Cliff Turcotte's Widow Approved for VA Agent 0range Survivors Benefits! Thank you, VA!

A few minutes ago, Cliff Turcotte's widow Norma phoned to tell me her good news: The VA approved her survivor benefits based on his service aboard our former Agent Orange spray C-123 aircraft.

Earlier this year, on hearing of her loss I suggested she apply for the benefits. His death is now considered by both the Air Force and the VA to be related to his toxic exposures while on duty with the 74th AES.

The VA calls it Dependents Indemnity Compensation (DIC,) awarded survivors of active duty or retired personnel in the amount of $1240. DIC is in lieu of survivors benefit compensation unless DIC is the lesser amount. For all, DIC is tax-free.

Cliff died before applying for any Agent Orange exposure benefits but on my urging his wife contacted the Agawam Town veteran service office and completed the necessary paperwork. VA awarded her the benefit retroactive to the date of her application, and this was just the greatest news I could hope for this morning!

Norma gave me her permission to tell everyone about this, and together we urge all C-123 veterans or their survivors to apply to the Department of Veterans Affairs if they have any of the presumptive illnesses associated with Agent Orange.

This can be done online, or through state or county veterans service officers or through any of the veterans organizations such as Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars. The veterans organizations provide this as a free service as part of their congressional charters. Their VA-accredited representatives can usually be contacted through VA medical centers.

I don't know the list of our comrades' survivors but I know that Paul Bailey, Cliff Turcotte, Ed Kosakoski, Dick Matte and our other friends now lost to us would all want this benefit to protect their loved ones. Yet, every widow I've spoken with has been reluctant to apply, concerned that it could be unseemly to seek this important financial protection, or the benefits provided by state or local governments such as property tax relief.

Let's put that fear to rest! Serving in the military it's done out of patriotic motivation and also for the opportunity to earn the benefits important to our lives. Our military retirement pensions, TriCare medical coverage and base shopping privileges are some examples we appreciate and have earned.

DIC and other survivor benefits are just as important and every servicemember wants these earned protections for our families. I assured Norma that Cliff probably headed over to get another beer from the refrigerator up in Heaven when he heard the good news!

We must give credit where credit is due and acknowledge the Agawam veterans service officer and also the VA itself for the prompt attention given the claim.

A personal note: Cliff and I joined the 74th AES the same day, and were welcomes aboard by Marv Proctor and Vinny Macrave. Cliff was a prior service Navy corpsman, and I was a prior service medic with the Army and as California Air National Guard, and both of us were staff sergeants. Cliff completed his education and was commissioned as a flight nurse, retiring as a major.

Once again today, Cliff's family told me how much he loved flying and loved the squadron.

Deceptive VA Poster – Created to Block C-123 Agent Orange Exposure Claims

The 1991 Agent Orange Act, Title 38 and Federal Register publications combine to, in the VA's own words, "make clear" the fact that veterans exposed to military herbicides will be treated the same as Vietnam veterans for presumptive service connection. The key word: exposed.

The VA mission: redefine exposure so veterans' exposures would not be exposures to the VA.

This they did at the 2012 Society of Toxicology. VA surrendered ethics to policy, and redefined exposure to prevent exposure being acknowledged for C-123 veterans' claims. Of course, careful reading of their redefinition makes clear VA can apply it to consideration of any exposure...radiation, other toxins, biological hazards, burn pits...anything.

The was deceptive. Its title promised an historical perspective on Agent Orange and an update. This was done, but the key objective was inserting their deceptive redefinition to block exposure claims by C-123 veterans. Thus, "exposure = contamination field + bioavailability." Wrong. Wrong in every way.

Bad science. The words used by scientists on reading it: ludicrous, unscientific, preposterous!

The words used by VA raters on reading it while considering C-123 claims: Claim denied! Any excuse will suffice to prevent exposure claims at Veterans Benefits Administration.

We make special observation at the title of a key section of VA's poster: "Risk Assessment of Post-Vietnam C-123 Aircraft."

Two points:
1. Actually, who cares from a claims perspective, as risk is irrelevant. The issue is exposure, and thus the section title should have been, "Exposure Assessment of Post-Vietnam C-123 Aircraft."
2. The risk assessment is unscientific, and recently challenged by the Environmental Science article. This means C-123 veterans are at risk for health issues which their civilian and VA physicians must be aware of, yet VA's unscientific poster pretends no health risks exist, a position taken only to save VA the cost of such care and only by pretending VA has the wherewithal to redefine fundamental terms in science for employment against their veteran clients' interests.

So far, job well done! Universal claims denial, with a neat circle of initial invitation to exposed veterans to submit claims, the inquiry to JSRRC with their response (VA edited, and VA-limited as to what can be fed back to VA,) followed by the referral for opinion from Compensation and Pension and their boilerplate denials, concluding in the claim's final denial letter to the veteran.

As both VBA and VHA intend, this wastes as much as two years, and that's a terrific built-in benefit for the VA as it keeps the doors locked against the C-123 vets. It saves VA money, more of us die, and then the BVA appeal is designed to lock those VA hospital doors for another two to three years. More of us die. Then, after what has been a four to seven year process, receive a BVA decision...always affirming...and can survivors walk (if they still can) into the VA hospital and get on the waiting list for treatment of our cancers, heart disease and other ailments we had been suffering when we first applied for care.

All this from their simple, unique redefinition of "exposure." We trust their annual reviews reflected the pride VA had on the skillful wordsmithing and other accomplishments the staff in Post Deployment Health exhibited in responding to the VA agenda of preventing C-123 claims...or perhaps even implementing that policy on their own.

Wouldn't want any papers left laying around for some FOIA miner, would they?