The Joint Chiefs of Staff refused: The location was too sensitive; the valley was right on the border, and the neutrality of Laos was just days from being guaranteed under an international agreement. If you live near ag areas or wear cotton that is not organically grown, you are still being exposed to Agent Blue. If you have a condition associated with Agent Orange exposure, you do not need to provide evidence that your condition is connected to your service. From January 9, 1962 May 7, 1975, you served : in the Republic of Vietnam or on a U.S. military vessel that was used in the inland waterways of Vietnam, OR. But in time they learned the names of the airplanes: T-28, C-123, B-52. Does anyone have any information on Ft Riley, Ft Polk, and Ft Richardson. We had no rice for nine years, one old man said. Map sourec: (13) Was diagnosed with Diabetes type 2 20 years after being stationed there. The PACT Act also strengthens federal research on toxic exposure and improves VAs resources and training for toxic-exposed Veterans. The campaign was by far the largest and most comprehensive of the war, using a wide variety of aircraft as well as new smart bombs. March 30-July 1972The PAVN (Peoples Army of Viet Nam) and the NLF begin a major offensive. Some are now fish ponds in the middle of the rice paddies. (LogOut/ To enter and activate the submenu links, hit the down arrow. During the war, people went back and forth between Laos and Vietnam, he said, depending on which side was being bombed and sprayed at the time. Any U.S. or Royal Thai military base that was in Thailand at any point between January 9, 1962 June 30, 1976, OR, Laos from December 1, 1965 September 30, 1969, OR, Cambodia at Mimot or Krek, Kampong Cham Province from April 16, 1969 April 30, 1969, OR, Guam or American Samoa, or in the territorial waters off either of those locations from January 9, 1962 July 31, 1980, OR. He does not have diabetes, just painful neuropathy that makes any walking very difficult. Dianne Nelson. Very few areas, including some of the places within the boxes to the right, are still not farmable land. The first jolt to her innocence, she recalls, came when newspapers in Saigon published gruesome photographs of malformed babies and fetuses in Tay Ninh, a heavily sprayed province on the Cambodian border. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Hes pretty sure they are waiting and hoping he dies soon. It was a blazing-hot morning in October 2019 on the old Ho Chi Minh Trail, an intricate web of truck roads and secret paths that wove its way across the densely forested and mountainous border between Vietnam and Laos. The article was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. As you can see, the III Corps received the heaviest concentrations of spraying, followed by I Corps, II Corps, and IV Corps (9). While most of the barrels were properly stored and sealed, some of them leaked, causing contamination of the islands soil and water. Your post makes us wonder just where these chemicals were stored. Most veterans are underrated for their disabilities and, therefore, not getting their due compensation. The United States relationship with Laos has followed a similar sequence. Some of their findings need to be verified by medical experts. These craters are everywhere in Laos, and this one most likely came from a B-52 bombing mission. That one could not sit up, their great-uncle said. Quick trip to the hospital showed he looked ok. However, spray drifts from the spraying-affected areas outside the target zone, including Cambodian villages. Operation Ranch Hand was a U.S. military operation during the Vietnam War, lasting from 1962 until 1971.Largely inspired by the British use of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D (Agent Orange) during the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s, it was part of the overall herbicidal warfare program during the war called "Operation Trail Dust". Agent Orange is a herbicide that was used during the Vietnam War to clear vegetation. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. While US bombing and a stiffened ARVN defense was able to turn back the PAVN and NLF offensive, it remains politically impossible to reintroduce sufficient U.S. combat troops to stem the PAVN drive. He had made a preliminary estimate of the volume of defoliants used in Laos and found one contaminated air base. And thank you so much for your service AND SACRIFICES. Legacy of Our Veterans' Military Exposures, The map can be used to see defoliant spraying missions by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces, In South Vietnam, the men of Detachment A-502 were always prepared to carry out the mission, The 50-Year History & the Newest Chapter of Concerns, Living with Agent Orange is a closed social network with a restricted membership to Children of Vietnam Veterans, PRIVACY POLICY Thank you for visiting our website. Im not sure what it is now. As of July 2020, it still works, but you need to manually zoom into the Vietnam area on the global map. I have Leukemia now in the early stage. But her anxiety increased. Their October 2019 trip was designed mainly to check up on cases they had already recorded, but they also found several new ones, like the boy in Labeng-Khok. These updates are very very helpful. In one of the bamboo-and-thatch stilt houses, the ladder to the living quarters was made from metal tubes that formerly held American cluster bombs. They strongly suspect that he has hydrocephalus, associated with exposure to dioxin. The main focus of the War Legacies Project is to document the long-term effects of the defoliant known as Agent Orange and provide humanitarian aid to its victims. My father also has Parkinsons from AO exposure in Vietnam. Is there anyone out there who knows anything about Ft Riley, Ft Polk, and Ft Richardson. Twelve million gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed over roughly 10 percent of South Viet Nam, from the Demilitarized Zone in the north to the Mekong Delta in the south.. It is a welcome measure for the many veterans exposed to these dangerous chemicals while serving in the country during the Vietnam War. Call: 988 (Press 1), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs | 810 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington DC 20420. Finally, in 2017, with new paved roads connecting the main towns, and many smaller villages accessible in the dry season by rough tracks, they were able to embark on systematic visits to the villages of the Bru, the Ta Oey, the Pa Co and the Co Tu, four of the ethnic minorities whose homes straddle the Laos-Vietnam border. on a vessel not exceeding 12 nautical miles from the Vietnam-Cambodia border. At VA Claims Insider, we help you understand and take control of the claims process, so you can get the rating and compensation youre owed by law. The containers had to be repackaged several times as they were deteriorating. I had to quit my job, and move to CA to do so. He was sent to Vientiane, Laoss capital, for examination, diagnosis and cardiac surgery. The expansion of Agent Orange exposure locations came as a result of Public Law 116-23, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019. Bullsht list. Please reply ASAP. The Agent Orange Act of 1991 was passed only after a bitter 14-year fight by veterans campaigning for recognition that the chronic illnesses that tens of thousands of them were developing might be directly connected to dioxin exposure. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Brian Reese here, Air Force service-disabled Veteran and Founder @ VA Claims Insider. At first, they recounted, they had no idea who was spraying and bombing their villages, or why. We have submitted a disability claim for agent orange exposure as he has Parkinsons, cant move his legs, cant walk, is 100% incontinent, has a catheter and dementia. His frustration with the8-step VA disability claims processled him to createVA Claims Insider,which provides U.S. military veterans with tips, strategies, and lessons learned for successfully submitting or re-submitting a winning VA disability compensation claim. It is the only agent still in use. All rights reserved. The rudimentary health care system in rural Laos means that few if any infants even get a diagnosis. Vietnamese people affected by the chemical spraying get compensation, he complained. I have cared for him in my home for the past 5 years until I could no longer do it. According to the claim process both of these needed to have been identified and treated within a year of retirement. Learn what youve been missing so you can FINALLY get the disability rating and compensation youve earned for your service. I helped to move leaky barrels around from C-123;s different weekends. have hearing loss. Then, in 2013, Chagnons husband died. Like most of his people, Kalod saw the border as an artificial construct. But as it turned out weve found a lot., Hammonds requests for both the United States and Laos to acknowledge the long-term effects of the spraying have so far been met with bureaucratic rationalizations for inaction: Congress can do nothing without a clear signal from the Lao government; the Lao government has been hesitant to act without hard data; officials of the United States Agency for International Development in Vientiane have been sympathetic, but other senior embassy officials have waved away the problem. Frequently Asked Questions Vietnam 2. They wore hazmat style suits and prorective masks. and get all the latest updates straight to your inbox. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. On an earlier visit to Lapid, the War Legacies Project found a paralyzed baby girl, a 4-year-old with a club foot, a teenager born without eyes. The Honoring Our PACT Act expands the list of presumptions for Agent Orange exposure, making it easier for those who may have been exposed to herbicides during their time in service to receive benefits. Hopefully this will help you some. Hammond recognizes the limitations of their work. Intelligence reports had predicted a Northern attack, but no one had expected it to come across the DMZ. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". I am not sure about shopping at the commissaries. . Many R&D operations occurred at this facility over the decades. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Men fish in boats made from the jettisoned fuel tanks of American fighter-bombers. The War Legacies Project did conduct a study that showed the rate of birth defects in Laos villages sprayed with chemicals was similar to the rates found in heavily sprayed Vietnam villages. Once Washington had secured full cooperation in accounting for Americans missing in action, it began to aid Vietnams efforts to remove the vast amount of unexploded ordnance that still littered its fields and forests, killing and maiming tens of thousands. They have never denied a claim for having too much information. This lack of interest might seem startling, but to veteran Laos watchers it comes as no surprise. VA provides comprehensive dental care to Veterans who are eligible; however, the benefit is not available to many Veterans. Many of these flights were in area that were being sprayed with Agent Orange. In all, nearly 80 million liters were sprayed. Since it began, their project has channeled modest amounts of material support to disabled people things like a wheelchair ramp or a vocational training course or a brood cow to increase household income in rural areas of Vietnam that were heavily sprayed. Setting Priorities: Addressing the Heavily Sprayed Areas Twelve provinces were the most heavily sprayed with Agent Orange during the war. list, you were eligible for compensation. In those days there were no roads into the mountains, Chagnon says. This interactive map is based on the Herbicide Exposure Assessment-Vietnam database developed by Jeanne Stellman, professor emeritus at Columbia University's school of public health, and Columbia epidemiology professor Steven Stellman. Reconciliation between the United States and Vietnam was an intricate dance that depended on reciprocal steps to untangle the three most contentious legacies of the war. In February, We burned down the thatched huts, starting the blaze with Ronson and Zippo cigarette lighters, he wrote later. Anyone can read what you share. By this time Chagnon and her husband, Roger Rumpf, a theologian and well-known peace activist, were living in Vientiane and visited remote areas where few outsiders ever ventured. 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