H. R. 2254 and S-1939 (archive 2010)
Quote:
This life-saving bill is designed to extend the presumption of herbicide (Agent Orange) exposure to US Navy veterans serving offshore. Informally, we are told that members of the House are hesitant to move because of its potential cost. It is estimated that approximately 265,000 “blue water” Navy and/or US Marine Corps personnel or their surviving family members will file claims if these two bills become law.
In 1999, the Royal Australian Department of Veterans Affairs discovered Agent Orange related cancers among sailors of their Navy who had never set foot in Vietnam . Australian Sailors were developing cancer at an even higher rate than those who served on the ground. The Australians found that the distilling process, used by ships to convert salt water to potable drinking water, was using contaminated water. That process actually enhanced the effect of the dioxin producing an Agent Orange cocktail that was ingested by the sailors through their drinking water. The American VA has inexplicably rejected the study. Although the Australians have granted an exposure presumption for over five years, the Americans continue to deny the claims.
In July of 2009, the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM)’s committee on Agent Orange independently validated the Australian report and recommended that the exposure presumption be extended to the Navy veterans. The IOM is required by law to provide recommendations and scientific support to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA has rejected the IOM recommendation without adequate explanation.
H. R. 2254 and S-1939 will correct this problem.
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so there you have it. the Australian Gov provides compensation to all Australian sailors who served in the conflict. however the VA here denied the IOM's findings as false and misleading
add to it the director of the VA testified blue water sailors (USN) do not qualify because our ships came no closer than 200 mi of the beach !!! what an outright lie. we were in as close as five mi. plus no shells fired from that distance could reach the beach
this is me on the signal bridge. and although hard to see is the vietnam coastline behind me and to the left
that IS the coast of Nam in the background