Agent Orange - Korean Veteran Request for Information
VETERANS RESOURCES NETWORK
http://www.valaw.org
Please Help Notice (and BVA cases below):
"Need to contact somebody who was in Hq Battery &-17th Arty
Camp Casey Korea April thru July 1967.
For
help with an Agent Orange VA claim."
Contact: Bob A. at email address
TFONC1@aol.com
-- end notice-start BVA cases --
Below are 3 Board of
Veterans Appeals cases wherein the government admits that between 1967 and 1969
Herbicides (agent orange) was used in Korea (with active use between 1968 and
1969). And some American forces were possibly exposed.
However, there is no presumption of exposure in Korea as there is in Vietnam,
nor are the conditions presumed to be caused by Agent Orange as in Vietnam.
1. If you have one of the conditions which "Agent Orange" is presumed to cause?
2. And if you have a doctor's statement that you have it, and that your exposure
to herbicides while in Korea cause it, or most likely caused it?
3. And if you can show you were in Korea during the time the herbicides where
being used, and that you were in a location where they were being used.
Then benefits based on exposure to Agent Orange while in Korea is possible.
Also Argue the "Benefit of reasonable Doubt" must be given to veterans when all
evidence is equal (38 CFR 3.102, see below).
The BVA cases below show service people who had buddy statements that they were
along the DMZ during the time agent orange was used; they had photos of
themselves standing on barren land which herbicide had been used on. And other
such evidence.
---
BVA case:
Citation Nr: 9906724
Decision Date: 03/12/99 Archive Date: 03/18/99
DOCKET NO. 98-17 647
"An official letter from the Department of the Army to Senator John Glenn, dated
in May 1996, reflects that official records show use of 21,000 gallons of Agent
Orange in Korea in 1968 and 1969 in the area of the DMZ. This letter also
states that Camp Casey was located in the area of the DMZ.
A letter from the Director, United States Armed Services Center for Research of
Unit Records (USASCRUR), (formerly the United States Army and Joint Services
Environmental Support Group, ESG), to VA dated in February 1998 also confirms
use of Agent Orange in Korea in 1968 and 1969, and confirms that Camp Casey was
located near the DMZ.
The evidence of record also includes a copy of an unidentified report, which
appears to have been prepared by a
service department within the Department of Defense, titled, "Vegetation Control
Program CY 1968," which reflects that a program for control of vegetation near
the DMZ by use of herbicide defoliants was approved in 1967. Shipment to Korea
of materials necessary to accomplish the program goals began in early 1968. The
report reflects that herbicides were to be applied from the Civilian Control
Line in South Korea to the southern border of the DMZ, with priority
applications in the vicinity of roads and tactically significant areas. "
---
BVA case:
Citation Nr: 0601295
Decision Date: 01/17/06 Archive Date: 01/31/06
DOCKET NO. 04-41 328
"The Board observes that the Department of Defense has confirmed that Agent
Orange was used in Korea from April 1968 through July 1969 along the DMZ and
that the 2nd Infantry Division had elements in affected areas at the time Agent
Orange was being used, including the use of field artillery, signal and engineer
troops who were supplied as support personnel to various elements of those
Infantry Divisions during the time of the confirmed use of Agent Orange.
However, the Board is unable to determine whether the veteran's unit, in fact,
performed duties in the DMZ and
observes that the U.S. Center for Unit Research and Records (CURR) has not been
contacted to research whether the veteran's unit was in fact near the DMZ zone.
As such, given the fact that the veteran served in the 2nd Infantry between
April 1968 and May 1969 and his principal duty at that time was that of a combat
construction specialist, the Board finds that such an attempt should be made in
this regard. "
---
BVA case:
Citation Nr: 0534064
Decision Date: 12/19/05 Archive Date: 12/30/05
DOCKET NO. 02-15 232A
"In February 2002, VA received a response from the U.S. Armed Services Center
for Unit Records Research, indicating that herbicides were used in Korea between
1967 and 1969, and that Agent Orange was used from April 1968 to August 1968.
Military records specifically note that chemical herbicides were used along the
southern boundary of the DMZ during the 1967 to 1969 period by Republic of Korea
Armed Forces. No United States personnel are known to have been actually
involved in their application."
--
38 CFR 3.102 Reasonable doubt.
"It is the defined and consistently applied policy of the Department of Veterans
Affairs to administer the law under a broad interpretation, consistent, however,
with the facts shown in every case. When, after careful consideration of all
procurable and assembled data, a reasonable doubt arises regarding service
origin, the degree of disability, or any other point, such doubt will be
resolved in favor of the claimant. By reasonable doubt is meant one, which
exists because of an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence,
which does not satisfactorily prove or disprove the claim. It is a substantial
doubt and one within the range of probability as distinguished from pure
speculation or remote possibility. It is not a means of reconciling actual
conflict or a contradiction in the evidence. Mere suspicion or doubt as to the
truth of any statements submitted, as distinguished from impeachment or
contradiction by evidence or known facts, is not justifiable basis for denying
the application of the reasonable doubt doctrine if the entire complete record
otherwise warrants invoking this doctrine. The reasonable doubt doctrine is also
applicable even in the absence of official records, particularly if the basic
incident allegedly arose under combat, or similarly strenuous conditions, and is
consistent with the probable results of such known hardships. (Authority: 38
U.S.C. 501(a))"
VETERANS RESOURCES NETWORK
http://www.valaw.org
Kelley