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Many of us came home from Vietnam not knowing that years later we would be diagnosed with diseases such as prostate cancer, diabetes, peripheral neuropathy, etc. These diseases followed us from the other side of the world, hiding out like a Viet Cong sapper awaiting the opportunity to take his shot. We may not have been awarded purple hearts to show for our wounds but wounded we are. Agent Orange ~ The Liquid Bullet That Kills! DISEASES CURRENTLY RECOGNIZED BY VA AS RELATED TO HERBICIDE EXPOSURE The following diseases are those officially recognized by VA as related to herbicide exposure. To win benefits, VA law and regulations also require that some of these conditions appear (or “become manifest”) within a deadline that began to run the day you left Vietnam. If there is a deadline, it is listed in brackets after the name of the disease. If your condition is not listed below, ask your doctor whether what you have is similar to any of these. There may be room to argue that your condition is the same as one of these. Prostate cancer Peripheral neuropathy (acute and sub-acute) Diabetes Type II Spina Bifida in children of Vietnam Veterans Chloracne [one year] Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, including any diagnosis of a lymphoma [except Hodgkin’s lymphoma], mycosis fungoides, and old terms such as lymphosarcoma, reticulum cell sarcoma and Kaposi's sarcoma Porphyria cutanea tarda [one year] Respiratory cancers, including cancer of the lung bronchus larynx trachea Multiple myeloma Hodgkin’s disease Soft Tissue Sarcomas, including: Adult fibrosarcoma Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans Malignant fibrous histiocytoma Liposarcoma Leiomyosarcoma Epithelioid leiomyosarcoma (malignant leiomyoblastoma) Rhabdomyosarcoma Ectomesenchymoma Angiosarcoma (hemangiosarcoma and lymphangiosarcoma) Proliferating (systemic) angioendo- theliomatosis Malignant glomus tumor Malignant hemangiopericytoma Synovial sarcoma (malignant synovioma) Malignant giant cell tumor of tendon sheath Malignant schwannoma, including malignant schwannoma with rhabdomyoblastic differentiation (malignant Triton tumor), glandular and epithelioid malignant schwannomas Malignant mesenchymoma Malignant granular cell tumor Alveolar soft part sarcoma Epithelioid sarcoma Clear cell sarcoma of tendons and aponeuroses Extraskeletal Ewing’s sarcoma Congenital and infantile fibrosarcoma Malignant ganglioneuroma Under the VA rule, soft tissue sarcoma does not include osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or mesothelioma. HELP FOR CHILDREN Starting October 1, 1997, the VA will pay compensation and offer free medical care and vocational rehabilitation to Vietnam vets children with Spina Bifida. The VA also offers assistance to children of veterans if the veterans have been rated at least 30 percent service-connected disabled. Such veterans receive a dependents’ allowance. In addition to monetary allowances, vocational training and rehabilitation, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) also provides VA-financed healthcare benefits to women Vietnam veterans' birth children diagnosed with certain birth defects. For specifics go to http://www.va.gov/hac/cwvv/cwvv.htm Children with disabilities may be eligible for Supplemental Security Income benefits. One of the Agent Orange-funded programs offers a16-page booklet discussing children’s eligibility for SSI (“SSI: New Opportunities for Children with Disabilities”). Contact: Mental Health Law Project 1101 15th St., NW, Ste. 1212 Washington, DC 20005 This information and more is available at Vietnam Veterans of America website here