Vietnam Veterans
Agent Orange Overview
Over 2 million American servicemembers served in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Agent
Orange was the most common herbicide used in Southeast Asia by the U.S. Armed Forces
during the Vietnam War from 1962-1971. Its use was controversial at the time, and anti-war
protestors heavily criticized the military for defoliating large swaths of Vietnam with Agent Orange.
However, the military commanders who ordered its use, even today, claim that it saved many
more American lives than it cost.
Agent Orange was contaminated by the carcinogen dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin
[TCDD]), although that fact was unknown to the military at the time of its initial use. Scientific
studies have linked human exposure to dioxin and certain diseases, particularly cancers.
Congress, in the Agent Orange Act of 1991, therefore presumed that all Vietnam veterans were
exposed to dioxin for the purposes of filing for VA disability compensation.
For help with claims, contact an American Legion Department Service Officer
Diseases Associated with Agent Orange Exposure
The government dragged its heels on investigating the health effects from Agent Orange
exposure, so Congress shifted the responsibility away from federal agencies and to the National
Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM). IOM formed an expert, independent panel in
1992, and it has produced three reports since then. The reports review all the available scientific
literature and judge which diseases may be associated with Agent Orange exposure. The
Department of Veterans Affairs can then pay disability compensation to any Vietnam veteran who
develops that disease. The list of diseases follows.

Chloracne

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Multiple myeloma

Respiratory cancers

Lung

Trachea

Larynx

Bronchus

Prostate Cancer

Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Hodkins disease

Porphyria cutanea tarda

Peripheral neuropathy

Spina Bifida in the children of Vietnam veterans

Type 2 Diabetes

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
Birth Defects in the Children of Vietnam Veterans
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), under one of two separate programs, provides
monetary allowances, health care specific to the disability and vocational training, if reasonably
feasible, to the biological children of Vietnam veterans born with certain birth defects. The child
must have been conceived after the date on which the veteran first entered the Republic of
Vietnam.
Spina Bifida
This benefit is applicable to the biological child of a Vietnam veteran (male or female) diagnosed
with any form and manifestation of spina bifida, except spina bifida occulta. For the purposes of
this benefit, a veteran parent of a child diagnosed with spina bifida must have served “in country"
in Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975. Benefits
are paid at three levels based on the level of severity.
Other Birth Defects
VA also provides benefits to the biological children of women Vietnam veterans diagnosed with
certain birth defects, as identified by the Secretary of VA, associated with the mother's service in
Vietnam during the period beginning on February 28, 1961, and ending on May 7, 1975. Covered
birth defects under this benefit do not include conditions due to familial disorders, birth-related
injuries or fetal or neonatal infirmities with well-established causes. Benefits are paid at four levels
depending on the child's degree of permanent disability.
Covered birth defects include, but are not limited to, the following (however, if a birth defect is
determined to be familial in a particular family, it will not be a covered birth defect):

Achondroplasia

Cleft lip and cleft palate

Congenital heart disease

Congenital talipes equinovarus (clubfoot)

Esophageal and intestinal atresia

Hallerman-Streiff syndrome

Hip dysplasia

Hydrocephalus due to aqueductal stenosis

Hypospadias

Imperforate anus

Neural tube defects (including spina bifida, encephalocele, and anencephaly)

Poland syndrome

Pyloric stenosis

Syndactyly (fused digits)

Tracheoesophageal fistula

Undescended testicle

Williams syndrome
The American Legion and Columbia University: 1980's
In the early 1980s, with a significant number of Vietnam veterans having developed various
cancers, neurological disorders, liver dysfunction, and other severe diseases, Columbia
University collaborated with The American Legion to study these veterans. This was done in the
absence of any credible government study. This effort produced a report that found that Vietnam
veterans suffered from more illnesses and readjustment problems than non-deployed Vietnam
era veterans. This landmark study laid the foundation for the Agent Orange Act of 1991.
The American Legion and Columbia University: Today
The federal government has still not conducted a major epidemiological study of Vietnam
veterans in spite of Congress directing that this study occur almost ten years ago. The American
Legion sued the federal government over this failure, and the case made its way all the way to
the United States Supreme Court. The Court, however, refused to hear the case. We therefore
set out to collaborate, once again, with Columbia University, in order to help design such a large
epidemiological study. The effort is in its first year, and it seeks to re-survey the over 10,000
Legionnaires questioned over 10 years ago for the first landmark study. This effort is planned to
be the first large step in finally conducting the first comprehensive health study of Vietnam
veterans' health.