MANSFIELD Shipmates:

If you were aboard the Mansfield November/December 1965 when we went up the Saigon River and anchored while giving support fire, I need your help. I am trying to document this fact for the Veterans Administration (VA) to support a claim for typeII diabetes which falls under the Agent Orange umbrella. According to them "we can't make a claim unless we disembarked the ship" while in Vietnam. Although we literally didn't go ashore, we did anchor in the middle of the river within "spitting" distance of the banks. Obviously, they think any airborne substances stop at the water's edge and then continue on the other side.

So here's how you can help me: (and any other shipmates trying to make a claim)

• If you remember being at anchor during our shore bombardment assignment, please write (via regular mail) and describe, in your own words, how close you feel we were to the shore and any other facts you may think are important. (If by chance you have any pictures taken at that time, please include them.)

My snail mail:

Karl Kristiansen
901 Tobey Street
Acushnet, MA 02743-1709

I would also like to gather other anecdotal data that may help:

• If you were on deck at all during that bombardment assignment, have you contracted type II diabetes (insulin dependent or not) or any other ailments that fall under Agent Orange?

• Have you filed a claim with the VA regarding this? Any success?

  Thanks in advance for any help you can give me,
  Karl Kristiansen (SA/65-66)

I received a letter from the VA dated December 1, 2005 denying my claim for type 2 diabetes.

The main reason seems to be the following as stated in the "EVIDENCE" portion of their letter:

• Response from the US National Archives dated September 15, 2005, stating the USS DD-728 was in the official waters off the Republic of Vietnam. There is no record you went ashore, or up a river into the mainland of the Republic of Vietnam.

In the "REASONS FOR DECISION" portion of their letter they wrote:

• Review of the uncertified statements submitted in support of your claim are not taken as proof that the destroyer class Mansfield traveled into the Republic of Vietnam, up the Saigon River between November 25, 1965 and December 24, 1965, the dates the US National Archives, National Personnel Records Center, verified your ship was in the official waters of Vietnam. the official US Navy website, www.history.navy.mil shows the Mansfield provided gunfire support for South Vietnamese, Australian, and American forces fighting in South Vietnam. No conclusive evidence of in-country service has been submitted.

  Service connection may be established based on a relationship to herbicide exposure only if evidence demonstrates that the veteran served in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. As the required service in Vietnam is not shown, service connection for type 2 diabetes mellitus is denied.

So, there you have it shipmates. I plan to go on to the appeals process and will keep you updated.

I visited my VA agent and we sent a letter requesting the paper work for an appeal. He said that will basically be a retelling of my story in all the detail I can remember. So once again, I ask my shipmates for any help they can give me. I have the deck logs for December 1965 and there is no mention of ANY shooting missions or even being at GQ. I find this pretty strange. I know we all didn't imagine this stuff. So if anyone can shed any light on this PLEASE CONTACT ME.

I received a letter from the VA stating they have granted me a disability (TYPE 2 Diabetes Mellitus) rating of 20% falling under the Agent Orange umbrella. This is retro-active to the effective date of September 1, 2004.

I would like to thank all the shipmates that wrote letters supporting my claim. They were one of the factors the VA took into consideration in approving my claim. One good thing that comes of this is the fact the VA now agrees we were, indeed, in Vietnam.

I would also like to thank Town of Dartmouth (MA) Veterans' Agent Shawn Goldstein for his help and guidance.

The checks from the VA were direct deposited to my account on March 15,2006 (Retroactive check) and March 31,2006 (monthly check).

This request is on behalf of shipmate MM3 U.S. Grant:

"I am a law professor at Widener University School of Law, Wilmington, DE. I direct a free legal clinic for disabled veterans and dependents called the Veterans Law Clinic. We do VA claim appeals and discharge reviews. U.S. Grant, a shipmate on your destroyer from 1961-63, is our client. He has PTSD and one of his claimed stressors is an incident off the coast of Viet Nam when Mansfield was buttoned up on GQ and under some kind of alert when pro driven aircraft were flying overhead. The main battery was fired just as Grant popped through a scuttle to the deck, Does anyone remember Grant or this incident?"

Please contact me: