by law be denied.

Also, I feel the issues of carcinoma have been to long ignored and should be addressed immediately for those still surviving.

If the cancer diagnosis is other than one of the very few recognized the VA denies the claim.
Carcinoma claims are routinely rejected as those cancers do not meet VA required specifics.

Finally a scientific study was done in Vietnam to determine the affects on human population regarding the use of Agent Orange.

The study at my last review has not been developed in this nation for the benefit of those veterans exposed while on active duty.
It is apparent to me there has been significant downplay to, outright ignoring the studies.

In my solitary office, there appears an extreme imbalance of Vietnam veterans, suffering from peripheral neuropathy who are denied if the veteran was not diagnosed with diabetes type 2.

It is time to reopen the study of neurological conditions.

We shall review briefly these studies made by independent sources. Dr. Hoang Dinh Cau, chairman of the government-supported National Committee for Investigation of the Consequences of Chemicals used in the Vietnam War, known as the 10-80 Committee, has studied the effects of Agent Orange on Vietnamese people over two decades.

Dr. Cau is not as guarded as others at Tu Du Hospital in discussing the use of the herbicide,
which contained dioxin, a contaminant many Western researchers called the most toxic chemical discovered by mankind so far. This was also stated in my book IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH FOR VIETNAM COMBAT VETERANS.

The original essay "Poison: Agent Orange" published by The Ohio AMVET in 1983 is the chapter with that statement. "We have recognized many kinds of birth defects associated with dioxin," Dr. Cau said, opening up a book with photographs of Vietnamese civilians identified as Agent Orange victims.
Several of the photos depict badly deformed infants. The children in Vietnam suffer a broad range of birth defects: many have unformed limbs, others are mentally handicapped and those with extremely enlarged heads.

Vietnamese scientists and government officials believe the children, along with hundreds of thousands of other Vietnamese are victims of the massive amounts of Agent Orange herbicide that US forces dumped on South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

Vietnamese researchers, as well as some of their Western colleagues, know that the more than 11 million gallons of Agent Orange that the US military introduced to South Vietnamese ecosystems created a public-health nightmare from which Vietnam has not recovered.

Vietnamese scientists believe the dioxin contamination has caused not only birth defects, but also respiratory cancers, heart problems and diabetes.

In 2000 the US Air Force released a study indicating a link between Agent Orange exposure, diabetes and heartdisease.

It has been well over 30 years since the United States stopped using Agent Orange. Thus many seriously ill patients have already died.

Pilot surveys conducted by Vietnamese researchers in December 1998 found that between 800,000 and 1 million Vietnamese had Agent Orange related health problems, in a report released in 1999 by Dr. Le Cao Dai, executive director of the Agent Orange Victims Fund of the Vietnam Red Cross. As much as 100,000 of those affected by the herbicide suffered some form of birth defect, the surveys found.

The United States thus far has nothing to do with research, into the connection between Agent Orange spraying and health problems among Vietnamese.

The US government has dismissed without review the accuracy and reliability of Vietnamese studies on Agent Orange.

The Dr. Cau 10-80 Committee was so named because it was founded in October 1980.
It is the only Vietnamese organization to attempt systematic research into the effects of Agent Orange. Dr. Cau said the Vietnamese government had tried studying the mysterious herbicides that the United States used as far back as 1965, but lacked the resources and knowledge to do so effectively.

"The Vietnamese Army never used Agent Orange, so they had no experts to study it," he said.

Vietnamese researchers now know that the dioxin from Agent Orange continues to affect Vietnamese born long after the war because it moves up the food chain, accumulating in higher concentrations as it goes.

According to Dr. Dai's report, 85 to 90 percent of the dioxin detected in the Vietnamese comes from contaminated food.

After an area was sprayed, the report explains, the dioxin from Agent Orange contaminated organic matter in soil as well as river and lake mud.

Animals, fish and shrimp then ingested some of the soil and mud and became contaminated.

Humans, in turn, were exposed to dioxin when they consumed contaminated animal, fish or shrimp products.

Testing for dioxin is a difficult and expensive procedure. One dioxin test costs about $700 in Vietnam, which can quickly destroy budgets of Vietnamese researchers.



People living in sprayed areas as well as the Northern Vietnamese who served in the South during the war have higher levels of dioxin in their bodies than those who have always lived in non-sprayed areas in the North.

