A little C-123 Agent Orange history:

• October 2011: teleconference with VA where they insist no possibility of C-123 veteran Agent Orange exposure

• January 2012: following request from C-123 veterans, CDC Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry informs VA and USAF C-123 veterans experienced a 182-times higher exposure to dioxin than standards, and experienced a 200-fold greater cancer risk; VA dismisses everything

• May 2012: USAF School of Aerospace Medicine completes report demanded by C-123 veterans, finds no evidence of Agent Orange exposure or harm; "command interference" suggested by scientists associated with the study

• December 2012: USAF Surgeon General DECLINES request to notify C-123 veterans of potential exposures, stating, "Given the absence of a clear finding of potential harm, we believe it unnecessary to relay such individual findings to persons whom had entered or worked on C-123s between 1972 and 1982, and whom may be unaware of this assessment."

• January 9 2015: National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine reports C-123 veterans were exposed to harmful amounts of Agent Orange, repeating the CDC report that C-123 aircraft were unsafe in American airspace and should have been grounded, and the aircrews should have been flying them in full HAZMAT protection, not simple NOMEX flight suits. IOM also concludes the May 2012 USAFSAM C-123 report was scientifically flawed

• After four and a half years of foot-dragging VA begins awarding C-123 veterans Agent Orange exposure benefits, having denied them all medical care and other benefits prior to June 18 2015, and forbidding any retroactive compensation