Australian Agent Orange Study
http://www.dva.gov.au/aboutDVA/publications/health_research/morbidity/males/appendixes/appc1/Pages/C1MF%20HEALTH%20OF%20CHILDREN.aspx
Out of 30,263 respondents, 18.4% (5579) reported a congenital anomaly. This is six times the rate that is normally found at birth (3%) and more than twice the rate (6%) in studies that follow children for a number of years after birth. This doesn’t even count all the other conditions they monitored.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Info on where Agent Orange was Used
With gratitude to Michael Gaffney for his research.
The Air Force Historical Research Agency is the repository for United States Air Force historical documents.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Historical_Research_Agency
Air Force Historical Research Agency [AFHRA]
http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/
http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/vietnam_war/vietnam.html">"http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/vietnam_war/vietnam.html">http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/vietnam_war/vietnam.html
Announcements
The AFHRA public web site is undergoing a migration from a web server at Maxwell AFB to one administered by the Air Force News Agency.
The location of the new site is
The most current information will be posted at the new site. Regular updates to this site have ceased. Updates to the new site will be accomplished expeditiously.
______________________________
Results 1 - 20 of 20 for Thailand + "vietnam War" + "Agent Orange" + sprayed + "used in Thailand". (0.22 seconds)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&num=100&newwindow=1&q=Thailand+%2B+%22vietnam+War%22+%2B+%22Agent+Orange%22+%2B+sprayed+%2B+%22used+in+Thailand%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
Results 1 - 21 of 21 for "used in Thailand" + "vietnam War" + "Agent Orange" + sprayed. (0.29 seconds
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&num=100&newwindow=1&q=%22used+in+Thailand%22+%2B+%22vietnam+War%22+%2B+%22Agent+Orange%22+%2B+sprayed+&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
Results 1 - 6 of 6 for "sprayed in Thailand" + "vietnam War" + "Agent Orange". (0.16 seconds)
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22sprayed+in+Thailand%22+%2B+%22vietnam+War%22+%2B+%22Agent+Orange%22&hl=en&safe=off&num=100&newwindow=1&filter=0
PHOTO EVIDENCE OF THE USE OF HERBICIDES IN THAILAND INCLUDING ...
Aug 29, 2008 ... Further, herbicides were only sprayed in Thailand for test purposes in the early and mid 1960's. VA DOD List · VA Agent Orange Newsletter ...
shop-las-vegas.com/VBA/Herbicides-Used-in-Thailand/Photo-Evidence.htm - 79k - Cached - Similar pages
EXPOSURE TO HERBICIDES IN THAILAND EXPOSED
(and many other places in Asia during the Vietnam War) ...... The document also showed that Agent Orange was sprayed in Thailand in 1964 and 1965. ...
www.shop-las-vegas.com/VBA/VBA-Preface.htm"> www.shop-las-vegas.com/VBA/VBA-Preface.htm "> www.shop-las-vegas.com/VBA/VBA-Preface.htm - 149k - Cached - Similar pages
VETERAN ADVOCATE SUPPORT GROUP WITH EMPHASIS ON THAILAND VETERANS ...
The bill restores equity to all Vietnam veterans that were exposed to Agent Orange. It would clarify the laws related to VA benefits provided to Vietnam War ...
shop-las-vegas.com/VBA/ - 98k - Cached - Similar pages
THAILAND VETERANS FOR EQUAL TREATMENT FOR EXPOSURE TO HERBICIDES
Thailand/Vietnam War government cover-up against exposure to Agent Orange. ... that herbicide was sprayed in Thailand, and that he had leukemia and ... The article indicates that Agent Orange and other chemicals were tested by the ...
shop-las-vegas.com/VA-Photo-Evidence.htm - 84k - Cached - Similar pages
DOD + VA = DENIAL (THE TRUTH)
Tributes to our fallen comrades in the Vietnam War Note: Thailand ..... The document also showed that Agent Orange was sprayed in Thailand in 1964 and 1965. ...
shop-las-vegas.com/VBA/The-Truth.htm - 94k - Cached - Similar pages
[PDF]
A REPORT TO CONGRESS INEQUITIES IN TREATMENT OF VIETNAM VETERANS
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
served this nation during the Vietnam War in Thailand, but for a geographical line on ... The Government's contention that Agent Orange was not sprayed in Thailand has .... The IOM report is supported by Agent Orange historian Maj. ...
www.viet-remf.net/The%20Exclusion%20of%20Thailand%20Veterans%20Repor... - Similar pages
______________________________________________
[Wiki stuff]
US Air Force in Thailand During Vietnam War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_In_Thailand
Bases in Thailand Used by US Air Force
Don Muang RTAFB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Muang_Royal_Thai_Air_Force_Base
[During the early years of the Vietnam War (1961-1966), Don Muang was used as a major command and logistics hub of the United States Air Force. The USAF forces at Don Muang were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Thirteenth Air Force.
After the expansion of U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield in 1966, most American units and person ell were transferred from Don Muang, however a small USAF liaison office remained at the base until 1975.]
Korat RTAFB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korat_Royal_Thai_Air_Force_Base
[During the Vietnam War, Korat RTAFB was the largest front-line facility of the United States Air Force (USAF) in Thailand from 1962 through 1975.]
Nakhon Phanom RTAFB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakhon_Phanom_Royal_Thai_Navy_Base
[During the Vietnam War, the facility was known as Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base and it was a front-line facility of the Royal Thai Air Force used by the United States in its wars against North Vietnam and the Pathet Lao organization in Laos from 1961 to 1975.]
Takhli RTAFB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takhli_Royal_Thai_Air_Force_Base
[Takhli was a front-line facility of the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Vietnam War from 1961 through 1975. The USAF forces at Takhli were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). Takhli was the location for TACAN station Channel 43 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions.]
U-Tapao RTNAF
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-Tapao_Royal_Thai_Navy_Airfield
[Prior to 1965, U-Tapao was a small Royal Thai Navy airfield. At Don Muang Air Base near Bangkok the USAF had stationed KC-135 air refueling tankers from Strategic Air Command (SAC) for refueling tactical combat aircraft over the skies of Indochina. Although Thailand was an active participant in the war, with a token ground force deployed to the Republic of Vietnam and a more substantial involvement in Laos, the visibiliy of the large USAF Boeing tankers in its capital was causing political embarrassment to the Thai government.
* * *
The USAF 7th Air Force wanted to have additional B-52s missions flown into the war zone, however, the B-52 missions from Andersen, as well as from Kadena AB, Okinawa, required long mission times and air refueling. Concerns about base security with having the aircraft based in South Vietnam led to the change of mission at Tuy Hoa Air Base from that of basing B-52s there to one of a tactical air base. It was decided as the base at U-Tapao was being established as a KC-135 tanker base to move them out of Dong Muang to base the B-52s there where they could fly unrefuelled though tout both Vietnams.
The construction of U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield began in October, 1965 and was completed slightly more than two years later. The 11,000 foot runway was opened on 6 July 1966 and the first aircraft to land was a Royal Thai Air Force HH-16 Helicopter, then a USAF C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft.
With the completion of U-Tapao, most American forces were transferred from Dong Muang, and U-Tapao RTNAF became a front-line facility of the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Vietnam War from 1966 through 1975.]
Ubon RTAFB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubon_Royal_Thai_Air_Force_Base
[From 1965 to 1974, the base was a front-line facility of the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Vietnam War. Ubon was the location for TACAN station Channel 51 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions.]
Udorn RTAFB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udorn_Royal_Thai_Air_Force_Base
[During the Vietnam War the base was a front-line facility of the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1964 through 1976. The USAF forces at Udorn were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Thirteenth Air Force (13th AF). Udorn was the location for TACAN station Channel 31 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions.
Udorn RTAFB was also the Asian Headquarters for Air America, an American passenger and cargo airline covertly owned and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It supplied and supported covert operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.]
__________________________________________
US Military Thailand Bases & Camps During Vietnam War Era
http://amer-thai2001.tripod.com/
[The purpose of this web site is share photos of that were contributed by many GI's stationed in Thailand during Vietnam War.]
US Army Camps in Thailand
http://amer-thai2001.tripod.com/id72.html
United States Army Camps - 1 (Thailand)
Camp Bang Pla
Camp Buri Ram
Camp Essayons
Camp Fort Narai
Camp Friendship - APO 96233 (Korat)
Camp Kanchanaburi - APO 96229
Camp Ku Su Mon
Camp Lop Buri - Pawaii
Camp Pak Chong
Camp Charn Sinthope (Phanom Sarakam)
Camp Surin
United States Army Camps (Thailand)-2
Camp Ratchaburi
Camp Raum Chit Chai (Sakhon Nakon)
Camp Roi Et
Camp Samae San APO 96232
Camp Srimahapoe
Camp Vayama
Chaing Mai
Pattaya R & R Facility
The Air Force Historical Research Agency is the repository for United States Air Force historical documents.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Historical_Research_Agency
Air Force Historical Research Agency [AFHRA]
http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/
http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/vietnam_war/vietnam.html">"http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/vietnam_war/vietnam.html">http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/vietnam_war/vietnam.html
Announcements
The AFHRA public web site is undergoing a migration from a web server at Maxwell AFB to one administered by the Air Force News Agency.
The location of the new site is
The most current information will be posted at the new site. Regular updates to this site have ceased. Updates to the new site will be accomplished expeditiously.
______________________________
Results 1 - 20 of 20 for Thailand + "vietnam War" + "Agent Orange" + sprayed + "used in Thailand". (0.22 seconds)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&num=100&newwindow=1&q=Thailand+%2B+%22vietnam+War%22+%2B+%22Agent+Orange%22+%2B+sprayed+%2B+%22used+in+Thailand%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
Results 1 - 21 of 21 for "used in Thailand" + "vietnam War" + "Agent Orange" + sprayed. (0.29 seconds
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&num=100&newwindow=1&q=%22used+in+Thailand%22+%2B+%22vietnam+War%22+%2B+%22Agent+Orange%22+%2B+sprayed+&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
Results 1 - 6 of 6 for "sprayed in Thailand" + "vietnam War" + "Agent Orange". (0.16 seconds)
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22sprayed+in+Thailand%22+%2B+%22vietnam+War%22+%2B+%22Agent+Orange%22&hl=en&safe=off&num=100&newwindow=1&filter=0
PHOTO EVIDENCE OF THE USE OF HERBICIDES IN THAILAND INCLUDING ...
