Click as indicated to go to the paper.

It is your right as a Veteran!  Click here!

Agent Orange - Were You Exposed? Click here!

Click on Agent Orange and Vietnam Veterans (A web site)

Click on AGENT ORANGE REGISTRY (AOR) PROGRAM PROCEDURES (A PDF file)

Click here for Report on DOD Herbicides Outside Vietnam (A PDF file)

The above and additional information is available by clicking on the VA Agent Orange website.

     General lack of concern by Vietnam Veterans at the end of the War and until this day threaten to cost them big time. Since 1978 the Department of Veteran Affairs has offered, free of charge, a complete Agent Orange Physical and subsequent entry into the Agent Orange Registry whereby veterans would be kept abreast of health issues dealing with Agent Orange. As per the March 2001, Vol. 17, No 2 of "Agent Orange Review", the thirty fourth issue since publication began, only 300,000 veterans have obtained the physical, have been entered in the registry, and are being systematically informed about newly added benefits as research has slowly discovered presumptive links to additional diseases.

The VA's stated purpose, "The Review is published to provide information on Agent Orange and related matters to Vietnam veterans, their families, and others with concerns about herbicides used in Vietnam." has been thwarted by most of the men and women the VA is trying to serve. Still trying to reach more veterans, the VA has gleaned an additional 350,000 names from it's many data bases making this the first issue to reach 650,000 veterans. However, this means that more than five million veterans do not have a clue that if they were to be diagnosed with Prostate Cancer (PCa), they would be eligible for financial assistance in various amounts as well as free treatment under many conditions.

    This is a terrible, self imposed loss. Prostate Cancer as well as the other Cancers and diseases that have been approved for veterans compensation all impose major additional costs, even beyond what insurance may pay for. The Veteran's Administration can help but few know about it.

    The one thing certain about Prostate Cancer is that survival can depend on one's access to "treatment artists". In the day of managed care, VA financial assistance can weigh heavily upon one's decision making process and one's access to the best care. And if finances are not an issue, the veteran certainly earned the pocket change the VA can make available.

    If you are reading this, it's probably because you or a loved one has Prostate cancer and you need information. There are two direct links for you to get information right from the horses mouth. The Va's web site: www.va.gov There is a link on the opening page to a secure application filing area where you can stake your claim. Other, less direct sources are the Veteran's Outreach Officer at your nearest VA Hospital, and the Service Officers of all the National Veteran's Organizations. The new website military.com has information, links to VA publications, and a few links to service representative organizations. I cannot vouch for their information and suggest obtaining what you need directly.

    Because this latest issue is going to twice as many veterans as any of the others, it contains a lot of information on benefits and how to claim them. Since you are reading this on line, please go to that issue in particular using this link: www.va.gov/agentorange/default.htm or find it from the VA's entry Web page. You will not regret reading it. The above link also contains information in PDF format on each disease covered.

    Most interesting to me is that Agent Orange benefits are also available to non Vietnam veterans. The Military used herbicides in the United States since 1950. They were also used in Korea in 1968-69. Non Vietnam veterans, however, have the burden to prove they were exposed while Vietnam Veterans are presumed to have been exposed.

    There is one final conclusion that I wish to make. While the VA is required by congress to make benefit information available to veterans, their resources are limited to their registry, their treatment records, and the thirty plus year old records of veterans who served. There is no chance for them to reach former veterans from these old records. A nation wide publicity drive is probably beyond their ability. I call for those veterans who do know the stake, to kick their local vets organizations in the pants to get this information out. These organizations are the only source of current addresses for many Vets. For instance, I am a life long member of the American Legion. I receive their magazine but do not recall being updated about any Agent

Orange changes through their articles. There was no mention of Prostate Cancer being added to the presumptive list in the last year or two either in their national publication nor my local post's monthly news letter. There has been no mention that Type II Diabetes has been read into the Congressional Record this year and will become a presumptive disease after the time period established by law. We wouldn't let our buddies down in war. We cannot let them down now.

    Please share your additional ideas on how to assist the VA in getting this message out. Apathy is the enemy. Join the war to help your fellow veterans come to know their benefits.

    Ron Pelton  May 25, 2001