A FORMER South Australian governor and the state's Minister for Veterans Affairs have taken up the cudgels on behalf of volunteer civilian doctors and nurses who served in Vietnam but have been denied medical assistance by the federal government. SA Veterans Affairs Minister Jack Snelling is writing to his federal counterpart, Warren Snowdon, urging that the ban on doctors and nurses receiving Department of Veterans Affairs gold card medical assistance be lifted. This follows a review by the SA Veterans Affairs Council, headed by former governor Eric Neal, after evidence emerged challenging the DVA contention that the civilian teams never served under army command. About 450 doctors and nurses served in Vietnam between 1964 and 1972. About 220 are still alive, with many suffering war-related illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorders, cancers and auto-immune diseases. All military personnel, including performers who entertained the troops, have medical entitlements under DVA, but the department argues the medical teams were under the control of the department of external affairs. A document leaked to The Weekend Australian last month puts the Bien Hoa hospital, run by the civilian teams, under the wing of the Australian and Vietnamese armies. The document has not been validated by DVA. The SA VAC has supported the civilian teams' claims since 2009 but at its last meeting reviewed the new evidence and urged Mr Snelling to write to his federal counterpart asking that existing policy be overturned.