Aug 29, 2008 ... Further, herbicides were only sprayed in Thailand for test purposes in the early and mid 1960's. VA DOD List · VA Agent Orange Newsletter ...
shop-las-vegas.com/VBA/Herbicides-Used-in-Thailand/Photo-Evidence.htm - 79k - Cached - Similar pages
EXPOSURE TO HERBICIDES IN THAILAND EXPOSED
(and many other places in Asia during the Vietnam War) ...... The document also showed that Agent Orange was sprayed in Thailand in 1964 and 1965. ...
www.shop-las-vegas.com/VBA/VBA-Preface.htm"> www.shop-las-vegas.com/VBA/VBA-Preface.htm "> www.shop-las-vegas.com/VBA/VBA-Preface.htm - 149k - Cached - Similar pages
VETERAN ADVOCATE SUPPORT GROUP WITH EMPHASIS ON THAILAND VETERANS ...
The bill restores equity to all Vietnam veterans that were exposed to Agent Orange. It would clarify the laws related to VA benefits provided to Vietnam War ...
shop-las-vegas.com/VBA/ - 98k - Cached - Similar pages
THAILAND VETERANS FOR EQUAL TREATMENT FOR EXPOSURE TO HERBICIDES
Thailand/Vietnam War government cover-up against exposure to Agent Orange. ... that herbicide was sprayed in Thailand, and that he had leukemia and ... The article indicates that Agent Orange and other chemicals were tested by the ...
shop-las-vegas.com/VA-Photo-Evidence.htm - 84k - Cached - Similar pages
DOD + VA = DENIAL (THE TRUTH)
Tributes to our fallen comrades in the Vietnam War Note: Thailand ..... The document also showed that Agent Orange was sprayed in Thailand in 1964 and 1965. ...
shop-las-vegas.com/VBA/The-Truth.htm - 94k - Cached - Similar pages
[PDF]
A REPORT TO CONGRESS INEQUITIES IN TREATMENT OF VIETNAM VETERANS
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
served this nation during the Vietnam War in Thailand, but for a geographical line on ... The Government's contention that Agent Orange was not sprayed in Thailand has .... The IOM report is supported by Agent Orange historian Maj. ...
www.viet-remf.net/The%20Exclusion%20of%20Thailand%20Veterans%20Repor... - Similar pages
______________________________________________
[Wiki stuff]
US Air Force in Thailand During Vietnam War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_In_Thailand
Bases in Thailand Used by US Air Force
Don Muang RTAFB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Muang_Royal_Thai_Air_Force_Base
[During the early years of the Vietnam War (1961-1966), Don Muang was used as a major command and logistics hub of the United States Air Force. The USAF forces at Don Muang were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Thirteenth Air Force.
After the expansion of U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield in 1966, most American units and person ell were transferred from Don Muang, however a small USAF liaison office remained at the base until 1975.]
Korat RTAFB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korat_Royal_Thai_Air_Force_Base
[During the Vietnam War, Korat RTAFB was the largest front-line facility of the United States Air Force (USAF) in Thailand from 1962 through 1975.]
Nakhon Phanom RTAFB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakhon_Phanom_Royal_Thai_Navy_Base
[During the Vietnam War, the facility was known as Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base and it was a front-line facility of the Royal Thai Air Force used by the United States in its wars against North Vietnam and the Pathet Lao organization in Laos from 1961 to 1975.]
Takhli RTAFB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takhli_Royal_Thai_Air_Force_Base
[Takhli was a front-line facility of the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Vietnam War from 1961 through 1975. The USAF forces at Takhli were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). Takhli was the location for TACAN station Channel 43 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions.]
U-Tapao RTNAF
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-Tapao_Royal_Thai_Navy_Airfield
[Prior to 1965, U-Tapao was a small Royal Thai Navy airfield. At Don Muang Air Base near Bangkok the USAF had stationed KC-135 air refueling tankers from Strategic Air Command (SAC) for refueling tactical combat aircraft over the skies of Indochina. Although Thailand was an active participant in the war, with a token ground force deployed to the Republic of Vietnam and a more substantial involvement in Laos, the visibiliy of the large USAF Boeing tankers in its capital was causing political embarrassment to the Thai government.
* * *
The USAF 7th Air Force wanted to have additional B-52s missions flown into the war zone, however, the B-52 missions from Andersen, as well as from Kadena AB, Okinawa, required long mission times and air refueling. Concerns about base security with having the aircraft based in South Vietnam led to the change of mission at Tuy Hoa Air Base from that of basing B-52s there to one of a tactical air base. It was decided as the base at U-Tapao was being established as a KC-135 tanker base to move them out of Dong Muang to base the B-52s there where they could fly unrefuelled though tout both Vietnams.
The construction of U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield began in October, 1965 and was completed slightly more than two years later. The 11,000 foot runway was opened on 6 July 1966 and the first aircraft to land was a Royal Thai Air Force HH-16 Helicopter, then a USAF C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft.
With the completion of U-Tapao, most American forces were transferred from Dong Muang, and U-Tapao RTNAF became a front-line facility of the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Vietnam War from 1966 through 1975.]
Ubon RTAFB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubon_Royal_Thai_Air_Force_Base
[From 1965 to 1974, the base was a front-line facility of the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Vietnam War. Ubon was the location for TACAN station Channel 51 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions.]
Udorn RTAFB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udorn_Royal_Thai_Air_Force_Base
[During the Vietnam War the base was a front-line facility of the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1964 through 1976. The USAF forces at Udorn were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Thirteenth Air Force (13th AF). Udorn was the location for TACAN station Channel 31 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions.
Udorn RTAFB was also the Asian Headquarters for Air America, an American passenger and cargo airline covertly owned and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It supplied and supported covert operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.]
__________________________________________
US Military Thailand Bases & Camps During Vietnam War Era
http://amer-thai2001.tripod.com/
[The purpose of this web site is share photos of that were contributed by many GI's stationed in Thailand during Vietnam War.]
US Army Camps in Thailand
http://amer-thai2001.tripod.com/id72.html
United States Army Camps - 1 (Thailand)
Camp Bang Pla
Camp Buri Ram
Camp Essayons
Camp Fort Narai
Camp Friendship - APO 96233 (Korat)
Camp Kanchanaburi - APO 96229
Camp Ku Su Mon
Camp Lop Buri - Pawaii
Camp Pak Chong
Camp Charn Sinthope (Phanom Sarakam)
Camp Surin
United States Army Camps (Thailand)-2
Camp Ratchaburi
Camp Raum Chit Chai (Sakhon Nakon)
Camp Roi Et
Camp Samae San APO 96232
Camp Srimahapoe
Camp Vayama
Chaing Mai
Pattaya R & R Facility
Friday, January 15, 2010
AO victims need more support from US
http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/AO-victims-need-more-support-from-US/20101/111545.vov
US academics, scientists and war veterans examined the adverse effects of Agent Orange/dioxin on people’s health and the environment at a workshop in Washington DC on January 7.
Scientists presented the latest research on the effects of the toxic chemicals on Vietnam and a number of other places around the world, and shared the view that AO-related issues have not yet received enough attention from chemical firms.
Rick Weidman, Executive Director for Policy and Government Affairs, said there is growing concern in the US that the chemicals not only affect the lives of war veterans who fought in the Vietnam War four decades ago but also the lives of future generations.
Alan B. Oates*, President of the Vietnam Veterans of America, said that the US government has not taken AO issues seriously, especially the effects on victims. He said he felt sorry for that and hoped the victims would receive adequate care very soon.
Charles Bailey, manager of the Ford Foundation, pointed to the fact that both the Vietnamese and US governments have been working closely in recent times to support those exposed to the chemicals and prevent the chemicals spreading from the previously sprayed areas.
Such cooperation is still in the initial stages and both countries need to work harder on this process, he said.
He suggested that the two countries study and look at easy-to-solve issues first and then the tougher ones.
Dr Michael Martin, who has travelled to Vietnam many times to study the effects of AO, said that several members of the US congress would like to speed up the settlement of AO-related issues in Vietnam in the coming months.
*NOTE: Alan Oates is Chair of the VVA National Agent Orange/Dioxin and Other Toxic Exposures Committee. John Rowan is President of Vietnam Veterans of America.
US academics, scientists and war veterans examined the adverse effects of Agent Orange/dioxin on people’s health and the environment at a workshop in Washington DC on January 7.
Scientists presented the latest research on the effects of the toxic chemicals on Vietnam and a number of other places around the world, and shared the view that AO-related issues have not yet received enough attention from chemical firms.
Rick Weidman, Executive Director for Policy and Government Affairs, said there is growing concern in the US that the chemicals not only affect the lives of war veterans who fought in the Vietnam War four decades ago but also the lives of future generations.
Alan B. Oates*, President of the Vietnam Veterans of America, said that the US government has not taken AO issues seriously, especially the effects on victims. He said he felt sorry for that and hoped the victims would receive adequate care very soon.
Charles Bailey, manager of the Ford Foundation, pointed to the fact that both the Vietnamese and US governments have been working closely in recent times to support those exposed to the chemicals and prevent the chemicals spreading from the previously sprayed areas.
Such cooperation is still in the initial stages and both countries need to work harder on this process, he said.
He suggested that the two countries study and look at easy-to-solve issues first and then the tougher ones.
Dr Michael Martin, who has travelled to Vietnam many times to study the effects of AO, said that several members of the US congress would like to speed up the settlement of AO-related issues in Vietnam in the coming months.
*NOTE: Alan Oates is Chair of the VVA National Agent Orange/Dioxin and Other Toxic Exposures Committee. John Rowan is President of Vietnam Veterans of America.
The Agent Orange Horror And The U.S.
http://www.seattlemedium.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=100768&sID=34&ItemSource=L
by Bill Fletcher, Jr
NNPA Columnist
Originally posted 1/6/2010
(NNPA) - You may not notice a victim of Agent Orange. They may look healthy on the outside, full of life and vigor. Yet inside them there is a time-bomb, a time-bomb set during the US war against Vietnam more than thirty five years ago. In over three million people, including US troops who were involved in that war, this bomb has been going off over the years creating an on-going catastrophe.
On a recent visit to Vietnam I had the opportunity to meet with leaders and activists in the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA). Formed in 2003 by physicians, Vietnamese war veterans, and other activists, this mass organization spread throughout the country amounting to more than 60,000 members in chapters in most provinces. VAVA came together to remind both Vietnam, but also the world, of the continuing impact of the human-made plague that served as an instrument of war by the US against Vietnam.
Agent Orange is a form of chemical warfare. It was promoted as a defoliant by the US government, allegedly for the purposes of destroying jungles and forests where soldiers of the National Liberation Front and North Vietnam were encamped during the Indochina War. As one leader of VAVA informed me, Agent Orange was described by the USA as being so safe that soldiers were informed that they could use it on their skin against various insects.
Agent Orange was not safe at all. In fact, it was precisely the opposite. Getting into the blood stream it had a long-term impact on those exposed. The impact, however, was not immediate, at least on human beings.
In a discussion with leaders of VAVA, I asked at what point the impact of Agent Orange became obvious. There were two principal stages, I was informed. The immediate ecological destruction was obvious. The impact on humans, however, took longer to uncover. It was after the war had ended (1975) that the Vietnamese began to notice oddities. Strange cancers were on the rise. The most bizarre of birth defects appeared, hideous by any stretch of the imagination, including children born absent eyes and limbs.
Agent Orange might have been ignored altogether in the USA had not something else happened at the same time. Agent Orange’s impact became evident on US veterans and their families. The same symptoms were occurring in the USA and neither the US veterans nor the Vietnamese were being provided with useful answers as to what was actually going on.
A lawsuit against companies that were alleged to have been involved in the production of Agent Orange failed in US courts, largely for technical reasons. At the same time, the US government has not wanted to come to terms with the impact of this criminal instrument of war. In fact, according to various Vietnamese with who I spoke, US diplomats repeatedly made it clear that true normalized relations between the USA and Vietnam would not take place as long as the Vietnamese continued to raise the issue of Agent Orange. Given that the USA has yet to pay the reparations to Vietnam promised at the time of the Paris Peace Agreement in 1973, it is understandable that the Vietnamese government has been reluctant to press this matter.
The resolution of the Agent Orange horror will only take place when the US government assumes responsibility for its use of chemical warfare in Indochina. Not only was Agent Orange used in Vietnam, but also in Laos and Cambodia against insurgent groups and their base areas. Assuming responsibility means an acknowledgement to the peoples of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and, yes, the people of the USA, that the US committed horrendous damage against soldiers and civilians. In addition to the health impact on Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians, and U.S. veterans, extensive ecological damage was done to Indochina, including but not limited to the wholesale destruction of forested areas.
For those who have suffered the effects of Agent Orange, whether a US veteran and his/her family here at home, or Vietnamese civilians and former combatants, the price has been literally and figuratively very high. The damage to families, the resources into medical care, and the proliferation of orphans, has put immense strain on entire populations. For Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, economically underdeveloped countries, the resource strain has been immeasurable. Yet in all of this, the USA continues to keep its fingers stuck in its ears and its eyes closed refusing to accept responsibility for this atrocity.
The time has come to repair the damage. Congress and the President must act to move legislation that will address the extent of this horror, both in Indochina, but also here at home. It is time to bring the Indochina War to an end.
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum.
by Bill Fletcher, Jr
NNPA Columnist
Originally posted 1/6/2010
(NNPA) - You may not notice a victim of Agent Orange. They may look healthy on the outside, full of life and vigor. Yet inside them there is a time-bomb, a time-bomb set during the US war against Vietnam more than thirty five years ago. In over three million people, including US troops who were involved in that war, this bomb has been going off over the years creating an on-going catastrophe.
On a recent visit to Vietnam I had the opportunity to meet with leaders and activists in the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA). Formed in 2003 by physicians, Vietnamese war veterans, and other activists, this mass organization spread throughout the country amounting to more than 60,000 members in chapters in most provinces. VAVA came together to remind both Vietnam, but also the world, of the continuing impact of the human-made plague that served as an instrument of war by the US against Vietnam.
Agent Orange is a form of chemical warfare. It was promoted as a defoliant by the US government, allegedly for the purposes of destroying jungles and forests where soldiers of the National Liberation Front and North Vietnam were encamped during the Indochina War. As one leader of VAVA informed me, Agent Orange was described by the USA as being so safe that soldiers were informed that they could use it on their skin against various insects.
Agent Orange was not safe at all. In fact, it was precisely the opposite. Getting into the blood stream it had a long-term impact on those exposed. The impact, however, was not immediate, at least on human beings.
In a discussion with leaders of VAVA, I asked at what point the impact of Agent Orange became obvious. There were two principal stages, I was informed. The immediate ecological destruction was obvious. The impact on humans, however, took longer to uncover. It was after the war had ended (1975) that the Vietnamese began to notice oddities. Strange cancers were on the rise. The most bizarre of birth defects appeared, hideous by any stretch of the imagination, including children born absent eyes and limbs.
Agent Orange might have been ignored altogether in the USA had not something else happened at the same time. Agent Orange’s impact became evident on US veterans and their families. The same symptoms were occurring in the USA and neither the US veterans nor the Vietnamese were being provided with useful answers as to what was actually going on.
A lawsuit against companies that were alleged to have been involved in the production of Agent Orange failed in US courts, largely for technical reasons. At the same time, the US government has not wanted to come to terms with the impact of this criminal instrument of war. In fact, according to various Vietnamese with who I spoke, US diplomats repeatedly made it clear that true normalized relations between the USA and Vietnam would not take place as long as the Vietnamese continued to raise the issue of Agent Orange. Given that the USA has yet to pay the reparations to Vietnam promised at the time of the Paris Peace Agreement in 1973, it is understandable that the Vietnamese government has been reluctant to press this matter.
The resolution of the Agent Orange horror will only take place when the US government assumes responsibility for its use of chemical warfare in Indochina. Not only was Agent Orange used in Vietnam, but also in Laos and Cambodia against insurgent groups and their base areas. Assuming responsibility means an acknowledgement to the peoples of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and, yes, the people of the USA, that the US committed horrendous damage against soldiers and civilians. In addition to the health impact on Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians, and U.S. veterans, extensive ecological damage was done to Indochina, including but not limited to the wholesale destruction of forested areas.
For those who have suffered the effects of Agent Orange, whether a US veteran and his/her family here at home, or Vietnamese civilians and former combatants, the price has been literally and figuratively very high. The damage to families, the resources into medical care, and the proliferation of orphans, has put immense strain on entire populations. For Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, economically underdeveloped countries, the resource strain has been immeasurable. Yet in all of this, the USA continues to keep its fingers stuck in its ears and its eyes closed refusing to accept responsibility for this atrocity.
The time has come to repair the damage. Congress and the President must act to move legislation that will address the extent of this horror, both in Indochina, but also here at home. It is time to bring the Indochina War to an end.
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Postage stamp commemorating the life of Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.
To All:
Please disseminate the attached letter widely and seek support for this proposed postage stamp honoring Admiral Zumwalt. As one who was privileged to know and work with the Admiral in our joint quest to improve the lot of those of us who served in Vietnam through our work with the Agent Orange Coordinating Council many years ago; it is the least we can do for a man who did so much for us.
Paul Sutton "Dominus Fortissima Turris"
ssgtusmc6169@yahoo.com
Patriotism: Supporting your Country ALL THE TIME; and, your government when it deserves it - MARK TWAIN
Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.
JAMES G. ZUMWALT
1226 Admiral Zumwalt Lane
Herndon, Virginia 20170
Tel: 703-798-6400
June 17, 2009
Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee
c/o Stamp Development
U.S. Postal Service
1735 North Lynn St., Suite 5013
Arlington, Virginia 22209-6432
Dear Committee Members:
The purpose of this letter is to request the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) consider the issuance of a postage stamp commemorating the life of Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. I am Admiral Zumwalt’s sole surviving son. While I have a personal interest in seeing him so honored, I would respectfully submit that his lifetime achievements clearly justify such an honor. Allow me to briefly share some of those achievements.
While US postage stamps have been issued over the years commemorating men and women achieving great accomplishments, few exist recognizing those who have dedicated so much of their lives to leveling life’s playing field for others unable to do so for themselves. A military man by profession, Admiral Zumwalt would prove himself not only to be of such an ilk, but a tremendous innovator and great humanitarian as well.
Admiral Zumwalt enjoyed an immensely successful naval career which involved a meteoric rise to the US Navy’s top position. At the age of 44, he was the US Navy’s youngest Rear Admiral; at 47, its youngest Vice Admiral; and at age 49 its youngest Admiral and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). During a 37-year career, during which he fought three wars, Admiral Zumwalt committed his life to achieving equality for all serving in his beloved Navy. While his life as a junior officer was spent practicing this belief on a local command level, it was not until he became CNO that he was able to implement such beliefs on a service-wide basis through a series of very creative leadership initiatives. As reported in the December 21, 1970 issue of TIME Magazine featuring him on its cover, Admiral Zumwalt’s initiatives brought the US Navy, “kicking and screaming into the 20th Century.” The article went on to hail him as “the Navy’s most popular leader since World War II.”
While the beneficiaries of many of the changes Admiral Zumwalt implemented in the Navy were members of minority groups whose professional growth within the service had been stymied by overly restrictive regulations, he worked diligently to improve service life for all wearing the Navy uniform. What had prompted his selection in 1970 by civilian superiors over 33 more senior admirals was his advocacy for rapid and drastic changes in the way the Navy treated its uniformed men and women. And, once selected, he made such advocacy a reality, undertaking numerous initiatives that included: improving living conditions in the Navy; promoting the first female and first African-American officers to flag rank; allowing females to become naval aviators; opening up ratings for Filipino sailors whose service had long been limited to a steward’s rating; eliminating demeaning and abrasive US Navy regulations that negatively impacted on a sailor’s attitude without providing a corresponding positive enhancement of professional performance; etc. The positive impact of his changes was tremendous, as evidenced by the effect on re-enlistment rates. These rates were at an all-time low when he took command of the Navy in 1970; when he retired four years later, re-enlistment rates had tripled. Admiral Zumwalt’s personal papers, on file at The Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University, include numerous letters from sailors written over the years expressing their personal gratitude for changes he made that impacted so positively on their decision to stay and make the Navy a career.
When Admiral Zumwalt retired from the Navy in 1974, it did not end his service to country. He continued in numerous capacities to fight for the oppressed. As Commander of US Naval Forces in Vietnam during the war, he was of the belief a commander’s responsibility to his men survived the battlefield, prompting him to fight for US Government benefits for Vietnam veterans suffering from Agent Orange exposure.
By way of background, Admiral Zumwalt had ordered the use of the chemical defoliant Agent Orange during the war to reduce the high casualty rate his sailors were suffering. Heavy jungle concealment provided the enemy with the element of surprise in ambushes against US Navy boats operating in Vietnam’s narrow waterways. The sailors onboard these boats stood a 72% chance of being killed or wounded during a twelve month tour. The use of Agent Orange improved survivability, reducing the casualty rate twelve-fold—to 6%. It was not known at that time, however, what the long-term health impact of Agent Orange would be on those who were exposed. In a bitter irony of the Vietnam war, one of those so exposed, later succumbing to Agent Orange-related cancers, was Admiral Zumwalt’s namesake and my older brother—Elmo R. Zumwalt III. A book, entitled “My Father, My Son,” tells the story of the love and devotion existing between the two men as, together; they fought the unsuccessful battle for young Elmo’s survival. In 1988, the book became the basis for a made-for-TV movie of the same title which, interestingly, starred a CSAC member in the role of my father—Mr. Karl Malden.
