Agent Orange: The Chemical Warfare Agent

 

Painting by Vu Giang Huong  http://www.ffrd.org/agentorange.htm

 

 

As long as Agent Orange is not addressed, along with the reparations that the U.S. agreed to offer the Vietnamese, the Indochina War cannot be considered over.  Rather, it entered a different phase; a phase in which millions continue to suffer and die in agony. - Bill Fletcher, Jr. Black Commentator, 7/2/2009

http://www.blackcommentator.com331/331_aw_meeting_agent_orange.html

 

 

During the 10 years (1961-1971) of aerial chemical warfare in Vietnam, U.S. warplanes sprayed twenty million gallons of Agent Orange, a highly toxic dioxin-contaminated herbicide.   The defoliant was used to destroy the Vietnamese cover and food crops and to force Vietnamese peasants to relocate.  Agent Orange was also truck- and hand-sprayed to clear vegetation around U.S. military bases. When the U.S. fled Vietnam, it left behind its military toxic waste for the Vietnamese government to clean up. Toxic hot spots, as polluted and toxic as U.S. Superfund sites, remain around the former U.S. airbases where Agent Orange was sprayed, stored, loaded into planes and spraying equipment, and spilled.  By the end of the war, more than two million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians and nearly 60,000 U.S. soldiers had lost their lives.  However, for an estimated three million Vietnamese civilians and many U.S. veterans and their children, the war has never ended.  They suffer devastating disease and deformity – including many cancers; severe birth defects, such as missing limbs and grossly distorted bodies; learning disorders; reproductive disorders; and multi-generational genetic damage -- from exposure to dioxin, whose toxicity lasts for decades.

 

Foodchain and Human Contamination in Vietnam

An important recent study, ( http://www.vn-agentorange.org/edmaterials/hatfield_ao_hot_spots.pdf ),

conducted by a Canadian/South Vietnamese team, documents the dioxin contamination pattern from Agent Orange on former U.S. bases, the resulting food chain pollution, and the consequent contamination of human blood and breast milk in Vietnamese living on the former bases.  The study found that spills on former bases of Agent Orange persist as “hot spots” of dioxin (TCDD) contamination when compared to jungle areas that were sprayed.  Migration of TCDD through the food chain, especially in fish and duck fat, have resulted in very high levels in humans who are living and raising their food (fish ponds, etc.) on the former bases. Levels of dioxin in human breast milk of women living on the former bases exceed World Health Organization standards for breastfeeding infants.

 

The research team calls for the United States to take responsibility for a mitigation and remediation plan, working with the Vietnamese government, to:

·        identify all the former U.S. air bases where Agent Orange was stored and handled;

·        close the fish ponds on the bases;

·        develop health advisories and educational materials on dioxin contamination of the food chain;

·        relocate Vietnamese living on the former bases; and

·        develop remediation plan for contaminated soils.

*           *           *           *           *           *

US government perspective on Agent Orange at time of Vietnam war

Dr. James R. Clary, a former senior scientist at the Chemical Weapons Branch (Air Force Armament Development Lab in Florida) writes:

“When we initiated the herbicide program in the 1960s, we were aware of the potential for damage due to dioxin contamination in the herbicide. We were even aware that the military formulation had a higher dioxin concentration than the civilian version due to the lower cost and speed of manufacture. However, because the material was to be used on the enemy, none of us were overly concerned. We never considered a scenario in which our own personnel would become contaminated with the herbicide. And, if we had, we would have expected our own government to give assistance to veterans so contaminated.”


© P.J. Griffiths, Magnum.

Source: Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign at http://www.vn-agentorange.org/index.html

 

In spite of this admission and subsequent studies which correlate the incidence of many cancers, diabetes type 2, and birth defects in children with Agent Orange, the chemical companies involved in manufacturing Agent Orange maintain there is no scientific proof that Agent Orange causes disease and they admit no liability for its consequences on human health or the environment.

 

Compensation Efforts of Vietnamese Victims

The legacy of war persists in the dioxin residues accumulated in the environment and food chain and in the pollution of human bodies transmitted to future generations.  In 1984 Vietnam veterans won a $180 million settlement against manufacturers of Agent Orange, including Dow Chemical and Monsanto, a settlement which, in reality, provided little compensation per veteran (an average of $1200 for the most affected).  Other U.S. veterans and veterans in Australia, Canada and New Zealand have also received compensation in settlements with the manufacturers.  In all cases the manufacturers settle without admission of liability.  However, the most severely affected victims of the Vietnam War – the Vietnamese – have received nothing by way of compensation and services from the U.S. government. 

 

On January 31, 2004, The Vietnamese Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA), a victims’ rights group, filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court against several U.S. manufacturers of Agent Orange.  The lawsuit alleges that the United States conducted chemical warfare against the Vietnamese and violated the 1925 Geneva Protocol banning biological and toxin warfare http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/sbtwc/keytext/genprot.htm.

