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Agent Orange Kadena Afb Okinawa

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clynch726

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I am looking for anyone who was on Kadena AFB, Okinawa or .Chanute AFB, IL. My dad was there from Oct. 68-April 70. He has ichemic heart disease, diabetes which has resulted in the amputation of his right leg below the knee and peripheral neuropathy. We were denied in 2002 AMVETS filed a claim on his behalf for heart condition, diabetes and back problems. I refiled in December 2011 and have just received the claim statements and medical release forms. I am familiar with filling out this paper work because my husband is a combat veteran of Iraqi Freedom. I have been reading articles from the Japan times and I am a member of the Agent Orange Okinawa facebook page. Another thing that helps make my dad's case is that he was on Chanute AFB, IL and it is on the EPA Superfund list and has PCBs/Pesticides and Dioxins/Furans listed as ground and water contaminants. I welcome any advice, tips or articles that I may have missed in my own research.

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http://www.japantime...20120214zg.html

“By JON MITCHELL

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded two more former service members compensation for exposure to Agent Orange while serving on Okinawa during the 1960s and '70s.

An army truck driver who came into contact with the dioxin-tainted defoliant as he unloaded barrels at Naha Port in 1966 is receiving benefits for lung cancer attributed to his exposure. The second veteran, a former marine stationed on the island in the early 1970s, developed Hodgkin's lymphoma and type 2 diabetes mellitus as a result of his work with contaminated military equipment shipped to Okinawa from the war in Vietnam, the VA ruled.”

The article mentions one other award which I posted at hadit some time ago. There is a possible 4th award too.

The above veteran proved exposure to AO and also proved it was where he said he came in contact with it.

These claims are very difficult to succeed in-then again I know the vet who proved AO in Thailand and since then VA has service connected many Thailand vets to AO. This vet also was instrumental in the VA development of the Thailand VA Directive.Also the first Conus AO vet succeeded too.Both of these vets are members of hadit and relentlessly sought evidence.

The AO CONUS vet told me he even went back to Fort Gordon a few times (where he proved his exposure) to gather any info he could.

So nothing is impossible at all with VA.

But these claims take a lot of hard work.Kurt Priessman ,the Thailand vet, published considerable research he did, on the net ,for others to use.

VA doesn't care abut any Superfund designation. They need proof that AO was used stored or tested where the vet was, and then the veteran, via their MOS, must prove the exposure.

In the case of the 2 vets I mentioned above, they used documented statements of AO ( that info is here from the DOD) of the presense of the AO at their location and then their inservice duties put them on the perimeters of the military base or Fort and that is where it was ,because as likely as not, the perimeters were sprayed with AO.

I dont recall Chanute being on the list of confirmed areas AO was used on but that info is here available under a search-

I posted it some time ago as the link to the DOD's statement on use of herbicides outside of Vietnam.

Edited by Berta
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Yes,  I served at Karen's in USAF ARCLIGHT in 1968-69 for 6 months.  In 2004 I contracted Non Hodgkin Lymphoma,  large cell diffuse.  It's in remission and I have peripheral neuropathy in my feet,  hands and extremities.  Diabetic and sleep disorder.  I've never claimed. 

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I was in Okinawa(Kadena AFB) from 1965 to 1968. I was in the Air Force as a material specialist I loaded these drums on planes everyday. I once asked my Commander what was in it and I was told none of my business. I now have Heart disease high bp, high blood sugar diabetic neurapathy Als I have had 2 toes and part of my foot amputated> I also had a stroke in 2013

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For new member Charles Terwillinger :

"I was in Okinawa(Kadena AFB) from 1965 to 1968. I was in the Air Force as a material specialist I loaded these drums on planes everyday. I once asked my Commander what was in it and I was told none of my business. I now have Heart disease high bp, high blood sugar diabetic neurapathy Als I have had 2 toes and part of my foot amputated> I also had a stroke in 2013"

I assume since the posts here are out of order ,that you have read over all of the above info-

Since I posted ther 2012 info I think 2 more  Okinawa vets ( one is a member here I believe have [proved exposutre to AO in Okinawa.  Maybe even more.

Also the C 123s were found, in some cases , as Presumptive to AO.

This link might help-but is not specific for Okinawa yet AO has b een used or transported  in many places-other than Vietnam.

https://www.publichealth.va.gov/docs/agentorange/dod_herbicides_outside_vietnam.pdf

You could have been exposed to AO in a different place than Okinawa.

I will try to find those 2 case that were awarded and post them here.

 

 

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Here is a newer one :

 

“1. Credible evidence sustains a reasonable probability that during service, while performing regular duties at the Naha Naval Port in Okinawa, Japan, the Veteran was exposed to Agent Orange from leaking barrels. 2. The Veteran is currently diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type II.


(This veteran had many Buddy statements)

“Next, explicitly considering the "unusual facts of this case" (and only this case), the Board finds that the evidence of record is at least in equipoise as to the question of whether the Veteran was exposed to herbicides during service. A July 2011 Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC) Agent Orange Request memorandum reflects that the Veteran was stationed at Naha Naval Port in Okinawa, Japan from October 1968 to May 1970. Numerous lay statements from both the Veteran and fellow service members over the past decade reflect that the Veteran's duties included hauling items and equipment from ships bringing supplies to and from the Republic of Vietnam.” Because diabetes mellitus, type II, is presumptively associated with herbicide exposure, service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, as a result of herbicide exposure is warranted on a presumptive basis. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. As service connection is being granted on a presumptive basis, there is no need to discuss entitlement to service connection on any other basis, as other theories of service connection have been rendered moot, leaving no question of law or fact to decide. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104 (West 2014). ORDER Service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted.” Because diabetes mellitus, type II, is presumptively associated with herbicide exposure, service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, as a result of herbicide exposure is warranted on a presumptive basis. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. As service connection is being granted on a presumptive basis, there is no need to discuss entitlement to service connection on any other basis, as other theories of service connection have been rendered moot, leaving no question of law or fact to decide. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104 (West 2014). ORDER Service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted.


Because diabetes mellitus, type II, is presumptively associated with herbicide exposure, service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, as a result of herbicide exposure is warranted on a presumptive basis. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107; 38 C.F.R.

§ 3.102. As service connection is being granted on a presumptive basis, there is no need to discuss entitlement to service connection on any other basis, as other theories of service connection have been rendered moot, leaving no question of law or fact to decide. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104 (West 2014). ORDER Service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted."


https://www.va.gov/vetapp16/files5/1635277.txt

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I found nothing at the BVA to help- one vet claimed asestoes exposure at Chanute, and also at Lackland ( my daughter was there (USAF) with many airman but that is the firt time I saw someone claim asbestos exposure at Lackland , 

and this statement was made by the BVA on Remand 

"Take appropriate steps, to include contacting the service department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine the extent of herbicide contamination at Chanute AFB in 1973. The AOJ must then make a determination as to the likelihood of exposure by the Veteran, and readjudicate his claim of service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, accordingly."

https://www.va.gov/vetapp16/files3/1622414.txt

Have you done that?

It is always possible he might have served elesewhere in addition to Chanute.

And possibly was exposed to AO  somewhere else.

Also there could be other theories for the cancer that caused his death, depending on his MOS.

If his spouse is still living, I hope she can file for DIC, and substitute herself in any claim was pending when he died.

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