Until Admiral Zumwalt led the charge for benefits for Vietnam veterans afflicted by Agent Orange exposure, not a single cancer had been recognized by the Veterans Administration for having a causal relationship. Appointed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a pro bono study on the linkage of Agent Orange to cancers, Admiral Zumwalt analyzed hundreds of medical studies—studies that had found no correlation—until he showed how such studies were flawed—a phenomenal undertaking for someone with no medical background. He also found the US Government’s medical review board, responsible for determining if such correlations were supported by existing medical evidence, lacked credibility as its members included physicians with personal ties to the very chemical companies that had manufactured Agent Orange.
Today, medical evidence has established that more than a dozen cancers are linked to Agent Orange exposure. And, as a direct result of Admiral Zumwalt’s tireless efforts, Vietnam veterans are now receiving medical benefits.
Admiral Zumwalt’s sense of duty and responsibility to his fellow human beings spurned him on to other great achievements. He was founder of The Marrow Foundation, which raised funding to undertake the matching of bone marrow donors and recipients. He served briefly as a US ambassador to the American Red Cross in Geneva. In the years after the Vietnam war, he worked diligently to successfully win the early release of his good friend and South Vietnamese counterpart in Vietnam during the war, Commodore Tran van Chon, from a communist re-education camp.
During his lifetime, Admiral Zumwalt gave extensively of his own time and energy to pro bono efforts. These included serving on the Board of Directors of charitable organizations such as the Phelps-Stokes Fund, Presidential Classroom for Young Americans Organization, National Marrow Donor Program, and Vietnam Assistance to the Handicapped Foundation; serving as the Chairman of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the National Council of the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University, and the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation; serving as a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and the International Consortium for Research on the Health Effects of Radiation. One of Admiral Zumwalt’s last contributions was to establish the National Program for Countermeasures to Biological and Chemical Threats at Texas Tech University, which later was named after him. This is a multidisciplinary academic research program that today conducts cutting-edge work to investigate and develop new strategies and technologies to protect military operating forces from such threats. Based on the terrorist threat facing 21st century America, his foresight in identifying such a threat and doing something about it was once again evidenced by his actions.
Tragically, years later, after having led this fight, Admiral Zumwalt would succumb to a service-related “environmental cancer” of another sort—asbestos—to which he had been exposed as a result of his naval service. In the early morning hours of the new millennium, at the age of 79, he passed away on January 2, 2000.
It was no wonder then, at his funeral on January 10, 2000, in addressing a standing room only Chapel service at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, President Bill Clinton described him as truly being a “Sailors’ Admiral.”
Among the numerous tributes made after the death of Admiral Zumwalt was one entered into the January 24, 2000 Congressional Record by Senator Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin who said: “Admiral Zumwalt crusaded for a fair and equal Navy. He fought to promote equality for minorities and women at a time of considerable racial strife in our country and at a time of deeply entrenched institutional racism and sexism in the Navy…Admiral Elmo Zumwalt was a great naval leader, a visionary and a courageous challenger of the conventional wisdom. We will not see the likes of him again. We mourn his passing and salute his accomplishments.”
Because of Admiral Zumwalt’s commitment in life to improving the lives of others, a number of awards bearing his name—recognizing his accomplishments as a humanitarian and a visionary—exist today, not only in the US Navy, but in the private sector as well. The positive impact Admiral Zumwalt had as one of this Nation’s great military leaders and humanitarians was recognized by two major events—one occurring during his lifetime and one following his death.
First, in 1998, Admiral Zumwalt was presented the Nation’s highest civilian honor by President Clinton—the Presidential Medal of Freedom—for service both to his Navy and country. In part, the citation read, for “exemplifying the ideal of service to our country, both in wartime and in peacetime. He not only created a higher quality of life for sailors during his service in the Navy, but also fought tirelessly for veterans afflicted with medical conditions resulting from service to their country.” President Clinton called Admiral Zumwalt “one of the greatest models of integrity and leadership and humanity our Nation has ever produced.”
Second, in July 2000, six months after his death, the Navy announced a new class of warship—a vessel unlike any other ever built which represents the greatest technological advancement in the history of ship-building—would be named after my father, with the first ship of the class to be named USS ZUMWALT. (An artist’s rendition of this unique looking surface ship, which, due to its stealth technology looks more like a submarine, appears to the right.) Construction of that ship is now underway. While I believe honoring my father with a stamp is warranted on his own merits alone, I would submit the Committee may want to consider issuing a stamp commemorating both the man and the ship. For when USS ZUMWALT is christened in 2013, it will usher in a whole new era in US Navy history. Future ships of the 21st century will be capturing many of the design features and unique capabilities for which the USS ZUMWALT has broken new ground.
One of my father’s favorite quotes was Edmond Burke’s admonition, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” My father lived his life by this creed. Not a minute of it was wasted doing “nothing.” His life was dedicated to helping his fellow man. In my request that consideration now be given to issuing a US postage stamp in his name, it is my humble opinion a man who lived such a life should now have that life commemorated by such a great honor.
Very respectfully submitted,
James G. Zumwalt
LCOL, US Marine Corps Reserves (Retired)
Please disseminate the attached letter widely and seek support for this proposed postage stamp honoring Admiral Zumwalt. As one who was privileged to know and work with the Admiral in our joint quest to improve the lot of those of us who served in Vietnam through our work with the Agent Orange Coordinating Council many years ago; it is the least we can do for a man who did so much for us.
Paul Sutton "Dominus Fortissima Turris"
ssgtusmc6169@yahoo.com
Patriotism: Supporting your Country ALL THE TIME; and, your government when it deserves it - MARK TWAIN
Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.
JAMES G. ZUMWALT
1226 Admiral Zumwalt Lane
Herndon, Virginia 20170
Tel: 703-798-6400
June 17, 2009
Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee
c/o Stamp Development
U.S. Postal Service
1735 North Lynn St., Suite 5013
Arlington, Virginia 22209-6432
Dear Committee Members:
The purpose of this letter is to request the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) consider the issuance of a postage stamp commemorating the life of Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. I am Admiral Zumwalt’s sole surviving son. While I have a personal interest in seeing him so honored, I would respectfully submit that his lifetime achievements clearly justify such an honor. Allow me to briefly share some of those achievements.
While US postage stamps have been issued over the years commemorating men and women achieving great accomplishments, few exist recognizing those who have dedicated so much of their lives to leveling life’s playing field for others unable to do so for themselves. A military man by profession, Admiral Zumwalt would prove himself not only to be of such an ilk, but a tremendous innovator and great humanitarian as well.
Admiral Zumwalt enjoyed an immensely successful naval career which involved a meteoric rise to the US Navy’s top position. At the age of 44, he was the US Navy’s youngest Rear Admiral; at 47, its youngest Vice Admiral; and at age 49 its youngest Admiral and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). During a 37-year career, during which he fought three wars, Admiral Zumwalt committed his life to achieving equality for all serving in his beloved Navy. While his life as a junior officer was spent practicing this belief on a local command level, it was not until he became CNO that he was able to implement such beliefs on a service-wide basis through a series of very creative leadership initiatives. As reported in the December 21, 1970 issue of TIME Magazine featuring him on its cover, Admiral Zumwalt’s initiatives brought the US Navy, “kicking and screaming into the 20th Century.” The article went on to hail him as “the Navy’s most popular leader since World War II.”
While the beneficiaries of many of the changes Admiral Zumwalt implemented in the Navy were members of minority groups whose professional growth within the service had been stymied by overly restrictive regulations, he worked diligently to improve service life for all wearing the Navy uniform. What had prompted his selection in 1970 by civilian superiors over 33 more senior admirals was his advocacy for rapid and drastic changes in the way the Navy treated its uniformed men and women. And, once selected, he made such advocacy a reality, undertaking numerous initiatives that included: improving living conditions in the Navy; promoting the first female and first African-American officers to flag rank; allowing females to become naval aviators; opening up ratings for Filipino sailors whose service had long been limited to a steward’s rating; eliminating demeaning and abrasive US Navy regulations that negatively impacted on a sailor’s attitude without providing a corresponding positive enhancement of professional performance; etc. The positive impact of his changes was tremendous, as evidenced by the effect on re-enlistment rates. These rates were at an all-time low when he took command of the Navy in 1970; when he retired four years later, re-enlistment rates had tripled. Admiral Zumwalt’s personal papers, on file at The Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University, include numerous letters from sailors written over the years expressing their personal gratitude for changes he made that impacted so positively on their decision to stay and make the Navy a career.
When Admiral Zumwalt retired from the Navy in 1974, it did not end his service to country. He continued in numerous capacities to fight for the oppressed. As Commander of US Naval Forces in Vietnam during the war, he was of the belief a commander’s responsibility to his men survived the battlefield, prompting him to fight for US Government benefits for Vietnam veterans suffering from Agent Orange exposure.
By way of background, Admiral Zumwalt had ordered the use of the chemical defoliant Agent Orange during the war to reduce the high casualty rate his sailors were suffering. Heavy jungle concealment provided the enemy with the element of surprise in ambushes against US Navy boats operating in Vietnam’s narrow waterways. The sailors onboard these boats stood a 72% chance of being killed or wounded during a twelve month tour. The use of Agent Orange improved survivability, reducing the casualty rate twelve-fold—to 6%. It was not known at that time, however, what the long-term health impact of Agent Orange would be on those who were exposed. In a bitter irony of the Vietnam war, one of those so exposed, later succumbing to Agent Orange-related cancers, was Admiral Zumwalt’s namesake and my older brother—Elmo R. Zumwalt III. A book, entitled “My Father, My Son,” tells the story of the love and devotion existing between the two men as, together; they fought the unsuccessful battle for young Elmo’s survival. In 1988, the book became the basis for a made-for-TV movie of the same title which, interestingly, starred a CSAC member in the role of my father—Mr. Karl Malden.
Until Admiral Zumwalt led the charge for benefits for Vietnam veterans afflicted by Agent Orange exposure, not a single cancer had been recognized by the Veterans Administration for having a causal relationship. Appointed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a pro bono study on the linkage of Agent Orange to cancers, Admiral Zumwalt analyzed hundreds of medical studies—studies that had found no correlation—until he showed how such studies were flawed—a phenomenal undertaking for someone with no medical background. He also found the US Government’s medical review board, responsible for determining if such correlations were supported by existing medical evidence, lacked credibility as its members included physicians with personal ties to the very chemical companies that had manufactured Agent Orange.
Today, medical evidence has established that more than a dozen cancers are linked to Agent Orange exposure. And, as a direct result of Admiral Zumwalt’s tireless efforts, Vietnam veterans are now receiving medical benefits.
Admiral Zumwalt’s sense of duty and responsibility to his fellow human beings spurned him on to other great achievements. He was founder of The Marrow Foundation, which raised funding to undertake the matching of bone marrow donors and recipients. He served briefly as a US ambassador to the American Red Cross in Geneva. In the years after the Vietnam war, he worked diligently to successfully win the early release of his good friend and South Vietnamese counterpart in Vietnam during the war, Commodore Tran van Chon, from a communist re-education camp.
