[T]he government’s interest in veterans cases is not that it shall win, but rather that justice shall be done, that all veterans so entitled receive the benefits due to them.” Barrett v. Nicholson, 466 F.3d 1038, 1044 (Fed.Cir.2006)
Showing posts with label westover afb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label westover afb. Show all posts
19 November 2015
Federal Times video report on VA C-123 Agent Orange decision
Federal Times video report on VA C-123 Agent Orange decision (give video a few seconds to load)
Includes video clip of Dr. Al Young's standard famous "We just don't know."
30 December 2014
C-123 & Blue Water Navy: Similar IOM Experiences
C-123 veterans, families and friends are looking
forward to the release of the Institute of Medicine C-123 report on January 9
at 11:00 AM in Washington, D.C. The report heavily influences whether
or not the Department of Veterans Affairs will permit C-123 veterans to be
admitted to VA hospitals for treatment of Agent Orange illnesses associated
with their decade flying these former Agent Orange spray aircraft.
The only parallel to this situation is that of the "Blue
Water Navy" where deep-water vessels' crews claimed Agent Orange exposure
and IOM conducted a study after VA disqualified this group of veterans from
"presumptive service connection" for which they'd previously
qualified.
Looking over the Blue Water Navy and IOM, we see three events
similar to how C-123 veterans have experienced. First,
the VA issues a "charge" to the Institute of Medicine. This is a
contract with objectives spelled out. The language of the charge is very
carefully considered by the VA's Post Deployment Health Section as they seek to
guide IOM to specific conclusions and not permit a more comprehensive or
wide-ranging response. Second is the announcement by IOM of
their findings, and third, the basic analysis of the VA, formed as
closely as possible to VA's desired policy objectives.
Below are these three fundamental parts of the process,
experienced by the Blue Water Navy veterans and likely to be the same process
ahead for C-123 veterans. Veterans hope IOM's report will support our claims
for service connection due to proven exposures. Opposing them, as they
have for years via other maneuvers, VA leaders hope the report will dismiss
veterans' claims for Agent Orange exposures or at least provide some leeway,
call into question, or offer some loophole permitting VA to continue refusing
medical care to these veterans seeking care for Agent Orange-caused ailments.
The 9th of January will be an important day, and one we hope not
as painful as was the IOM Blue Water Navy report for those worthy veterans!
From another vet group's editorial addressing IOM's earlier review of Gulf War concerns:
"A final note -- while the IOM may claim it was just doing its job as mandated by the VA, that's not good enough, not for an institution that is part of the National Academies, which calls itself "Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering and Health." IOM could just as easily have read their Civil War-era Congressional mandate and told the VA that its request was not in accordance with IOM's mission nor with questions the nation needed answered.
IOM could and should have informed VA science and the nation's needs would not be confined to the VA's policy-directed "charge," so cleverly phrased by VA to guide IOM to a pre-determined VA objective.
In fact, why didn't they stand up for good science? IOM says it advises "the nation."
The nation is not the VA -- the nation is veterans. The nation is not the CDC -- it's families and individuals coping with an autism epidemic. And the nation is certainly not the federal government -- the nation is the people who elected that government to protect and defend them; it's you and me.
Sadly, IOM is not meeting objectives set forth in the law signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Rather, IOM now meets objectives set by VA policy makers with only a sprinkling of scientific flavoring."
From another vet group's editorial addressing IOM's earlier review of Gulf War concerns:
"A final note -- while the IOM may claim it was just doing its job as mandated by the VA, that's not good enough, not for an institution that is part of the National Academies, which calls itself "Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering and Health." IOM could just as easily have read their Civil War-era Congressional mandate and told the VA that its request was not in accordance with IOM's mission nor with questions the nation needed answered.
IOM could and should have informed VA science and the nation's needs would not be confined to the VA's policy-directed "charge," so cleverly phrased by VA to guide IOM to a pre-determined VA objective.
In fact, why didn't they stand up for good science? IOM says it advises "the nation."
The nation is not the VA -- the nation is veterans. The nation is not the CDC -- it's families and individuals coping with an autism epidemic. And the nation is certainly not the federal government -- the nation is the people who elected that government to protect and defend them; it's you and me.
Sadly, IOM is not meeting objectives set forth in the law signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Rather, IOM now meets objectives set by VA policy makers with only a sprinkling of scientific flavoring."
