How do I request a disability be related to Agent Orange

[toddt]

Florida gives real estate tax relief in the percentage amount of any disability which is "combat-related".  For instance I get a 10% reduction in my real estate taxes due to having ischemic heart disease which the VA considers presumptive because of my service in Vietnam.  Here is the way it appears in my C-file:

ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE STATUS POST MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION [Agent
Orange - Vietnam/Ischemic Heart Disease]
Service Connected, Vietnam Era, Presumptive
Static Disability.  
10% from 03/01/2012

I am service connected for cancer of the submandibular gland along with several secondaries.  Here is the way it appears in my C-file:

RESIDUAL SCAR, STATUS POST ADENOCYSTIC CARCINOMA OF THE
SUBMANDIBULAR GLAND WITH PTOSIS
Service Connected, Peacetime, Incurred
Static Disability
30% from 03/01/2013

Notice that it says "Service Connected, Peacetime, Incurred"    I have a letter from the doctor that did the surgery stating that my exposure to Agent Orange "may well have" been the cause of the cancer.

What is the best way to go about requesting to change the "Peacetime, Incurred" to "Agent Orange - Vietnam"?

[broncovet]

Unless you were injured "in combat", I would not persue it.  "Agent Orange" is not the same as being injured in combat, even tho you may have gotten AO while serving in VN.  

If you were injured "in combat", then, by all means, fight for what is yours..appeal, ask to have records amended, etc. 

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/1.579

I never recommend any type of deception where you would lie to get benefits, including this one.  

If "in combat" is "questionable" that is a different story.  Example:  My son in law was in a combat zone, in Afghanastan, and was fueling a vehicle.  A nearby vehicle blew up because of an IED, and he took shrapnel.  

He was awarded a "purple heart" which he thinks he does not deserve.  

However, remember when we are in the military, we serve when and where we are told.  

My son in law, IMHO, was definately injured "in combat", but he says no.  Regardless, this is a defination the VA uses, and is sometimes controversial, like the word "claim".  

The courts had a hard time deciding what a "claim" was.  Is it 2 "claims" when you apply for hearing loss and PTSD, or one "claim"?  

Is a "claim still pending" when its in appeals?  Sometimes the definations are tricky, and you may be able to dispute the "peace time" designation.  

The VA has defined the term "wartime" as service in the following dates:

Under current law, VA recognizes the following wartime periods to determine eligibility for VA Pension benefits:

• Mexican Border Period (May 9, 1916 – April 5, 1917 for Veterans who served in Mexico, on its borders, or adjacent waters)
• World War I (April 6, 1917 – November 11, 1918)
• World War II (December 7, 1941 – December 31, 1946)
• Korean conflict (June 27, 1950 – January 31, 1955)
• Vietnam era (February 28, 1961 – May 7, 1975 for Veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam during that period; otherwise August 5, 1964 – May 7, 1975)
• Gulf War (August 2, 1990 – through a future date to be set by law or Presidential Proclamation)

[toddt]

broncovet, thank you for your well thought out explanation.  Florida recognizes exposure to Agent Orange as being  "combat-related".  I was not sure how to go about requesting the VA to "correct" and/or "recognize" my disabilities as being due to exposure to Agent Orange.