The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association Has a Serious Request
The Association Needs Veteran and/or Family Assistance

The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association posted a link several weeks ago.  Below is is their request:

We are asking if you would donate $10.00 a year in your income tax to provide medical and financial help to the Vietnam Blue Water Veterans whom the VA refuses to recognize as being exposed to "Agent Orange". 

 

The Agent Orange Act of 1991 was implemented to provide much-needed care to veterans who were exposed to the harmful chemical cocktail Agent Orange. Many of them thought the fight to get the medical attention we deserved was over, but that wasn’t the case. In 2002, the VA amended its initial plan and excluded thousands of “Blue Water” Navy vets -- vets who served right off the coast -- from receiving their rightful benefits. Because they hadn’t served on land, the VA tried to say they were unlikely to suffer the effects of Agent Orange poisoning.

Even though we didn’t serve on Vietnamese soil, we were still exposed to Agent Orange. In fact, a 2011 study by the National Institute of Medicine found that Blue Water veterans could have been exposed in multiple ways, including via the ships’ water distillation system and through the air. The National Institute of Medicine also stated, “Given the available evidence, the committee recommends that members of the Blue Water Navy should not be excluded from the set of Vietnam-era veterans with presumed herbicide exposure.”

Please note that because of exposure to Agent Orange whether directly or indirectly, a host of conditions can and have developed in anyone exposed including cancers and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease.

Here is a link to the survey.  It will ask at the bottom if you agree to make this donation. If you will do so, click OK which will take you to the next page for additional questions.

I should have posted this earlier. For that, I apologize.