During his lifetime, Admiral Zumwalt gave extensively of his own time and energy to pro bono efforts. These included serving on the Board of Directors of charitable organizations such as the Phelps-Stokes Fund, Presidential Classroom for Young Americans Organization, National Marrow Donor Program, and Vietnam Assistance to the Handicapped Foundation; serving as the Chairman of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the National Council of the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University, and the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation; serving as a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and the International Consortium for Research on the Health Effects of Radiation. One of Admiral Zumwalt’s last contributions was to establish the National Program for Countermeasures to Biological and Chemical Threats at Texas Tech University, which later was named after him. This is a multidisciplinary academic research program that today conducts cutting-edge work to investigate and develop new strategies and technologies to protect military operating forces from such threats. Based on the terrorist threat facing 21st century America, his foresight in identifying such a threat and doing something about it was once again evidenced by his actions.
Tragically, years later, after having led this fight, Admiral Zumwalt would succumb to a service-related “environmental cancer” of another sort—asbestos—to which he had been exposed as a result of his naval service. In the early morning hours of the new millennium, at the age of 79, he passed away on January 2, 2000.
It was no wonder then, at his funeral on January 10, 2000, in addressing a standing room only Chapel service at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, President Bill Clinton described him as truly being a “Sailors’ Admiral.”
Among the numerous tributes made after the death of Admiral Zumwalt was one entered into the January 24, 2000 Congressional Record by Senator Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin who said: “Admiral Zumwalt crusaded for a fair and equal Navy. He fought to promote equality for minorities and women at a time of considerable racial strife in our country and at a time of deeply entrenched institutional racism and sexism in the Navy…Admiral Elmo Zumwalt was a great naval leader, a visionary and a courageous challenger of the conventional wisdom. We will not see the likes of him again. We mourn his passing and salute his accomplishments.”
Because of Admiral Zumwalt’s commitment in life to improving the lives of others, a number of awards bearing his name—recognizing his accomplishments as a humanitarian and a visionary—exist today, not only in the US Navy, but in the private sector as well. The positive impact Admiral Zumwalt had as one of this Nation’s great military leaders and humanitarians was recognized by two major events—one occurring during his lifetime and one following his death.
First, in 1998, Admiral Zumwalt was presented the Nation’s highest civilian honor by President Clinton—the Presidential Medal of Freedom—for service both to his Navy and country. In part, the citation read, for “exemplifying the ideal of service to our country, both in wartime and in peacetime. He not only created a higher quality of life for sailors during his service in the Navy, but also fought tirelessly for veterans afflicted with medical conditions resulting from service to their country.” President Clinton called Admiral Zumwalt “one of the greatest models of integrity and leadership and humanity our Nation has ever produced.”
Second, in July 2000, six months after his death, the Navy announced a new class of warship—a vessel unlike any other ever built which represents the greatest technological advancement in the history of ship-building—would be named after my father, with the first ship of the class to be named USS ZUMWALT. (An artist’s rendition of this unique looking surface ship, which, due to its stealth technology looks more like a submarine, appears to the right.) Construction of that ship is now underway. While I believe honoring my father with a stamp is warranted on his own merits alone, I would submit the Committee may want to consider issuing a stamp commemorating both the man and the ship. For when USS ZUMWALT is christened in 2013, it will usher in a whole new era in US Navy history. Future ships of the 21st century will be capturing many of the design features and unique capabilities for which the USS ZUMWALT has broken new ground.
One of my father’s favorite quotes was Edmond Burke’s admonition, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” My father lived his life by this creed. Not a minute of it was wasted doing “nothing.” His life was dedicated to helping his fellow man. In my request that consideration now be given to issuing a US postage stamp in his name, it is my humble opinion a man who lived such a life should now have that life commemorated by such a great honor.
Very respectfully submitted,
James G. Zumwalt
LCOL, US Marine Corps Reserves (Retired)
Monday, January 4, 2010
A Lethal Legacy
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/
Part 1 of 5: U.S. veterans exposed to Agent Orange face delays and a maddening bureaucracy as they seek compensation for related illnesses. In Vietnam, where untold numbers of people suffer from the same maladies and the chemicals continue to poison the environment, government officials wonder how the U.S. can ignore the ongoing effects of the defoliants.
Part 2: 'Insult to injury'
For many U.S. veterans, the bureaucratic fight to be compensated for health problems linked to Agent Orange amounts to a new and unexpected war, long after the shooting ended overseas.
Part 3: Born into controversy
The most contentious question surrounding the use of defoliants in the war is their impact on citizens, particularly the suspected link between the herbicides and birth defects.
Part 4: A poison still potent
New research finds former U.S. airbases in Vietnam remain polluted from defoliants, underscoring the urgency of a solvable problem. The U.S. has done little to clean up the hot spots.
Part 5: Danger not averted
The Tribune unearths documents showing that decisions by the U.S. military and chemical companies that manufactured the defoliants used in Vietnam made the spraying more dangerous than it had to be.
Part 1 of 5: U.S. veterans exposed to Agent Orange face delays and a maddening bureaucracy as they seek compensation for related illnesses. In Vietnam, where untold numbers of people suffer from the same maladies and the chemicals continue to poison the environment, government officials wonder how the U.S. can ignore the ongoing effects of the defoliants.
Part 2: 'Insult to injury'
For many U.S. veterans, the bureaucratic fight to be compensated for health problems linked to Agent Orange amounts to a new and unexpected war, long after the shooting ended overseas.
Part 3: Born into controversy
The most contentious question surrounding the use of defoliants in the war is their impact on citizens, particularly the suspected link between the herbicides and birth defects.
Part 4: A poison still potent
New research finds former U.S. airbases in Vietnam remain polluted from defoliants, underscoring the urgency of a solvable problem. The U.S. has done little to clean up the hot spots.
Part 5: Danger not averted
The Tribune unearths documents showing that decisions by the U.S. military and chemical companies that manufactured the defoliants used in Vietnam made the spraying more dangerous than it had to be.
Agent Orange's lethal legacy: Defoliants more dangerous than they had to be
Papers show firms didn't act on data to reduce toxicity
Before-and-after air views show the effects herbicides had when sprayed in Vietnam during the war. Above is an unsprayed mangrove forest, date unknown, and the bottom image is of the same area in 1970. It was sprayed in 1965. (AP photos)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange-dioxindec17,0,674174.story?page=2
As the U.S. military aggressively ratcheted up its spraying of Agent Orange over South Vietnam in 1965, the government and the chemical companies that produced the defoliant knew it posed health risks to soldiers and others who were exposed.
That year, a Dow Chemical Company memo called a contaminant in Agent Orange "one of the most toxic materials known causing not only skin lesions, but also liver damage."
Yet despite the mounting evidence of the chemical's health threat, the risks of exposure were downplayed, a Tribune review of court documents and records from the National Archives has found. The spraying campaign would continue for six more years.
Records also show that much of the controversy surrounding the herbicides might have been avoided if manufacturers had used available techniques to lessen dioxin contamination and if the military had kept better tabs on levels of the toxin in the compounds. Dow Chemical knew as early as 1957 about a technique that could eliminate dioxin from the defoliants by slowing the manufacturing process, according to documents unearthed by veterans' attorneys.
Since the Vietnam War, dioxin has been found to be a carcinogen associated with Parkinson's disease, birth defects and dozens of other health issues. Thousands of veterans as well as Vietnamese civilians were directly exposed to the herbicides used by the military.
Debilitating illnesses linked to defoliants used in South Vietnam now cost the federal government billions of dollars annually and have contributed to a dramatic increase in disability payments to veterans since 2003.
Documents show that before the herbicide program was launched in 1961, the Department of Defense had cut funding and personnel to develop defoliants for nonlethal purposes. Instead it relied heavily on the technical guidance of chemical companies, which were under pressure to increase production to meet the military's needs.
The use of defoliants led to massive class-action lawsuits brought by veterans and Vietnamese citizens against the chemical firms. The companies settled with U.S. veterans in the first of those suits in 1984 for $180 million.
Since then, the chemical companies have successfully argued they are immune from legal action under laws protecting government contractors. The courts also found that the military was aware of the dioxin contamination but used the defoliants anyway because the chemicals helped protect U.S. soldiers.
A 1990 report for the secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs found that the military knew that Agent Orange was harmful to personnel but took few precautions to limit exposure. The report quotes a 1988 letter from James Clary, a former scientist with the Chemical Weapons Branch of the Air Force Armament Development Laboratory, to then- Sen. Tom Daschle, who was pushing legislation to aid veterans with herbicide-related illnesses.
"When we initiated the herbicide program in 1960s, we were aware of the potential for damage due to dioxin contamination in the herbicides," Clary wrote. "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."
Military scientists had been experimenting with herbicides since the 1940s, but funding cuts in 1958 left few resources in place to fully evaluate the chemicals for use in Vietnam.
"I was given approximately 10 days notice to come to Vietnam to undertake 'research' in connection with the above tasks," wrote Col. James Brown of the U.S. Chemical Corps Research and Development Command in an October 1961 report to top brass just as the defoliation program was ramping up. "Thus, a large order was placed on a very poorly supported research effort."
The military launched a limited herbicide program in 1962 that involved 47 missions. At the time, relatively little was known about the health effects of dioxin, in part because cancer and other illnesses can take decades to develop and the herbicides had only been in wide use since 1947.
But documents uncovered by veterans' attorneys show the chemical companies knew that ingredients in Agent Orange and other defoliants could be harmful.
As early as 1955, records show, the German chemical company Boehringer had begun contacting Dow about chloracne and liver problems at a Boehringer plant that made 2,4,5-T, the ingredient in Agent Orange and other defoliants that was contaminated with dioxin.
Unlike U.S. chemical companies, Boehringer halted production and dismantled parts of its factory after it discovered workers were getting sick. The company studied the problem for nearly three years before resuming production of 2,4,5-T.
In doing so, the company found that dioxin was the culprit and that they could limit contamination by cooking the chemicals at lower temperatures, which would slow production.
In response to questions from the Tribune, Dow said it didn't purchase the proprietary information on the technique until 1964 and didn't start using it until 1965. Records show it did not inform other manufacturers or the government about the technique until the military began planning construction of its own chemical plant to make herbicides in 1967.
By that time, Dow also had developed a procedure to test dioxin levels in batches of 2,4,5-T. The company provided that technique to other companies in 1965 but not to the military until 1967, the company said.
Earlier in the decade, nearly two dozen military officials and chemical industry scientists met in April 1963 to issue a "general statement" about the health hazards from 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. No one raised concerns about using the chemicals in Vietnam, according to minutes from the meeting.
Evidence focused largely on the fact that more than 300 million gallons of the compounds had been used domestically since 1947, even though the formulations for Vietnam would be far more concentrated and contain more dioxin.
"The committee concluded that no health hazard is or was involved to man or domestic animals from the amounts or manner these materials were used in aforementioned exercise," the minutes show.
