This is how the VA discussing VA compensation starts on the VA Page:
◾Set foot in Vietnam (This includes brief visits ashore, such as when a ship docked to the shore of Vietnam or when a ship operated in Vietnam’s close coastal waters for extended periods and crew members went ashore, or smaller vessels from the ship went ashore with supplies or personnel. The Veteran further must provide a statement of personally going ashore.)
◾Served on a ship while it operated on the inland waterways of Vietnam
Blue Water Veterans are not presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides unless they set foot in Vietnam or served aboard ships that operated on the inland waterways of Vietnam anytime between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975.
Step foot on the soaked poison and you need to file a claim. This is what it is saying.
{
You are going to get sick and die and we know it.}
Here is the link
http://www.publichealth.va.gov/...
I am still a little under the weather but I am still fighting.. Please join the fight because it is beginning to look pretty dismal for returning soldiers and those who are so very sick. War is a racket and we need to stop creating veterans and I did not even go into the ones commiting suicide or have been sexually traumatized.
Think about that statement...SET FOOT IN VIETNAM ! The reason I am posting this is , it really jumps out at you but only if this was an absolute. I have been working with a fellow who was AO exposed and has been turned down and going for appeal. Same thing for tommyfocus right here. Both are VN veterans who stepped foot in Vietnam for a long period of time. That is a heck of a presumptive compensation not to be a true statement because they are still setting up compensation and pension hearings and demanding evidence on appeal.
I have two good friends right now as I type this dying from Brain cancer due to exposure to agent orange. Both have been 100 percent but both had to jump through hoops. Neither have received compensation for agent orange exposure even though both have in writing..service connection cancer due to agent orange exposure from VA doctors. Both have claims in for the exposure. They wil never live to see it. This brings me to llbear's request that family members should be compensated for that exposure when the veteran dies. That legislation request by llbear should be a no brainer.
I wonder how many veterans read this and think, " Finally ".. Well I am here to tell you, it looks good. It sounds good. It just isn't the way it is.
What really gets me is that an advocate, veteran, or family member has to fight like everything to just get put on a wait time. Testvet's wife and me were talking the other night about how hard caregivers and family members have to struggle with the basic quality of life for the soldier who served. We talked about the caregiver and how the boomer generation is fighting for caregiver benefits. A little tool box of Q and A and 200 bucks to give care is not exactly a good tradeoff.. ( some do not even get that ..I know). One has to do the caregiving as an act of love because the pre 911 vets do not qualify for the caregiver benefits of the post 911. That legislation does not even make sense but good it exists for some vets and their caregivers. It just should exist for all vets regardless of theatres or years. If you got injured serving in uniform, the caregiver benefit should not depend on whether or not two buildings in NY had yet been destroyed.
I have a good idea for what should be happening;
Forget that 2015 deadline.
Scorch earth the claims and sort it out later. If the evidence is present on doctors statements...Go with the doc says..not some contractor sitting there pushing paper.
Make all the benefits equal and then that eleviates some time of sorting...By that I mean don't have 10 people looking at location of service to determine which caregiver to help.
DIC payments to widows and orphans should not have to sit in a heap of claims where one soldier is claiming tennatis while the partner of another vet is losing their home. Have a separate place for Widows Benefits to be compensated. How hard is it to know the veteran is dead with a death certificate and the loss of payment was cut to the dependent.
The same kind of place should be strictly for college and dependent coverage for school age children.. Yes there is an educational section but the depedent status still gets thrown on a heap of backlog.
Agent orange is a documented fact.... Pay up ! ( From the VA website..no proof necessary except the very presence of being there. If one has a disability to these AO exposures..Don't piddle..Pay the claim.
Have a three strikes and you are out policy. If claims are not met within 90 days 3 times in a row at a particuliar Regional office....change dept. heads.
Have a special dept at the Headquarters doing nothing but reviewing the backlog status and give help accordingly to each VISN group to remove the Backlog problem.
These are just a few...things...I am sure there are more. The system is broken and something has to give to make things better. People like Susan 29 should not be begging congresscritters to help. She is needing her widows pension.
My friend in Texas should not be spending time setting up hospice as her husband lies dying but an advocate should be doing this for her. She is an advocate but there should be End of Life Advocates who actually do these things at EVERY VA hospital to take some of the
stress off the family. They do have bereavement counselors but they need end of life workers to muddle through the system, not just set up funerals and pass out forms. Forms to sit and wait for years to decide the vet has died. Each honorably discharged veteran gets a letter from the president upon his or her passing...A copy of the letter from the president should suffice as evidence he or she has passed.. !!!!
Is there anything working in this country anymore? Anything? We know people in general are not working and many who have jobs are not doing their best. We need to beat a few pots and pans or cut off lights every night by flicking the light switch to show that some of us are tired of the do nothing congress and many democrats just complaining about it.
In the meantime.....