Presumptive Service Connections in Atomic Veterans

If you’re a veteran who was exposed to ionizing radiation, certain conditions may render you eligible for Veterans Disability Benefits.

For the purpose of these “presumptive service connections”, the VA considers individuals to be atomic veterans if they:

• served or were Prisoners of War in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when America occupied Japan before 1946;
• served during the time period of 1945-1962, helping to conduct atmospheric nuclear tests;
• if they served at a diffusion plant in Paducah, Kentucky, Portsmouth, OH, or Oakridge, Tennessee before 2/1/92 or at Amchitka Island, Alaska before 1/1/1974.

As we’ve discussed in previous posts, certain conditions have presumptive service connections, automatically assumed by the VA to be the direct result of the conditions during your military service.

For atomic veterans, this list of conditions includes:

• all forms of leukemia (except for chronic lymphocytic leukemia)
• certain cancers including: thyroid, breast, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary gland, urinary tract, brain, bone, lung, colon and ovary
• Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma
• multiple myeloma
• lymphomas (except or Hodgkin’s disease)
• primary liver cancer (unless cirrhosis or hepatitis B is also found)

If you’re an atomic veteran who was exposed to ionizing radiation and suffer from one or more of the above conditions, the expert Veterans Disability lawyers of Jan Dils, Attorneys at Law, can help you fight for the benefits you deserve.

You can schedule a 100% free first meeting with us by calling toll-free 877-526-3455 or by sending us an email.