Carl Brown: The VA denied that 27th Infantry was exposed to Agent Orange in Thailand.

Carl Brown knows his unit was exposed to Agent Orange, either in Thailand or during a perhaps undocumented excursion into Vietnam. Our firm is trying to help him win his Agent Orange claims at the VA's St.Louis Regional Office.

Mr. Brown served in Company A, 1st Battle Group, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, and in 1962, his unit moved from Travis Air Base in Hawaii to Korat, Thailand. Mr. Brown recalls that his Army unit conducted a training operation that lasted several months that brought them into Vietnam by convoy via Freedom Highway. His unit later returned to  Hawaii.

Last year the Board of Veterans Appeals denied his claim for exposure to Agent Orange. The Board stated that it had no record of his unit setting foot in Vietnam in the summer of 1962, although the records do verify that the unit was in Thailand at that time.

The VA admitted that Mr. Brown served in Co. A, 1stBF, 27th Inf, APO 25 USARPAC from 1960 to 1962. But the VA stated that it could not find any record of his unit entering Vietnam: “We coordinated our research with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) by College Park, Maryland.  They were unable to locate 1962 unit records submitted by the 1st Battle Group, 27th Infantry (1stBG,27th INF).  However, the US Army historical records available to us document that the 1st BG,27thINF was in Thailand.  The records do not document that the 1st BG, 27th INF was in Vietnam in 1962.”

The only way Mr. Brown and veterans in his situation can prevail on a claim for Agent Orange exposure and any of the condition (diabetes, various forms of cancer, ischemic heart disease, etc.) related to exposure to the herbicide is to find documentation or other witnesses to the exposure.

If you or anyone you know remembers a training foray into Vietnam, please contact my office. If anyone recalls this unit patrolling the perimeters of any Thailand air force bases, please contact me. Your information could help Mr. Brown and others prove to the VA that they truly were exposed to Agent Orange.  877.VET.WINS.