Nonetheless, Dow told the Tribune it had been sharing information about health issues with the military. "In fact, the chemical manufacturers, including Dow, were in dialogue with the U.S. government regarding the potential hazards of chloracne in production workers beginning as early as 1949 and continuing through the 1960s," Dow spokesman Peter Paul van de Wijs said in a written response.
In 1965, the chemical companies involved in producing the defoliants met at Dow's headquarters in Midland, Mich., to discuss the contaminant's threat to consumers.
"This material (dioxin) is exceptionally toxic; it has a tremendous potential for producing chloracne and systemic injury," Dow's chief toxicologist, V.K. Rowe, wrote to the other companies on June 24, 1965.
But none of the companies informed the military personnel charged with overseeing the defoliation contracts of the safety concerns until late 1967, according to depositions from the lawsuits.
Internal documents from multiple companies indicate they were worried about the specter of tighter regulation.
Only after a study for the National Institutes of Health showed that 2,4,5-T caused birth defects in laboratory animals did the military stop using Agent Orange, in 1970.
Alan Oates, a Vietnam veteran who chairs the Agent Orange committee for Vietnam Veterans of America, said veterans have had little luck in their legal fight for compensation since the 1984 settlement.
Veterans have argued unsuccessfully in court that the settlement was insufficient because it came too early for thousands of people whose illnesses did not develop until after all the settlement money had run out.
One unresolved issue, Oates said, is whether chemical companies can be held liable for health costs associated with birth defects seen in the children of Vietnam veterans. "Now that it's starting to show it has an impact on future generations, what is the recourse for those folks?" Oates said.
Before-and-after air views show the effects herbicides had when sprayed in Vietnam during the war. Above is an unsprayed mangrove forest, date unknown, and the bottom image is of the same area in 1970. It was sprayed in 1965. (AP photos)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange-dioxindec17,0,674174.story?page=2
As the U.S. military aggressively ratcheted up its spraying of Agent Orange over South Vietnam in 1965, the government and the chemical companies that produced the defoliant knew it posed health risks to soldiers and others who were exposed.
That year, a Dow Chemical Company memo called a contaminant in Agent Orange "one of the most toxic materials known causing not only skin lesions, but also liver damage."
Yet despite the mounting evidence of the chemical's health threat, the risks of exposure were downplayed, a Tribune review of court documents and records from the National Archives has found. The spraying campaign would continue for six more years.
Records also show that much of the controversy surrounding the herbicides might have been avoided if manufacturers had used available techniques to lessen dioxin contamination and if the military had kept better tabs on levels of the toxin in the compounds. Dow Chemical knew as early as 1957 about a technique that could eliminate dioxin from the defoliants by slowing the manufacturing process, according to documents unearthed by veterans' attorneys.
Since the Vietnam War, dioxin has been found to be a carcinogen associated with Parkinson's disease, birth defects and dozens of other health issues. Thousands of veterans as well as Vietnamese civilians were directly exposed to the herbicides used by the military.
Debilitating illnesses linked to defoliants used in South Vietnam now cost the federal government billions of dollars annually and have contributed to a dramatic increase in disability payments to veterans since 2003.
Documents show that before the herbicide program was launched in 1961, the Department of Defense had cut funding and personnel to develop defoliants for nonlethal purposes. Instead it relied heavily on the technical guidance of chemical companies, which were under pressure to increase production to meet the military's needs.
The use of defoliants led to massive class-action lawsuits brought by veterans and Vietnamese citizens against the chemical firms. The companies settled with U.S. veterans in the first of those suits in 1984 for $180 million.
Since then, the chemical companies have successfully argued they are immune from legal action under laws protecting government contractors. The courts also found that the military was aware of the dioxin contamination but used the defoliants anyway because the chemicals helped protect U.S. soldiers.
A 1990 report for the secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs found that the military knew that Agent Orange was harmful to personnel but took few precautions to limit exposure. The report quotes a 1988 letter from James Clary, a former scientist with the Chemical Weapons Branch of the Air Force Armament Development Laboratory, to then- Sen. Tom Daschle, who was pushing legislation to aid veterans with herbicide-related illnesses.
"When we initiated the herbicide program in 1960s, we were aware of the potential for damage due to dioxin contamination in the herbicides," Clary wrote. "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."
Military scientists had been experimenting with herbicides since the 1940s, but funding cuts in 1958 left few resources in place to fully evaluate the chemicals for use in Vietnam.
"I was given approximately 10 days notice to come to Vietnam to undertake 'research' in connection with the above tasks," wrote Col. James Brown of the U.S. Chemical Corps Research and Development Command in an October 1961 report to top brass just as the defoliation program was ramping up. "Thus, a large order was placed on a very poorly supported research effort."
The military launched a limited herbicide program in 1962 that involved 47 missions. At the time, relatively little was known about the health effects of dioxin, in part because cancer and other illnesses can take decades to develop and the herbicides had only been in wide use since 1947.
But documents uncovered by veterans' attorneys show the chemical companies knew that ingredients in Agent Orange and other defoliants could be harmful.
As early as 1955, records show, the German chemical company Boehringer had begun contacting Dow about chloracne and liver problems at a Boehringer plant that made 2,4,5-T, the ingredient in Agent Orange and other defoliants that was contaminated with dioxin.
Unlike U.S. chemical companies, Boehringer halted production and dismantled parts of its factory after it discovered workers were getting sick. The company studied the problem for nearly three years before resuming production of 2,4,5-T.
In doing so, the company found that dioxin was the culprit and that they could limit contamination by cooking the chemicals at lower temperatures, which would slow production.
In response to questions from the Tribune, Dow said it didn't purchase the proprietary information on the technique until 1964 and didn't start using it until 1965. Records show it did not inform other manufacturers or the government about the technique until the military began planning construction of its own chemical plant to make herbicides in 1967.
By that time, Dow also had developed a procedure to test dioxin levels in batches of 2,4,5-T. The company provided that technique to other companies in 1965 but not to the military until 1967, the company said.
Earlier in the decade, nearly two dozen military officials and chemical industry scientists met in April 1963 to issue a "general statement" about the health hazards from 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. No one raised concerns about using the chemicals in Vietnam, according to minutes from the meeting.
Evidence focused largely on the fact that more than 300 million gallons of the compounds had been used domestically since 1947, even though the formulations for Vietnam would be far more concentrated and contain more dioxin.
"The committee concluded that no health hazard is or was involved to man or domestic animals from the amounts or manner these materials were used in aforementioned exercise," the minutes show.
Nonetheless, Dow told the Tribune it had been sharing information about health issues with the military. "In fact, the chemical manufacturers, including Dow, were in dialogue with the U.S. government regarding the potential hazards of chloracne in production workers beginning as early as 1949 and continuing through the 1960s," Dow spokesman Peter Paul van de Wijs said in a written response.
In 1965, the chemical companies involved in producing the defoliants met at Dow's headquarters in Midland, Mich., to discuss the contaminant's threat to consumers.
"This material (dioxin) is exceptionally toxic; it has a tremendous potential for producing chloracne and systemic injury," Dow's chief toxicologist, V.K. Rowe, wrote to the other companies on June 24, 1965.
But none of the companies informed the military personnel charged with overseeing the defoliation contracts of the safety concerns until late 1967, according to depositions from the lawsuits.
Internal documents from multiple companies indicate they were worried about the specter of tighter regulation.
Only after a study for the National Institutes of Health showed that 2,4,5-T caused birth defects in laboratory animals did the military stop using Agent Orange, in 1970.
Alan Oates, a Vietnam veteran who chairs the Agent Orange committee for Vietnam Veterans of America, said veterans have had little luck in their legal fight for compensation since the 1984 settlement.
Veterans have argued unsuccessfully in court that the settlement was insufficient because it came too early for thousands of people whose illnesses did not develop until after all the settlement money had run out.
One unresolved issue, Oates said, is whether chemical companies can be held liable for health costs associated with birth defects seen in the children of Vietnam veterans. "Now that it's starting to show it has an impact on future generations, what is the recourse for those folks?" Oates said.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
LIES!
Lies, Lies, and More Lies!
Now is the Time for TRUTH!
An article published in the December 19 issue of TIME Magazine titled, Agent Orange Poisons New Generations in Vietnam by Martha Ann Overland states: “The U.S. government still spends billions every year on disability payments to those who served in Vietnam — including their children, many of whom are suffering from dioxin-associated cancers and birth defects.”
Those of you who suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses and your affected children know this is a lie.
The article closes with this quote: “Thao Griffiths, country director of Vietnam Veterans of America, which works on lingering war issues, points out that the legacy of each is equally painful. "The issue of MIAs for Americans holds the same importance that Agent Orange does for the Vietnamese," she says.
Thao Griffiths is not a representative of Vietnam Veterans of America and she does not speak for Vietnam Veterans of America.
Those of you who suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses and your affected children know this is a lie.
Don’t Wait For An Army To Die, an article published in the September/October issue of The VVA Veteran described a plan announced on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 by the Ford Foundation that it is funding and launching a full-scale, public-relations campaign to win the sympathy of the American people for the plight of Agent Orange victims in Vietnam.
In his written testimony to The House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment, Charles R. Bailey, Director, Special Initiative on Agent Orange/Dioxin, The Ford Foundation said, “Over the years the Ford Foundation in Vietnam has supported institutions and individuals with grants totaling $100 million over the past 12 years.”
What has the Charles R. Bailey and The Ford Foundation done for American Vietnam Veterans and their families affected by Agent Orange? Nothing. Not one thin dime.
Conducted by the National Organization on Disability with funding from the Ford Foundation, "U.S. Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange: Understanding the Impact 40 Years Later," the 17 page report states that it is “not too late to correct the lapses in the nation's treatment of veterans who were exposed to dioxin during the Vietnam War."
It goes on to state that "One lesson of the Agent Orange experience has been that the consequences of such chemicals are rarely easy to predict, and that the burdens they impose may well be borne for generations."
Those of you who suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses and your affected children know this is the TRUTH.
In June it was unknown the extent of the Ford Foundation media campaign or when it would begin. It was expected that it would roll out in summer with a six figure budget, and use every resource the foundation has developed over the years, including Hollywood, the documentary film industry, the print media, radio, television, and celebrities.
The TIME Magazine article is part of this campaign and confuses the public and blurs the facts.
All victims of Agent Orange exposure and poisoning, both American Vietnam Veterans and their children and Vietnamese are entitled to the truth.
Those of you who suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses and your affected children know this is the TRUTH.
The article also makes an effort to pit veteran’s issue groups against each other, comparing the budget for locating the remains of Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia and compensation for the tragic health effects of Agent Orange exposure.
Those of you who suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses and your affected children and those who are equally passionate about the fullest possible accounting of American servicemen know this is a lie.
