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Thread ID: 147640	2019-02-15 17:28:00	Any NZ "Vets" From VietNam Here?	SurferJoe46 (51)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1458320	2019-02-15 17:28:00	I am in the process of fielding my many-years-old claim against The US Gvt and their stiff-arm tactic of not allowing my - and many other - claims of Agent Orange Exposure . I was on a declared "Brown Water Ship" in the US Navy, received a 'boots-on-the-ground' medal for service IN COUNTRY to VietNam and yet they refuse to allow my claim for medical care on merits that they summarily dismiss just because they 'can' . Anyway - enough about me - but I offer this as a 'watch and see' for what the POTUS and the SCOTUS does with our claims and how this will either set or totally deny claims for medical care for Vets in New Zealand - and yes, even Australia . It seems that as the US goes, so goes other convening courts of high authority in other countries, so I post this as a high-fiver and a heads-up to youse veteran-guys in Upsidedown land . This letter comes to me on a monthly basis and is from the survivors and crew of the USS Arlington (AGMR-2) that was in VietNam and for those who were ICORP . __________________________________________________ ___ AGENT ORANGE CLAIMS and the LATEST BLUE WATER NAVY RULING I am starting this update by giving our shipmate John Cummings a BRAVO ZULU for his diligence and his updates on “Agent Orange” and the “Blue Water Navy” . A good job John . First: Most Important - If YOU have a disability claim for a Medical Affliction related to Agent Orange Exposure – it is Important to Keep Your Claim alive . Second: If you have Medical Afflictions and have not filed a claim do so immediately! … but insure that YOU use a VSO (Veterans Service Officer): IE example: Disabled Veterans of America (DVA), Purple Heart, VFW, American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America Third: It is far from over – what the VA can do is file a petition for Certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States . Will they do this – who knows! We may not know anything until the end of March (approximately 45 days) . Fourth: We still need to pass the HR 299 bill – (read why below) contact your congressional representatives . Please read below from CDR John Wells, USN Retired and his understanding of the Court’s Ruling . The impact of Procopio . I know there a lot of questions on the impact of Procopio so I wanted to take this opportunity to clear up any confusion . Unlike Carlos Fuentes the VFW Legislative Director, we were not surprised by the decision . We were surprised by the fact that we received it so early . The decision was 8-3 not 9-2 as originally announced . That was my fault . I did not notice that there were two Judges on one of the dissents . We received notice of the decision shortly before a meeting with the staff of Senator Lee R-UT who had placed a hold on HR 299 . The Procopio decision certainly shifted the momentum and tenor of the meeting . Despite Carlos Fuentes’ statement that there may be difficulty showing eligibility there is really not . If you can show that your ship was within the territorial sea by a deck log, approval should be automatic . The court unfortunately did not address whether the territorial sea limit was 12 nautical miles off the baseline or 12 miles of the coast line . For most of you, that will be a distinction without a difference . We have filed a rulemaking request with the Secretary which should encompass all folks including those in the Gulf of Tonkin . We will not be able to take further action until they act on the request . I need to emphasize that the decision is not quite final . The court will have to issue what is called a mandate and we expect to receive that within a couple of weeks . Will the VA appeal? First of all they cannot appeal as there is no appeal as a matter of right from a decision by a federal Court of Appeals . What they can do is file a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States . In order to do that, they will need the approval of the Secretary, who is an attorney, and who is an intelligent man . When I met with him in December I felt that he understood the issue well . Although he did not say this, he understood that there was significant scientific proof in support of our position . If the Secretary okays a petition it then has to go to the Solicitor General for review . Even if the Solicitor General approves it, which I doubt, four Justices have to vote to grant certiorari . This means a decision to the case . The Supreme Court grants certiorari for about 1% of the petitions filed . If the SCOTUS does grant certiorari, we feel fairly confident that we will prevail . The majority opinion is very strong and frankly the dissents are weak . They discuss esoteric points of law that I doubt will peak the interest of the Justices . While I could be wrong, I expect that for our purposes the decision is pretty much final . In a meeting this afternoon, Secretary Wilkie briefly mentioned the Procopio decision . He saw it yesterday (he had surgery earlier in the week) and said that they are reviewing with Department of Justice . He was very matter of fact . He was friendly to me and we joked a little bit . So we shall see how it turns out . Hopefully everyone has kept their claims alive like we have been telling folks to do for years . If you have not, file a claim or an intent to file immediately . The decision will have a retroactive effect but only for open claims . There is no look back provision to reopen claims that have been closed . In order to achieve retroactive effect, the veteran will have to file a motion to reopen based on new and material evidence . That could include a deck log not previously submitted, or a buddy statement or even excerpts from a cruise book . Military-Veterans Advocacy will hold a seminar this Spring near New Orleans to process Blue Water claims . More information on that to follow . We will also sponsor a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar for attorneys and/or VSOs on Blue Water and Procopio . The VSO program will probably be in Washington DC . The attorney CLE will be in