================================
ONE: The VA Charge to the IOM
Blue Water Navy Vietnam
Veterans & Agent Orange Exposure
Type:
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Activity Description
The IOM will conduct a study and prepare a report on whether
the Vietnam Veterans in the Blue Water Navy experienced a comparable
range of exposures to herbicides and their contaminants (focus on dioxin) as
the Brown Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and those on the ground in Vietnam (i.e.,
specifically with regard to Agent Orange exposure). The IOM's report is
expected to include:
==============================================================
TWO: IOM report and press release
Veterans’ Risk of Agent Orange‑Related Health
Problems Unclear
From 1962 to 1971, the U.S. military sprayed
herbicides, including Agent Orange, over Vietnam. Exposure to these chemicals
is associated with several cancers and a variety of other health problems. The
Agent Orange Act of 1991 established that veterans with any of the diseases
linked to Agent Orange were presumed exposed during their service, and
therefore could claim disability. The law saved veterans from the often
impossible task of proving they were exposed to Agent Orange during their
service. However, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) only compensates
veterans who served on the ground or on inland waterways in Vietnam. The “Blue
Water Navy”—those who served on deep water vessels—are not automatically
eligible for disability benefits.
In response to a growing concern from Blue
Water Navy Vietnam veterans that they may have been exposed to Agent Orange
during the war, the VA asked the IOM to examine whether the exposure to Agent
Orange of Blue Water Navy veterans was similar to the exposure of other Vietnam
veterans. Although the IOM found several plausible ways by which Blue Water
Navy veterans could have been exposed to herbicides, there was not enough information for the IOM to determine whether Blue
Water Navy personnel were or were not exposed to Agent Orange.
=============================================================
THREE: VA announcement of report w/VA perspective:
VA asked the National Academy
of Sciences' Institute of Medicine (IOM) to review the medical and scientific
evidence regarding Blue Water Veterans’ possible exposure to Agent Orange and
other herbicides.
IOM’s report Blue Water Navy
Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure was released in May 2011. The report
concluded that "there was not enough information for the IOM to determine
whether Blue Water Navy personnel were or were not exposed to Agent
Orange."
- See more at:
http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/locations/blue-water-veterans.asp#sthash.mSYMHdKx.dpuf
01 September 2014
Bill Gifford Passed, September 1, 2014
William Gifford, fellow veteran of the 74th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, Westover AFB, Massachusetts, passed away today at Baystate Medical following heart surgeries. He'd not done well this last week, losing kidney function and he "signed the final Form 40" this morning.
Giff was a flight instructor on the C-123. What a character and what a squadron legend!
Steve Caraker will send details when available. God bless and keep Bill and his family.
16 March 2013
C-123 Contamination News - So Much More To Come
There is such a messy time ahead with more and more messy news about the C-123 Agent Orange contamination. A time with news of what was done and left undone. A tale of integrity and honor put aside. Of forgetting "We do not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do" in the performance of one's duty, whether commissioned, enlisted or civil service. A tale of silly little mistakes and acts of bad judgement leading to thousands of veterans suffering. Still, it was, to paraphrase Dickens, "the best of times."
I love the Air Force. If only we'd have invented "Once a Marine, Always a Marine" for our service...Once an Airman, Always an Airman has a fine ring to it. Except for not having those cool swords and high-collar white uniforms like the Navy, and stuck with "Off We Go, Into the Wild Blue Yonder" instead of serious music like "Anchors Away," I love the Air Force. Think about it...a sailor's memorial service has those tears flowing like rivers as "Anchors Away" or "Eternal Father" plays from the organ, but an airman's memorial service has only "Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder" playing, inviting mourners' embarrassed smiles and with no hope of tears for the poor fallen airman! Still, I think the Air Force is the best thing in my life. It was the best of times. I love the Air Force.
Having left my family back at Dreux Air Base, France where my dad was stationed and where I graduated from an Air Force high school, then hitchhiked on cars, ships, trains and airplanes, 7000 miles from France to California. I walked onto March AFB near Riverside, California for my first Air Force physical in 1964. Worked my way through college over the years with a single goal...an Army commission which I was offered in 1973. Instead, a love of flying led me to the Air Force, first enlisted and then commissioned (thanks to Colonel Kosakoski). Life turned out to be Air Force, all the better! I love the Air Force!
