New Medal for Vietnam Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange

No federal medal yet exists for Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange, but a new medal for Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange is being pursued on two tracks: the privately issued Orange Heart Medal, which has gone to more than 11,300 veterans since 2018, and the Agent Orange Service Medal Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced in Congress in April 2026 that would direct the Department of Defense to create an official commemorative award.¹² If you or a family member served in Vietnam and were exposed to herbicides, the Orange Heart Medal is the only award currently available; the federal one is still a bill.

The Orange Heart Medal: What It Is and How to Get One

The Orange Heart Medal is a privately funded award created by Ken Gamble, a U.S. Navy Vietnam veteran who founded the Orange Heart Medal Foundation in January 2018 while receiving treatment for prostate cancer at a VA hospital. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Springfield, Tennessee, and Gamble designed and trademarked the medal’s emblem.³

The medal is provided free of charge to eligible veterans and their surviving spouses. To qualify, you must have served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War and been exposed to Agent Orange on the ground, in the air, or on the water during the conflict. Applicants provide discharge papers along with proof of service and deployment. Applications are handled through the foundation’s website at orangeheartmedal.org.¹

One thing to understand up front: the medal is not recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense.⁴ It carries no official military status and confers no VA benefits. The purpose is symbolic recognition of health consequences that advocates argue should be treated as combat injuries.

The foundation has grown steadily. More than 8,000 medals had been awarded by early 2022, and that figure passed 11,300 by mid-2024.⁵¹ Group pinning ceremonies happen around the country. An April 2025 event was held at Murrysville Alliance Church in Pennsylvania, and in November 2025 more than 100 Vietnam-era veterans received the medal in a single ceremony in Kinder, Louisiana.⁴⁶

The Agent Orange Service Medal Act

The push for an official federal medal is separate from the private one. Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey first introduced the Agent Orange Service Medal Act as H.R. 1728 on March 22, 2023, in the 118th Congress. That bill was referred to the House Committee on Armed Services and saw no further action before the session ended.⁷

Van Drew and Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut reintroduced the bill on April 2, 2026, as H.R. 8194 in the 119th Congress. It would direct the Secretary of Defense to create a commemorative medal for Vietnam-era veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange and other herbicides and who suffer from associated medical conditions. Eligibility would cover veterans receiving VA disability compensation under the herbicide-exposure provisions of federal law, as well as Vietnam-era herbicide-exposed veterans as defined by VA statute. The medal could be issued at a veteran’s request upon certification by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and next-of-kin could apply on behalf of deceased veterans.⁸

Where the bill stands matters if you’re waiting for a federal medal. As of mid-2026, H.R. 8194 has three cosponsors and remains in the House Committee on Armed Services with no hearings or markup sessions scheduled.⁹ No medals have been issued under the proposed program, and none can be until the bill passes.

Van Drew has described the effort as recognition of the “invisible wounds” Vietnam veterans carry from Agent Orange, saying they are “still dealing with the consequences decades later.”²

States That Recognize the Orange Heart Medal

A parallel goal of the foundation is getting state legislatures to recognize Agent Orange exposure as a combat wound. Tennessee acted first, with the General Assembly passing House Joint Resolution 0108 in February 2019 and Governor Bill Lee signing it on February 22, 2019.³ Alabama followed.⁵ By mid-2024, ten states had signed on to the initiative, with proposals active or pending in Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas.¹ Louisiana also recognizes the medal.⁶ In 2026, Vermont’s legislature passed a concurrent resolution honoring the foundation and Vermont Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange.¹⁰

Why a Separate Medal Is Being Sought

The case for a herbicide-specific medal rests on the scale of exposure and the health toll that followed. During Operation Ranch Hand, the U.S. military’s aerial herbicide campaign from 1962 to 1971, approximately 20 million gallons of herbicides were sprayed across Vietnam, including at least 11 million gallons of Agent Orange. Missions rose from 107 in 1962 to more than 1,600 in 1967. Between 2.6 million and 3.8 million U.S. military personnel served in Vietnam during this period, though the exact number exposed to herbicides is not known.¹¹

The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that more than 300,000 veterans have died from the effects of Agent Orange since the war ended, a figure well above the roughly 58,000 Americans killed during the conflict itself.⁴

The VA now recognizes a long list of presumptive conditions linked to herbicide exposure, meaning veterans diagnosed with these illnesses do not have to prove the condition was caused by their service. The list includes bladder, prostate, and lung cancers, several blood cancers, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, and Parkinson’s disease, among others.¹² Certain birth defects in the children of exposed veterans are also presumed service-connected.¹³

Federal recognition came slowly. The Agent Orange Act of 1991 was the first law to establish presumptive conditions for exposed Vietnam veterans.¹⁴ The PACT Act of 2022 expanded that framework, adding hypertension and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance to the presumptive list and broadening the geographic locations where exposure is presumed, including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Guam, American Samoa, and Johnston Atoll.¹² The proposed federal medal is framed by its sponsors as a companion to those health-care expansions.

Existing Vietnam Medals Do Not Cover Herbicide Exposure

If you already hold a Vietnam Service Medal, that award is not the same recognition. Established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through Executive Order 11231 on July 8, 1965, the Vietnam Service Medal goes to members of all branches who served in Vietnam, its contiguous waters, or its airspace between July 3, 1965, and March 28, 1973. Personnel supporting operations from Thailand, Laos, or Cambodia during the same period are also eligible.¹⁵

Congress also authorized the Vietnam Veterans National Medal in 1984 under Public Law 98-566, a bronze commemorative produced by the U.S. Mint.¹⁶ Several states issue their own awards as well, such as New York’s Vietnam War Commemorative Medal for veterans who served between November 1, 1955, and May 17, 1975.¹⁷ None of these address herbicide exposure specifically. That gap is what the Orange Heart Medal and the pending federal legislation are meant to fill.

1
Columbus County News. Veterans Sought for Orange Heart Medals
2
Rep. Van Drew. Courtney, Van Drew Re-Introduce Bill to Honor Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange
3
Orange Heart Medal Project. About the Orange Heart Medal Project
4
CBS News. Agent Orange Vietnam Veterans Orange Heart Medal
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VFW. We Have to Keep Fighting
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American Press. Agent Orange Heart Medals Presented to Veterans to Recognize Service, Sacrifice
7
Congress.gov. H.R. 1728, Agent Orange Service Medal Act
8
Rep. Courtney. Courtney, Van Drew Re-Introduce Bill to Honor Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange
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Congress.gov. H.R. 8194 Cosponsors
10
Vermont General Assembly. H.C.R.276, Act No. R-334
11
National Library of Medicine. Veterans and Agent Orange
12
Department of Veterans Affairs. Agent Orange Exposure and VA Disability Compensation
13
Department of Veterans Affairs. Agent Orange Diseases
14
Department of Veterans Affairs. How VA Addressed Agent Orange Exposure 1977-1991
15
Naval History and Heritage Command. Vietnam Service Medal
16
U.S. Mint. Vietnam Veterans Bronze Medal
17
New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs. Vietnam War Commemorative Medal