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I was at CRB during 1970-71 working the Bous. Does anyone that was there at that time remember any Agent Orange spraying, etc? The doc at the VA asked if I had been exposed but I couldn't say for sure since I couldn't remember. I seem to recall C-123s flying there but just not sure. I'd like to go to my Monday appointment with her and say yes. But.... Thanks.

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I was at CRB during 1970-71 working the Bous. Does anyone that was there at that time remember any Agent Orange spraying, etc? The doc at the VA asked if I had been exposed but I couldn't say for sure since I couldn't remember. I seem to recall C-123s flying there but just not sure. I'd like to go to my Monday appointment with her and say yes. But.... Thanks.

There were C-123 Ranch Hands parked up near the in-flight kitchen near the terminal! I was at CRB almost every month from 67-70 so I am not quite sure when I saw them!! I sat on the ramp of one and ate my lunch one time!! (I know, not too bright)

They smelled like the spray the farmers used on their fields at home!!!

Ken

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George, as far as the VA is concerned you are considered to have been exposed to the rainbow herbicides, all those pretty colors, if you were in-country. Since they can't tell who was or who wasn't exposed they presume anyone who can prove they were there was exposed.

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I was at Naha from Jul,67 to Jul70 with rotations to CRB and a 90 day tdy. Can't find any orders putting me there. Never went on sick call or to the hosp. The only proof I can think of would be if I can get a coppy of records from accounting & finance. All my APRs say is SEA. My profile can tell you how to get in touch. I know. I've ignored all of this for fourty years hopeing it will just go away.

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okay, guys, readin' this has opened my eyes. I think I had better be gettin' stuff lined up as well. I have nothing that I know of yet, but as a retired firefighter in the People's Republick of Maryland, I am presumed to develop heart and lung issues. That I have no problem proving, but I don't have a damn thing that verifies that I actually walked on Vietnamese soil, or that I flew out of NKP, which I believe was recently verified as an Agent Orange site as well. So any suggestions as to where I should start looking??????? Too damn dumb 41 years ago to keep all my vouchers, etc. Please, please, you young guys out there don't mess up like uis old farts have. KEEP EVERYTHING!!!!!!!

Thanks brothers

Giz

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Don't feel lonesome, I had a pile of travel vouchers and my form 5 and lost a brief case during a move and didn't realize till it was too late. I understand that somewere there is a big stack of travel vouchers, for the asking. Do you really think they are readable after all this time?

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After a bout of rootin' around I found a copy of the TDY orders we had when the 36th was sent to CCK and so on......Think this would be a beginning to track down information??????? Of course it does not give any specific destination,just "from this station to * * *" It does have a special order number and so on.

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Do a search in the historical threads for Agent Orange and in-country proof. There is a lot of information that has been posted. Look for some of Sam McGowan's posts as he did a lot of research for VA claims. A letter from someone who was on flight status and flew you in-country or whom you worked with in-country could help. I was lucky and kept all my old vouchers, records and flight orders in a 1968 50cal ammo box with a big yellow X on it from the pile they use to leave at CRB. Nothing fades in that baby except for the blueline copies of various school certificates.

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I was at CRB during 1970-71 working the Bous. Does anyone that was there at that time remember any Agent Orange spraying, etc? The doc at the VA asked if I had been exposed but I couldn't say for sure since I couldn't remember. I seem to recall C-123s flying there but just not sure. I'd like to go to my Monday appointment with her and say yes. But.... Thanks.

C-123's did the spraying. Go to VA Agent orange map to look for where they sprayed. However it doesn't matter. All you have to prove is that you stepped foot in country and you are eligible. I just did it. I was in CRB 69-70 and have prostate cancer. Type II diabetes among other things all related to Agent Orange. the VA would not accept my 214 as proof that I was there. Had to get a "BUDDY LETTER" Good Luck! JP

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If it is any help, all of the C-123 Ranch Hands that I ever saw in Viet Nam, were silver!! That doesn't mean the camo ones didn't have the spray booms, but I never saw any!

Like the other guys said, and what I read in the newspapers, all the VA wants to know is that you were there!!

Now, I am wondering what my 214 says!!!

