VA BLUE WATER CLAIMS UPDATE 03:
The Montgomery Advertiser published the
>> following article that is reflective of the frustrations of many of our
>> veterans who served during the Viet Nam conflict:
>>
>> Joe Moody and Dave Sanderson volunteered to
serve their country when
>> that wasn't a popular thing to do. They joined the Navy. Both served on
>> ships off the shore of Vietnam in the 1960s. Joe is 64, Dave is 60, and
>> they're both sick. They feel abandoned by their country now; when they
>> need her help the most. Joe was an engineer who served on the USS
>> Oklahoma
>> City, the flagship of the Seventh Fleet. Dave was a gunfire technician
on
>> the USS Lang. Both received com¬bat pay, as did others of the 70,000
or
>> so
>> veterans who served as "blue water sailors" during that war.
Both have
>> developed diabetes mellitus, one of the diseases con¬nected to Agent
>> Orange, a highly toxic herbicide used to defoliate combat areas in
>> Vietnam. Both have been denied service-connected compensation because
>> Veterans Administration rules recently upheld by the courts say that
only
>> those who set foot in Vietnam are eligible. They don't care so much
about
>> the pension. But the medical benefits paid to other Vietnam veterans
>> would
>> be welcome. Joe has had medical costs taken out of his Social Secu¬rity
>> check. Dave has congestive heart failure and other medical problems
>> related to the diabetes. They are among "500 to 1,000"
members of a group
>> called "Blue¬watersailors.org," who have mailed their
Vietnam service
>> med¬als to Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii and Rep. Bob Filner, chairmen
>> re¬spectively of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs committees.
"We
>> were going to have a march on Washington," Joe said Friday in a
>> Prattville
>> restaurant. "But most of us were too sick to march." Dave
laughed. "It
>> would have been a pretty short march," he said. "I was doing
good to walk
>> to the mailbox to mail my medals back." He had driven from
Huntsville. He
>> had on a Navy veteran's cap and a blue water sailor T-shirt that said,
>> "Still Fighting."
>>
>> The reasoning goes that they were not exposed
to the defoliant
>> because
>> they weren't in-country. But they both had photos of their ships firing
>> on
>> inland positions in Vietnam. You could see the moun¬tains in the
>> background. Joe said he had been as close as five miles. Dave's ship
>> routinely operated within 3,000 to 6,000 yards from the shore. Their
>> drinking water came from desalinized seawater, and they produced copies
>> of
>> studies that showed the pesticides could have drifted miles offshore,
in
>> the water and in the east-to-west winds. Given the way the water was
>> produced, they feel they and their shipmates may have re-ceived a more
>> concentrated dose of the poison. Their clothes were washed in the same
>> water. Their mail came from Danang in canvas bags -- Agent Orange has
>> been
>> proven to cling to canvas. Joe said a guy came on their ship selling
>> canvas hats from Vietnam. Almost every¬body on board bought one. Ships
>> carried Agent Orange to Vietnam in the first place. Both had helped
load
>> the 55-gallon drums that had the identifying or¬ange band around the
top.
>> They physically touched the containers. Dave recalled that his ship
>> docked
>> in Vietnam near the end of the war. He got off, walked on the dock for
a
>> few minutes, just to be able to say he'd set foot in Viet¬nam.
"If I had
>> a
>> picture of that, or if I could find enough eyewitnesses to say I had
done
>> that, I'd be eligible for benefits," he said. "That's just
crazy."
>>
>> The blue water sailors from Australian and New
Zealand ships that
>> supported operations off the Vietnam shore have been granted aid from
>> their countries. The men know the denials of their claims are about
>> money.
>> But they feel it's an insult to the Navy, and to their legacy. It sets
a
>> bad precedent for future veterans -- the thousands who are serving
>> off¬shore in support of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan today, right
now.
>> Other Vietnam veterans have a beef, Joe said. Air Force vets who flew
>> over
>> the country would not qualify. Navy pilots would not qualify, unless
they
>> were shot down. They both believe in the good will of their countrymen.
>> People just don't know about it. "All we want is to be
heard," Joe said.
>> "Let the people know about this, and then let the public decide
what's
>> right." (Note: to obtain additional info on this subject refer to
>> http://bluewaternavy.org/).
>> [Source: Montgomery Advertiser article 8 Jun 08 ++]