A study of human fat tissue in 1984-'85 found that dioxin levels in people who lived in sprayed areas of South Vietnam were 10 times higher than in people living in the North, and two to three times higher than in people residing in industrialized nations.

A 1988 World Health Organization study comparing levels of dioxin in breast milk worldwide found that nursing South Vietnamese women had significantly higher levels of the contaminant in their breast milk than their counterparts in Hanoi and in industrial countries. Breast milk from one heavily sprayed area had a level of dioxin eight times higher than samples taken from those in Hanoi, and almost five times higher than samples taken from women in the United States.

According to Dr. Dai's report, more recent tests have shown that dioxin levels in the environment and human tissues have decreased over time, while dioxin in commonly used foods has returned to normal. Dr. Dai wrote in his report that areas around former US air bases remain dioxin hot spots. His concerns about base sites are predicated partly on a 1998 environmental assessment of an area around a former US Special Forces base in Aluoi province.

In a report release by the United States Air Force in 2000 stated "this research, constituted the first systematic environmental assessment of residual dioxin's in Vietnam." This was according to David Levy, a scientist involved in the Vietnam study who is vice president for Hatfield Consultants Ltd.

"In one area around the site of the former base, dioxins are present in duck fat and fish fat at high levels," Levy said. Similar concentrations in Canada trigger a regulatory response, such as food consumption advisories and closure of commercial fisheries.

Levy also supports more outside help for research on the effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam.

He said that Vietnam, with the contrast between the unsprayed North and sprayed South, provides what may be the best natural laboratory in the world to study links between exposure to the herbicide and health problems.

It was in 1991 that Army Scientist studies had linked diabetes and dioxin exposure. As you well know diabetes type 1 is usually referred to as juvenile diabetes and diabetes type 2 is often referred to as adult onset diabetes.

Now when a physician diagnoses adult onset insulin dependent diabetes as type 1 that claim is most often turned down as the NAS study indicates only diabetes type 2 is related to Agent Orange exposure.

The Ohio AMVETS News had published an article on diabetes and herbicide exposure written by me in 1986. The National Academy of Sciences did a comprehensive study again in 1998 and former Secretary Togo West rejected the study and had the issue revisited. The diabetes type 2 was again presented to the Acting, VA Secretary Herschel Gober in October of 2000 and Secretary Gober approved the condition November 9th of 2000.

The United States Air Force study released in 2000 proved the Ranch Hand Study was severely flawed and showing a 26% higher rate of heart disorders in those veterans in the study comparison. I have maintained for over a decade the probability of a direct relation of heart disorders and herbicide exposure.

There was also comparison of the birth defect issue which still remains stalled, even though the studies from the National Academy of Science, Institute of Medicine clearly show a higher ratio of incidence for Cerebral Palsy which has been ignored.

There are several issues regarding Agent Orange and additional birth defects, which more than likely, will be brought to the forefront in the next several years of study. Many people do not understand that birth defects are reported to the authorities, at the birth of the child. Thus many defects such as learning disabilities; or sensory impairments may not be discovered for months or years. As a result many birth defects go unreported and these children suffer as a result.

In terms of epidemiology, both prospective studies, similar to the US Air Force Ranch Hand study, and retrospective studies, similar to those carried out by Vietnamese medical scientists, should be done, Levy said. Dr. Cau of Vietnam's 10-80 Committee is not too optimistic about the possibility of establishing causal links that would measure up to Western scientific standards. "A long time has already passed," he said. "Mitigation of Agent Orange's effects on human health and the environment is the goal now."

It is time the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to request the National Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Medicine, to complete research on effects of Agent Orange and the heart. Then properly assist those exposed, or their survivors, to receive just compensation.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DaveBarker,

Nice post: One of the problems the VA has is the believability of Ranch Hand operations. Many simply can't believe the cavalier attitude the Air Force had in handling, storage and use of Agent Orange. I can remember many mechanics using it as a degreaser on their hands and faces; storage facilities at Bien Hoa were contiguous to hootches and to put it nicely, Ranch Hand spraying was hardly precision targeting.

Further, the 123's used in Ranch Hand operations were rarely cleaned; mechanics working on them, fueling them and so on had no particular precautions.

Few in today's culture can imagine such practices, especially now that the dangers of AO have been told. This doesn't necessarily help claimants. There has been some progress however, and it is good to know that there are those who continue to push the envelope with good data to support continuing developments after AO exposure.