As an Army brat himself, my pop Army CWO Hank Carter might have preferred my walking into Madigan Army Hospital in Fort Lewis, WA. My grandpa was Army BG John Wesley Carter. My mom and dad, all my "lifer" uncles and one aunt, were proud that our family's generations of career military service would continue for a fourth generation of me and my many cousins (sadly, all Texas A&M). I was so proud that the Air Force would even consider letting me wear their honorable uniform. It was what our family did.
We span, in my family's continuous service, duty on the Western Plains oppressing the First People, duty through World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, to duty in the AOR for Gulf One. From horseback to jets. General officers, field grade officers and young privates, it didn't matter commissioned or enlisted. Over earlier centuries, it was service in the famous First Minnesota and the Civil War. It was what our family did, happy at the end of a career to earn a nice bronze marker simply noting name, state, wars served, rank and honors. A resting place among comrades.
All beginning in the Eighteenth Century with Colonel Joshua Carter and his sons taking up arms in colonial militia of Massachusetts and Virginia, and on that first Patriots Day telling the Red Coats at Concord that it was time for them to go home. My grandma's front window in Saint Cloud had a WWII banner with six blue stars, and fortunately her husband and five sons came home. From Okinawa to Iceland to North Africa to Sicily to Normandy to the Rhine, it was what our family did.
Then an Air Force captain on April 19 1990, I was at the Battle Green reenactment at Lexington, near their famous Minute Man monument. The dark, cold and foggy morning, and suddenly, just like the militia did centuries ago, hearing the Red Coats' muffled drums approaching in the distance. Terrified but dedicated, the farmers stood and held their ground as long as they could. I suddenly was amazed...listening to those frightening distant drums and understanding finally what they did, standing up to a foe with no hope of victory. Little hope of surviving at the beginning of a very long war of independence. Like so many others, it was what our family did.
We were what might be called "Old Army." Army folks so consumed by "Duty, Honor, Country" that we didn't care about living in unairconditioned Quonset huts at Fort Bliss with my mom sweeping snakes and tarantulas out in the summer, or the pay. House guests ranged from senators and ambassadors to general officers to PFCs, all men of honor, some with the Medal of Honor. We "broke starch" in our fatigues, trying to look sharp. Even old-time silly stuff like not wearing blue jeans in the PX was tolerated. Growing up to be just like Dad and growing up to make Grandpa proud...three career grandsons with two Army and me, the aberrant Air Force guy. Cutting my wedding cake with Grandpa's sword. Over my decades wearing gabardine, bush jackets, Ike jackets, 505s, 1505s, BDUs, finally a baggy green flight suit and silver wings I was most proud of. It was what our family did.
Seven years an Army field medic. Seven more an Air Force medevac crew member. Thirteen more as an Air Force officer. Flying, teaching, Pentagon TDY, training at the Fort Devens EFMB course. SOS and greasy omelets with friends at midnight chow at some remote base after the airplane is tied down following a long, long fight. Chapel in a GP-Medium tent or the Air Force Academy. Friends weddings and funerals. Twenty more an Air Force retiree trying to help recruit, swear in recruits, run errands for recruiters, help with AF Academy Liaison, give speeches. I still wish I could have done more. And now helping with C-123 Agent Orange issues but too sick to do enough in the time left. Like everyone else I flew with in those old warplanes, for nothing more than my love of the Air Force - proud of the Air Force the way it is supposed to be. It was what our family did.
My point. There are messy, unpleasant but truthful revelations coming out over the next few months about Air Force and VA actions over the decades which followed the first official awareness of C-123 contamination by Agent Orange. Revelations about actions which should have been taken, actions which should not have been taken, decisions to permit personnel toxin exposures to be ignored, press manipulation, inadequate IG investigations...messy stuff. Millions of dollars wasted. Perjury.
Deadly illnesses allowed to progress without prevention. Coverup. Stuff allowed to happen, or at least slip by uncorrected, by people who were not proud enough to keep the Air Force the way it is supposed to be. People who failed to bring it, and themselves, onto the path of honor. Mostly, folks involved are long gone into retirement. But not all...some are still wearing uniforms. Uniforms they failed to wear with the honor expected of them by the President who, as per their commission, reposed special trust and confidence in them. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." The worst part will be told.