If the Ford Foundation's publicity campaign is allowed to focus on the plight of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange and exclude the American victims of Agent Orange, Vietnam Veterans and their families must use every resource at our disposal and educate Congress, American business, and the American people about the horrors of Agent Orange and its aftermath.
Those of you who suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses and your affected children know this is the TRUTH.
This is not about animosity toward Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange, but it is a response to the telling of only one side of the story by the Ford Foundation media campaign.
The pain and suffering of American Vietnam Veterans and their families cannot be allowed to continue without a full-throated response to a well-funded, one-sided disinformation campaign.
It is long past time for the lies to be confronted and for the truth to be placed on the table for all to see.
All Vietnam Veterans, whether you are affected by Agent Orange or not must write and e-mail TIME Magazine immediately to challenge the lies in the article.
Write Letters to The Editor of your local newspapers and contact your local television and radio stations and report the truth to them. Mobilize your local communities to stand for the truth.
(see full article below.)
TIME Magazine, December 19, 2009
Agent Orange Poisons New Generations in Vietnam
By Martha Ann Overland / Danang Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009
This lonely section of the abandoned Danang air base was once crawling with U.S. airmen and machines. It was here where giant orange drums were stored and the herbicides they contained were mixed and loaded onto waiting planes. Whatever sloshed out soaked into the soil and eventually seeped into the water supply. Thirty years later, the rare visitor to the former U.S. air base is provided with rubber boots and protective clothing. Residue from Agent Orange, which was sprayed to deny enemy troops jungle cover, remains so toxic that this patch of land is considered one of the most contaminated pieces of real estate in the country. A recent study indicates that even three decades after the war ended, the cancer-causing dioxins are at levels 300 to 400 times higher than what is deemed to be safe.
After years of meetings, signings and photo ops, the U.S. held another ceremony in Vietnam on Dec. 16 to sign yet another memorandum of understanding as part of the continuing effort to manage Agent Orange's dark legacy. Yet there are grumblings that little — if anything — has been done to clean up the most contaminated sites. Since 2007, Congress has allocated a total of $6 million to help address Agent Orange issues in Vietnam. Not only does the amount not begin to scratch the surface of the problem or get rid of the tons of toxic soil around the nation, but there are questions about how the money is being spent. And several parties have noted with growing frustration that the money is primarily going to study the issue and hire consultants rather than implementing measures to prevent new generations from being exposed.
"There is still risk to people living in those areas," says Thomas Boivin, president of the Vancouver-based Hatfield Consultants, an environmental firm that has been identifying and measuring Agent Orange contamination in Vietnam since 1994. The good news is that Hatfield's studies indicate that even though 10% of southern Vietnam was sprayed with dioxins, only a handful of hot spots — all former U.S. military installations where the herbicide was mixed and stored — pose a danger to humans. The bad news? "If those were in Canada or in the U.S., they would require immediate cleanup," Boivin says.
Responding to complaints that America is dragging its feet, U.S. ambassador to Vietnam Michael Michalak said the $1.7 million most recently allocated to conduct an environmental assessment of the Danang air base is being done to comply with both U.S. and Vietnamese law and is a necessary step toward cleanup. "We're investigating many promising techniques," Michalak said following the signing ceremony in Hanoi. Careful study is required if the job is to be done right, he added. "We know there is dioxin in the soil," he said. "But what method do we use to remove it? Where do we tell the diggers to dig? It's just another step on the road."
But critics believe the U.S. is playing a grim waiting game: waiting for people to die in order to avoid potentially costly lawsuits. For a country currently engaged in two wars, accepting comprehensive responsibility for wartime damages could set an expensive precedent. "They know what the problem is and where it is," says Chuck Searcy, country representative of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. "Why do they now need an environmental impact assessment? They are studying this to death."
Scientists have been raising the alarm about dioxins since the 1960s. After TCDD, the dioxin in Agent Orange, was found to cause cancer and birth defects, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) slapped an emergency ban on the herbicide in 1979. Dow and Monsanto, the chemical's largest manufacturers, eventually shelled out millions in damages to U.S. troops who were exposed to it while it was being used as a wartime defoliant from 1961 to 1971. The U.S. government still spends billions every year on disability payments to those who served in Vietnam — including their children, many of whom are suffering from dioxin-associated cancers and birth defects. In October, the Department of Veterans Affairs added leukemia, Parkinson's and a rare heart disease to the list of health problems associated with Agent Orange. Yet U.S. official policy maintains that there is no conclusive evidence that the defoliant caused any health problems among the millions of exposed Vietnamese or their children.
Meanwhile, private foundations and individuals have taken the lead. Early efforts to identify and measure dioxin levels at Agent Orange hot spots were undertaken by the U.S.-based Ford Foundation in the 1990s. Later, with technical assistance from the EPA, Ford "capped" the most contaminated section of what is now the Da Nang International Airport, installing a filtration system to stop dioxins from flowing into the city's water supply and building a wall to keep people from entering the area. At another abandoned U.S. air base in the Aluoi Valley, a Vietnamese botanist raised $25,000 in donations to plant cactus-like bushes and thorn trees around contaminated areas to prevent villagers from entering to fish there. (Dioxins quickly accumulate in animal fat.) Though these are not long-term solutions, Hatfield found that after the simple barriers went up, dioxin levels in the blood and breast milk of nearby residents dropped dramatically.
Charities in Danang have voiced concerns about how U.S. money is being spent when it comes to providing care to the disabled in the region. A portion of the $6 million allocated by Congress was awarded to humanitarian groups working with disabled residents around Danang. But it is difficult to find evidence of the money at work. Save the Children was given $400,000 to help people with disabilities find employment. But the sole case the organization cited for a reporter was their work finding a job for a college graduate with a hair lip. Another chunk went to equip and refurbish a wing at Binh Dan Hospital in Danang, which sits largely empty. Because the American Rehabilitation Center has virtually no medical equipment, it has a difficult time attracting patients. Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy in Hanoi is spending $500,000 for a health and remediation adviser.
Groups caring for children born with horrific deformities from Agent Orange — such as malformed limbs and no eyes — are wondering why they haven't seen any of that money. Bedridden and unable to feed themselves, many patients need round-the-clock care. As they age, and parents die, who is going to look after them? asks Nguyen Thi Hien, director of the Danang Association of Victims of Agent Orange. She says donations to her group, which cares for 300 children, are down 50% because there is a belief that local charities are flush with cash thanks to the U.S.'s latest allocation. "The $1 million [being spent by the Americans] is not for care but mainly for conferences and training," said Hien. "This money should go to caring for the victims."
But determining who should benefit is a nightmare. Tests to establish dioxin levels in individuals run as high as $1,000 per person — a price tag Vietnam says it can't afford. U.S. negotiators and scientists are frustrated that Vietnam seems to blame all the population's birth defects on the defoliants. Diplomats broke off talks several years ago complaining that Vietnam was unwilling to use accepted scientific methods because they might not support claims of widespread exposure and health damages. They have also complained that Vietnam could do more to help its own. No one is stopping the Vietnamese from erecting fences around contaminated spots, points out a U.S. diplomat, suggesting that the Vietnamese are exploiting the issue for more aid and sympathy.
Still, the Vietnamese people (and the government, though more quietly) contend it's the U.S. that should be doing more — much more. Some point out that the U.S. spends only a fraction on Agent Orange cleanup compared to the $50 million it spends every year on searching for the remains of American soldiers missing in action. Thao Griffiths, country director of Vietnam Veterans of America, which works on lingering war issues, points out that the legacy of each is equally painful. "The issue of MIAs for Americans holds the same importance that Agent Orange does for the Vietnamese," she says. And until the issue is resolved, the legacy of the war will continue to haunt both sides.
Now is the Time for TRUTH!
An article published in the December 19 issue of TIME Magazine titled, Agent Orange Poisons New Generations in Vietnam by Martha Ann Overland states: “The U.S. government still spends billions every year on disability payments to those who served in Vietnam — including their children, many of whom are suffering from dioxin-associated cancers and birth defects.”
Those of you who suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses and your affected children know this is a lie.
The article closes with this quote: “Thao Griffiths, country director of Vietnam Veterans of America, which works on lingering war issues, points out that the legacy of each is equally painful. "The issue of MIAs for Americans holds the same importance that Agent Orange does for the Vietnamese," she says.
Thao Griffiths is not a representative of Vietnam Veterans of America and she does not speak for Vietnam Veterans of America.
Those of you who suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses and your affected children know this is a lie.
Don’t Wait For An Army To Die, an article published in the September/October issue of The VVA Veteran described a plan announced on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 by the Ford Foundation that it is funding and launching a full-scale, public-relations campaign to win the sympathy of the American people for the plight of Agent Orange victims in Vietnam.
In his written testimony to The House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment, Charles R. Bailey, Director, Special Initiative on Agent Orange/Dioxin, The Ford Foundation said, “Over the years the Ford Foundation in Vietnam has supported institutions and individuals with grants totaling $100 million over the past 12 years.”
What has the Charles R. Bailey and The Ford Foundation done for American Vietnam Veterans and their families affected by Agent Orange? Nothing. Not one thin dime.
Conducted by the National Organization on Disability with funding from the Ford Foundation, "U.S. Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange: Understanding the Impact 40 Years Later," the 17 page report states that it is “not too late to correct the lapses in the nation's treatment of veterans who were exposed to dioxin during the Vietnam War."
It goes on to state that "One lesson of the Agent Orange experience has been that the consequences of such chemicals are rarely easy to predict, and that the burdens they impose may well be borne for generations."
Those of you who suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses and your affected children know this is the TRUTH.
In June it was unknown the extent of the Ford Foundation media campaign or when it would begin. It was expected that it would roll out in summer with a six figure budget, and use every resource the foundation has developed over the years, including Hollywood, the documentary film industry, the print media, radio, television, and celebrities.
The TIME Magazine article is part of this campaign and confuses the public and blurs the facts.
All victims of Agent Orange exposure and poisoning, both American Vietnam Veterans and their children and Vietnamese are entitled to the truth.
Those of you who suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses and your affected children know this is the TRUTH.
The article also makes an effort to pit veteran’s issue groups against each other, comparing the budget for locating the remains of Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia and compensation for the tragic health effects of Agent Orange exposure.
Those of you who suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses and your affected children and those who are equally passionate about the fullest possible accounting of American servicemen know this is a lie.
If the Ford Foundation's publicity campaign is allowed to focus on the plight of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange and exclude the American victims of Agent Orange, Vietnam Veterans and their families must use every resource at our disposal and educate Congress, American business, and the American people about the horrors of Agent Orange and its aftermath.
Those of you who suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses and your affected children know this is the TRUTH.
This is not about animosity toward Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange, but it is a response to the telling of only one side of the story by the Ford Foundation media campaign.
