Needed: someone else to lead The C-123 Veterans Association

Friends, at this point I've become a reluctant conscript. It is been six long years at a time in my life when I'd rather have done other things but this work needed to come first. Six years, however, is plenty long enough.

Isn't there someone who could find the time to take on these modest duties? Most of the legwork and the foundation building has been done so we are left with ongoing chores of helping one another and the remaining objective of retroactive compensation. That I will continue working on thru this year if agreeable but I'm glad to pass it to others as they'd like.

Ideally, one of our C-123 veteran brothers or sisters would like to help run things but I'm certainly open to any veteran of any era who would like to serve our folks and others in the veteran community. How about you folks from Pittsburgh or Richenbacher taking a turn at the helm (sorry, stick?) Flight nurses, maintainers, navs, loads, life support??

the last bag drag

You might've noticed that we're very informal, lacking secret handshakes, membership cards, dues or anything else hinting of organization. This is strictly a volunteer opportunity where you pretty much do what you want to be as useful and helpful as possible, but only as your own time, talents and interests (and budget) permit.

I can't begin to describe the immense satisfaction in what we've done together but it is my hope within six months to celebrate by passing along the chairmanship of our association. If you can help us by leading us for however long you feel possible, please step forward!

Finally, I have some medical issues and this is becoming painfully burdensome to carry on much longer.

Wonderful news from Rickenbacker C-123 Widow – CLAIM APPROVED!

Received this email today, with wonderful news from a Rickenbacker widow:

Dear C-123 Association,

I am writing to thank you, once again for all you have done for me and all concerned with the C-123 problem.

I heard from the VA that My late husband was deemed to have died from AO related disease and they have already deposited money into my account. 

There is no explanation of the amount or how that is determined. It is 1/2 of what the Vietnam Veterans Assoc told me three years ago that would be awarded if it was determined that he had "boots on ground."  (That is something that I know to be true, but cannot prove.)

I am assuming that either the Vietnam Vet Assoc was in error or that the widow's pension is decreased by 1/2.

In any case, I'm happy that they acknowledged his death was due to AO exposure.

I am sorry to hear about the mix-up with Chief Master Sergeant Henley's case. I hope it is resolved quickly.

Again, you will never know how deeply grateful I am to you.

God bless you,

Barbara C.

C-123 Casualties – Deaths With Agent Orange Claims Wrongly Denied

At least 10 C-123 veterans have died after VA denied their Agent Orange claims, groups say

In this May 1966 file photo, a U.S. Air Force C-123 flies low along a South Vietnamese highway spraying defoliants on dense jungle growth beside the road to eliminate ambush sites for the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Crews that flew and serviced these aircraft after the war say the VA has unfairly denied their claims of Agent Orange-related illnesses. (Department of Defense photo)

Mike Francis | mfrancis@oregonian.com 
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on June 30, 2014 at 11:05 AM

At least 10 veterans exposed to Agent Orange while serving aboard aircraft contaminated by the Vietnam-era defoliant have died after being denied care by the Department of Veterans Affairs, two veterans groups charged Sunday.

The veterans, who served between 1972 and 1982, flew or maintained the C-123 aircraft that were used to spray Agent Orange on Southeast Asian forests during the Vietnam War. They maintain that the residue from those flights exposed them to deadly toxins – a charge the Air Force has disputed.

While the VA has said it presumes that certain illnesses among Vietnam veterans were caused by exposure to Agent Orange, the veterans groups said they don't extend the same presumption to those postwar veterans who flew in contaminated aircraft. The reason is that the agency has adopted an unscientific notion of the definition of "exposure," the groups said.

"VA continues to deny all claims from post-Vietnam C-123 veterans, while at the same time deceptively assuring Congress that claims are considered 'on a case-by-case basis,'" the Vietnam Veterans of America and the C-123 Veterans Association said in a joint statement. "In fact, VA does not tell Congress that all C-123 claims are refused following a year or two delay."

This argument is playing out in a more restrained way before the Institute of Medicine, which recently took testimony on the question of whether C-123 veterans were exposed to dangerously high levels of toxins from contaminated aircraft. On one side was a VA consultant who has long argued that any exposure to Agent Orange residues by C-123 crews was "negligible." On the other was a C-123 veteran and an array of scientists including Rutgers professor and microbiology researcher Peter Kahn.

"What the government has been doing," he told the panel during his testimony earlier in June, is "putting up the façade of scientific objectivity in order to avoid action. I regard it as a failure of political courage and moral courage."

Instead of stonewalling claims from C-123 veterans, he said, the VA should treat them as it does other veterans who suffer from service-related injuries.

The veterans groups didn't name any of the deceased veterans, except for Lt. Col. Paul Bailey of Bath, N.H., who died of cancer last year after the VA denied his claim, then approved it after he was featured in a Washington Post story and members of Congress raised questions. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., was among those who asked then-Secretary Eric Shinseki to examine the way the VA was treating claims from C-123 crews.

The Boston Globe focused on the issue Sunday, featuring the case of 70-year-old Richard Matte, a retired Air Force reservist and C-123 crew member who's had a heart transplant, his leg amputated and been treated for bladder cancer, lung cancer and nerve disorders. He is one of about 50 C-123 veterans or their survivors living in Massachusetts, according to the C-123 Veterans Association.

With at least 10 C-123 veterans already dead from diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure, "surviving C-123 veterans do not want more comrades' names added to this list," the joint statement said.

The C-123 Veterans Association is headed by former McMinnville resident Wes Carter who's also being treated for cancer. He now lives in Fort Collins, Colorado. He maintains the C-123 Veteran Agent Orange Exposure website.

-Mike Francis

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