Blue Water Navy Veterans are those who served in the open coastal waters of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War era.
Public Law 116-23, The Blue Water Navy Veteran’s Act of 2019, created a presumption for certain illnesses due to Agent Orange exposure for those 50-90,000 veterans who served on a US Navy or Coast Guard ship between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, no further than 12 miles from the coast of Vietnam. Just as Brown Water Veterans, who were typically on patrol boats, were awarded by the Agent Orange Act of 1991, finally, 28 years later, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act now states that Blue Water veterans are eligible for disability benefits due to presumption of exposure to Agent Orange, an herbicide agent, just as those veterans who had “boots on the ground” on Vietnamese soil.