BLUE WATER SAILORS INFO

For most recent updates go to this web-site. Blue Water Navy

http://bluewaternavy.org/index.html

AGENT ORANGE LAWSUITS UPDATE 10:  The Haas vs. Department of Veterans Affairs case is going to be argued on 7 NOV at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This case has implications far beyond the payment or continuing non-payment of Agent Orange related benefits to Blue Water Navy sailors who never set foot on the ground.  If the lower court (the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims) is upheld in tissue 06 decision, the DVA will be forced to begin processing claims for, and paying benefits to US Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps, [and possibly Merchant Marine] veterans who served off the coast of Vietnam during the war, but never set foot on the ground.  In essence, the decision reverts to the policy of granting presumptive eligibility to anyone who was rewarded the Vietnam Service Medal, or the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for service in Vietnam, a policy which was in effect from the enactment of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 until the DVA erroneously and unilaterally stop paying benefits to Blue Water Navy Veterans in 2002. But, the case, once it is upheld, will also, by dint of the presumptive service connection, create a new class of potential litigants in lawsuits against the chemical companies that manufactured the dioxin based defoliants, but also the United States Government, which specifically demanded the chemical composition to be delivered by the chemical manufacturers. 
       It is the reason cited in the paragraph above on which the decision in Haas rests.  The government escaped the Agent Orange Class Action Lawsuit of the 1990s as part of a structured deal going into litigation -- otherwise it would never have been settled.  That may now be a moot point, however.  The folks at BlueWaterNavy.org, the former Blue Water Navy Forum at Yahoo Groups, and the VNVets Blog have organized the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association, and in doing so, have achieved class action size and status.  Regardless of how the court rules in Haas, the option now exists to litigate a new class action settlement from both the Agent Orange chemical companies and the government.  The new association is a unified focal point for blue water navy veterans and all of their issues, including the addition to the list of diseases, and subsidiary diseases and conditions currently authorized for payment under the Agent Orange Act.  Keep in mind, a law suit is not a guaranteed outcome, nor is inclusion in it  guaranteed.  Often, those variables are negotiated prior to litigation, and sometimes during the suit. 
      One of the things being looked at is the cross reference of spray maps and the locations of ships off shore vs. AO conditions in veterans who were on those ships at that time.  The association has already begun collecting data.  Instructions for enrollment in the association are available via the BlueWaterNavy Forum at http://bluewaternavy.org/phpBB2/index.php .  Interested veterans and their wives, widows, and/or children are invited to register and log in to the forum.  Membership in the forum is not the same as membership in the Association, nor is membership in either one automatic.  Membership is open to Blue Water Navy Veterans, USMC Veterans and USCG and USMM Veterans who served off the coast of Vietnam during the war and did not set foot on the ground.  Veterans Advocates can also enroll regardless of their service background. [Source: Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association notice 26 Oct 07 ++]