Agent Orange: The Untold Story

Agent Orange: The Untold Story. The Vietnam War was beyond doubt a devastating incident. Thousands of people died in this war because of the bombings, but bombing wasn't the only strategy used by the U.S. Government to get rid of “communist vietnamese,” nor communist the only people affected in this war. We are aware of all of those people who died in the Vietnam War and we admire its veterans, but we don't consider all of the people that the government left behind after drastically changing their lifes. I'm talking not only about vietnamese, but also about all of those veterans whom the Government turned its back to after they loyally served to it. It is such an impact the tragedy that represented and continues to be for all of those unfortunates who didn't die, but were severely harmed by one of the so called Rainbow Herbicides: Agent Orange. And the worst part of it is that many of its victims weren't even aware of its existance. Most people are not aware of what Rainbow Herbicides are and the purpose U.S. Government has to them. The U.S. Military sprayed over 19 million of a mixture of different Rainbow Herbicides during the “Operation Ranch Hand,”such as White, Blue, Pink, Green, Purple and Orange, though among them, Agent Orange was the most popular.[i] The principal purpose of Agent Orange was to expose enemy troops hidden in the jungles of Nam by killing its vegetation and making them go to open areas. It was sprayed over the jungles, and once the dioxin reached the forests of South Asia, they dry to death. This defoliant was developed during World War II at the University of Chicago, by Proffessor E.J. Kraus. He discovered that the growth of plants could be regulated through the infusion of hormones, though this procedure could kill vegetation by causing plants a sudden, uncontrolled growth. In other words, it was like giving the plants cancer.[ii] The main effects of this dioxin were clearly stated, and still, the U.S. Government decided to use it without considering it may affect troops that were near the spraying areas, and not only enemy troops, but also their own troops. But before spraying it, studies were made by Bionetics Laboratories of Bethesda, Maryland. Based on that study, a popular journalist called Thomas Whiteside, wrote: “the rat, as a test animal, tends to be relatevely resistant to teratogenic effects of chemicals.”[iii] Having discovered that Agent Orange harmed rats' organism, it would be expected for the Government to not use it. Instead, they overlook the fact that it could be harmful and decided to use it anyway. Not satisfied with having sprayed that toxic substance all over Vietnam, the U.S. Govermnent lied to the troops that were ordered to spray Agent Orange. As the Vietnam Medic John Green tells Fred Wilcox, “Some of the food was undobtedly sprayed with Agent Orange. But how were we supposed to know? The army told us the stuff was harmless. And we were told it was supposed to be saving our lives.”[iv] Graham Bell, a Nam Veteran who now runs the Vietnam Veterans Action Association, also says: “We were told that chemicals were harmless to humans and animals.”[v] Another testimony from a veteran named Joe Naples shows how little was their knowledge about herbicides was. Meeting with Wilcox, he declares:
I thought the stuff they were spraying was insect repellent, and of course some of it was. But I didn't know nothin' about herbicides at the time. When I first got to Dong Tam, there was a lot of vegetation. But by the time I left, the mangrove forest that had been there was so burnt out we ended up playin' softball on it. And I hear from Bobby that when he got there the place was almost like a desert.[vi] After coming back from Vietnam, many health problems among veterans appeared, such as discolored skin, loss of memory, heart problems, liver diseases, sterility problems, chloracne, and any kinds of cancer. There were at least one hundred cases of testicular cancer among Vietnam Veterans.[vii]Worried about it, since they were young people suffering from diseases more common among the elderly, they were to the Veterans Administration in order to find some answers for such irregularity. But the Veterans Administration rejected them, arguing that their ilnesses were “self-inflicted,” that they were hypochondriacs, or they were just having post war episodes.[viii] The men who once served the United States were now being rejected by the same government that once relied on them. Besides that, they weren't given any information about what Agent Orange exposure could have done to them, instead, they were told their files have been lost, or burned in a fire. [ix]After all, how could they count on a government who has lied to them? The U.S. Government screwed up the lives of maybe half of their veterans, perhaps even more. But this whole Agent Orange thing not only affected them, but their kids and future generations aswell. Many veterans who were successful at having children had to deal with deformities such as missing or extra body parts (legs, eyes, fingers), syndactyly, or the absence of half or even more of their brains, leading to mental retardation.[x] Wilcox also found that, according to veterans' attorneys, “At least 2000 children may be born with catastrophic deformities due to the chemical poisons their fathers carried home from the war.” Even though they weren't thinking of any diseases, at least veterans were aware of the risks that involved going to war. But as for their kids, how to explain to them that they have been born with incurable diseases, and that they will have to live like that for the rest of their lives? The Government supposedly offers help for the veterans and “respects them,” but actually this is just a facade. They talk about those veterans who give them no troubles, but as for those who actually question its government and look for answers, Government shows itself defensive, and sometimes aggresive. They don't want to know anything about those affected by Agent Orange, nor give some explanation of why are they experimenting all of those horrifying problems. Ray Clark, another Vietnam Veteran express his thoughts about the issue, “I think they're just waiting for all of us to die...”[xi] And they won't have to wait that much. With all of the diseases veterans have, they're all dying at a young age. Saying that Vietnam Veterans may reach the age of fifty or even more may be giving it too much hope, and it shouldn't be like that. The mayority of them are men on their thirties, but instead they feel like seventy-year-olders. The sad part of it is that there's really nothing they can do. Even if they manage to get a remuneration for the damage that the U.S. Government caused to them, there would be no amount of money enough to mend what they've done. Not even all the money in the world could give them their life back, nor their children's life. Vietnams find themselves defenseless towards the Government. It doesn't matter how many times they complain, the government will always point at their complains as 'communist propaganda', and since there's no proof that Agent Orange have harmed human beings, there will be no arguing at that point of view that matters.[xii] This unnecessary measure implemented during the Vietnam War (spraying jungles with herbicides) created more harm that anyone could ever imagine. We have been showed the “romantic” side of Vietnam War, but the reality is far away of what we may see in the movies. And as far as Agent Orange concerns, Maureen Ryan, a mother of an “orange child” exposes that, “...it has come to maim and kill additional thousands of men who naively thought they made it home safely.”[xiii]And she is right! All of those men thought they were safe, and even cheered after they left Nam, but they weren't aware that they were bringing death with them.
-----------------------
[i] United States Department of Veterans Affairs, (http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/basics.asp).

[ii] Ted Sampley, “The U.S. Veteran Dispatch,” (http://www.usvetdsp.com/agentorange.htm).
[iii] Fred A. Wilcox, Waiting for an Army to Die, p. 56.
[iv] Fred A. Wilcox, Waiting for an Army to Die, p. 4.

[v] Fred A. Wilcox, Waiting for an Army to Die, p. 63
[vi] Fred A. Wilcox, Waiting for an Army to Die, p. 35.
[vii] Fred A. Wilcox, Waiting for an Army to Die, p. 51.
[viii] Fred A. Wilcox, Waiting for an Army to Die, p. 9.
[ix] Fred A. Wilcox, Waiting for an Army to Die, p. 11.
[x] Marguerite Lance, “Side Effects of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War,” (http://www.ehow.com/about_5455422_side-agent-orange-vietnam-war.html).
[xi] Fred A. Wilcox, Waiting for an Army to Die, p. 15
[xii] Fred A. Wilcox, Waiting for an Army to Die, p. 53
[xiii] Fred A. Wilcox, Waiting for an Army to Die, p. 55