It seeks restitution for the victims and the cleanup of chemical hotspots that remain from the war.  The lawsuit was dismissed in district court, in appeals court and recently by the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

More information on the VAVA lawsuit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJxb7CY13uc

 

This film explains the basis of the lawsuit – the criminal breaching of the 1925 Geneva Protocol on the Use of Biological and Chemical Weapons by the United States in Vietnam.  Note that it contains many graphic photos of third-generation deformed children at orphanages and in families in Vietnam, whose birth deformities and neurological damage are attributed to persistent dioxin contamination.

 

 

Further Educational Resources

Agent Orange Films 

The Friendship Village Directed by Michelle Mason, an award-winning 50-minute documentary about an international group of veterans who built a village in Viet Nam for children with Agent Orange-related disabilities. Available at US Committee of the Vietnam Friendship Village  http://www.vietnamfriendship.org or Bullfrog films http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/fv.html or at

     

 

Friendship Village: A Place of Healing  Directed by William "Bill" Bacon III Focuses on the US veterans who have volunteered at the Vietnam Friendship Village. Available at the US Committee of the Vietnam Friendship Village  http://www.vietnamfriendship.org

 

 

 

 

Battle’s Poison Cloud: Directed by Cecile Trijssenaar of Tambuti Films,  Exams the birth defects issue in Viet Nam related to Agent Orange exposure and recent scientific research including research undertaken by Hatfield Consultants Ltd. Available in video stores and on-line book stores such as Amazon.com

  

 

Da Cam A Vietnamese American returns to Vietnam to document the tales of those who are believed to have been affected by Agent Orange. After three months in Vietnam, he and his camera have successfully captured the beautiful and peaceful images of his home land which greatly contrast the images of the forgotten victims of the Vietnam War, those suffering from Agent Orange. Available from the direct Vu Tran at http://www.dacam.org/contact.html

 

 

Agent Orange: The Last Battle illustrates the plight of two American Vietnam Veterans (Richard and Tony) who are dealing with life after being exposed to Agent Orange. The Veterans recount stories of being sprayed on and how they survived one war and now are fighting one last battle. The Battle with Agent Orange. Available at http://www.agentorangefilm.com/4436.html

  

 

A Story from the Corner of the Park: Directed by Vietnamese director Tran Van Thuy. A beautifully directed film that tells the story of a Vietnamese family in Hanoi, Vietnam whose children are believed to be affected by Agent Orange. (1996, 50 Min)

 

Vietnam: Where the War has Passed: Directed by Vu Le My of the National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio, Hanoi . An award winning film about the affects of Agent Orange on Vietnamese Veterans and their children. (30 Min)

 

The Vietnam War: An Unrecoverable Wound produced by the Vietnam Red Cross Agent Orange Victims Fund

 

Source: War Legacies Project http://www.warlegacies.org/AgentOrange.htm

 

Vietnam the Secret Agent produced by Daniel Keller and Jack Ochs. Using archival footage and interviews with veterans, the VA, scientists, attorneys and Dow Chemical, the film documents the history of agricultural herbicides and chemical warfare with the consequent impact on the environment and those exposed.

 

Fact Sheets and Other Educational Materials

 

See http://www.warlegacies.org/EducationalMaterials.htm

 

 

Scientific Studies on Health Effects

 

See http://www.warlegacies.org/Scientificstudies.htm

 

The materials on this site include: PowerPoint presentations of research and remediation of Agent Orange in Vietnam; Institute of Medicine summary of the use of herbicides, including Agent Orange, in Vietnam and the health effects on exposed veterans; key research papers on patterns of contamination of the Vietnamese ecosystem and Vietnamese people from Agent Orange; studies of health effects on Vietnam veterans in US, New Zealand, Australia, and Korea.

 

 

American Public Health Association Policy Statement on Agent Orange

 

The American Public Health Association (APHA) is the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. The APHA policy statement includes a summary of the health risks of exposure to Agent Orange in veterans and it calls for more health effects research, more veterans’ health services, and compensation from the US government and chemical companies to Vietnamese victims.

 

http://www.apha.org/NR/rdonlyres/478DB48D-FABD-4F43-B6A3-63FF9B9D0E33/0/B8AgentOrangeResolution200731507final.pdf

 

 

Other Resources for Information, Action and Support


Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign at http://www.vn-agentorange.org/index.html

 

VAORRC is a national coalition of veterans, Vietnamese-Americans, and other community leaders whose goal is to work for justice for Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange through winning just compensation from the US government.  The VAORRC website is contains:

·        summary of the lawsuit

·        petition for just compensation for victims

·        news and newsletters on the campaign

·        educational materials on the war in Vietnam and Agent Orange, including studies, annotated bibliography, CDs and videos  

   


Festival "Soothing the Pain of Agent Orange Victims", Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, September 17-18, 2004

Source: VAORRC website.

Veterans for Peace   

http://www.veteransforpeace.org

 

This piece was written by an activist Vietnam Veteran David Cline who was instrumental in forming Veterans for Peace and the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Coalition. It includes a speech he gave in Vietnam which conveys the deep commitment of many veterans of war to peace, reconciliation with “enemies”, restitution and justice for the victims of our wars.

http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Agent_Orange_a_legacy.vp.html