Agent Orange - Korea DMZ Vets and Agent Orange

Source: January 2004 VFW Magazine - Compiled by Ted Sypko


The Pentagon has confirmed that Agent Orange was used from April 1968 through July 1969 to defoliate the fields of fire between the front line defensive positions and the south barrier fence. The size of the treated area was a strip of land 151 miles long and up to 350 yards wide, from the fence to north of the civilian control line. There is no indication that herbicides were sprayed inside the DMZ itself.

Who and What is Eligible
Mandatory requirements
- Service in country between April 1968 and July 1969.
- Assignment to a specified unit in Korea between April 1968 and July 1969.
- Medical evidence of presumptive condition under 38 C.F.R. 3.309

Military Units Eligible (April 1968 to July 1969)
Elements of four combat brigades of the 2nd Infantry Division:
- 72nd Armor - 1st & 2nd Battalions
- 7th Cavalry - 4th Battalion
- 9th Infantry - 1st & 2nd Battalions
- 23rd Infantry - 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions
- 38th Infantry - 1st & 2nd Battalions

3rd Brigade, 7th Infantry Division:
- 73rd Armor - 1st Battalion
- 10th Cavalry - 2nd Battalion
- 17th Infantry - 1st & 2nd Battalions
- 32nd Infantry - 3rd Battalion

Herbicide-Associated Health Conditions Presumptively Recognized
- Chloracne (must occur within one year of exposure to Agent Orange).
- Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. - Soft tissue sarcoma (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, or mesthelioma).
- Hodgkin's disease.
- Porphyria cutanea tarda (must occur within one year of exposure).
- Multiple myeloma.
- Respiratory cancers, including cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus.
- Prostate cancer.
- Acute and subacute transient peripheral neuropathy (must occur within one year of exposure and resolve within two years of date of onset).
- Type 2 diabetes.
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
- Spina bifida (except spina bifida occulta) is a condition recognized in children of some Korea DMZ vets.