American soldiers had also been exposed to the herbicides, reassured by their superiors that they presented no risk. Thus, Agent Orange is not orange; rather it is a colorless, . The sole target of Operation Ranch Hand was Vietnamese guerrillas (troops that hide well to make sudden attacks on the enemy). Agent Orange is a mixture of two active chemicals. Agent Orange also contained small, variable proportions of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxincommonly called dioxinwhich is a by-product of the manufacture of 2,4,5-T and is toxic even in minute quantities. Some 45 million liters of the poisoned spray was Agent Orange, which contains the toxic compound dioxin. 249 Lambert Road, Fred Berman, DVM, PhD, director of Toxicology at Oregon Health Sciences University and Richard Clapp, professor emeritus, Boston University School of Public Health had previously consulted with the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on the unresolved issues of Agent Orange exposures in the aircrew. forests") and crop-growing regions of South Vietnam.1 Agent Or-ange was shipped to Vietnam in 55-gallon drums circled by a stripe of orange paint for easy sorting from other herbicides Agents White, Blue, Purple, and so on. The U.S. had a rainbow of chemicals at their disposal. It's an uphill battle, said Maynard Kaderlik, the Minnesota-based chair of the Vietnam Veterans of America's Agent Orange and Dioxin Committee. Rural-to-urban migration rates dramatically increased in South Vietnam, Environmental improvements, rehabilitation/restoration of area. Carpinteria, CA 93013, Ladera Campus They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. used to make that statementincluding the filing of multiple Freedom of Information Act requestshave been hampered by U.S. authorities, and the Pentagon has refused to help former service members who claim they were exposed to toxic defoliants during the operation. Dioxin (Agent Orange) on the Carriers. No such plan is in store in Vietnam. {{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}. Founded in 2004 and now with over 350,000 members, VAVA has established its bountiful member groups across up to 61 out of 63 cities and provinces in Vietnam. There is an obvious disinformation campaign on this issue that only makes me want to look closer.. It has unleashed in Vietnam a slow-onset disaster whose devastating economic, health and ecological impacts that are still being felt today. As a result of herbicide spraying, watershed forests of over 28 major rivers suffered serious damage, according to Vietnam Environment Administration Magazine; their flood-preventing capability has dwindled considerably; numerous animal and plant species have gone extinct. This lady has done extensive research on and about the effects of 2-B. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. During the Vietnam War, in an operation known as Operation Ranch Hand, approximately 20 million gallons of herbicides, including around 10.5 million gallons of dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange, were sprayed by 34 C-123 aircraft. And during the course of 9 years, over 6,000 spraying missions took place in South Vietnam, according to U.S. Air Force statistics. Even Ken Burns and Lynn Novick seem to gloss over this contentious issue, both in their supposedly exhaustive Vietnam War documentary series and in subsequent interviews about the horrors of Vietnam. This operations was called the Operation Ranch Hand. But according to documents supplied by veterans involved in the shipment of stocks of Agent Orange to Johnston Island, the barrels arrived in various stages of deterioration. In 1969, when he was the National Security Advisor, the Cambodian government filed a claim for over $12 million in damages caused by night-time spraying of Agent Orange in Kompong Cham Province. Because the effects of the chemical are passed from one generation to the next, Agent Orange is now debilitating its third and fourth generation. Its major manufacturers, including Dow Chemical and Monsanto, have . How has Agent Orange affected Vietnamese people? - "Poynter" fonts provided by fontsempire.com. Agent Orange was one of several herbicides used in Vietnam, the others including Agents White, Purple, Blue, Pink, and Green. Dioxin can have devastating, lethal effects on human health, and on top of that, it is hereditary. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Make a one-time contribution to Alternet All Access, Forget Jeb DeSantis. Some of these vulnerable areas also happen to be very poor and, these days, home to a large number of Agent Orange victims. Government of United States, US Army, Government of Vietnam. or click here to become a subscriber. But the Pentagons denials about the presence of these herbicides on Okinawa have prevented hundreds of these veterans from receiving aid. It is believed that Agent Orange is still affecting the health of Vietnamese people. While a small amount of dioxin can actually reduce the risk of cancer contraction, a greater level than permitted would do exactly the reverse, increasing the risk of cancer substantially. But, in 2005 the judge dismissed the lawsuit ruling there was no legal basis for the plaintiffs claims. It is a mixture of two common herbicides (2,4-D and 2,4,5-T ) that were used