In 1983 I assisted in a study by Columbia University and The American Legion. My duties were as a field representative and I interviewed veterans, regarding their various health issues. I went to their homes in the evenings, after working VA claims during the day. My boss did not believe AO would hurt people.
I still have the Certificate Of Appreciation hanging on my wall. It was a great program that brought many AO issues to light.
In humble thoughts of those days of tracking down veterans, who did not want to talk to anyone related to the government, here is an excellent read. The folks are putting it on the line! Just click on the link:
http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/news/in-vivo/Vol2_Iss09_may12_03/index.html

Diabetes type 2 will be rated service connected if you were exposed to Agent Orange. If you are diagnosed with diabetes type 1 you will not be rated service connected. I have found some physicians rate those who are insulin dependent as diabetes type 1. They are doing a injustice unless they are positive the condition was juvenile diabetes.Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, and was previously known as juvenile diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use sugar. Sugar is the basic fuel for the cells in the body, and insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. Finding out you have diabetes is scary. But don't panic. Type 1 diabetes is serious, but people with diabetes can live long, healthy, happy lives.
Conditions & Treatment
Arm yourself with information about conditions associated with type 1 diabetes, and how to prevent them. Conditions associated with type 1 diabetes include hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, ketoacidosis and celiac disease. You will also find helpful information about insulin, choosing blood glucose meters, various diagnostic tests including the A1c test, managing and checking your blood glucose, kidney and islet transplantations, and tips on what to expect from your health care provider.
Complications
Having type 1 diabetes increases your risk for many serious complications. Some complications of type 1 diabetes include: heart disease (cardiovascular disease), blindness (retinopathy), nerve damage (neuropathy), and kidney damage (nephropathy). Learn more about these complications and how to cope with them.


Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use sugar. Sugar is the basic fuel for the cells in the body, and insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can cause two problems:
· Right away, your cells may be starved for energy.
· Over time, high blood glucose levels may hurt your eyes, kidneys, nerves or heart.
Finding out you have diabetes is scary. But don't panic. Type 2 diabetes is serious, but people with diabetes can live long, healthy, happy lives. While diabetes occurs in people of all ages and races, some groups have a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes than others. Type 2 diabetes is more common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, as well as the aged population.
Complications
Having type 2 diabetes increases your risk for many serious complications. Some complications of type 2 diabetes include: heart disease (cardiovascular disease), blindness (retinopathy), nerve damage (neuropathy), and kidney damage (nephropathy). Learn more about these complications and how to cope with them.

Dave:

Thanks for a great post on diabetes!

From a claims point of view, the operational part of your post was that if there was AO exposure, Type II diabetes is presumed to have been caused by the exposure. That gives you a 10-percent rating right off the bat. Most people if they live long enough develop some type of endocrinological disorder so as you age, if you have exposure to AO in your files, check your blood sugars from time to time.

For most people a higher-than-normal blood sugar may not be noticeable; you may feel tired or thirsty.

Low blood sugar is very noticeable and is considered to be a potentially life-threatening situation. Normally Type II people do not get low blood sugar, Type I's get both high and low, as a practical matter.

If your blood sugars are above or below 70-120 ml/dl, then you need to see the doc and get some diagnosis and treatment going.

OldAFCop:
Your right on target. We might make a good team!
Dave

I really doubt that they would let us rejoin the military at this point, no kidding.

But the way things are going....?

Keep up the good work!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 1, 2005

VA Observes National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Colorectal cancer, a disease in which there is an abnormal or uncontrolled growth of cells in the large intestine, is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States for both men and women combined. However, there are still many people who have never even heard of colorectal cancer or are averse to being tested for it, according to a 2004 VA study on literacy and colorectal cancer knowledge1.
The Department of Veterans Affairs continues to conduct studies to research the causes, diagnostics, treatments, and potential preventions of colorectal cancer. Last year, VA spent more than $15 million funding colorectal cancer research and participated in 348 colorectal cancer studies. A VA study published in the January 2005 Annals of Internal Medicine found that a diagnostic method currently being used for colorectal cancer, the fecal occult blood testing, may be ineffective. In the study, a single, in-office fecal occult blood test following a digital rectal examination detected potentially cancerous growths less than five percent of the time2. Colonoscopy, double contrast barium enema, six-sample fecal occult blood test performed annually, and flexible sigmoidoscopy are four types of effective diagnostics.
The following symptoms may indicate colorectal cancer and require a diagnostic procedure:
· Blood in or on the stool.
· A change in bowel habits.
· Stools that are narrower than usual.
· General, unexplained stomach discomfort.
· Frequent gas, pains, or indigestion.
· Unexplained weight loss.
· Chronic fatigue.

