A Canadian warrant officer who spent decades dealing with the dangers of wars is gearing up for a long appeal process after his application for disability compensation was denied by Veterans Affairs Canada.

Alain Vachon has served in the Canadian military for 27 years and has been posted to Cyprus, Kuwait, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

He has been in a fight of his own for the last two year, battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Vachon believes he contracted cancer because of where he served and says he was exposed to depleted uranium at the Camp Doha Army base in Kuwait.

“As a combat engineer we clear, dispose of unused ammo, booby traps and more recently in Afghanistan IEDS,” said Vachon. “In Kuwait the Americans had a base beside us and their ammunition dump blew up and in their rounds, they have uranium, depleted uranium rounds, and as it happened, one of our heavy equipment took a dozer and went through the wall that separated us with them and then a bunch of us, most of us, ran across and helped the injured to safety on our side.”

Depleted Uranium or DU was used in American munitions in the First Gulf War and in the Balkans and even though it was not used by Canada, our troops still worked near it.

Vachon was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2013 after years of breathing problems.

He endured seven months of chemotherapy and filed a claim with Veterans Affairs, but it was denied.

“We filed a disability claim because of the cancer and believing that the depleted uranium caused it,” said Vachon’s wife, Alex.

The Vachon’s have a letter from the military admitting that he was exposed to depleted uranium, pesticides and other unknown substances but how much he was exposed to is still unclear.

“We have our side that says, yes, it could be a cause and their side says no. They don’t even say could be, it’s no,” said Vachon.

Even though other vets have been awarded for exposure, Veterans Affairs isn’t recognizing the precedent.

Steve Dorner was a weapons inspector in Bosnia and has terminal cancer. He had to fight for eleven years to receive a disability pension.

“It’s sad it really is and it hurts, it really does. It hurts your psyche. It hurts everything that you believed in. You believed that your government would stand behind you and help your family and look after your family if something happens to you and then you find out it’s not the case,” said Dorner

Dorner’s wife Rosanne now helps other vets apply and appeal.

“She’s the one who kept me going through all of this. She’s been dealing with probably in the neighbourhood of 20 to 30 different people that have called. A lot of veterans out there are in need and a lot just have given up. In fact when we first started this, I had given up,” said Dorner.

“Each and every person has to fight. It is frustrating, I don’t understand why they don’t just kind of file that information away and say that, you know, if we have the same proof, why we have to prove it all over again. I don’t understand that at all,” said Alex Vachon.

The Vachon’s have not given up on their claim and their appeal will be heard in February.

(With files from Rylee Carlson)