separately in the United States since the late 1940s. She found. From 1971-1982, Air Force reservists, who flew in 34 dioxin-contaminated aircraft used to spray Agent Orange and returned to the U.S. following discontinuation of the herbicide spraying operations in the Vietnam War, were exposed to greater levels of dioxin than previously acknowledged, according to a study published today in Environmental Research by senior author Jeanne Mager Stellman, PhD, Mailman School of Public Health professor emerita in the Department of Health Policy and Management. One prominent comic strip featured a character named Brother Nam who explained that The only effect of defoliant is to kill trees and force leaves to whither, and normally does not cause harm to people, livestock, land, or the drinking water of our compatriots.. Contaminated soils, permanent forest loss, soil erosion, and other environmental damage have haunted Vietnam for years. The first test spraying occurred August 10, 1961. They compared estimates with available guidelines and standards and discuss the implications with respect to current Air Force and VA policies.These models suggest that the potential for dioxin exposure to personnel working in the aircraft post-Vietnam is greater than previously believed and that inhalation, ingestion, and skin absorption were likely to have occurred during post-Vietnam use of the aircraft by aircrew and maintenance staff. By 1971, around 12% of its total area suffered from Rainbow Herbicides spraying. Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available: Supporters: Red Cross International, Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA); Medical and Scientific Aid for Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (MSAVLC). Agent Orange is dangerous because it contains 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, otherwise known as TCDD. However, the U.S. government is only known to have paid compensation to three of these veterans, including a former soldier who was poisoned while handling thousands of barrels of Agent Orange at Naha Port between 1965 and 1967. By the end of the war, over 3.6 million acres had been sprayed with Rainbow Herbicides. TCDD is a byproduct of herbicide production and is toxic even in small amounts. Besides the obvious purpose of clearing the jungle cover of Vietnamese troops and disabling food production as mentioned above, the intoxication of land also assisted in the American political aim of uprooting over two million refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, forcing them to flee to other countries. Juridical relevant texts related to the conflict (laws, legislations, EIAs, etc), References to published books, academic articles, movies or published documentaries, Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network. In the first generation, the impacts were mostly visible in high rates of various forms of cancer among both U.S. soldiers and Vietnam residents. Above all, it has succeeded in raising over US$ 50 million and establishing over 26 care centers for victims and their families. . However, dioxin buried or leached under the surface or deep in the sediment of rivers and other bodies of water can have a half-life of more than 100 years". For each association between a specific health outcome and exposure to TCDD and other chemicals present in the herbicides used by the military in Vietnam, the study . Out of the 28 bases where Ranch Hand stored defoliants and loaded them onto airplanes, the main ones were Bien Hoa Air Base for operations in Mekong Delta (Bien Hoa, a populous city in southern Vietnam) and Da Nang Air Base for central coast and the Ho Chi Minh Trail regions (an important artery for Vietnamese military in the war). A view of Camp . The basis of their evidence was a purported claim from a former NZ Defence attach in Washington that he wrote reports to the United States Defence Department about the supply of Agent Orange. It took years for the United States military to acknowledge that the chemicals were, in fact, harmful and even longer for them to begin compensating victims for their effects. They were also effective. Then the sprayers would move in and douse an area with the chemical. To those who followed the conflict's aftermath intimately, this was hardly surprising. However, the dioxin (the main component) continues to have harmful impact (both humans and ecosystems) today and no compensation of the US government to Vietnamese victims has taken place. But then the children were born. The past year has been the most arduous of our lives. So had millions of Vietnamese people. Such color-coding was meant as a convenient substitution for the more complicated chemical names and stemmed from the color of the 55-gallon drums that contained the respective herbicides. Agent Orange is a blend of tactical herbicides the U.S. military sprayed from 1962 to 1971 during Operation Ranch Hand in the Vietnam War to remove trees and dense tropical foliage that provided enemy cover. Current policies stipulate that non-biologically available dried residues of chemical herbicides and dioxin would not have led to meaningful exposures to flight crew and maintenance personnel, who are therefore ineligible for Agent Orange-related benefits or medical examinations and treatment.Researchers