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Vietnam Vet Dying

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mags1023

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Hadit Brothers and Sisters, I have found out about a Vietnam era Vet who is dying from cancer in a VA hospital in Oklahoma. He is my wife's cousin and from what I know, he applied for compensation a long time ago and was denied. Not sure how hard he fought, but he eventually gave up. His family believes his cancer has something to do with his exposure to Agent Orange. I asked his brother in an email if he was actually in Vietnam and this was his reply:

That is one of the problems.His dd214 shows he was released from Thailand. That is where he was stationed but he worked in Vietnam building roads and runways. crossing the river in between the two. On his way over there were several port stops to let troops off. But since his orders showed Thailand they have denied his claim. What he can’t remember after all these years is the name of the troop carrier nor any of the guys that he was with. So there has to be a way of finding that out and where they stopped. Seems like no one cares or wants to take the time to help him find out. There are several people in the hosp. that Rodney is going to talk to about it but so far since he is not Ronnie they won’t talk to him. So he is going to go see a att. This morning to see that they can do or will do., its just a matter of a piece of paper but getting that might be hard.

Can anyone provide assistance. I am not a Vietnam era Vet so I don't have any experience with this. I have told his brother to look for a VSO in the area. Any assistance is appreciated.

s/ Mags

We kept our promise and served honorably. Now it is time for the VA to keep their's!

I am not an attorney or VSO and offer my opinions free of charge. Any advice I provide in my posts is from experiences I have had with the VA or I have the knowledge that others have encoutered. I accept no liability for this advice should you chose to follow it.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

What type of cancer is he dealing with. That is a start

J

A Veteran is a person who served this country. Treat them with respect.

A Disabled Veteran is a person who served this country and bears the scars of that service regardless of when or where they served.

Treat them with the upmost respect. I do. Rejection is not a sign of failure. Failure is not an option, Medical opinions and evidence wins claims. Trust in others is a virtue but you take the T out of Trust and you are left with Rust so be wise about who you are dealing with.

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The type of cancer is a start as j says but does he remember what unit he was with? If he served in an engineer unit (that is what it sounds like to me) Then all his DD-214 needs to say is the unit then we can find what they did in Nam while based in Thailand and the time frame!

Surprised the VA or a VSO did not go the extra mile for him?

Find out the cancer type.

Find out the unit he served with.

Find out the times he served in country.

Then we can or you or he can google and find something.

This is not a hard thing to do.

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The list of AO cancers is in the AO forum or available under a search.

What was his MOS in Thailand ?

Certain Thailand MOSs during the Vietnam War put the veteran on or very near the perimeter of bases there- they sprayed all Thailand bases perimeters with AO.

He sounds like he was with Engineers.He needs copies his full service record.(SMRs and SRB)

GRADUATE ! Nov 2nd 2007 American Military University !

When thousands of Americans faced annihilation in the 1800s Chief

Osceola's response to his people, the Seminoles, was

simply "They(the US Army)have guns, but so do we."

Sameo to us -They (VA) have 38 CFR ,38 USC, and M21-1- but so do we.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

They did spray all base perimeters that I know of, in Thailand, with defoliants (AO).

I know that at Udorn the Air America facilities were HEAVILY sprayed....................................yup, sure were!:unsure:

"It is cold and we have no blankets.

The little children are freezing to death.

My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food; no one knows where they are-perhaps freezing to death.

I want to have time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find.

Maybe I shall find them among the dead.

Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad.

From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

Chief Joseph

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Thanks everyone. I will forward the questions to his brother and hopefully we'll get somewhere with this.

s/ Mags

We kept our promise and served honorably. Now it is time for the VA to keep their's!

I am not an attorney or VSO and offer my opinions free of charge. Any advice I provide in my posts is from experiences I have had with the VA or I have the knowledge that others have encoutered. I accept no liability for this advice should you chose to follow it.

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