OWATONNA, Minn. — Memorial Day honors those who died in active military duty.
On this Memorial Day in Owatanna, a family honored a veteran, who helped thousands who survived and later struggled.
"He's always been a fighter," said Joe Procopio, son of the late Al Procopio, who died Friday, May 28. "I think it shows his character and stuff, that he cares for others a lot. Doesn't like anything that's not fair to others."
Joe says his dad was proud of his service with the U.S. Navy. He was a "blue water veteran," stationed on the USS Intrepid off the coast of Vietnam in 1966.
Decades later, Al developed cancer and diabetes – which he believes was related to exposure to Agent Orange, the herbicide U.S. forces dumped on Vietnam to kill crops and eliminate jungle vegetation.
"A lot of time in and out of the hospital. His mobility. He was actually very good at accepting his limitations, but seeing him get more limited each and every (day)… things kept getting taken away from him, physically," Joe Procopio said.
But the VA hospital in 2002 removed Agent Orange-related benefits from blue water veterans like Al. Even though, according to his attorney, Al and tens of thousands of others drank water on the aircraft carriers contaminated with the chemical.
"Agent Orange killed him. No doubt in my military mind, that's what killed him," said attorney John Wells, who represented Al in a lawsuit, which they won, expanding VA benefits to about 90,000 blue water Navy Vietnam veterans.
"Proud of my dad," Joe Procopio said.
Al's family will miss the sarcastic guy who loved his fishing trips.
And on this Memorial Day, thanks and gratitude are pouring in on Al's obituary guestbook from fellow veterans he never met who were helped by his fight.
Al will be buried at Fort Snelling cemetery in St. Paul.