estimated dioxin body burden using modeling algorithms developed by the US Army and data derived from surface wipe samples collected from aircraft used in Operation Ranch Hand. Numerous domestic and foreign-based associations have been founded to promote relief acts for the Agent Orange aftermath in Vietnam. Using a variety of defoliants, the U.S. military also intentionally targeted cultivated land, destroying crops and disrupting rice production and distribution by the largely communist National Liberation Front, a party devoted to reunification of North and South Vietnam. No such plan is in store in Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, the United States sprayed on Vietnam about 40 million liters of Agent Orange and related toxic rainbow herbicides - Agents Purple, White, Green and Pink. -Agent Orange was a herbicide that U.S. The legacy of the defoliant will outlast its immediate victims, said Kaderlik. From 2005 to 2015, more than 200,000 Vietnamese victimssuffering from 17 diseases linked to cancers, diabetes and birth defects were eligible for limited compensation, via a government program. Its abundantly clear now that this is false. As a result, nobody is officially accountable for the suffering of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange. Chapter 1 discusses the researchers relationship with the topic and outlines the research procedures. Rainforests in Vietnam destroyed by Rainbow herbicides. By spraying Agent Orange, he thought he was helping the United States military bust through Vietnam's impenetrable jungles on the way to victory. Their substantial contribution has been greatly appreciated and remembered with profound gratitude by dioxin victims and their families. Make a one-time contribution to Alternet All Access, These accounts have caused alarm in Okinawa, where local residents have been urging the authorities to conduct environmental tests within the bases where U.S. veterans allege Agent Orange was stored. We need your support in this difficult time. Its abundantly clear now that this is false. Vietnams natural defenses were also debilitated. The Korean War Project, an organization that has its office in Dallas, Texas, has been raising the issue of Agent Orange, which the U.S. used in the Vietnam War, for about 10 years. Agent Orange was a chemical herbicide used during the Vietnam War that had a devastating impact long after the conflict ended.Newsletter: https://www.history. More than 10 years of U.S. chemical warfare in Vietnam exposed an estimated 2.1 to 4.8 million Vietnamese people to Agent Orange. By estimation, Ranch Hand sprayed roughly 20 million gallons (75.7 million liters) of Rainbow herbicides, containing nearly 400 kilograms of dioxin on Vietnam. Washington has pledged $400,000 (205,000) towards a $1m study into the removal of the highly toxic chemical dioxin at a former US base at Da Nang. All but three of the aircraft were smelted down in 2009.The Air Force and Department of Veterans Affairs have previously denied benefits to these crew members. Two heroic women fight to hold the manufacturers accountable. What are symptoms of being exposed to Agent Orange? I would love to make a charity trip to the Agent Orange villages. The U.S. and Vietnam are also undertaking a joint remediation program to deal with dioxin-contaminated soil and water. In the report, which was published in 1969, Bionetics researchers stated that Agent Orange contained a contaminant called 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD), a dioxin that caused increased rates of stillbirths and birth defects in pregnant rats exposed to it. Catholic Religious group, HIGH (widespread, mass mobilization, violence, arrests, etc), In REACTION to the implementation (during construction or operation), Development of a network/collective action. "The U.S. Department of Defense has searched and found no record that the aircraft or ships transporting (Agent) Orange to South Vietnam stopped at Okinawa on their way," Maj. Neal Fisher, deputy director of public affairs for U.S. forces in Japan, recently informed the author. That is insulting to the credibility and integrity of the men and women who served honorably, giving up years of our young lives to protect our great country of the United States of America and the island of Okinawa, says Sipalas letter. In an attempt to starve out Communist insurgents, British troops sprayed the lush forests with a substance similar to what became Agent Orange. Agent Orange was used along with several other herbicides, code-named Agents White, Purple, Blue, Pink, and Green. Proposal and development of alternatives: Alternatives: To assist those who have been affected Vietnamese have created "peace villages", to give victims medical and psychological help. The estimated airborne contamination exceeded the only available (German) standard.Dr. Dioxin stays in the soil and in the sediment at the . In Vietnam, nearly 4.8 million people have been exposed, causing 400,000 deaths; the associated illnesses include cancers, birth defects, skin disorders, auto-immune diseases, liver disorders, psychosocial effects, neurological defects and gastrointestinal diseases. In 1961, test runs began. (Credit: Dick Swanson/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images), Dick