I love the Air Force. If only we'd have invented "Once a Marine, Always a Marine" for our service...Once an Airman, Always an Airman has a fine ring to it. Except for not having those cool swords and high-collar white uniforms like the Navy, and stuck with "Off We Go, Into the Wild Blue Yonder" instead of serious music like "Anchors Away," I love the Air Force. Think about it...a sailor's memorial service has those tears flowing like rivers as "Anchors Away" or "Eternal Father" plays from the organ, but an airman's memorial service has only "Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder" playing, inviting mourners' embarrassed smiles and with no hope of tears for the poor fallen airman! Still, I think the Air Force is the best thing in my life. It was the best of times. I love the Air Force.
Having left my family back at Dreux Air Base, France where my dad was stationed and where I graduated from an Air Force high school, then hitchhiked on cars, ships, trains and airplanes, 7000 miles from France to California. I walked onto March AFB near Riverside, California for my first Air Force physical in 1964. Worked my way through college over the years with a single goal...an Army commission which I was offered in 1973. Instead, a love of flying led me to the Air Force, first enlisted and then commissioned (thanks to Colonel Kosakoski). Life turned out to be Air Force, all the better! I love the Air Force!
As an Army brat himself, my pop Army CWO Hank Carter might have preferred my walking into Madigan Army Hospital in Fort Lewis, WA. My grandpa was Army BG John Wesley Carter. My mom and dad, all my "lifer" uncles and one aunt, were proud that our family's generations of career military service would continue for a fourth generation of me and my many cousins (sadly, all Texas A&M). I was so proud that the Air Force would even consider letting me wear their honorable uniform. It was what our family did.
We span, in my family's continuous service, duty on the Western Plains oppressing the First People, duty through World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, to duty in the AOR for Gulf One. From horseback to jets. General officers, field grade officers and young privates, it didn't matter commissioned or enlisted. Over earlier centuries, it was service in the famous First Minnesota and the Civil War. It was what our family did, happy at the end of a career to earn a nice bronze marker simply noting name, state, wars served, rank and honors. A resting place among comrades.All beginning in the Eighteenth Century with Colonel Joshua Carter and his sons taking up arms in colonial militia of Massachusetts and Virginia, and on that first Patriots Day telling the Red Coats at Concord that it was time for them to go home. My grandma's front window in Saint Cloud had a WWII banner with six blue stars, and fortunately her husband and five sons came home. From Okinawa to Iceland to North Africa to Sicily to Normandy to the Rhine, it was what our family did.
Then an Air Force captain on April 19 1990, I was at the Battle Green reenactment at Lexington, near their famous Minute Man monument. The dark, cold and foggy morning, and suddenly, just like the militia did centuries ago, hearing the Red Coats' muffled drums approaching in the distance. Terrified but dedicated, the farmers stood and held their ground as long as they could. I suddenly was amazed...listening to those frightening distant drums and understanding finally what they did, standing up to a foe with no hope of victory. Little hope of surviving at the beginning of a very long war of independence. Like so many others, it was what our family did.
Seven years an Army field medic. Seven more an Air Force medevac crew member. Thirteen more as an Air Force officer. Flying, teaching, Pentagon TDY, training at the Fort Devens EFMB course. SOS and greasy omelets with friends at midnight chow at some remote base after the airplane is tied down following a long, long fight. Chapel in a GP-Medium tent or the Air Force Academy. Friends weddings and funerals. Twenty more an Air Force retiree trying to help recruit, swear in recruits, run errands for recruiters, help with AF Academy Liaison, give speeches. I still wish I could have done more. And now helping with C-123 Agent Orange issues but too sick to do enough in the time left. Like everyone else I flew with in those old warplanes, for nothing more than my love of the Air Force - proud of the Air Force the way it is supposed to be. It was what our family did.
Deadly illnesses allowed to progress without prevention. Coverup. Stuff allowed to happen, or at least slip by uncorrected, by people who were not proud enough to keep the Air Force the way it is supposed to be. People who failed to bring it, and themselves, onto the path of honor. Mostly, folks involved are long gone into retirement. But not all...some are still wearing uniforms. Uniforms they failed to wear with the honor expected of them by the President who, as per their commission, reposed special trust and confidence in them. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." The worst part will be told.
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