The following tips may help to reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer:
· Eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Consuming Vitamin D, calcium, fiber, and folate may be a low-risk way of reducing the risk of colorectal cancer, according to a 2003 VA study3.
· Exercise regularly.
· Maintain a healthy weight.
· Avoid smoking. Smoking has been strongly linked with a higher risk for colorectal cancer4.
· Limit alcohol use.
For more information on colorectal cancer, please contact your local VA Medical Center.

A copy of an e-mail to me:
Dear Mr. Barker,
Dr. Catlin forwarded me your message, becauseI have recently taken over responsibility for IOM's on-going reviews of scientific literature related to health effects and herbicide exposure from her.

The prepublication version of Update 2004 was delivered to VA at the beginning of this month. We have exhausted our supply of printed copies, but it is posted for viewing on our website (http://veterans.iom.edu). If you follow that web site's link to Vietnam War, at the head of the list of studies, you will see this most recent report. If you click on the book cover, you will go to a summary. If you click again on "Read and Purchase," you can scan the final draft of the report. The final bound books should be available in June.

Although Update 2004 did not result in any new health conditions being added to the list of those with enough ("limited or suggestive" or "sufficient") evidence available to support an association with exposure to the herbicides used in Vietnam, I hope the committee's clarification (p. 368) that Type 2 diabetes may require insulin (as you noted at their meeting in Columbus) will be of use to some of the veterans you represent.

Sincerely,
Mary Paxton



Mary Burr Paxton, PhD, DABT
Senior Program Officer
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Institute of Medicine

Veterans and Agent Orange Update 2004 (2005)
By David Barker

The report has been released with little change. We have gone through a two year period of study and research with the National Academy of Sciences, for the VA and the net result was a clarification on insulin dependent diabetes type 2. To me it was extremely disappointing, that so many subjects remained untouched and new conditions were not added. Those exposed to Agent Orange, must again wait on those who have little sense of urgency. The now aging Vietnam veterans, find their ranks starting to thin. Many Agent Orange exposed veterans have met premature death, as a result of conditions many strongly believe are the result of the exposure.
The VAO Update 2004 has supposedly clarified the insulin dependent diabetes type 2 as a result of my personal testimony before the NAS committee in July 2004. In discussions with committee members it was stated they (the committee) was unaware the VA was denying claims for some veterans due to insulin dependent being classified as diabetes type 1. The VA position was diabetes type 1 was juvenile onset, rather than adult onset which is known as diabetes type 2.
The report defined the conditions “diabetes mellitus is a group of heterogeneous metabolic disorders characterized by hyperglycemia and quantitative or qualitative deficiency of insulin action (Orchard et al., 1992). Although all form share hyperglycemia, the pathogenic processes involved in its development differ. Most diabetes fall into two categories: Type 1 diabetes is characterized by an absolute deficiency of insulin caused by the destruction of insulin producing cells. In the pancreas.; type 2 diabetes is characterized by a combination of resistance to the actions of insulin and inadequate secretion of insulin, called relative insulin deficiency. In the old classification systems type 1 diabetes was called insulin dependent diabetes mellitus or juvenile onset diabetes mellitus; type 2 diabetes was called non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus or adult onset diabetes mellitus. The modern classification system recognizes that type 2 can occur in children and also can require insulin. For both types, long term complications can include cardiovascular disease nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy and increased vulnerability to infections. Maintaining correct blood sugar concentrations within the normal range is crucial for preventing complications…
The etiology of diabetes type 2 is unknown, but three major components have been identified: peripheral insulin resistance (thought by many to be primary) in target tissues (muscle, adipose tissue, liver) a defect in β-cell insulin secretion; and hepatic glucose overproduction. In states of insulin resistance, insulin secretion is initially higher for each concentration of glucose, compared with that for people without diabetes. That hyperinsulinemic state is a compensation for peripheral resistance and can often maintain normal glucose levels for years. Eventually, β-cell compensation become inadequate and there is progression to overt diabetes with concomitant hyperglycemia. The reason the
β-cell cease to produce sufficient insulin is not known.
A lawsuit was entered in the U.S. District Court, Brooklyn, by the Vietnamese government, relating to Agent Orange and the suit was dismissed. This suit could have well been exactly what the Vietnam veteran needed, to substantiate the claims of many diseases and birth defects. Ironic but true, this is the same court which let the chemical companies off the hook for $180 million dollars back in the 1980’s!
We shall review briefly these studies made by independent sources. Dr. Hoang Dinh Cau, chairman of the government-supported National Committee for Investigation of the Consequences of Chemicals used in the Vietnam War, known as the 10-80 Committee, has studied the effects of Agent Orange on Vietnamese people over two decades.
Dr. Cau is not as guarded as others at Tu Du Hospital in discussing the use of the herbicide, which contained dioxin, a contaminant many Western researchers called the most toxic chemical discovered by mankind so far. This was also stated in my book “
IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH FOR VIETNAM COMBAT VETERANS.”
The original essay "Poison: Agent Orange" published by The Ohio AMVET in 1983 is the chapter with that statement. "We have recognized many kinds of birth defects associated with dioxin," Dr. Cau said, opening up a book with photographs of Vietnamese civilians identified as Agent Orange victims. Several of the photos depict badly deformed infants. The children in Vietnam suffer a broad range of birth defects: many have unformed limbs, others are mentally handicapped and those with extremely enlarged heads.
Vietnamese scientists and government officials believe the children, along with hundreds of thousands of other Vietnamese are victims of the massive amounts of Agent Orange herbicide that US forces dumped on South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Vietnamese researchers, as well as some of their Western colleagues, know that the more than 11 million gallons of Agent Orange that the US military introduced to South Vietnamese ecosystems created a public-health nightmare from which Vietnam has not recovered. Vietnamese scientists believe the dioxin contamination has caused not only birth defects, but also respiratory cancers, heart problems and diabetes. In 2000 the US Air Force released a study indicating a link between Agent Orange exposure, diabetes and heart disease. It has been well over 30 years since the United States stopped using Agent Orange. Thus many seriously ill patients have already died.
So our Agent Orange plight struggles on.