Ken

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My 214 gives days in Indochina and Korea.(wonderin' if the present ones do? ) anyway, i was diagnosed with Type II I guess three years or more ago now, luckily diet controlled (well MOST of the time). Did a preliminary VA bennie check a while back, said I had too much net worth to qualify for medical. Now, I would not want to take anything from somebody that deserves it, and I also know people who have their own businesses and every damn thing else who use the VA for their prescriptions and everything. Certainly my four years service is eclipsed by some of you guys makin' a life career out of the military, and i hear stories about you all gettin' hosed. But when i see a president, congress and state legislators givin' stuff away to FREAKING ILLEGALS, I get pissed when they tell me I don't qualify..........Reckon I am goin' to have to get hooked in with an advocate and get somethin' started. If i am correct, there used to be a time frame for AO exposure, but now that it is not the case? When you consider all the trash that we put into our airplanes that had dust, dirt, who knows what on it, doin' engine runnin on load and off loads with the dust flyin, and all that, i just don't think ANY aircrew should ignore this. Hopefully there will be no health issues for you, but ya gotta check to be sure anyway. Oh yeah, one more thing, how about the mesothelioma stuff? Now i know a lot of this is just to generate income for lawyers, but wasn't a great deal of asbestos used on the C-130's, especially the earlier ones??????????????

Giz

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  • 4 weeks later...

My dad was stationed at Dyess in the 347th TAS in 1968. He never had the actual orders to Vietnam because it was a blanket order that the squadron was to be deployed to Tachikawa Japan with a 90 day rotation to CRB Vietnam. He was a crew chief on C130s. Well with the VA trying to get as much information on whether he was there or not (he kept none of the travel vouchers sad to say) they asked him if he could get 3 letters of people who knew he was there in Vietnam that it would help his chances on the Agent Orange case. In 2009 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer had the chemo treatment and has since beaten it. Well he has his 3 letters and will be heading to Oklahoma City for about 3 or 4 more couselings with Drs and VA representatives to see if he does qualify for the Agent Orange case on disability. Good luck to all of you trying to get this and thank you for your service you deserve everything entiteled to you.

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Gary and all, here is the next page in my quest for this, and it is scary...........Two weeks ago today I send off a SF180 to get travel records for the time I was in VN. I then contacted the VA hospital in martinsburg, WV about the registry exam. they said ihad to come down to register, which I did. Spent about an hour gettin' the information recorded, and then the guy i am workin' with, decides now is a good time for me to enter the VA medical system as well. Coulda said come back, coulda not said anything at all, but very professionally and courteously we did that. had to schedule an exam, but they called FIRST. got set up, had a very good exam by a very professional Nurse practitioner, who then advised me that, based up what the exam and my history showed, i was also eligible for some service related compensation, and was directed on how to do that....... Went to the local state VA office, a great little guy, an Iraq vet, went out of his way helpin' me there..... THEN, on Monday this week, i got a letter from the records center, i figgered that it would say sorry. but No, there was five pages of travel vouchers.....HOWEVER, my memory must be bad or somethin' or I just plauin screwed that up, because there are several places missing, that i remember vividly, like haulin 245 Vietnamese out of Hue( I think ) or the trips we made to Clark during the big monsoon that got us a phillipine Presidential unit citation. Some of the writing and all just doesn't look quite right, but hell, who knows. The main thing is that i now have the 'boots on the ground" documentation, and my other claims are in process. So far, I have not had one issue, YET!!!!!!!!!! don't know about down the road, but it hasn't been the nightmare and snakes nest i have heard others experience. I am pleasantly surprised up to this point, we shall see. To the rest of you, go for it, see what happens, we have all earned this stuff, not laid on our lazy asses with our hands out, and should take advantage of all we are entitled to. I'll keep you all posted on what happens and hope to see some of you at Wright -Pat next week.......

load clear

Giz

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Just read a monthly Vets memo about C-123s stationed at Westover AFB in Mass. and a base in Ohio. Had a good friend at Little Rock from Westover that was a FM on C-123s for a while before the FE transition to Herks. According to the article, the old spray birds had plenty of contamination in them and have caused health problems for those who flew in them after the aircraft returned home.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Was on an agent orange site today and they showed how much and where it was sprayed and it showed that Cam Ranh Bay had 21,227 gallons of agent orange and 1,373 gallions of agent white sprayed over the area, but not the dates... now aren't we the luckey ones !!! Bill

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