Burn Pit Claims vs. Agent Orange Claims: What History Teaches Us About Today’s Fight

For decades, veterans who were exposed to toxic substances while serving in the military have faced systemic delays, denials, and disbelief when seeking benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The struggles of veterans from the Vietnam era who battled Agent Orange exposure are strikingly similar to those of today’s post-9/11 veterans who are fighting for recognition of illnesses caused by exposure to burn pits. Understanding this history is not only about honoring the past – it is a legal road map for securing justice in the present.

The Agent Orange Precedent: A Long Road to Recognition

During the Vietnam War, the US military sprayed millions of gallons of Agent Orange, a herbicide containing dioxin, a known human carcinogen. For many years, the government denied any connection between the chemical and health problems among veterans. It was not until the passage of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 that the Veterans Administration began to recognize certain diseases as being presumptively linked to service in the armed forces under 38 U.S.C. § 1116.

This legal presumption shifts the burden of proof away from veterans, who now have to prove that their cancer was caused by Agent Orange. Instead, the law assumes a connection if they served in Vietnam and developed a listed condition. Over time, the list has expanded to include more conditions, such as prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, and most recently, under the PACT Act, hypertension and MGUS.

Burn Pits: A Repeat of History?

From the early 2000s until the 2010s, the US military heavily relied on open-air burn pits to dispose of waste at military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. These pits burnt a variety of materials, including plastic, medical waste, jet fuel and human excrement. They released toxins such as dioxins, hexavalent chromium and volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere. At Joint Base Balad, one of the largest burn pits in Iraq spanned over 10 acres and was operated around the clock. It was often located just a few hundred yards away from the barracks.

Veterans began to report respiratory illnesses, rare cancers, and autoimmune disorders. But, like their predecessors from the Vietnam era, they were often met with skepticism. In 2014, the VA launched the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry. For years, no specific conditions were identified.

That changed with the PACT Act of 2022, which finally recognized more than 20 new conditions linked to exposure to burn pits, including glioblastoma, pancreatic cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and interstitial lung disease. The law also designates specific locations and time periods where exposure is presumed, eliminating the need for veterans to prove how or when they were exposed, just as the Agent Orange Act did decades earlier.

Legal Parallels: Why Presumptions Matter

Both Agent Orange and burn pits highlight a core principle of veterans’ law: when the government subjects service members to known hazards, they bear responsibility for the consequences.

Under traditional VA claims, veterans must prove three things: (1) a current diagnosis, (2) an in-service event or exposure, and (3) a medical connection between the two. However, as shown in the VA Adjudication Procedures Manual M21-1, Part VIII, presumptive conditions eliminate the need for this medical connection, streamlining access to benefits and reducing the burden of evidence.

This is especially important for burn pit cases, as exposure records are often incomplete and the latency periods for certain diseases can be decades long. Just as Vietnam veterans did not have contemporaneous medical records linking their illnesses to exposure to Agent Orange, today’s veterans may not have documentation of their exposure at Bagram or Al Asad Air Base.

Lessons for Today’s Veterans

History teaches us that delayed recognition does not mean denial of rights. Many veterans who were previously denied burn pit claims can now reopen their cases under the PACT Act’s new presumptions. The VA must re-evaluate these claims based on current law, even if the original decision was final years ago.

At Veterans Benefits Law Group in Ridgeland, MS, we use historical patterns to support modern claims. We analyze military records, unit histories, and environmental data to recreate exposure scenarios. For surviving family members, we pursue Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) if a veteran’s death was related to presumed burn pit exposure.

Your Fight Is Valid—And Supported by Law

If you were exposed to a burn pit and have been diagnosed with cancer, asthma, or other qualifying conditions, you are not alone and it’s not too late. The PACT Act ensures that we will not repeat the mistakes of the Agent Orange era.

Contact our office at (601) 414-3707 to schedule a free consultation. We are proud to represent veterans in Jackson, Mississippi and across the country on a contingency basis, which means you pay nothing unless we win your case.