Agent Orange Herbicide Exposure of This Thailand Veteran

9-24-2026

Agent Orange Herbicide Exposure of This Thailand Veteran

One morning I awoke and remembered coming home from Thailand in 1970 and within 60 days had a cyst removed from my shoulder by the VA. The cyst was benign so I promptly forgot about it. I didn’t pay attention when the VA rated me a 0% disabled veteran. To me zero equals nothing, right?

In early 1972 I returned to active duty and in 1975 during a tour in Panama I had another cyst removed from my upper back by a doctor at the Coco Solo Army Hospital in the Canal Zone. I remember it well because after the sedative was administered when the doctor began cutting I immediately raised up off the table and the doctor realized that more sedative was needed before the operation could proceed. The cyst was also benign and once again I forgot about it. I had other cysts removed during my army career. Each was benign and I promptly forgot about them.

I retired from the army as of 31 December 1990 and in 1991 the VA admitted that herbicides had been used in Southeast Asia.

In 1998 I suffered from a heart attack due to ischemic heart disease which until then I never knew I had. No symptoms until that lucky day 28 August 1998, just 3 days before my 49^th birthday. After recovery I resumed work and life went back to a new normal schedule which included a lifetime host of blood pressure, blood thinners and hypertension medications and doctor appointments to monitor and control my body’s internal systems.

In 2008 after learning the VA had admitted that herbicides had been used on US military based in Thailand during the Vietnam War, I decided to submit my very first herbicide claim (25 line items, dates, hospitals, doctors, illnesses, injuries and such). The online form had a box to check if you had been exposed to herbicides. (It required a written explanation of where in Vietnam you had been exposed?) I wrote that my exposure was in Thailand, as an army truck driver delivering various classes of military cargo to each of the USAF and army bases located throughout central/northeastern Thailand.  In 2010 I promptly received my first denial letter on 24 of the 25 items listed. I item was listed at zero % (scar from VA’s 1970 surgery).

Thus began my trek of battling the VA for recognition of exposure which I felt was linked to ischemic heart disease, (what the VA called coronary artery disease).

However when the VA injected a hurdle seemingly designed to prevent the approval of Thailand Veterans claims, Thailand Veterans now had to prove where, when and how they were exposed to herbicides, showing that they had been a military police officer assigned to patrolling the perimeter of USAF military base or they had to show they were at/near the perimeter and they needed a NEXUS letter from a doctor stating it was more likely the illness/injury was caused by military service, usually shown by in service medical treatment records. This hurdle stopped a number of Thailand Veteran claims and a great many Thailand Veterans died as a result of their herbicide exposure.

In 2011 I received my first pacemaker due to low infarction (25) and begun resubmitting my claim complete with buddy letters stressing that our base was so small that the 500 meter requirement of FM 25-5 overlapped the base horizontally or vertically and our sleeping quarters were located approximately 10 feet from the perimeter. When delivering cargo every trip required our crossing at least 4-5 perimeters (at or near) and I still got denied.

Keep in mind I was still receiving continuity of care treatment from my heart doctor and now from my pacemaker doctor.  I underwent other surgeries to remove cysts and even skin cancer on my face removed in 2017.

In 2019 I received what became my final denial letter.

I elevated my claim to the Court of Veterans Appeals in D.C. in 2020.

My claim was sent back to the BVA for an obvious error on their part and in 2021 I received a rating of 100% for herbicide exposure during my tour in Thailand during the Vietnam War.

After receiving my second pacemaker in November 2021 the BVA tried reducing my rating because “the pacemaker fixed the heart”. Not true. The BVA reinstated my 100% rating back to 2011 (the date of my first pacemaker).

In 2021 when President Biden signed the PACT ACT into law, it gave Thailand Veterans presumed exposure recognition by the VA (no more at or near the perimeter requirement) for serving in Thailand during the Vietnam War.

Under the PACT ACT the burden of proof still exists to prove you were exposed and have a VA recognized illness recognized symptom of herbicide exposure and a doctor NEXUS letter connecting the two.

Early on I was told to request my claims file (C-File) from the VA (which I did multiple times until I received my records). What I was not told was to READ THROUGH EVERY PAGE. Once I opened the folder I saw VA documents dating back to my very first interaction with the VA (school, home loan, treatment, etc.) and enlistment and discharge documents as well as all claims documents I had submitted previously. But like many fellow Veterans I gave up a number of times (after each denial letter) but the key is not giving up completely. I submitted new evidence pertaining to my exposure and persevered until my successful rating.

Note that there are resources at local county veteran’s offices nationwide, plus a number of Veteran’s organizations who provide FREE claims assistance for Veterans, as well as registered VA Claims agents who contract with Veterans for an allowable/authorized fee (a % of something is better than a % of nothing after all else fails. It is important to find an agent/representative who is familiar with the Thailand Veteran claims process.

From 2008 to 2021 seemed like an eternity just keeping my VA claim alive. In hindsight I should have begun my claim after my heart attack in 1998, but I was unaware of the herbicide exposure issue until much later.

My thanks goes out to all those involved on my behalf. – RTM