Since diabetes is a major service connectable residual of Agent Orange, I shall post VA diabetes releases that are not usually found in their limited publications.
I did my first essay on Agent Orange related diabetes and published it in 1986. I had filed multiple claims for veterans with diabetes as a residual of Agent Orange starting in late 1985.
In November 2000, Hershel Gober the acting Secretary of VA called me and told me diabetes type 2 had been approved by him as a residual of herbicide exposure. Many of the claim I had filed in the '80's were back dated with some nice retroactive payments.
Here is a March 6,2005 release from VA on diabetes.
HEY VA! HAVE YOU HEARD? March 6, 2006
Aging veterans are getting reinforcements in their fight against the twin threats of obesity and diabetes. VA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched the "Healthier US Veterans" campaign last week to promote nutrition, exercise, education, preventive medicine and weight loss. VA says that of the 7.5 million veterans receiving its health benefits, more than 70 percent are obese and one out of five have diabetes. Diabetes can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, blindness and amputations. According HHS, seven percent of the U.S. population suffers from diabetes. The fact that veterans seem to be a much higher risk group doesn't sit well with VA Secretary Jim Nicholson. "This doesn't have to be," Nicholson said. "I feel we have a responsibility to better educate our veterans." As part of the new program, VA doctors will give out "prescriptions for health" to patients after measuring their body mass index, a measure of body fat. The prescriptions will list exercises and nutritional information that match patients' health needs. Other components of the program include a "Fit for Life Volunteer Corps," a group of veterans dedicated to setting a good health example for others, and a weight management program called "MOVE!"

Other than Vietnam...
The VA has received a listing from the Defense Department of locations outside of Viet Nam where Agent Orange was used or tested over a number of years. The information gives periods of time, locations and chemicals used. It does not contain units involved or individual identifying information.

The listings are almost exclusively Army records although there are an extremely limited number of Navy and Air Force records. These listings relate only to chemical efficacy testing and/or operational testing. The records do not refer to the use of Agent Orange or other chemicals in routine base maintenance activities such as spraying along railroad tracks, weed control on rifle ranges, etc. Information on such use does not exist. VA will develop for proof of exposure for claims for disabilities resulting from Agent Orange exposure outside of Viet Nam.

