US Panama Vets eligible for Agent Orange benefits
US MILITARY personnel who served at the Howard Air Force Base in Panama between 1970 and 1973 and were exposed to Agent Orange residue on airplanes used in the Vietnam War will be eligible for disability benefits The new federal rule, approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget, takes effect Friday June 19.
It adds to an Agent Orange-related caseload that already makes up 1 out of 6 disability checks issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The expected cost over 10 years is $47.5 million, with separate health care coverage adding to the price tag.
“Opening up eligibility for this deserving group of Air Force veterans and reservists is the right thing to do,” VA Secretary Bob McDonald said in a statement. The new federal rule covers an expanded group of military personnel who flew or worked on Fairchild C-123 aircraft in the U.S. from 1969 to 1986 and were believed to have been exposed to Agent Orange residue. The planes had been used to spray millions of gallons of the chemical herbicide during the Vietnam War.
It is the first time the VA has established a special category of Agent Orange exposure for troops who weren’t on the ground or didn’t serve on inland waterways in Vietnam.
An Institute of Medicine study released in January concluded that some C-123 reservists stationed in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts had been exposed to Agent Orange residues in the planes and suffered higher risks of health problems as a result.
Undertaking a review of military records, the VA said it subsequently determined that pilots, mechanics and medical personnel who served at seven other locations in the U.S. and abroad. including Panama, were potentially affected.
