Good initial visit to Charleston VA medical center this morning. Visit was to establish eligibility for treatment, in order to be evaluated for my exposure to Agent Orange all those years ago. Thank you, Monsanto.

Incredibly clean facility, staffed by extremely polite and helpful, considerate staff, everywhere we went.

Sat down for my interview, which consisted of me providing basic background information. All that I provided, I could have done by me, from my home computer, 50 round-trip miles away, saving a minor parking fee and a major parking garage hunt. "Sorry our antiquated rules don't allow us to do that." "Well, if I go home and find proof of presence in the country, can I email it to this address you've so nicely provided me?" "Sorry, our antiquated rules don't allow us to do that."

Ten minutes with a very polite man, and I am done. Next step? Well......

My 214 shows 9 years 3 months overseas service. It does NOT show where. My Vietnam Service Medal listed on the 214, apparently only means I was somewhere in the neighborhood. Had I been awarded the Vietnam Campaign Medal, I would have been good to go. But I wasn't in Vietnam, ever. I was in northeast (B.F.) Thailand, not far from Hanoi, across the river from Laos.

"Can you prove that?" "um, I have a picture of me drinking a beer on a Thai gun boat on the Mekong one Sunday afternoon." "Nope, won't work."

"How about pics of me and my roomdog downtown NKP?" "Nope, won't work."

"How about my roomdog's name on the Wall?" "Nope, won't work."

"The nights I sat in a bunker armed to the teeth?" "Nope, won't work."

"Do you have copies of your orders to NKP?" "Oh, shit, yeah, those I had f'in framed......"

So, not ever having been officially at NKP for a year, not ever having called my parents at Christmas time "hi. over"; having never sent nor received mail; I apparently was not exposed to AO and thus have nothing to worry about.

F'N A......sigh.