Working under the guise of a federal fish and wildlife officer, (Game Warden), I worked in the rear areas of Fort Gordon many miles out from the main post. I mostly worked alone and had no friends. Headquarters company, to which I was assigned to couldn’t even contact me, and I was never required to report in. They, the “Chemical Core, came to Fort Gordon from Fort Detrick Maryland and brought fifty three different herbicides with them. Fish and Wildlife, (myself) in association with the Forestry and Engineering Division were ordered to assist Fort Detrick personnel in any way or capacity,as required.

The Bell G-2 helicopter was leased from a firm in Arkansas. The pilot’s name was Louis, we called him, “Saint Louis”. The chopper was fitted with two twenty six foot booms, each boom had six nozzles. At the end phase of testing, each nozzle was set on 3. We were making fifty foot swaths. We were looking for the optimum mixture of herbicide to diesel fuel. In the case of agent Orange, a broad leaf herbicide used to kill jungle, the optimum mixture turned out to be the ratio of 3 to 1. Agents blue and white killed crops, because Charlie had no supply lines, and lived off of the land. The final mixture of agents blue and white was a fifty to 1 mixture of concentrate to water.

We tested each of the tactical rainbow herbicides in the same way, fifty three in all, we also added Piclorium into the mixture. Piclorium is a systemic herbicide that is persistent and prolongs the drying time so the herbicide has time to drip from the canopy and soak the soil. We worked in our shirt sleeves.

The rainbow herbicides were shipped in fifty five gallon drums with corresponding 3 inch stripes, corresponding to the type of chemical agent inside. Example, orange stripe denoted agent orange. pink stripe, denoted agent pink. white stripe, denoted agent white, and so on. When the testing phase was completed Fort Detrick personnel did not take any of the open or partially used drums back with them.

I was low man on the totem pole and therefore was assigned the duty to make the leftover herbicides disappear. Having witnessed the efficiency of the product, I was glad to cart it all off to my chain of Controlled Lakes for use there. I would have no more overgrown trails, no more vines climbing fences, and no more moss no the water surface in my area of responsibility. I was actually awarded for keeping the Controlled Lakes and grounds area so neat and manicured.

I was assigned two detail men every day to assist me. They were students attending the Signal School. Every day they were two different men. I dropped one off at my office to answer the phone and to check deer, and other hunters in and out. The second man was dropped off at the gates of the Controlled Lakes. His job was to count, weigh, and record fish catches. It was my responsibility to travel to Fort Gordon’s main post every day in order for me to have lunch and to pick up and deliver lunch to my detail men.

It was left up to me to figure out how to get lunch to my detail men every day. I had previously had caught a Mess Sergeant, illegally night fishing in my Controlled Lakes.  I paid that E 6 Mess Sergeant visit and made him a deal. I agreed to trade him a key to the Controlled Lakes, for two “to go lunches”, seven days a week, and one,”eat in lunch”, for myself. When I walked into that mess hall every day, with my Ike jacket on, 45 pistol strapped on my hip and a shiny Game Warden badge on my right chest, those trainees thought that I was the Almighty himself.

I was assigned a M-1 5-1 A-1 military Jeep with the wording under the windshield, “Game Warden”. I was also assigned a new Ford Bronco with the same Military Police, Game Warden marking along the sides. My half full, leaking, four gallon sprayer was always in the back of which ever vehicle I decided to drive. I carried the,”to go”,lunches in a mess Hall fiberglass eating tray, with a second tray turned upside down on top. Those trays slipped and slid back and forth back there, exposing the food inside all along the way on the trip along the several mile journey. The bottoms of the trays were always wet from my leaking sprayer. There was no reason for concern, it was just a harmless herbicide! No big deal!

The fish cleaning stations at the lake entrance always attracted bugs and flying insects from the nearby swamps, and so did the deer cleaning area at my Fish and Wildlife office. I always did the guys a favor and sprayed their area when I dropped them off to preform their duty, and once again before they ate their lunch. the men were always appreciative, and would never fail to thank me for taking care of them. I even gave then fly sprayers to use during the day, in case the bugs got too bad. The pesticide of choice, of course was agent orange undiluted and straight from the drum. 

The waters of the Controlled lakes area spill from lake to lake through connective spillways, and finally drain into the Headstall and Brier Creek watersheds. From there the water meanders along the creeks and through several suburban areas. Finally, the waters flow into the Savanna River, and continue on to the Aiken, South Carolina water supply. The final destination is the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic ocean’

So, you can be assured, and my answer is yes, I have no doubt that I did make a difference! 

My work with the Tactical herbicide testing was classified as,”top secret”, for more than forty years. In September, 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald Henry Rumsfeld was ordered by Congressman Lane Evans of California, an attorney, and a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, demanded to know where, outside Vietnam, tactical herbicides had been stored or used. Eighty five military post and bases in the USA and other places were listed on the resultant, incomplete list furnished by Secretary Rumsfeld. Fort Gordon was divulged, and was listed as the second location on the list.

 I filed my claim for my disabilities as due to agent orange exposure in November 2005. After several denials and appeals my case was heard at the Board of Veterans appeals before a Veteran’s law Judge. On November 9th, 2009. I won the very first claim ever, for Agent Orange exposure at a military post or base inside the Continental United States!

 I was awarded for Heart disease, Chloracne, Diabetes, neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities, a fungal foot disorder, and ED.  My final rating was 100% with an award of SMC “S” and one K. Back pay was paid with retro back November 2nd, 2009.

I appealed the neuropathy several times, and eventually I was awarded SMC “R-1” in 2016, for loss of use of two feet.  In 2020 I was granted  “R-2”. I appealed the effective date of the “R-1” and went up to the Court of Veterans Appeals, (CAVC). At the Court, I won an additional five years of retro pay for the “R-1”, ten years back pay in all.

In September 2024 I had foot amputations. I am already at the max rate of “R-2”, so no more claim is possible. I am done, you can stick a fork in me!

My final rating remains at “R-2”.

End of story except a burial flag.

How many years did it take? The answer is nineteen years, and untold hours. 

A whole lot of pain, despair and agony on me, deep dark depression and a little PTSD! Was it worth it? YES it was!

James M. Cripps,

SP-5 US Army, 1967-1970

EPITHET

The Veterans law judge at the Board of Veterans Appeals got a little constipation in his jaw after I presented my story and substantiating evidence. When I got close to winning, the VA kicked me out of the medical care system and cut off my medications. The Department of Veterans Affairs garnished my SSDI check and called for an Atlanta audit of my finances. I couldn’t even afford to replace my shoe string when I broke one. We had to cancel our home owners and park our vehicles, for lack of insurance and money to buy tags. Somebody gave me a GEO Metro that got 50 miles to the gallon and only needed a clutch. I replaced the clutch, put liability insurance on it, and drove it.

When I won my claim, my Veterans Service Officer was fired. The Regional Office Service Center Manager also lost his job. I had to go see the VA psychiatrist to get back in the medical system so they could find out, what exactly, made me tick. I was asked by the VA how I managed to win such an extraordinary claim. My answer was, “because you slept, and I didn’t!