USS Ingersoll
(DD 652) Service in Vietnam
The USS Ingersoll (DD
652) operated during the Vietnam Era as a Navy destroyer gunship
conducting fire support missions along the coast of the Republic
of Vietnam for military ground operations. In addition to coastal
duty, the USS Ingersoll traveled up the Saigon River on Oct. 24
and 25, 1965, to fire on enemy bases.
The Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) C&P Service has reviewed the ship's deck
logs, located at the National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA), and confirmed this service on the "inland waterways" of
the Republic of Vietnam. As a result, the presumption of
herbicide exposure, as described in 38 CFR 3.307(a)(6), can be
extended to any crewmember who served aboard the vessel on these
dates.
Anyone who served on
the Ingersoll on the dates in question and had previous claims for
Agent Orange-related conditions denied should reapply.
VA
regional offices are directed to extend the presumption of
herbicide exposure to new claims involving a veteran who served
aboard the USS Ingersoll during Oct. 24 and 25, 1965.
Additionally, if regional offices are aware that any such claim
was denied due to lack of evidence for herbicide exposure, they
are directed to reevaluate the claim as soon as possible.
Veterans names will be
checked against the official crew manifest of those on board the
ship during those dates.
Tim L. Vasquez,
