Well, this sucks ....

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I'm a member of a Facebook group that consists of members from my old military unit. Once I arrived in beautiful S.E. Asia, I started out on the Vietnamese mission and later moved to the Laotian mission. Then, I again transferred, this time into the Cambodian mission. At some point on that mission, I was asked to train a new recruit, fresh in from the states. The newbie turned out to be a WAC, and not a bad looking one at that. We got along really well and she even visited my hooch a few times out in the village. We became pretty close and I enjoyed her company. We'd party, go to movies, etc. I was eventually asked to develop the Burmese mission. It was just 3 of us in the beginning, I took the daytime coverage (6am - 2pm) and had another operator for the swing shift (2pm - 10pm) and one more op on the mid-shift (10pm - 6:00 am). It rapidly developed into a 12-man team. After that transition, I pretty much lost track of Suzi and eventually moved down south to add support with the Mayaquez Incident, then remained there to help with the refugees fleeing 'Nam after the fall of Saigon.

Anyway, the thread on the unit's FB page was regarding Agent Orange exposure and claims procedures. I've been on the AO Registry for years, but there have been a lot of changes since the PACT Act which was passed in August 2022. During the discussion, one guy (Steve) addressed me as "Jimmy" and he asked if I was the one who trained his wife on the Cambodian Mission in Thailand! (I guess I made an impression) Anyway, we struck up a conversation and when I asked about her, he told me she passed away in 2007 of Agent Orange related issues. Crap, if I remember correctly, that would have made her around 52 years old at the time. That sucks, but the scenario is becoming all too common the older I get. RIP Suzi, I'll always remember the good times we had. You were a great student and developed into an excellent operator.

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Sorry for your loss, Thump. (I wasn’t sure what to expect when I clicked on the pic. But, she’s way hotter than Janis Joplin!)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So sad the number of folks who came into contact with AO.

If you trained her up Thump, I'm sure she was top-notch.

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Originally Posted by Chicken Dinner

(I wasn’t sure what to expect when I clicked on the pic. But, she’s way hotter than Janis Joplin!)

Ha! By now, I’m SURE you know where the tall stools are stored. Why don’t you go grab one? I’ll wait here. ;)

Yep Bwana, (sorry, this'll be a Thump post) the A/O issue has been a major problem for many years. Up until relatively recently, the VA had a "boots on the ground" policy regarding A/O coverage. If your records did not specify the fact you were physically in Vietnam, it was assumed you had no exposure and in return, no A/O related medical coverage or compensation. Many of my trips to Thailand back in the day (as a civilian) was on a hunt for physical evidence for a buddy of mine who had all sorts of A/O related illnesses. I knew for a fact we used A/O at all of our installations in Thailand and many others all around the world, but the U.S, gov't said no. I eventually received an email from my buddy's wife that he'd passed away (2008) without ever receiving A/O related compensation. There were multiple issues with the government's stance. First, it was common knowledge A/O was used in multiple countries on U.S. bases, but was only admitted to in 'Nam. Number two, was that some units worked in clandestine missions in 'Nam, but no records exist to support such claims. Parts of our unit was sent into 'Nam (and other countries) many times with no records for back-up. We didn't think much of it back in the day, but later in life, it bit us in the ass. It's tough to file a claim for exposure to toxins in a country your military records show you never entered. Add to that, due to the fact we were Mil. Intel, we were sworn to secrecy and forbidden to talk about our missions. A while back, after a LOT of pressure, the gov't finally admitted that A/O was used on ALL U.S. military bases in Thailand, which is when they called me in for testing and I was entered into the A/O Registry. Even then, it covered only a limited number of personnel on these bases (based on M.O.S.). The way it was worded, I qualified, but my friend Suzi would not have been (if she'd lived long enough).

I had the same problem with my PTSD claim. I didn't initiate the claim, but was in the VA Hospital for testing regarding memory loss issues, totally unrelated. The dr. who was interviewing me said something ... I can't even remember what it was ... but I snapped and crumpled up like a baby, crying my eyes out. Whatever she said was one of my "triggers" and I lost it right there in the office. As it turned out (totally unknown to me at the time), the doc happened to be a top expert on PTSD. The subject of the visit moved from memory loss, to my PTSD symptoms. She got the story out of me, something (as instructed in 1975) I hadn't mentioned to ANYBODY, about a mission I'd participated in. Lynn's eyes were as big as saucers as we'd been together almost 30 years, at that point, and even she had never heard about it, or any of the details. Although the doc was an expert in the field and told me I was a "classic case" and pretty much checked off ALL the boxes, there was NOTHING in my records to back up my story. As it turned out, I had an email from the guy I mentioned above (who died), from when he first contacted me. He found on the internet that I was in country the same time he was and was asking if I had any sort of documentation regarding exposure to A/O (we didn't know each other). As we talked, we found out, totally by accident, we were BOTH on the same mission that triggered my PTSD! There were only four of us on that mission (an officer and three enlisted men). I had no clue, until he told me, that all four of us were M.I. We were from four different units and didn't know each other at the time. We also didn't communicate with each other while we were out, and afterwards never saw each other again. When we stumbled on the fact we were two of the four on that mission, he had to call his wife over to read our emails while we were sending them. He'd told her of the details and had the same PTSD symptoms, but nothing in his records backed his story. His wife thought he was crazy and making the whole thing up. When I showed the copies of those dated emails to my doc, I was granted 30% Service Related Disability (for that one issue). I say this, only to highlight the difficulty obtaining A/O coverage for some in the military who's actions were considered "secret" and show no reference in their military records. The PACT Act signed last year, finally opened up a whole slew of A/O sites around the world and did away with the old "boots on the ground" requirement that's been the norm all these years. The problem is, claims cannot be back dated any farther back than August 2022 when the legislation was passed. (A/O use has been going on since January 1962!)

Here's the post on "our" Facebook page that started this discussion. It's from an attorney representing a guy with A/O related illnesses, but has no "boots on the ground" proof he was in 'Nam. Evidently, this attorney sucks at his job as he's asking what to do on a Facebook page and appears to be totally unaware of the recent PACT Act legislation. BTW, his client was in the same unit I was assigned to ... the 7th RRFS (basically a cover name). The FB post:

I'm seeking information regarding whether the ASA sent Army Morse interceptors from Ramasun, Thailand to Vietnam during the Vietnam war on secret temporary duty assignments. I have a vet who indicated to me that he had boots on the ground in Vietnam during the war to obtain intelligence through Morse interception, but his records did not show this because it was secret. I believe this Vet was part of the 7th Radio Research Field Station. Do you know of any information that could help me prove this circumstantially?

Thanks! My number is (415) xxx xxxx

Best Regards,
Alex T. Shapiro Law Office of Alex T. Shapiro
310 4th Ave S Suite 5010 PMB 94136 Minneapolis, MN 55415

Sorry to hear it, Jim.
BKB

So sad how folks have to fight for things that should have been taken care of for them given their service and sacrifice.

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Originally Posted by Bwana

So sad how folks have to fight for things that should have been taken care of for them given their service and sacrifice.

Amen to that!