To Congressman Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Miller, I can’t think of anything more absurd than the VA’s current rules to treat Blue Water Navy veteran sailors differently than those veterans with their boots on ground. Under current VA regulations, the crew of a naval vessel tied to a pier in Da Nang Harbor, separated from an individual who stands on that pier, are not acknowledged as having a presumption of exposure to Agent Orange. Yet if that individual on the pier had just arrived in Vietnam and flies out of Vietnam minutes later, he is still granted full presumption of exposure to herbicide and provided medical care and compensation for any Agent Orange-related disease he may come down with for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, the crew of the naval vessel that remains pier-side for days (and who may repeat this scenario multiple times), are declared NOT eligible for presumption of exposure to herbicide for the exact same diseases the man on the pier is allowed to file disability claims for. There is absolutely no medical, scientific or logical sense to such an arrangement. If this is the reasoning that you adhere to in suppressing HR-543, then you need to have your head examined as badly as the members of the VA Administration! If it is the cost of this Bill (HR-543) that is stopping you (and I can prove to you that the entire cost of this legislation to cover all Blue Water Navy personnel over a 10-year period will be less than $1 Billion), then you and I don’t share the same values of a country called the United States of America – and as a Vietnam Blue Water Navy Veteran, I can assure you, son, that I was here first, living those principles of honoring the veterans of this country. Please release HR-543 from Committee so it can be heard on the House Floor during this Congressional Session. John Paul Rossie, Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veteran, RVN 1969, including presence in Da Nang Harbor.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 04:47:52 +0000
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