Air Force Dumps C-123 Veterans in VA's Lap – Refuses ALL Assistance. Says We're VA's Problem Now.

C-123 Agent Orange – the new Catch 22.

 We asked the Air Force to consider conducting line of duty determinations to establish our exposure injuries back in the timeframe when we were flying the toxic former Agent Orange spray C-123s.

Throught Senator Burr's office, the Air Force has refused, telling us to turn to the VA for any help. The VA has already said without an Air Force line of duty determination, it will not provide us full compensation for our exposure injuries.

Catch 22: You can't fly combat because you're so scared you're
crazy, that means you're sane and so you have to fly combat 
because you're not crazy because you are crazy. 
But if you were crazy, you wouldn't have to fly combat.

Did these two organizations get together to work out this clever anti-veteran game plan ahead of time? Each points to the other, and each already knows the other will refuse us further help.

Okay, we get the idea. We're dumped.

Lesson learned?
1. Respectfully, you cannot fully accept what general officers tell you about your safety. If they are wrong and later proven incorrect, it will be the airmen abandoned and not the Air Force offering any help.
2. Do not accept what Air Force scientific organizations such as the Armstrong Labs or the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine tell you about your safety. If they're wrong and later proven incorrect, it will be the airman abandoned and not the Air Force offering any help.
3. If the authorities are wrong, it will be the airmen left to pay the price in physical suffering and financial loss, not the military.
4. Even if they put their mistaken assurances of safety in print, it means nothing in the final analysis. The Air Force will tell the airmen to get help from the VA, and the VA will say they can do nothing without an Air Force line of duty determination. Nobody does nothing. For us, it is Catch 22. A great movie but not the right way to care for real-world military aircrews.

Believe me, this has all been thought out by the VA and AF. We did our duty. We trusted our leaders. They're now proved wrong but we're left swinging in the wind.

For some leaders, "no" is just easier to say than doing what's right.