Colorado's Leaders Step Forward: Demand VA Recognize C-123 Agent Orange Exposure Claims

Thanks to Colorado's Senators Bennet and Udall and Congressman Polis, even more strength has been added to the pressure on the Department of Veterans Affairs to obey the law. The law says (most recently restated in the Federal Register of 31 August 2010) that all veterans exposed to "military herbicides" will be treated as presumptively exposed and eligible for treatment of Agent Orange-associated illnesses.

Senator Bennet and Senator Udall, joined by Congressman Polis, submitted their joint letter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on February 14, a perfect Valentines' Day message to the Nation's veterans and, in particular, post-Vietnam veterans who flew and maintained the USAF C-123 transports. These were the Agent Orange spray airplanes during the Vietnam War, and their lingering contamination exposed veterans for many years after.