The pain and suffering of American Vietnam Veterans and their families cannot be allowed to continue without a full-throated response to a well-funded, one-sided disinformation campaign.
It is long past time for the lies to be confronted and for the truth to be placed on the table for all to see.
All Vietnam Veterans, whether you are affected by Agent Orange or not must write and e-mail TIME Magazine immediately to challenge the lies in the article.
Write Letters to The Editor of your local newspapers and contact your local television and radio stations and report the truth to them. Mobilize your local communities to stand for the truth.
(see full article below.)
TIME Magazine, December 19, 2009
Agent Orange Poisons New Generations in Vietnam
By Martha Ann Overland / Danang Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009
This lonely section of the abandoned Danang air base was once crawling with U.S. airmen and machines. It was here where giant orange drums were stored and the herbicides they contained were mixed and loaded onto waiting planes. Whatever sloshed out soaked into the soil and eventually seeped into the water supply. Thirty years later, the rare visitor to the former U.S. air base is provided with rubber boots and protective clothing. Residue from Agent Orange, which was sprayed to deny enemy troops jungle cover, remains so toxic that this patch of land is considered one of the most contaminated pieces of real estate in the country. A recent study indicates that even three decades after the war ended, the cancer-causing dioxins are at levels 300 to 400 times higher than what is deemed to be safe.
After years of meetings, signings and photo ops, the U.S. held another ceremony in Vietnam on Dec. 16 to sign yet another memorandum of understanding as part of the continuing effort to manage Agent Orange's dark legacy. Yet there are grumblings that little — if anything — has been done to clean up the most contaminated sites. Since 2007, Congress has allocated a total of $6 million to help address Agent Orange issues in Vietnam. Not only does the amount not begin to scratch the surface of the problem or get rid of the tons of toxic soil around the nation, but there are questions about how the money is being spent. And several parties have noted with growing frustration that the money is primarily going to study the issue and hire consultants rather than implementing measures to prevent new generations from being exposed.
"There is still risk to people living in those areas," says Thomas Boivin, president of the Vancouver-based Hatfield Consultants, an environmental firm that has been identifying and measuring Agent Orange contamination in Vietnam since 1994. The good news is that Hatfield's studies indicate that even though 10% of southern Vietnam was sprayed with dioxins, only a handful of hot spots — all former U.S. military installations where the herbicide was mixed and stored — pose a danger to humans. The bad news? "If those were in Canada or in the U.S., they would require immediate cleanup," Boivin says.
Responding to complaints that America is dragging its feet, U.S. ambassador to Vietnam Michael Michalak said the $1.7 million most recently allocated to conduct an environmental assessment of the Danang air base is being done to comply with both U.S. and Vietnamese law and is a necessary step toward cleanup. "We're investigating many promising techniques," Michalak said following the signing ceremony in Hanoi. Careful study is required if the job is to be done right, he added. "We know there is dioxin in the soil," he said. "But what method do we use to remove it? Where do we tell the diggers to dig? It's just another step on the road."
But critics believe the U.S. is playing a grim waiting game: waiting for people to die in order to avoid potentially costly lawsuits. For a country currently engaged in two wars, accepting comprehensive responsibility for wartime damages could set an expensive precedent. "They know what the problem is and where it is," says Chuck Searcy, country representative of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. "Why do they now need an environmental impact assessment? They are studying this to death."
Scientists have been raising the alarm about dioxins since the 1960s. After TCDD, the dioxin in Agent Orange, was found to cause cancer and birth defects, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) slapped an emergency ban on the herbicide in 1979. Dow and Monsanto, the chemical's largest manufacturers, eventually shelled out millions in damages to U.S. troops who were exposed to it while it was being used as a wartime defoliant from 1961 to 1971. The U.S. government still spends billions every year on disability payments to those who served in Vietnam — including their children, many of whom are suffering from dioxin-associated cancers and birth defects. In October, the Department of Veterans Affairs added leukemia, Parkinson's and a rare heart disease to the list of health problems associated with Agent Orange. Yet U.S. official policy maintains that there is no conclusive evidence that the defoliant caused any health problems among the millions of exposed Vietnamese or their children.
Meanwhile, private foundations and individuals have taken the lead. Early efforts to identify and measure dioxin levels at Agent Orange hot spots were undertaken by the U.S.-based Ford Foundation in the 1990s. Later, with technical assistance from the EPA, Ford "capped" the most contaminated section of what is now the Da Nang International Airport, installing a filtration system to stop dioxins from flowing into the city's water supply and building a wall to keep people from entering the area. At another abandoned U.S. air base in the Aluoi Valley, a Vietnamese botanist raised $25,000 in donations to plant cactus-like bushes and thorn trees around contaminated areas to prevent villagers from entering to fish there. (Dioxins quickly accumulate in animal fat.) Though these are not long-term solutions, Hatfield found that after the simple barriers went up, dioxin levels in the blood and breast milk of nearby residents dropped dramatically.
Charities in Danang have voiced concerns about how U.S. money is being spent when it comes to providing care to the disabled in the region. A portion of the $6 million allocated by Congress was awarded to humanitarian groups working with disabled residents around Danang. But it is difficult to find evidence of the money at work. Save the Children was given $400,000 to help people with disabilities find employment. But the sole case the organization cited for a reporter was their work finding a job for a college graduate with a hair lip. Another chunk went to equip and refurbish a wing at Binh Dan Hospital in Danang, which sits largely empty. Because the American Rehabilitation Center has virtually no medical equipment, it has a difficult time attracting patients. Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy in Hanoi is spending $500,000 for a health and remediation adviser.
Groups caring for children born with horrific deformities from Agent Orange — such as malformed limbs and no eyes — are wondering why they haven't seen any of that money. Bedridden and unable to feed themselves, many patients need round-the-clock care. As they age, and parents die, who is going to look after them? asks Nguyen Thi Hien, director of the Danang Association of Victims of Agent Orange. She says donations to her group, which cares for 300 children, are down 50% because there is a belief that local charities are flush with cash thanks to the U.S.'s latest allocation. "The $1 million [being spent by the Americans] is not for care but mainly for conferences and training," said Hien. "This money should go to caring for the victims."
But determining who should benefit is a nightmare. Tests to establish dioxin levels in individuals run as high as $1,000 per person — a price tag Vietnam says it can't afford. U.S. negotiators and scientists are frustrated that Vietnam seems to blame all the population's birth defects on the defoliants. Diplomats broke off talks several years ago complaining that Vietnam was unwilling to use accepted scientific methods because they might not support claims of widespread exposure and health damages. They have also complained that Vietnam could do more to help its own. No one is stopping the Vietnamese from erecting fences around contaminated spots, points out a U.S. diplomat, suggesting that the Vietnamese are exploiting the issue for more aid and sympathy.
Still, the Vietnamese people (and the government, though more quietly) contend it's the U.S. that should be doing more — much more. Some point out that the U.S. spends only a fraction on Agent Orange cleanup compared to the $50 million it spends every year on searching for the remains of American soldiers missing in action. Thao Griffiths, country director of Vietnam Veterans of America, which works on lingering war issues, points out that the legacy of each is equally painful. "The issue of MIAs for Americans holds the same importance that Agent Orange does for the Vietnamese," she says. And until the issue is resolved, the legacy of the war will continue to haunt both sides.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Agent Orange's lethal legacy
Tran Huynh Thuong Sinh, who was born without eyes, is checked by a nurse in Peace Village, an international charity organization located at Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. The hospital is home to children born with deformities that Vietnam blames on exposure to toxic herbicides used during the Vietnam War. (Tribune photo by Kuni Takahashi / July 8, 2009)http://www.chicagotribune.com/videobeta/?watchId=d2e9e3d6-b94e-483b-ab8c-633d07aa8779
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange4dec09,0,7839395.story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange3-dec08,0,2946008.story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange-actionplandec08,0,7945266.story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange3-study-sidebar-dec08,0,7411594.story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange2-dec06,0,2356181.story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange2-sidebar-dec06,0,3886506.story
Agent Orange's lethal legacy: At former U.S. bases in Vietnam, a potent poison is clear and present danger
By Jason Grotto ,Tribune reporter
...Their findings offered a way to recast the legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam as a solvable -- and urgent -- issue...address this issue." An invisible threatThe impact of Agent Orange isn't felt only by soldiers and civilians who were...
TAGS: Medical Services, U.S. Military, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Liver, Vietnam War
December 8, 2009
Agent Orange: Birth defects plague Vietnam; U.S. slow to help
By Jason Grotto ,Tribune reporter
...that came in the mornings to spray Agent Orange and other defoliants while she...produce an ingredient found in Agents Orange, Purple, Green and Pink -- compounds...Conflicting views The controversy over Agent Orange's impact in Vietnam stands at...
December 8, 2009
Public-private group has plan in the works to resolve issue
By Jason Grotto ,Tribune staff reporter
Public-private group has plan in the works to resolve issue
...S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin, the group is supported...effort to resolve the legacy of agent orange. It is expected to recommend...director of the Special Initiative on Agent Orange/Dioxin for the Ford Foundation...
December 8, 2009
Bickering blocks search for causes of congenital deformities
By Jason Grotto ,Tribune reporter
Bickering blocks search for causes of congenital deformities
...S. and Vietnamese governments agreed in 2002 to carry out joint research on the health and environmental impact of Agent Orange and other toxic defoliants, on the assumption that aid would follow the scientific results. The Bush administration...
December 6, 2009
Agent Orange's lethal legacy: For Vietnam War veterans, injustice follows injury
By Tim Jones ,Tribune reporter
Agent Orange's lethal legacy: For Vietnam War veterans, injustice follows injury
...compensated for health problems linked to Agent Orange amounts to a new and unexpected...government was personal and direct: Agent Orange is killing me, and you need to...conditions officially linked to Agent Orange, veterans can wait years for their...
December 6, 2009
Agent Orange's lethal legacy: The next generation
By Tim Jones ,Tribune reporter
Agent Orange's lethal legacy: The next generation
... Hutches, who was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam in 1965, was...knew more than most soldiers about Agent Orange. But he had no idea what it could...sprayers -- the same ones used for Agent Orange. "Everyone tried to be first...
December 4, 2009
Agent Orange's lethal legacy: For U.S., a record of neglect
By Jason Grotto and Tim Jones ,Tribune reporters
...linked by the stubborn legacy of Agent Orange and other defoliants sprayed by... Yet in the 30 years since Agent Orange was recognized publicly as a potential...never has gotten to the bottom of Agent Orange's full impact, failing to follow...
A Vietnamese soldier guards a contaminated site in Da Nang, Vietnam. During the war, the U.S. military stored millions of gallons of herbicides at an air base there. More than 30 years later, the soil still contains dioxin at unsafe levels. The pollution also has seeped into a nearby lake and moved through the food chain into human blood and breast milk. (Tribune photo by Kuni Takahashi / July 1, 2009)
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
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