This is an unfortunate decision for the Vet. He should have done some research on his claim before filing. The fact that he had the MOPH repping him is not going to help. Hell, they should have known better. Cellulitis isn’t even listed in 38 CFR § 3.309(e).

http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/3.309

(e) Disease associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents. If a veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during active military, naval, or air service, the following diseases shall be service-connected if the requirements of § 3.307(a)(6) are met even though there is no record of such disease during service, provided further that the rebuttable presumption provisions of § 3.307(d) are also satisfied.

Note 1: The term “soft-tissue sarcoma” includes the following: Adult fibrosarcomaDermatofibrosarcoma protuberans Malignant fibrous histiocytoma LiposarcomaLeiomyosarcoma Epithelioid leiomyosarcoma (malignant leiomyoblastoma)Rhabdomyosarcoma Ectomesenchymoma Angiosarcoma (hemangiosarcoma and lymphangiosarcoma) Proliferating (systemic) angioendotheliomatosis Malignant glomus tumor Malignant hemangiopericytoma Synovial sarcoma (malignant synovioma) Malignant giant cell tumor of tendon sheath Malignant schwannoma, including malignant schwannoma with rhabdomyoblastic differentiation (malignant Triton tumor), glandular and epithelioid malignant schwannomas Malignant mesenchymoma Malignant granular cell tumor Alveolar soft part sarcoma Epithelioid sarcoma Clear cell sarcoma of tendons and aponeuroses Extraskeletal Ewing’s sarcoma Congenital and infantile fibrosarcomaMalignant ganglioneuroma

Note 2: For purposes of this section, the term acute and subacute peripheral neuropathymeans transient peripheral neuropathy that appears within weeks or months of exposure to an herbicide agent and resolves within two years of the date of onset.

Note 3: For purposes of this section, the term ischemic heart disease does not include hypertension or peripheral manifestations of arteriosclerosis such as peripheral vascular disease or stroke, or any other condition that does not qualify within the generally accepted medical definition of Ischemic heart disease.

Without that, the whole claim falls flat on its face. It makes no difference even if they were spraying it on his food.

The second problem is far more nuanced. The VA is finally beginning to cave in on this but it will be years before a good case pops up at the CAVC-let alone one we’ll be able to use for precedence. This gentleman was in reciprocating engines of which there were a lot of at NKP.  Virtually everything on the flightline was.  VA is only going to give a pass if you were a perimeter guard or had regular business there. What I have a hard time comprehending is how AO stops at the edge of the runway or parking revetment areas and never pollutes further in. If anyone who got RVN red clay on their boots for 30 minutes is a candidate, why not Vets from Thailand? Better yet, how about us disadvantaged Vets who were precluded from even talking about where we were? More AO and AB was used in Laos than any other country over there-and a lot longer.

Make sure it’s on the list and your contemporary medrecs support it:

No AO in Thailand

Just for shits and grin, check out these shots of NKP also called Naked Fanny. Notice the dearth of vegetation inside the perimeter? In fact, note the utter lack of vegetation in some places. It was the same at all bases-be they in Thailand, Vietnam or over the fence.  

The lower picture is  much more recent but the grass still seems to be recalcitrant after so many years.