September 22,2026
To Honorable Patty Murray
Re: Request for assistance — VA Agent Orange back pay / effective date for Veteran Byron Barton, Dear Senator Murray, Thank you for asking how you can help. I am a U.S. Navy Vietnam-era veteran. I respectfully ask your office to inquire with the Department of Veterans Affairs about unpaid retroactive compensation on my Agent Orange–related disability claim.Service and claim historyI. In 1970 I was sent to Da Nang in transit while waiting for a flight to my ship, USS Hancock (CVA-19). While there I saw areas marked as having been sprayed with Agent Orange. My service records document that I was exposed to Agent Orange.
- In 2016 I applied for benefits based on Agent Orange exposure.
- A VA representative told me VA would not authorize Agent Orange back pay beyond one year from service, but could authorize payment for diabetes beyond one year, and recommended changing the claim from Agent Orange to diabetes.
- We followed that advice. VA then denied the claim because my service medical records did not show diabetes in service.
- In 2022 I again filed for Agent Orange. VA accepted that I had proof of exposure in my records and awarded 100% disability in March 2022.
- My wife later called the VA hotline. After more than four years we still have not received Agent Orange back pay. A VA representative said VA “does not make back payments for Agent Orange,” and that records from 2022 show no back pay.
That statement conflicts with what Congress and the courts have required in Agent Orange and Blue Water Navy cases. VA does pay retroactive compensation in many of these claims. The effective date is often the date of an earlier claim for the same condition when that earlier claim was denied for the wrong legal reason.Why this matters Congress passed the Agent Orange Act of 1991, 38 U.S.C. § 1116, granting a presumption of service connection for certain diseases for veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam. The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 and related court decisions, including U.S. District Judge William Alsup’s November 5, 2020 order in the Nehmer litigation, required VA to pay retroactive Agent Orange benefits in covered cases and to readjudicate wrongly denied claims. VA has since paid hundreds of millions of dollars in retroactive benefits to Blue Water Navy veterans and survivors.I am not asking your office to decide the claim. I am asking you to help us get a clear, written answer from VA on:
- Why the 2016 filing was converted from Agent Orange to diabetes at a VA representative’s direction, then denied;
- Whether the March 2022 100% award should carry an earlier effective date based on the 2016 claim;
- Why hotline staff told my wife that VA does not make Agent Orange back payments; and
- What action VA will take to correct the effective date and pay any retroactive compensation due.
- Why the 2011 date of 100% disability injury from Agent Orange should be be the date for starting date for backpay?
AXJ.NO, AXJ and other veteran advocates support veterans in these cases. More information is at axj.vet / AXJ. I still need a congressional inquiry so VA answers this file in writing.I will complete your office’s privacy-release form and enclose claim numbers, the 2022 rating decision, and the 2016 materials we still have. Please contact us at the email above.Thank you for your long work for veterans and for offering to help.
Respectfully, Byron Barton
U.S. Navy Veteran
USS Hancock (CVA-19)Enclosures: Privacy Act release; VA