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Kimpo Korea Agent Orange 1968

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rcorlowski

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Looking for any and all government documents showing agent orange shipped into Kimpo in 1968-1969 time frame. I am applying for Agent Orange disability compensation and need to show proof of the presence of Agent orange at Kimpo AFB. I have diabetes type 2. Has anyone received approval from the VA for this disability? Any and all info you can send me would be helpful.

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I was TDY to the base dispensary at Kimpo 90250, medic in July 69. Most of my time was served as Casualty Staging Medic at the 1st CSU, Scott AFB, Bellvile IL. This is where I believe we were exposed to AO while treating the wounded right out of VN. A0 is a known blood borne carcinogen and we never had gloves when treating the wounded. I'm working on AO benefits application and would like to hear from anyone having any history with AO in or around the base  Also looking for air miles from Kimpo at the nearest part of the DMZ. One GI that was at K 14 said he thought it was about 10 miles as the crow flies. Thanks. Joe Phillips. 

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I don't know where Kimpo is located, but I did run across this today. This is from the VBA's Compensation & Pension Service Bulletin, May 2010:

Herbicide related claims from Veterans with Korean service

"Currently, tactical herbicide exposure can be presumed for Veterans who served in specific US Army units that operated along the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) from April 1968 through July 1969. These units were identified by DoD documents and are listed in M21-1MR IV.ii.2.C.10.o. When service treatment or personnel records show that a Veteran was assigned to one of these units during the time frame of tactical herbicide use, the Veteran qualifies for the presumption of exposure. When a Veteran with Korean service alleges herbicide exposure but was not in one of the specified units or was in one of the specified units outside the time frame of tactical herbicide use, ROs were previously instructed to send an inquiry to the Agent Orange Mailbox for any additional evidence that might indicate tactical herbicide exposure.

C&P Service has now determined that ROs are no longer required to submit herbicide exposure inquiries from Korean service Veterans to the Agent Orange Mailbox. Inquires related to potential herbicide exposure outside the specific units and time frame listed in M21-1MR should now be sent directly to JSRRC.

These policy changes are intended to reduce the time required to process these claims."

Good luck! Maybe it will help with the Air Force bases, too.

Edited by JustPLS
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The most updated unit list for veterans whose units were exposed to AO on the southside of the DMZ in the 1968-1969 time frame is here:

SInce AO usage has been confirmed by the DOD to keep the perimeter clean along the DMZ civilian control line, obviously the AO dodnt get there by taxi from the USA.

But without confirmation of proof of exposure -of course many claims for disabilities on the AO presumptve list are denied.

I would think that the original AO settlement fund in the early 1990s that was independent of the VA relied on aquiring aquisition proof of purchase and shipments of AO from DOW Chemical and the other manufacturers of it-by the Defense Department.

But if this infowere readily available under FOIA I also think many vets would have obtained these documents by now in order to prove usage outside of Vietnam and the Korean limits of use.

The first Thailand AO vet (who has impacted on a VA directive regarding certain Thailand vet AO claims, and whose documentation has helped almost 2 dozen Thailand vets so far to succeed in proving AO Thailand exposure

as well as the first CONUS AO vet -also a member here- who proved he was exposed to AO at US Army installation-

did this by doing every bit of leg work they could think of-

to include numerous FOIAs to the DOD, etc.

Nothing is impossible but it all takes findng probative evidence of exposure.

What steps have you taken so far such as sending Freedom of Informaton Act letters to the DOD to ask for specifics on Agent Orange transporting,use and/or storage in the time frame you were there- regarding this AFB in Korea?

Did you get redacted responses?

Did you file an Appeal with the Solicitor or FOIA officer?

Have you sought 'buddies' who served with you who also have AO presumptive disablities?

I have never seen an AO claim granted to any Korean veteran outside of the regulation criteria .That does not mean it wasn't used elsewhere than in the southside DMZ area.

"I have diabetes type 2. Has anyone received approval from the VA for this disability? Any and all info you can send me would be helpful.

Many vets have had DMII claims approved due to AO exposure. My recent claim was awarded due to my husbands death from DMII due to AO in Vietnam.

Other vets have succeed in proving exposure outside of the established places the regulations cover (Okinawa,Alaska, Guam, maybe a few other places) and of course Thailand now and CONUS.

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"I would think that the original AO settlement fund in the early 1990s that was independent of the VA relied on aquiring aquisition proof of purchase and shipments of AO from DOW Chemical and the other manufacturers of it-by the Defense Department.

But if this info were readily available under FOIA I also think many vets would have obtained these documents by now in order to prove usage outside of Vietnam and the Korean limits of use."

Then again maybe not-

My husband and I as his widow were class action members of the Agent Orange lawsuit that grew from Stephenson V Dow. 273F 3rd.249 (2d Cir 2001)

A prior lawsuit was filed by a Vietnam Veteran Paul Reutershan against DOW,Monsanto,Hercules,Inc, TH Agriculture and Nutrition Company,Diamond Shamrock Chemcal CO, Thomson Chemcal Corporation and Uniroyal,Inc. for damages due to AO.

These lawsuts might hold some keys to other information as to AO outside of Vietnam but I would think by now decades later, many vets have already looked carefully into these cases.

The DOD has -at the VA web site documents they released on AO usage outside of Vietnam.I am sure the link to ths document is her- somewhere at hadit- and Kurt Priessman -the Thaland vet-studied this document carefully as he begun his quest to prove AO exposure in Thailand.

I will try to find it and post the link.

DOD has confirmed AO testing at numerous other locales not mentioned in the regulations.Fort Gordon , where the Conus vet proved his exposure, is on that list.

I will search for that list here and post it again.

Do you have any buddy statement or any information at all that proves the AO was transported from the AFB you mentioned?

Did your MOS absolutely expose you to any transported or strored AO an Kimpo

Edited by Berta
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There are the Alvin Young DOD papers on AO testing and storage outside of Vietnam:

http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/reading_room/TacticalHerbicides.pdf

I have a list thatis little different and more recent. It should be here or at the VA web site-I will try to find it.

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  • Content Curator/HadIt.com Elder

I don't know where Kimpo is located...

It is located about an hour outside of Seoul. After Kimpo AFB was turned back over to the Koreans, they expanded the site and turned it into a major commercial airport.

I wonder how long AO remains in the soil, because Kimpo is known for it's rice fields.

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