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Thanks. I worked at my local National Symmetry {on student contract} while going to school after my hitch was up. In the 1980's I saw a lot of honors services. The cut in End Troop Strengths to an unreasonable level means that no longer happens.

As a former snipe {Machinist Mate} I can tell you that you are right on the potable water. Distillers do not or at least back then take out chemical poisons. The protocol for that was no eating, drinking, or smoking, till safer conditions. I think all carrier vets can say we've had a taste or two of fuel tainted water as well. Even anchored in someplace like say Naples you knew you were there by the taste of the water.

The truth is though if a carrier was within strike distance to Nam it was also in downwind distance of Agent Orange and other chemicals. This has been known for quite a while. A lot of age mid 50's vets are dying. One of my neighbors was SF Army in Nam and a decorated vet. He died a couple years ago of COPD. I had a cousin who was an MP over there he died of Idiopathic Fibrosis a very cruel ending worse than even lung cancer. It's time for this nation to pay up and do what is right for all troops both past and present.

Thanks, Snipe, Tammy; sometimes when I post here I wonder if anyone is really reading the posts.

Follow the links in #1 above to the Blue Water Navy sites and you will find that the data and science are available, the DVA has just managed to ignore them so far.

Examples:

Since the beginning of the Bush administration, the DVA has attempted to destroy the medical data accumulated by the Institute of Medicine, the federal agency mandated by the Agent Orange Act of 1991 to track and evaluate veterans illnesses caused by Agent Orange. Their claim; the cost of maintaining those records and data was prohibitive.
Also during this administration the DVA has sought to de-fund the Institute of Medicine's ongoing Vietnam Veterans Agent Orange study. The IOM keeps finding more evidence and diseases caused by Agent Orange.
Most recently, the DVA managed to get the IOM to delete all references to the Royal Australian Navy's peer-reviewed report showing ships flash-distillers actually concentrated the TCDD contaminate in sea water, which was made even more toxic by picking up ions from steam heated copper tubing.

I'm always having to bring up this data in the face of people who can't believe Blue Water Navy sailors could be exposed to Agent Orange. Almost none ever investigate the information I post.

<Sigh!>

I want to add something here. If a carrier or any ship got a dosage of Agent Orange or any airborne contaminates it could likely stay in the ships ventilation system for years. My specialty was AC&R or Air Conditioning and Refrigeration on the carrier. Ships ventilation systems are filtered but those filters are not designed to handle chemical or bio-warfare. If suspected attack or exposure is present you do a material condition Circle William meaning shutting down all ventilation systems.

I remember what happened when we were putting on a dependents cruise and had an air show. An F-14 came by at flight deck level full throttle supersonic. We has dust coming out of the vents for days. Dust likely in there for years. The way the ships are constructed access to clean the systems is very limited.