Benefits delayed for ailing veterans

WASHINGTON — Thousands of Vietnam War Navy veterans who expected to begin receiving disability benefits for exposure to Agent Orange under a landmark court ruling now must wait until next year, the Department of Veterans Affairs has ordered.

Robert Wilkie, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, sent a memo last week ordering the Veterans Benefits Administration and Board of Veterans Appeals to delay processing claims at least until Jan. 1, 2020, for “Blue Water” Navy veterans, their survivors and herbicide-poisoned veterans who served in Korea.

Some veteran groups were puzzled when the VA on Friday issued a news release encouraging Navy veterans who served offshore in Vietnam to submit claims for disability compensation anyway.

“We are working to ensure that we have the proper resources in place to meet the needs of our Blue Water veteran community and minimize the impact on all veterans filing for disability compensation,” the release said.

VA officials declined to comment on the seeming inconsistency between Wilkie’s order and the Friday statement. It was clear, however, that Blue Water veterans who submit claims now would face a further wait, likely until next year, before seeing any benefits.

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. sprayed 20 million gallons of the defoliant Agent Orange and other powerful herbicides over 4.5 million acres in Vietnam. Exposure to Agent Orange has been linked to cancers and other diseases, prompting Congress to long ago order compensation for victims.

But in 2002, the VA issued ruled that only veterans who served on the ground in Vietnam or on vessels in inland waterways would qualify. So-called Blue Water veterans, who served on ships deployed along the coast of Vietnam, were not eligible.

Agent Orange had settled in the river bottoms, however, along with the byproduct dioxin. Veterans believe they were exposed to the toxic chemicals by distillation systems on ships in the South China Sea. A study in Australia in 1998 concluded that distillation enriches dioxin rather than removes it, and U.S. veterans used that study to bolster their case as they sought the disability benefits from Congress.

An estimated 50,000 to 70,000 Blue Water Navy veterans believed that the issue was resolved when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in January ruled overwhelmingly in their favor. The VA earlier this year began processing compensation claims.

But matters became confused by new legislation, signed into law June 25, directing the VA to compensate ill veterans. That law, backed by many veterans’ service organizations, includes a provision allowing the VA to delay processing applications — which Wilkie invoked July 1. The agency did not respond to questions about its decisions.

The delay is troubling to advocates for the Navy veterans. In a letter to Wilkie on Monday, John Wells, a retired Navy commander who represents veterans in court, urged the VA to rescind its decision.

“I am sure that you understand, time is of the essence in this matter. Blue Water Navy veterans are dying every day,” Wells wrote.

In an interview, Wells said that an estimated 20,000 Navy veterans who served offshore have died since the VA ruled them ineligible for compensation. He said that rather than helping veterans, the newly signed legislation has complicated matters.

“We pulled our support for the bill because of the stay provisions, also because it inserted ambiguity in the process,” he said.

The VA has contended that paying the veterans would cost taxpayers as much as $6 billion. Wells and other advocates put the price tag at $1 billion over 10 years. The tax-free disability awards can range from $100 a month up to $2,000.

“The VA works in strange and mysterious ways,” Wells said.