Only if you filed a NOD after June 20,2007 can you obtain an attorney for your claim-

Unless you are at the BVA or the CAVC---

There is lawyer info here -and you can google National Orgnization of Veterans Advocates and even the CAVC web site has a list of practitioners.
There also is the Mobile lawyers for vets program-
income limited for pro bono help and
OIE/OEF vets can get help from National Veterans Legal Services Program.



Gracias for all that info, Berta....after my last attempt was denied by the DVA in November 2004....and an official from the DAV's national office wrote me in early March 2005 that because I did not meet the "boots on ground" within Vietnam criteria....that the DAV would not assist me in any manner with any appeal of my denial....that it would be a waste of their time and resources. After that, I just said screw it and did nothing more.



but tell us more-

Were you in Vietnam during the war or during the Korea criteria AO regs?



Actually Berta, you and I discussed my history back when I first discovered hadit.com. I served at Nankom Phanom (NKP) Air Base in NE Thailand, with Laos and a portion of the Ho Chi Minh trail just across the river (Mekong). AO was sprayed around our base and our base's perimeter while I was there. It was also frequently sprayed all along the Ho Chi Minh trail - including the portion just across the Mekong from NKP. I was also "volunteered" by my Commanding Officer to do several interdiction missions into Laos for Task Force Alpha and the Special Ops squadron. There are numerous photos available (do a Google) of what the base looked like in the late '60s and early '70s....and what is so striking is how heavy jungle surrounds the virtually bare, desert-like rectangle that was NKP. Virtually all the other Thailand bases appear the same in archived photos. AO kills all vegetation, period.



If not where were you exposed to AO- ther have been AO awards for exposure outside of Vietnam and Korea.

Only conditions on the AO presumptive list will be service connected as due to AO.
That list now includes CLL (Chronic Leucocyte leukemia and AL-(amyloidosis)



My skin outbreaks (Chloracne) started while I was still at NKP. I incorrectly surmised that it was from the tropical heat and my virtually existing on a diet of C-Rats. After returning stateside, the skin sores/infections continued, but I just put up with it, rationalizing that I was going through some kind of late puberty acne episode? Ya, right, self-diagnosis - like I was a doctor. Once I was discharged in July 1975, I immediately stopped shaving (shaving really aggravated the skin sores/infections). I virtually have scarring head to toe, with the worse being in my beardline (under my beard), and on my arms, chest, stomach, groin, and legs...any where that I have body hair. Twice (1990 and again in 1996), VA dermatologists diagnosed my condition as "folliculitis"....not chloracne and not caused by AO. This was done despite the Boise VA Medical Hospital having done an AO screening exam on me in 1990 (took skin and fat tissue biopsies), informed me that I had AO/dioxin in my system, and placed me on the VA's official AO Registry. I still have the DVA letter that informed me that I was now officially on that registry (still am), but that my chloracne claim was denied. All in the same letter!!

BTW, in 1994, I was diagnosed with DMII. I've been insulin-dependent now for over 2 years. -- Michael




The list includes about 34 STS types of cancer.(soft tissue sarcomas)

All other types of disabilities would take an extremely strong expert medical opinion to prove AO etiology.

Michael: Try the National Organization of Veterans Advocates website--they focus on veterans advocacy; most all of them are accreditted by the VA, as well. http://www.vetadvocates.com/

My skin outbreaks (Chloracne) started while I was still at NKP. I incorrectly surmised that it was from the tropical heat and my virtually existing on a diet of C-Rats. After returning stateside, the skin sores/infections continued, but I just put up with it, rationalizing that I was going through some kind of late puberty acne episode? Ya, right, self-diagnosis - like I was a doctor. Once I was discharged in July 1975, I immediately stopped shaving (shaving really aggravated the skin sores/infections). I virtually have scarring head to toe, with the worse being in my beardline (under my beard), and on my arms, chest, stomach, groin, and legs...any where that I have body hair. Twice (1990 and again in 1996), VA dermatologists diagnosed my condition as "folliculitis"....not chloracne and not caused by AO. This was done despite the Boise VA Medical Hospital having done an AO screening exam on me in 1990 (took skin and fat tissue biopsies), informed me that I had AO/dioxin in my system, and placed me on the VA's official AO Registry. I still have the DVA letter that informed me that I was now officially on that registry (still am), but that my chloracne claim was denied. All in the same letter!!

BTW, in 1994, I was diagnosed with DMII. I've been insulin-dependent now for over 2 years. -- Michael


While your claim is for Chloracne your diagnosis is for folliculitis. I can see where you have AO/dioxin in your blood, but there is no diagnosis of Chloracne.

Are you receiving compensation for DMII?


No, Sharon....the DVA denied my 2004 claim for my DMII. Again, the DVA cited my not having "boots-on-ground" within Vietnam as the reason....serving in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand don't count, thanks to the change of the definition of who served in the Vietnam War under the Bush41 administration. It was the same friggin' war. -- Michael