VA does have significant information regarding Agent Orange use in Korea along the DMZ. DoD has confirmed that Agent Orange was used from April 1968 up through July 1969 along the DMZ. DoD defoliated the fields of fire between the front line defensive positions and the south barrier fence. The size of the treated area was a strip of lane 151 miles long and up to 350 yards wide from the fence to north of the "civilian control line." There is no indication that herbicide was sprayed in the DMZ itself.

Herbicides were applied through hand spraying and by hand distribution of pelletized herbicides. Although restrictions were put in place to limit potential for spray drift, run-off, and damage to food crops, records indicate that effects of spraying were sometimes observed as far as 200 meters down wind.

Units in the area during the period of use of herbicide were as follows: The four combat brigades of the 2nd Infantry Division. This includes the following units: a) 1-38 Infantry b) 2-38 Infantry c) 1-23 Infantry d) 2-23 Infantry e) 3-23 Infantry f) 3-32 Infantry g) 109th Infantry h) 209th Infantry i) 1-72 Armor j) 2-72 Armor k) 4-7th Cavalry. 3rd Brigade of the 7th. Infantry Division. This includes the following units: a) 1-17th Infantry b) 2-17th Infantry c) 1-73 Armor d) 2-10th Cavalry. Field Artillery, Signal and Engineer troops were supplied as support personnel as required. The estimated number of exposed personnel is 12,056.

Unlike Viet Nam, exposure to Agent Orange is not presumed for veterans who served in Korea. Claims for compensation for disabilities resulting from Agent Orange exposure from veterans who served in Korea during this period will be developed for evidence of exposure. If the veteran was exposed the presumptive conditions found for Agent Orange exposure apply.



Other Presumed Locations
The only real issue is proving exposure (all persons who served in Vietnam are presumed to have been exposed.) The VA is determining whether Department of Defense information is sufficient to add some non-Vietnam units to the presumptive exposure list, but none have been added as of June 2001. The following areas outside of Vietnam have been confirmed as places where AO was used:

1. The Korean demilitarized zone in 1968 and 1969 (extensive spraying).
2. Fort Drum, NY in 1959 (testing).

Other areas where veterans allege AO to have been sprayed include:

1. Guam from 1955 through 1960s (spraying).
2. Johnston Atoll (1972-1978) was used for unused AO storage.
3. Panama Canal Zone from 1960s to early 1970s (spraying).
4. Elgin AFB (Agents Orange and Blue) on Firing Range and Viet Cong Village.
5. Wright-Patterson AFB (OH) and Kelly AFB (TX).

Also see: 1154-3.304-AO Outside of Vietnam

See section D under combat. This was just revised in Dec of 2001. This allows those that served outside of Vietnam and were exposed to AO to file for compensation. Also attached is a document about Panama and Guam having also been added to the list of AO locations.

[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 38, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 38CFR3.304]
[Page 219-220]

FYI....I have no personal experience with Agent Orange, but ran across the article:


Business Week
April 3, 2006
Developments To Watch
An Air Force Trove Of Medical Info May Be Lost

For 24 years the Air Force has been collecting a huge trove of data on Vietnam veterans in an effort to determine the long-term effects of Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant sprayed on Vietnamese forests by the U.S. during the war. The Air Force health study now has some 87,000 biological specimens and volumes of long-term data on more than 2,200 soldiers, half of whom flew defoliant-spraying planes. But the study is set to end in September, and scientists are worried that its wealth of research will disappear if congress doesn't appropriate funds to maintain it. In February, the Institute of Medicine issued a report recommending that the Air Force data be transferred to a new custodial organization so that scientists can continue to use it for medical research extending far beyond Agent Orange exposure. The cost, however, could run up to $500,000 a year.