Louisiana . Do we still need HR 299 . Yes . Why? HR 299 covers some Thailand spina bifida dependents and some Korea DMZ vets . They are not within the scope of Procopio . Additionally, HR 299 has the look back requirement A reopen previously denied claims . Procopio does not . That is important . We met with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) yesterday and they are obviously still trying to get their arms around Procopio . We did discuss the numbers provided to them by the VA . Their manpower analysis of people currently covered was very close to ours and significantly different than te VA’s . Without saying so they pretty well agreed the VA’s numbers were bogus . BTW we have a meeting with Senator Enzi next week . We expect it to go well . Our next priority is Guam . This will not only cover the Navy, Marines and Air Force personnel stationed on Guam, but will cover some ships who operated outside the territorial sea . We are gaining interest in Congress concerning our draft bill to provide benefits for those who served on Guam and other Central Pacific islands . We also need to address the issue of general toxic exposure to cover other herbicide locations, radiation, Camp Lejeune, Fort McClellan, other hot spots in the United States and abroad, and of course burn pits . I see everyone claiming credit for this victory . This was a combined MVA-BWNVVA initiative . We received real help from the Vietnam Veterans of America, Association of the U S Navy and of course Fleet Reserve Association, the Military Coalition (minus the VFW) . No one else! Others are announcing seminars . Please ignore them . We will continue to keep you abreast and at the proper time will provide training and education to all concerned . Remember we at Military-Veterans Advocacy do not draw salaries . We are all volunteers . We do ask for money to cover our expenses . No one stays at 5 star hotels . No one flies first class . In the past we paid most expenses out of our own pockets . As our staff increases in numbers and our ability to influence veterans benefits increases, we will be spending more and more time in Washington DC . To effectively assist veterans we need financial support . We do receive support from the Combined Federal Campaign and Amazon Smile . Please help us continue to help veterans . Go to www . militaryveteransadvocacy . org and select the donate button . We need your help . CDR John B Wells USN retired Executive Director	SurferJoe46 (51)
1458321	2019-02-16 00:09:00	I wish you well in your Agent Orange compo case. Your president is a Vietnam draft dodger and probaly wont be much help.	prefect (6291)
1458322	2019-02-16 02:49:00	Is it true that Agent Orange was produced in New Zealand?	mzee (3324)
1458323	2019-02-16 05:20:00	Yea at Ivan Watkins Dow plant in New Plymouth Taranaki more refined version known as 245T	prefect (6291)
1458324	2019-02-17 21:27:00	Yea at Ivan Watkins Dow plant in New Plymouth Taranaki more refined version known as 245T And the production was stopped just as there was talk of official investigations into dioxin poisoning of locals living near the plant .	1101 (13337)
1458325	2019-02-19 03:07:00	I lived near one down South. He had all sorts of heath issues, no compensation in NZ. But then, what about the vietnamese? They have to live with it.....not just survivors, but in the food chain.	piroska (17583)
1458326	2019-02-19 04:33:00	I lived near one down South. He had all sorts of heath issues, no compensation in NZ. But then, what about the vietnamese? They have to live with it.....not just survivors, but in the food chain. Too bad the communists shouldnt have invaded the South then there wouldnt be a problem. Blame anyone blame Ho Chi Minh. Viet Cong and NVA deserve the most horrible death imaginable.	prefect (6291)
1458327	2019-02-19 18:54:00	No blame America. And France. Ho Chin Minh actually was a fan of democracy and wanted an independant country. He wrote to the US president for help, but he was advised by France that if he did, the west would be "overrun" by asians and communists. (Because they just wanted their colony intact) The French Indochina War broke out in 1946 and went on for eight years, with France’s war effort largely funded and supplied by the United States. Ho Chi Minh was getting old by then and pretty much lost control to the others involved....who caused most of the nastiness on their side.	piroska (17583)
1458328	2019-02-20 01:07:00	How many French Interventions, when they left the place a shambles, did other countries have to go in and try to clean them up? Just wondering - don't want to debate. I've always thought the French had rear view mirrors in their tanks so they could watch the enemy.	SurferJoe46 (51)
1458329	2019-02-20 03:56:00	They did fold under pressure in 1940 Joe, but then they had suffered hugely 21 years earlier in The Great War 1914-1918 . Their courage was unquestionably great in that time . The British army got the crap kicked out of it and also ran for the coast for the Dunkirk saga . I think that the USA people are a bit precious about bravery, and I wonder how they would fare had they had been facing the Germans under the same circumstances . I have also heard on the media where an American commenting on wars stated that World War 2 started on 7 December 1941 . Technically almost correct (11th December when Hitler declared war on the USA was the first time all the Allies and Axis fought) The British and allies including all the UK Colonies had been at war for nearly 2 . 5 years by then . French casualties in WWI . World War I cost France 1,357,800 dead, 4,266,000 wounded (of whom 1 . 5 million were permanently maimed) and 537,000 made prisoner or missing — exactly 73% of the 8,410,000 men mobilized, according to William Shirer in The Collapse of the Third Republic . Sep 22, 2003 War Losses (USA) American losses in World War I were modest compared to those of other belligerents, with 116,516 deaths and approximately 320,000 sick and wounded of the 4 . 7 million men who served . The USA lost more personnel to disease (63,114) than to combat (53,402), largely due to the influenza epidemic of 1918 . Oct 8, 2014 Ken	kenj (9738)
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