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Dic If Deceased Vet Never Tested For Ao?

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USAFdaughter

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My father died in April of 2007. He was a USAF Ssgt who served from 64-67. He had many medical problems that we believe were a result of Agent Orange and was disabled, but never got officially tested for Agent Orange. He did have Type 2 Diabetes, but his official "cause of death" was "Morbid Obesity". I have only recently heard of the Dependents Indemnity Compensation and am wondering if our family would/could qualify for this?

((To clarify, his disability did not happen when he was in the service. I think his original cause for disability was back problems perhaps because of factory jobs after the service.. but then later he developed many medical problems with lungs, kidneys, weight, diabetes, colon, etc etc etc etc etc...many other causes for disbility.))

If you respond, please put it in "layman's terms" because I am very new to this.

Thank you.

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Is he a Vietnam incountry Veteran?

Was an autopsy done?

Was DMII listed as a contributing factor on his death certificate?

Was he in receipt of VA compensation?

If so what for and what was his rating?

For all claims regarding Agent Orange, the veteran must have or had in their lifetime a disability

listed on the Agent Orange presumptive list. The list is here and it has recently been added to by the VA.

Also the veteran must have had proven exposure to AO in Vietnam or near the DMZ in Korea (that criteria for dates etc re: Korea is here as well)

or the veteran must have proof that they were exposed to Agent Orange elsewhere (which is not easy but has been proven)

His surviving spouse should apply for DIC and obtain the help of a service officer if possible,

We can help too but for AO claims exposure to AO and presumptive disability are required.

His wife should obtain all of his VA and private medical records and his Service medical records as well as any other service records such as 201 files - if they would be needed to prove he was in Vietnam or at any locale where he was exposed to Agent Orange.

What was his USAF MOS?

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PS-there is no test for AO dioxin in a veteran's system.

A veteran need only prove exposure to AO by Vietnam incountry service during the war, or be able to fit into the Korea AO regulations. Or be able to prove exposure to AO anywhere else they served and then have a disability on the AO presumptive list.

The DIC application is Form 21-534 available at the VA web site.

I dont advise trying to fill it out and filing it on line because it is quite extensive.Best to print it off, fill it out, copy it for your records and then send it to the Regional Office that would have jurisdiction over the claim.That would be the RO your father dealt with in the past.

If he had ever been denied for DMII claim in the past-that information might well be very instrumental in getting a proper effective date for any DIC payments.

That is information a vet rep should have as well.

Did he have a C file established due to past claims for compensation?

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Berta, thanks for getting back to me. To answer some of your questions...

Dad was a USAF Ssgt who's specialty was Weapons and Munitions. He also had some sort of secret security clearance that allowed him to do secret operations as well, some of which have now been declassified.

I know he was stationed in Japan and Udorn/Ubon Thailand and also served in Laos during some kind of secret war that is now declassified and also Korea and Vietnam.

There was no autopsy done. They told my mom he probably died of a blood clot, but when the EMT's came, the CPR and defibulizer was of no use. He weighed like 480 lbs. On his death certificate, they just put cause of death as "morbid obesity". I don't believe anything else was listed on the certificate. He was dead by the time the EMT's arrived, I believe.

He did not receive any type of VA compensation that I know about. I know that he was disabled and got government disability/social security, but he did not receive any disability from the VA.

I've been told it's a lost cause to pursue DIC because he was morbidly obese and that can be a cause of Diabetes as well.

Will they just turn us down because of this?

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  • HadIt.com Elder

If you can show your Dad was exposed to Agent Orange you would have a claim that is possible. Does your Dad have any Veteran Friends he served with that you could get more information from and do you have his service records?

Don't get discouraged if your father earned benefits your Mom deserves them.

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This is some of the extensive documentation that Kurt Priessman used to prove he was exposed to AO in Thailand. He was the first vfet to get a Thailand AO award. Since then there has been a C & P statement established as to any vet with similiar MOS and same time frame- that might help them to prove their exposure to AO.It is here at hadit under a search.

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=ca...ycnAwUdsry86-AA

The CHECO report also can be googled and a search for AO Thailand might well bring up more of his documentation.

Also I intereviewed Kurt at Stardust Radio SVR show and that show too can be googled and heard through your PC media player as he related his means of proving his case. We did the show as soon as I learned he had won his claim- at the regional level-

To anyone reading the link

PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL or use any contact info in these internet documents to attempt to reach him. He has tried to eliminate his contact info on the net but anyone can access his documentation.He was overwhelmed by Thailand vets after he won-who in most cases could not fit into the evidence time frames he had and he does not have the time to get involved with any Thailand claims anymore.He is working deligently on other VA matters for vets.

A Thailand vet has to take the steps he took and for some- this info he published was very helpful.

His findings only reflect AO usage on the perimeter of his base that he proved his MOS exposed him to at a specific time period of his service. The info might help any vet with his same MOS (security police -doghandler-perimeter duty) and period of service in Thailand.

If morbid obesity is found by medical evidence to be caused by diabetes mellitus and the vet can prove exposure to AO then this would be a valid claim.

VA tried to suggest my husband;s obesity was a factor in his death yet the VA found no attempt was ever made by VA for any diet control in his case. His DMII was misdiagnosed and he should have been on strict diet and insulin so they could not use his obesity against my AO diabetes death claim.

I am aware of over 16 veterans who proved their exposure to AO in Thailand.

Kurt's research helped many of them.

Please do NOT contact Kurt regarding his extensive DOD documentation or on any AO claims.

He has done more then enough for vets on this issue and it is all googleable on the internet.He is involved in other serious veterans issues and cannot respond to calls or emails about AO in Thailand.

There is plenty more info he researched that can be found on the net.He almost deleted it all because he was being contacted too much by vets whose could not fall into the criteria of the AO usage he proved in Thailand.There is nothing he can do to expand the dates and places of AO usage in Thailand as defined by the DOD.

Edited by Berta
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