On August 10, President Joe Biden officially signed the PACT Act into law, which adds several benefits for veterans that served during the Gulf and Vietnam War and help veterans that were unable to get into health care due to their income.
The Act specifically changes the benefits for veterans that were exposed to burn pits and Agent Orange during their service and may now have come down with forms of cancer or other diseases due to it. “For burn pits, they’re saying that burn pit exposure can cause certain conditions, such as brain cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, head or kidney cancer, lymphoma, neck cancers, pancreatic cancer, respiratory conditions like sinusitis, rhinitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, lung conditions, and many other conditions that are considered now to be caused by burn pits,” Polk County Veterans Officer Kurt Ellefson explained. “What that means is that if a veteran has those conditions, they can be service connected for them. If they can prove they were exposed to burn pit exposure, which most veterans that served overseas in certain areas like Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Qatar were most likely exposed to burn pits. So, if they have these conditions, they should come to see their County Veteran Service Officers (CVSO) and apply for service connection for those conditions.” Another significant change that the Act causes is for veterans exposed to Agent Orange who may now be suffering from Hypertension or Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). It also added new locations to the presumptive list of places and dates veterans were exposed to Agent Orange, such as:
- Any U.S. or Royal Thai military base in Thailand from January 9, 1962, through June 30, 1976 (no more having to prove the veteran’s duties put them on the perimeter of the base)
- Laos from December 1, 1965, through September 30, 1969
- Cambodia at Mimot or Krek, Kampong Cham Province from April 16, 1969, through April 30, 1969
- Guam or American Samoa or in the territorial waters off of Guam or American Samoa from January 9, 1962, through July 30, 1980
- Johnston Atoll or on a ship that called at Johnston Atoll from January 1, 1972, through September 30, 1977
It also includes new locations where veterans had to assist in cleaning up radiation, such as:
- Cleanup of Enewetak Atoll, from January 1, 1977, through December 31, 1980
- Cleanup of the Air Force B-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons off the coast of Palomares, Spain, from January 17, 1966, through March 31, 1967
- Response to the fire onboard an Air Force B-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons near Thule Air Force Base in Greenland from January 21, 1968, to September 25, 1968
If a veteran is viable to receive compensation with the new additions to the Act and would like to receive their funds from the Polk County Veterans Office, Polk County residents can call Veterans Officer Kurt Ellefson at 218-281-3066 and Red Lake County at 218-689-8587. When done, the veteran will tell them about their current conditions, and they will receive the benefits based on their condition. “Like any service-connected disability, it depends on what the veteran has. If he has active cancer, he will be rated at 100% in the benefits due to having that cancer. 100% service connection gets you well over $3,000 a month plus some other benefits that go with it,” Ellefson explained. “It’s more of an individual benefit for veterans depending on what they have or how severe the condition is.” Ellefson has said the County Veterans Center has already applied for the benefits and is encouraging any veterans dealing with any of these conditions or was exposed to Agent Orange or the burn pits to receive their benefits. They will first ask for proof of a link to the service and exposure and see the severity of their conditions. Depending on that, the United States Department of Veteran Affairs will determine how much of the benefits you will receive.
To contact your County Veterans Office, for Polk County, you call 218-281-3066, and for Red Lake County, you can call 218-689-8587 to set up your benefits today.