Swanson/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. This was used extensively in Vietnam and in the Gulf and also to clean up the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. This is the chemical make up of 2-butoxyethanol and in this article I will refer to it as 2-B. Should Trump be allowed to hold office again? The Aspen Istitute[click to view], Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA)[click to view], The Struggle Continues: Seeking Compensation for Vietnamese Agent Orange Victims, 52 years on[click to view], Agent of suffering, The Guardian. The Participatory Action Research approach allowed Agent Orange Victims (AOVs) and community members in Da Nang to tell their stories about how Agent Orange and dioxin have affected their lives, psychology, families, and communities. During the Vietnam War, in an operation known as "Operation Ranch Hand," approximately 20 million gallons of herbicides, including around 10.5 million gallons of dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange, were sprayed by 34 C-123 aircraft. In 2004, a Vietnamese group unsuccessfully attempted to sue some 30 companies, alleging that the use of chemical weapons constituted a war crime. We use cookies for statistical purposes and to improve our services. By 1971, around 12% of its total area suffered from Rainbow Herbicides spraying; millions of hectares of forests (especially mangrove forests) and agricultural land were annihilated due to one-off or repetitive spray missions. The defoliant, sprayed from low-flying aircraft, consisted of approximately equal amounts of the unpurified butyl esters of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T). The destruction of Vietnamese forests, however, has proven irreversible. Others included, Agent Orange II (super orange), Agent Blue, Agent White, Agent Purple, and Agent Pink. Regular medical check-ups, reimbursement allowances, medical care, and special needs education program for their children are a few among the wonders VAVA has brought to the unlucky war survivors. According to these accounts, hundreds of barrels of Agent Orange were shipped to Panama at the height of the Vietnam War, then sprayed on jungle areas to simulate the battlefield conditions. Many former service members stationed on Okinawa claim that they are suffering from similar illnesses due to exposure to the herbicide. Chapter 1 discusses the researcher's relationship with the topic and outlines the research procedures. In 2004, a Vietnamese group unsuccessfully attempted to sue some 30 companies, alleging that the use of chemical weapons constituted a war crime. (Credit: Kuni Takahashi/CHI-Photo/REX/Shutterstock). Not true: Sixty-five percent of the United States rainbow of chemicals contained dioxinsknown carcinogens. The chemicals were sprayed from aircraft contaminating soil, water, air. Vietnamese people werent the only ones poisoned by Agent Orange. The natural habitat of such rare species as tigers, elephants, bears and leopards were distorted, in many cases beyond repair. Agent Orange was a powerful herbicide used by U.S. military forces during the Vietnam War to eliminate forest cover and crops for North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. In total, since the US troops sprayed AO/dioxin in Vietnam for the first time, over three million hectares of forests and rice fields and 26,000 villages have been infected with this toxicant. But then the children were born. - U.S. veterans were also exposed to the herbicide. Allegedly, chemical manufacturers had informed the U.S. military that Agent Orange was toxic, but spraying went forward anyway. Humans are harmed by Agent Orange due to the presence of dioxin, a highly toxic chemical - a byproduct, rather an intentional component, during the manufacturing of herbicides. More than 19 million gallons of various "rainbow" herbicide combinations were sprayed, but Agent Orange was . In total, since the US troops sprayed AO/dioxin in Vietnam for the first time, over three million hectares of forests and rice fields and 26,000 villages have been infected with this toxicant. These are whats to blame for the Agent Orange Aftermath in Vietnam. People who come into contact with Agent Orange, depending on the length, intensity, and timing of their exposure, may suffer from skin diseases or congenital deformations. Between 1962 and 1971, the U.S. military sprayed roughly 11 million gallons of the chemical agent across large swaths of southern Vietnam. Chapter 5 discusses how Agent Orange harms human reproductive functions, and the psychological transformation and social breakthrough that occurred as fathers took responsibility for the disabilities of their children. More than 20,000 towns and up to 4.8 million people lay within spraying regions. On 13 March 1989, the Vietnam Veterans Association sent a fax to the government stating they had evidence about the manufacture of Agent Orange in New Zealand in the late 1960s for use in Vietnam. As one of a group of chemicals referred to as the rainbow herbicides, Agent Orange served as the most well-known defoliant used in the Vietnam War. Efforts of the US governments in accepting its responsibility have remained slow and minimal. Erosion caused by loss of tree cover and loss of seedling forest stock meant that reforestation was difficult (or impossible) in many