The appeals court threw out the VA "in-country" position last week. Time to reopen the AO Blue Water claims. See your veterans organization service officer.
I submitted the following statement with every Blue water Navy claim I filed since the VA sudden change in policy upon the regulation of “in-country status” by VA Counsel after diabetes type 2 was recognized in November 2000.
Here it is:
Probably the most divided group of veterans in the history of America is the beleaguered Vietnam veteran. This group of veterans were generally rejected by the American people early in the war that none of them started. Most of those serving in Vietnam from 1959 through the literal end of the war were patriotic young people who desired to defend the United States from her enemies. Sometimes the young veteran would have a problem of sorting out just who was the enemy. In Vietnam, the natives who worked during the day turned into the guerilla at night.
We also had the enemy at home. Those who protested the war for one reason or another.
Many of those were prominent politicians, actors and education leaders. There positions were well choreographed to make those serving look as they were interfering with the chosen lifestyle of the Vietnamese people. When in reality the Vietnamese people were being terrorized by their Communist brethren.
We also have the problem of those veterans who separate themselves as ‘in-country’ and those called ‘Era vets’ a situation not seen during WWII or the Korean war. In the years I have worked with veterans this one issue of were you ‘in-country’ has caused a great schism in the ranks of those who served from 1959 to 1975.
When the Vietnam veteran returned home they discovered many health problems those who did not go to Vietnam did not suffer. These veterans went to the Veterans Administration (now the Department of Veterans Affairs) and made attempts to discover the common link to those problems. It was not long before herbicide exposure was the culprit. For reasons never fully explained the VA rejected nearly every idea put forth from this group of veterans. Even their fellow veterans from other conflicts rejected their quest for answers.
Over two decades we sought information to link herbicide exposure and the health problems which were taking lives at early ages in this select group. It appeared the more research by the supporters of the Vietnam veterans, the more resistance by the government and some of the veterans of prior conflicts. It was not until the San Francisco District Court Of Appeals ruling in which Agent Orange went to trial in San Francisco and was found guilty. On May 3, 1989 in the U.S. District Court, the Honorable Thelton E. Henderson held that former Veterans Administration head, Thomas K. Turnage had imposed "an impermissibly demanding test" for determining whether an ailment could be linked to dioxin. A position many of us had stated for over a decade.
The ruling was not appealed by the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs. This has opened the doors for new opportunities for those who have been maimed by this, the deadliest of man made synthetic chemical compounds, TCDD or as we know it Agent Orange. Multiple Thousands of claims nearly 34,000, at that time had been denied over the years. So in the next decade the VA established regulations concerning diseases and exposure. The regulations have been changed as new diseases were recognized. In the early 1990’s those who were in the adjacent waters to Vietnam were presumed exposed. When diabetes type 2 was recognized in November of 2000, the regulations were revisited by those in the legal departments of the VA. The presumption of exposure to herbicides was changed by the VA..
The VA has denied many claims since mid 2001, stating the veteran was not exposed due to the fact he did not go ashore. This is an incorrect assumption based on economics and not fact. The current Agent Orange exposure in-country regulation:
“(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1112)
(6) Diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents. (i) For the purposes of this section, the term ``herbicide agent'' means a chemical in an herbicide used in support of the United States and allied military operations in the Republic of Vietnam during the period
beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, specifically: 2,4-D; 2,4,5-T and its contaminant TCDD; cacodylic acid; and picloram.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1116(a)(4))
(ii) The diseases listed at Sec. 3.309(e) shall have become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more at any time after service, except that chloracne or other acneform disease consistent with chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, and acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy shall have
become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within a year after the last date on which the veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during active military, naval, or air service.
(iii) A veteran who, during active military, naval, or air service, served in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, shall be presumed to have been exposed during such service to an herbicide agent, unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the veteran was not exposed to any such agent during that service. The last date on which such a veteran shall be presumed to have been exposed to an herbicide agent shall be the last date on which he or she served in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975. ‘Service in the Republic of Vietnam’ includes service in the waters offshore and service in other locations if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in the Republic of Vietnam.”
When a person is within the geographical or territorial limits of the land mass, that person is considered by international law within the nation. There are recorded incidents of U.S. warships being seized (USS Pueblo 1968) and U.S. fishing vessels (Peru 1964), as well as the US Navy boarding Russian vessels (Cuba 1962). Thus my position has been accepted as law, by the Executive Branch of the United States of America. There are no provisions in Title 38 of the United States Code, for any department, agency or division to deny due process under accepted treaty, law or regulations of the United States of America.

Dave,
Thank you for all this information. My wife recently became a caretaker for a paralyzed vet (paralysis is from non-service related shooting) and is doing the paperwork for his agent orange claims. The vet wasn't even aware of the type of diabetes he has, but my wife was able to determine from the meds he was taking and the doctor's records (fortunately, she was a medical records typist at one point and can read these heiroglyphics) that he is a Type II. He's sending in a statement to the DAV with his diagnosis from two doctors and recorded service in Vietnam (DaNang and northern provinces) 1968-1970. Anything else the vet (and my wife) needs to know or send in?
Thanks again.