Another VA Publication Error: Wrong Dates on C-123 Eligibility

Will it ever stop? Another error has been spotted on VA web pages and publications that slams the hopes of C-123 veterans hoping to quality for Agent Orange exposure benefits.

This time the error is with dates: A VA web page titled "Agent Orange exposure" specifies the dates for C-123 exposure eligibility as "On C-123 airplanes: Between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975." Their error, of course, was using the dates for general Vietnam War eligibility and not our post-Vietnam C-123 service dates of 1972-1986.

The mistake has been pointed out to them but this morning I repeated myself by filing another VA Inspector General report...the fourth so far asking VA to clean up their publications.

Here's a clip of their error:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rlco4Rptc-7SphAcQst8MB4Q1WMv54wG/view?usp=sharing

VA Now Permits C-123 Veterans Agent Orange Registry Exam!

At first available, then forbidden us, the VA's Agent Orange Registry Exam is now available to C-123 veterans! This is a terrific step for VA to take and important to us. The exam is one of our first requests to the VA, and here it is!

The first notice I had of this is the Manchester NH VA Medical Center's web page, published on February 11. Manchester is dear to all of us because they are the ones who bravely reviewed Paul Bailey's denied claim, and awarded it to him a month before his death. They stood up to the system and read their rules and regulations fairly.

The exam itself doesn't qualify a veteran for Agent Orange benefits. However, it is a comprehensive exam by practitioners who know what to look for, and I strongly encourage everyone concerned about their exposures to complete the exam.

How? Call your nearest VA medical center and ask for the Agent Orange exam people. Here's the text from the Manchester VA web page...wonderful to see it in print!