The VA recently added 22 additional U.S. Navy ships to the list of ships associated with military service in Vietnam and possible exposure to Agent Orange.

Broadly speaking, having a blue water navy means having the capacity to deploy a task force of ships across the open ocean, and to support them at great distance from their bases.

“Over 1,700 deck logs have been plotted to date, and we continue to add new information from the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association master list of deck logs,” Ball said.

To make the process easier, Blue Water vets pressed for legislation in 2013 that would have required the Navy to pull all of the deck logs and compile an accurate accounting of which ships spent ...

'Blue Water Navy' vets served miles off the coast of Vietnam, far from the effects of Agent Orange. They shouldn't automatically get benefits.