Newbie Message

[Tom Jaynes]

Just signed up and wanted to say hello to all other vets. From one vet to all others, thank you for your service to our country.

[mcqueen]

My name is Stanley mcqueen and i served in the united states Army was inducted in the year of june 1970 took basic training at fort campbell kentucky and after that was sent to fort bliss texas for AIT , there i trained for hawk missile , air denfence, in november of 1970 I was sent to korea and was stationed ten miles south of seoul along the dmz, I caught Tuberculosis and after about 10 month in service in korea and had to be flown back to the states for treatment for active TB, the remainder of my service was spend getting treated for the TB. at the valley forge hospital in pa. I can recall the tress being dead looking along the dmz and woudered why but at that time no one mention that the area was sprayed with Agent orange, hawk missile crewman were also required to walk guard duty when it was their time to man the missile site, we hawk missile crewman had one day on the manning section and then the next day we were off and another manning crew pull there time , one day on duty the other day off. i recently filed a agent orange claim and was turned down, I have type 2 dibeates and high blood preasure , and prostate trouble, va reported that they couldn.t find no record of where i served at that time, I know that i was exposed to agent orange because I drew hazzard duty pay. which veit nam soilders also drew in the combat zones, I am and this point hireing a lawyer to help me in this battle of agent orange, and are going to appeal the turn down, and its is my hope that someway prove that i was in this hot zone where the agent orange was sprayed. it good to meet all you vet and i hope all is well with each of you all that served , thanks again for accepting me as a fellow vet...Mcqueen

[TinCanMan]

Stanley:

Save the time, money and energy you want to invest in a lawyer. Unless you have a claim at the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, they are a waste of time and will only screw up your claim. The claims system isn't a court where these guys can play definition games with the judge. The VA decision makers have no room to negotiate anything, they have to respond to a claim exactly as their directives require.

You might want to consider taking advantage of the services of a Service Officer (SO) from any of the Veterans Service Organizations (VSO) such as the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), American Legion (AL), Military order of the Purple Heart (MoPH), Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), AmVets, and in some states a County or State Service Officer. These folks are trained in assisting veterans in filing claims and appeals with the VA. The service is free and you don't have to join to take advantage of them. The VA maintains a list of these groups that are chartered to do this here: http://www1.va.gov/vso/index.cfm?template=view

OK, the reason your claim failed is because you didn't show you were stationed .ON. the DMZ. You say you were stationed 10 miles south of Seoul on the DMZ. That's interesting as the DMZ is NORTH of Seoul. All of that may not matter as DoD has identified all the units stationed on the DMZ from April 1968 up through July 1969. These are the only units that can claim presumptive exposure to herbicide and then only during the listed time frame. You also say you were there in 1970. Not good enough. it needs to be April 68-July 69.

This leaves you with a direct claim wherein you must prove that you were somewhere and that somewhere exposed you to herbicide. The key is you must show you were exposed. Just being in the same locale isn't good enough. Find the evidence, then resubmit your claim. Don't waste your time with a lawyer. The statutes and regulations are clear on this.

DoD has confirmed that Agent Orange was used from April 1968 up through July 1969 along the DMZ

Combat Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division
Division Reaction Force
3rd Brigade of the 7th Infantry Division
1st Battalion, 38th Infantry
4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry, Counter Agent Company
1st Battalion, 17th Infantry
2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry
1st Battalion, 31st Infantry
1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry
1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry
2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry
2nd Battalion, 10th Cavalry
3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry
2nd Battalion, 17th Infantry
2nd Battalion, 31st Infantry
Note: Service records may show assignment to either the 2nd or the 7th Infantry Division.
2nd Battalion, 31st Infantry
Note: Service records may show assignment to either the 2nd or the 7th Infantry Division.
2nd Battalion, 32nd Infantry
3rd Battalion, 32nd Infantry
Note: Service records may show assignment to either the 2nd or the 7th Infantry.
3rd Battalion, 32nd Infantry
Note: Service records may show assignment to either the 2nd or the 7th Infantry.
1st Battalion, 9th Infantry
2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry
1st Battalion, 72nd Armor
2nd Battalion, 72nd Armor
1st Battalion, 12th Artillery
1st Battalion, 15th Artillery
7th Battalion, 17th Artillery

Combat Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division
Division Reaction Force
3rd Brigade of the 7th Infantry Division
5th Battalion, 38th Artillery
6th Battalion, 37th Artillery
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