"We were exposed to herbicides
    while serving in Thailand."

      (Please say that ten times.)
We now have a copy of an official USAF CHECO secret report for the base defenses of Thailand that indicates the use of herbicides in maintaining perimeters of military installantions (and jungle control.)     Now, the "jungle control" may be subjective, but the brown that the use of herbicides caused is not.

    What ever you do, don't leave home without this report.

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The Atrocity that is the V.A.

.. given the image of assistance

.. denying claims because the veteran
does not have everything ..
everything disclosed to him, ie, "duty to assist."

    You are about to file your claim for disability benefits based upon service connection and the presumption of exposure to herbicides in Thailand.     You go to your local VSO and provide him with your DD214 and make a supporting statement based upon your recollections 30 plus years ago.

    You are about to be denied.

    You may not know that for 10-12 months, but you can be sure that the government is going to make some flowery statements that your "plausible claim" under the law is not supported.

    You did not know that the government hid in documents classified "Secret" and subsequently de-classified, archived in a "tomb of historical database," and buried in a hundred page report on page 57.

re:   FOIA

    What surprised this advocate even more, though, was that the air force in sanitizing this classified report did not catch the spots related to the "use of herbicides" opening the door for all Thailand veterans to either re-open their claim or file a new claim.     See the USAF Cover Letter and De-Classified Sheets 19 Jul 94 - Today (6 October 2007) and marvel at the findings.     Some 13 years after the de-classification and based upon a retired air force veteran that not only served in Thailand, but provided installation perimeter security guard with his K-9 partner, requested via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) a copy of the report excerpts, MSgt Kurt Priessman, USAF (Retired).

    Many of you may not be familiar with the red "Secret" coversheet always on top of a document or report classified same.     When I was company clerk in Thailand, my security clearance was only through "Confidential."     It wasn't until my assignment to the USARPAC Hqs where I may come in contact with many classified documents that my security clearance was upgraded to "Secret."

    For this CHECO report to be classified "Secret" tells me that the content was sensitive.     If you read through the correspondence provided with the report coversheets, you will see that the Air Force HRA (Historical Research Agency) in Maxwell AFB, Alabama forwarded the FOIA request to the Air Force Declassification Office at the Pentagon.     And, what follows is hardly the entire report, but excerpts de-classified for public consumption.


Point being ..

    What is a veteran, a disability claimant, supposed to do to substantiate their claim for disability compensation when the (adversarial) V.A. agency is not forth coming in providing said information under the reformed laws regarding duty to assist?     The ruling judge or panel thereof prepares a denial opinion, or same thing really, remand, that says every attempt was made and further investigate would be futile.



    "Please be advised, we are unable to take any further action to obtain Federal evidence from the service department or any other sources once we have received a definitive negative reply. Any future attempts to obtain this information would be futile since it appears records are currently not available."   - quote from my claim file by VA/RO/Reno (Nevada.)

    The only thing that is futile (and petty) is the position of the claimant, even represented by (legal) counsel.     Therefore, your disability claim was killed and there is nothing you can do about it.

    This CHECO report is a perfect example of this bureaucracy and the wall the claimant is up against.     The report was prepared the following year of operations in Thailand in 1973 and for another 21 years remained classified "Secret" until 19 Jul 94 at which time it was electronically transferred to the Air Force HRA unit and archived in a colossal database; never to be seen or heard from again for another 13 years (today.)     And, OSI (Office of Special Investigations) is still reviewing the volume of pages still classified.


    Now, I hope this graphic analogy has gotten through to you and I don't need to hit you over the head with a hammer to see that there is no way in hell that the veteran, three decades removed as a civilian with medical complications looks to the agency for technical assistance because it ain't going to be there, denied.

"We're unbiased arbitrators of the law with regard to veterans' rights and also to taxpayer interest."   - VA refutes claims ..   right.


    What follows is excerpts from denied or remanded claims by Thailand veterans that asserted that there exposure to herbicides occurred in Thailand and further affirmed that they did not serve in Vietnam (by chance.)

    [Congressman Lane] Evans also asked the Secretary [Rumsfeld] for an assessment of the use, testing or storage of Agent Orange, Agent Blue, Agent Purple, Agent White or other herbicides which contain dioxin at locations in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Puerto Rico and various locations in the United States.

    [However,] the congressman noted that the amount of herbicides used in some of these locations may have been small amounts for short term testing and may present no danger to populations.

    Evans indicated in his letter that veterans who are claiming service-connection of disabilities that have been associated with herbicide exposure, have had serious difficulty in proving exposure.

    If the Department of Defense has evidence that herbicides were used in particular areas, during specific periods of time, that information should be made public so that affected veterans may receive appropriate assistance in establishing their claims.

    He complained that it is more than 30 years since many of the herbicides were used, yet veterans are still having claims denied. This is because the Department of Defense has not been forthcoming with information concerning the locations where veterans may have been exposed and it is well past the time for full and open disclosure.

Source:   RAO Bulletin May 03     For more on Evans' inquiries, SAF Letter from USAF.

    It is very clear that since the end of reported herbicide spraying in S.E.A. (Thailand and otherwise,) in 1972 (January 7, 1971 in Vietnam by the way,) should provide to the veterans (and public) de-classified documents as we uncovered this "Defenses in Thailand" USAF CHECO official report/document.     This, of course, implys that thousands of Thailand vet claims (both dead and limping along medically,) must be re-opened, paid retro, and granted their right to disability compensation.     The only question that beseiges me is whether Congress should award triple punative damages and compensation because of such abuse of authority by the agency.

    See for yourself, go to the BVA Cases file and enter keyword "Thailand" and see how many of the following cases were either straight out denied or remanded for superficial document reasons.     Here is an excellent example of a claim where the veteran testified to having performed spraying tasks around his camp; barracks.     Granted Claim No. 0301935

"There is also irrefutable evidence that the veteran served in Thailand for an extended period, based on entries in service medical records, and it is noted that he offers credible testimony that he was involved in the transport, as well as the loading of trucks and aircraft, with tanks of defoliants and was assigned the duty to spray a defoliant in areas surrounding his barracks at his base camp in Thailand. Such is not inconsistent with his documented military occupational specialty of vehicle operator and dispatcher.