areas. [click to view], The Dark Shadow of Agent Orange | Retro Report | The New York Times[click to view], Toxic Rain - The Legacy of Agent Orange[click to view], Exposure to Agent Orange, a case of ecocide, Vietnam, Biomass and Land Conflicts (Forests, Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Management), around 5,000,000 people have being exposed to the agent orange. Currently, veterans who sprayed or handled Agent Orange herbicide during the war, or who spent any time on the ground in Vietnam, are automatically eligible for care and compensation under federal Agent Orange legislation. For all of us independent news organizations, its no exception. In the end, the military campaign was called Operation Ranch Hand, but it originally went by a more appropriately hellish appellation: Operation Hades. This is not the first time that Agent Orange has been linked to Red Hat. In Quang Ngai province (in the southern half of the central coast), for example, 85% of the croplands were demolished in 1970 alone, leading to severe famine across the town; hundreds of thousands of people died of starvation or suffered from severe malnutrition, especially kids. Finally, soldiering on the fight for justice for the dioxin victims, with efforts to win more advocacy from the international public. Among the Vietnamese, exposure to Agent Orange is considered to be the cause of an abnormally high incidence of miscarriages, skin diseases, cancers, birth defects, and congenital malformations (often extreme and grotesque) dating from the 1970s. Of the 3 million victims as aforementioned, hundreds of thousands died, others lived with chronic excruciating health condition with their family in desperation and poverty. Agent Orange was stored on site at Diamond Alkali in 208-liter barrels painted with an orange stripe and then loaded on ocean-going vessels and shipped through the Panama Canal Zone [13] Figure 11 Donald Trump is the Republican Party, 'Emperor with no clothes': Ron DeSantis mocked for bungled answer to how he would handle Ukraine, 'I obviously don't have evidence': House Republican has a wild new conspiracy about COVID-19 origins, 'You give a speech at ONE insurrection': Donald Trump Jr. burned for whining 'woke' bank dumped his app, Watch: Candace Owens wishes she could 'punch Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the face', Marjorie Taylor Greene spokesperson throws profane tantrum when confronted by CNN fact-checker, 'Rule by local warlords?' Invest with us. From 1961 to 1972 the US military forces sprayed more than 19 million gallons of herbicides over 4.5 million acres of land in South Vietnam. In addition to being a highly effective at killing plants, it has turned out to have a number of alarming health effects that have made it into a very controversial subject. South Vietnam was the main suffering region. The U.S. military used Agent Orange and other herbicides . It launched a public relations campaign included educational programs showing civilians happily applying herbicides to their skin and passing through defoliated areas without concern. The estimated dermal and oral exposure exceeded US standards. As a result, nobody is officially accountable for the suffering of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange. From 2005 to 2015, more than 200,000 Vietnamese victims suffering from 17 diseases linked to cancers, diabetes and birth defects were eligible for limited compensation, via a government program. These include Agent White, Agent Blue, Agent Pink, and Agent Green, among others. The barrels were processed and shipped to Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean, where they were incinerated at sea in 1977." Source: Vietnam Veterans Association. However, it was surely inevitable that Vietnamese civilians had to bear the brunt. During Operation Ranch Hand, the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments spent considerable time and effort making the claim that tactical herbicides were safe for humans and the environment. Among five million people exposed to AO/dioxin, over three million ones are still suffering from diseases and leaving birth defects on their children. (Vietnamese in the US raise funds for AO victims, 2011, Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Research suggests that another six to twelve generations will have to pass before dioxin stops affecting the genetic code. The term "Agent Orange" also refers to the multiple "rainbow" herbicides used by the U.S. During the 10-year campaign, U.S. aircraft targeted 4.5 million acres across 30 different provinces in the area below the 17th parallel and in the Mekong Delta, destroying inland hardwood forests and coastal mangrove swamps as they sprayed. Today, Agent Orange has become a contentious legal and political issue, both within Vietnam and internationally. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Between the B-52 strikes and the Agent Orange, that lovely lush jungle around Khe Sanh was turned brown., Year-old conjoined twins being cared for at Hanois Viet-Duc hospital, a center for treating deformed children and others who may have been affected by exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange. Check out the ideal itinerary in Ho Chi Minh City that offers great insights into Vietnam culture and history.