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"Mark
the information you provided was great. I must have miss read you article. I was never in country or had boots in the ground in vietnam. I was on three operations during the periods from 1973 to 1975. I guess i will have to wait on…"
the information you provided was great. I must have miss read you article. I was never in country or had boots in the ground in vietnam. I was on three operations during the periods from 1973 to 1975. I guess i will have to wait on…"
"mark
my name is glen mcclain i was reading your article on operation end sweep i was curious what information did you provide to the Compensation and Pension section of the VA . I was on the USS VanCouver LPD-2 during this operation end sweep in…"
my name is glen mcclain i was reading your article on operation end sweep i was curious what information did you provide to the Compensation and Pension section of the VA . I was on the USS VanCouver LPD-2 during this operation end sweep in…"
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Here is a link to the Veteran's E-benefits site that I found to be very helpful:
https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/claims-postservice-agent_o...
Hi Glen, thanks for your comment. There are a number of steps that I took to get to the point where I was able to make a successful claim regarding Agent Orange. Whether or not you have cancer (or a number of other maladies, including diabetes), you should go to the Comp and Pen office at your nearest VA and get on the VA registry. That way, if anything comes up in the future, you will already be on the list of "possible presumptive Agent Orange" victims. They can provide you a brochure with a list of illnesses that are presumptive agent orange...and you can also find the same information online. Just start doing an agent orange google search and you'll find more than you need.
The very first thing you should do is find a Veteran's Service Officer. Some are located at your local VA hospital/clinic, but every country in the country has a VSO office...and they were great in helping me every step of the way. They can help you contact the national archives in St. Louis and get a copy of every scrap of paper in your personnel record. You'll find a page in there that shows the date you arrived on the Vancouver and the date you got off. Also, you can go to this website: http://www.uscs.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DS13_Operation-End-S...
You'll find the Vancouver listed down the pages as being on station for a period in April...although I believe you guys were there a lot longer than that. I recall coming to the Vancouver with Adm McCauley once (or it could have been the Dubuque, but I think it was the Vancouver).
I found that my personnel record had been purged and there was NOTHING that said I was ever anywhere near Vietnam. I am attaching a couple of Microsoft Word documents that shows how I had to connect the dots for them to show that I really was there...leading to a picture of me with Adm McCauley and the rest of the negotiations team at the table with the DRV. You shouldn't have that much trouble since you were ship's company and Vancouver can be established in Vietnam on a number of occasions. I also found a page in the Agent Orange google search that showed every ship that ever docked in places such as Da Nang or anywhere else in Vietnam. I'm sure the Vancouver is on the list and that should be all you need.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me. It's a long process, but yours should be easier than mine was.
Statement%20Narration.docx
Operation%20End%20Sweep%20article.docx
If the two links/attachments above don't work, let me know.
Ronald L. Shaffer AMH-3/PO-3 USN