Here is the latest information I have, but remember that I retired 7 years ago. For the Navy fellow that was on board a ship and got rated as service connected for DM for Agent Orange exposure. You are a product of a lazy and ill trained Rating Specialist - simply have the Vietnam Serivce Medal does not qualify for this diability decision, you must have had "boots on the ground".
VA Letter dated February 2008 to VN veterans:
According to records of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), you were stationed in the Republic of Vietnam during your military service. This letter tells you about VA disability compensation benefits that may be available to veterans who served on the ground or the inland waterways of Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975. Information is also provided about VA’s pension program for wartime veterans with limited income.
Service-Connected Disability Compensation:
Presumptive Conditions for “In-Country” Vietnam Veterans
VA presumes that all “in-country” Vietnam veterans (those who served on the ground or inland waterways of Vietnam) were exposed to herbicide agents during their service in Vietnam. The medical conditions listed below, if diagnosed and manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more in “in-country” Vietnam veterans, are presumed to have been caused by that herbicide exposure. You may be entitled to service-connected disability compensation benefits from VA if you are an “in-country” Vietnam veteran who has been diagnosed with one of these conditions.
• Type II diabetes
• Prostate cancer
• Respiratory cancers (lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea)
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
• Soft-tissue sarcoma (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma or mesothelioma)
• Hodgkin’s disease
• Non-Hodgkins lymphoma
• Multiple myeloma
The conditions below must 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.
• Acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy
• Porphyria cutanea tarda
• Chloracne or other acneform disease similar to chloracne
Additional Information Available
VA has a website dedicated to providing Vietnam veterans with information about herbicide exposure (
http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/benefits/Herbicide/Index.htm).
For more information, you may also contact the Agent Orange Helpline, toll-free at
1-800-749-8387.
Non Service-Connected Disability Pension
Wartime veterans with low incomes who are permanently and totally disabled, or are age 65 and older, may be eligible for monetary support, regardless of where they served. The veteran must have 90 days or more active service, with at least one day served during a period of war. (Veterans who entered active duty on or after Sept. 8, 1980, or officers who entered active duty on or after Oct. 16, 1981, may have to meet a longer minimum period of active duty).
You cannot receive VA pension and compensation benefits at the same time. If you are found entitled to both benefits, VA will pay you whichever benefit is the greater amount.
How to Apply for Disability Compensation and/or Pension
You may submit your claim online at
http://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/main.asp
or download a copy of VA Form 21-526, Veteran's Application for Compensation and/or Pension, at
http://www.va.gov/vaforms and then forward the completed application to the nearest VA regional office. For more information or to request an application, you may also speak with a Veterans Service Representative by calling toll-free, 1-800-827-1000.
If you use a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD), the number is
1-800-829-4833. You may also visit VA’s website (
http://www.va.gov) or send an electronic inquiry (
https://iris.va.gov).
