Korea DMZ Vets eligible for Agent Orange Compensation

Some 40 years after the fact, VA has acknowledged that even more veterans were exposed to Agent Orange while serving on Korea’s demilitarized zone (DMZ).

On Jan. 25, 2011, VA announced – via a regulation published in the Federal Register – that it now presumes that veterans who served along the DMZ between April 1, 1968 and Aug. 31, 1971, were exposed to the herbicide. Previously, the cutoff date was July 1969.

VA and the Pentagon have identified the specific units (see list above) that qualify for this new ruling. Possibly 30,000 vets who served in Korea’s DMZ during the new 3 ½ year time frame could be eligible for benefits.

VA originally estimated that benefits would cost some $89 million for vets who served through July 1969. The new ruling could easily double that figure.

Currently, VA counts 15 diseases as being caused by Agent Orange exposure (see “Washington Wire,” January 2010 VFW magazine.) The new ruling means eligible Korea DMZ vets do not have to prove an association between their illness and their military service.

“This ‘presumption’ simplifies and speeds up the application process for benefits and ensures that veterans receive the benefits they deserve,” according to VA’s statement announcing the new regulation.

VA encourages vets who served in the qualifying units and have medical conditions associated with Agent Orange exposure to submit applications for benefits “as soon as possible” so it can begin processing their claims.

Veterans who want more information about Agent Orange – including diseases and possible birth defects associated with exposure – can access www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange.

For more information on filing a VA claim for Agent Orange exposure, access www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/AO/claimherbicide.htm.