Claim Raven explanation
What this means
This law provides herbicide presumptions for qualifying offshore service near Vietnam during the specified period. It defines the offshore area and includes particular effective-date provisions for qualifying earlier claims.
Shipboard service alone does not establish that a vessel was within the statutory area. The ship's location and dates matter. An earlier claim can also raise a separate effective-date question under this section.
How this helps your claim
Match deck logs, ship records, and your assignment dates to the covered area. If VA granted the claim, review whether the earlier-claim provisions were considered when relevant to the award date.
What to check in your records
Use your decision, examination reports, and relevant records to check the following points.
- Confirm assignment to the vessel during the relevant dates.
- Locate evidence of the ship's position within the statutory offshore area.
- Gather earlier claims and decisions involving the covered herbicide disease.
Use ship locations and dates together
Offshore eligibility depends on the statutory area and qualifying period. A ship's name or general operating region may not establish its position on the relevant dates. Deck logs or other official location evidence can answer a different question from a personnel record showing assignment aboard.
Keep the assignment history and vessel-location evidence aligned chronologically. If an earlier claim is relevant to a special effective-date provision, preserve that application and decision separately. The geographic question and the retroactive-award question need their own supporting facts.
Does service anywhere offshore automatically satisfy this statute?
No. The law defines the relevant offshore area and period. A general statement that a vessel was near Vietnam should be checked against the statutory description and official evidence. This reference helps identify what to verify; it does not establish a ship's location from its name alone.
Official statutory text
38 USC § 1116A
OLRC release through Public Law 119-102 (July 12, 2026). Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The statutory text is shown here; publisher source credits and editorial notes remain in the linked official release.
§ 1116A. Presumptions of service connection for veterans who served offshore of the Republic of Vietnam
(a) Service Connection.—For the purposes of section 1110 of this title, and subject to section 1113 of this title, a disease covered by section 1116 of this title becoming manifest as specified in that section in a veteran who, during active military, naval, or air service, served offshore of the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, notwithstanding that there is no record of evidence of such disease during the period of such service.
(b) Exposure.—A veteran who, during active military, naval, or air service, served offshore of the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, shall be presumed to have been exposed during such service to an herbicide agent unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the veteran was not exposed to any such agent during that service.
(c) Effective Date of Award.—(1) Except as provided by paragraph (2), the effective date of an award under this section shall be determined in accordance with section 5110 of this title.
(2)(A) Notwithstanding subsection (g) of section 5110 of this title, the Secretary shall determine the effective date of an award based on a claim under this section for an individual described in subparagraph (B) by treating the date on which the individual filed the prior claim specified in clause (i) of such subparagraph as the date on which the individual filed the claim so awarded under this section.
(B) An individual described in this subparagraph is a veteran, or a survivor of a veteran, who meets the following criteria:
(i) The veteran or survivor submitted a claim for disability compensation on or after September 25, 1985, and before January 1, 2020, for a disease covered by this section, and the claim was denied by reason of the claim not establishing that the disease was incurred or aggravated by the service of the veteran.
(ii) The veteran or survivor submits a claim for disability compensation on or after January 1, 2020, for the same condition covered by the prior claim under clause (i), and the claim is approved pursuant to this section.
(d) Determination of Offshore.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for purposes of this section, the Secretary shall treat a location as being offshore of Vietnam if the location is not more than 12 nautical miles seaward of a line commencing on the southwestern demarcation line of the waters of Vietnam and Cambodia and intersecting the following points:
Points Geographic Names | LatitudeNorth | LongitudeEast
At Hon Nhan Island, Tho Chu Archipelago Kien Giang Province | 9°15.0′ | 103°27.0′
At Hon Da Island southeast of Hon Khoai Island Minh Hai Province | 8°22.8′ | 104°52.4′
At Tai Lon Islet, Con Dao Islet in Con Dao-Vung Toa Special Sector | 8°37.8′ | 106°37.5′
At Bong Lai Islet, Con Dao Islet | 8°38.9′ | 106°40.3′
At Bay Canh Islet, Con Dao Islet | 8°39.7′ | 106°42.1′
At Hon Hai Islet (Phu Qui group of islands) Thuan Hai Province | 9°58.0′ | 109°5.0′
At Hon Doi Islet, Thuan Hai Province | 12°39.0′ | 109°28.0′
At Dai Lanh point, Phu Khanh Province | 12°53.8′ | 109°27.2′
At Ong Can Islet, Phu Khanh Province | 13°54.0′ | 109°21.0′
At Ly Son Islet, Nghia Binh Province | 15°23.1′ | 109° 9.0′
At Con Co Island, Binh Tri Thien Province | 17°10.0′ | 107°20.6′
(e) Herbicide Agent.—In this section, the term “herbicide agent” has the meaning given that term in section 1116(a)(3) of this title.
Related references
- 38 USC § 1110: Wartime disability compensation eligibility
- 38 USC § 1113: When a VA Presumption Can Be Rebutted
- 38 USC § 1116: Agent Orange and Herbicide Presumptions
- 38 USC § 5110: Effective Dates and Continuous Pursuit in Federal Law
- 38 USC § 5107: Benefit of the doubt in VA claims
- 38 CFR § 3.159: VA duty to assist: records and examinations
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