Naval personnel who served aboard ship in Vietnamese waters and earned the Vietnam Service Medal but never went ashore in Vietnam are being encouraged to file disability claims if they suffer conditions they believe to be related to Agent Orange. Both Rep. Lane Evans of Illinois, ranking Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and the National Veterans Legal Service Program are urging such vets to apply because of an Aug. 16 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims that opened the door to such claims. The VA considers the following disabilities to be associated with Agent Orange: chloracne, Type II diabetes, Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers and soft-tissue sarcomas. Survivors of veterans who died from Agent Orange disabilities should consider applying for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation.