“The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today completion of an interagency effort with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to digitize declassified deck logs to process claims faster for eligible Vietnam-era Veterans.”
“The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard deck logs within NARA contain helpful information being used to validate claims for Blue Water Navy (BWN) Veterans who served in the offshore waters of the Republic of Vietnam, to establish presumption to herbicide exposure for service-connected disability benefits.”
“’The team at NARA recognizes the importance of this effort making it easier for BWN Veterans to receive the benefits they’ve earned without burdening them with paperwork,’ said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. ‘Since January 1, VA has processed thousands of claims and encourages every Veteran, dependent and surviving spouse who is eligible to file a claim as soon as possible.’”
“Data contained in deck logs is used when deciding VA benefit claims. Also known as ship logs or captain’s logs, information was manually inputted to chronologically document the daily activities of a navy ship or unit…” Read the full press release here.
Source: VA completes digitization of archived Vietnam-era deck logs – September 28, 2020. VA.
