The Vietnam War ended in 1975, but Vietnamese people today continue to suffer the effects of Agent Orange, the deadly dioxin-containing chemical weapon that the U.S. sprayed over 12 percent of South Vietnam from 1961-1971, poisoning both the people and the land.

Descendants of the approximately 2 to 4 million Vietnamese people, hundreds of thousands of U.S. Vietnam veterans, and Vietnamese-Americans who were exposed to the toxin continue to record disproportionate rates of congenital disabilities and higher rates of many diseases.

U.S. veterans receive some compensation from the U.S. government, but very little assistance has been given to the Vietnamese people, the intended victims of the defoliant Agent Orange.

Thus, on May 25, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California) introduced H.R. 3518, the Victims of Agent Orange Relief Act of 2021, in the House of Representatives. The Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign, for which I serve as co-coordinator, assisted Lee in drafting the bill.

“The United States has a moral responsibility to compensate the victims of the Agent Orange campaign,” Lee told Truthout. “In the same way we are focused on beginning to repair the damage of systemic racism in the form of reparations, and the war on drugs with restorative justice, it is also our responsibility to try and atone for this disgraceful campaign during the Vietnam War.”

Lee noted, “The United States has contributed more than $125 million over the last 30 years in assistance through USAID for persons with significant disabilities, regardless of cause, in areas heavily sprayed with Agent Orange. This project is part of the U.S. government’s efforts to address legacies from U.S.-Vietnam War.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) recognizes 15 diseases and illnesses as associated with the spraying and use of Agent Orange by the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam era. These maladies are AL amyloidosis, chronic B-cell leukemias, chloracne, diabetes mellitus type 2, Hodgkin’s disease, ischemic heart disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Parkinson’s disease, acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy, porphyria cutanea tarda, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers and soft-tissue sarcomas.

Although the DVA provides some (albeit insufficient) compensation for 20 severe congenital disabilities in children of female U.S. veterans who served in Vietnam, the only congenital condition recognized for children of male U.S. veterans is spina bifida.

But no assistance has been provided to the children of Vietnamese or Vietnamese Americans associated with their exposure, or their parents’ or grandparents’ exposure, to Agent Orange.

Lee said H.R. 3518 “would expand benefits to children of veterans exposed to Agent Orange; expand research on Agent Orange and its effects on the health of exposed individuals; and provide medical, housing and poverty reduction assistance to Vietnamese individuals affected by exposure as well as their children,” adding, “It would also provide environmental remediation for areas in Vietnam exposed to Agent Orange and conduct a needs assessment on the Vietnamese American community.”

In addition, Lee observed, the bill would “provide grants that fund a broad health assessment for Vietnamese Americans who may have been exposed to Agent Orange as well as their children and descendants.” H.R. 3518 requires the establishment of “centers that provide ‘assessment, counseling, and treatment for conditions related to exposure to Agent Orange’ in areas with large Vietnamese-American populations,” Lee said.

In the current moment, advocates for Lee’s bill are urging those who support it to contact their congressional representatives and ask them to sign on to H.R. 3518 as a co-sponsor.

French Court Dismisses Agent Orange Lawsuit

Two weeks before the introduction of Lee’s bill, a French court dismissed a lawsuit that Tran To Nga, a French-Vietnamese victim of Agent Orange, filed in 2015 against 14 chemical companies, including Dow and Monsanto, that produced and sold Agent Orange. The court in Evry, France, ruled that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case because the companies acted “on the orders” of the U.S. government which was involved in a “sovereign act.”

Working in Vietnam as a war correspondent in 1966, Tran and others with her were enveloped by the U.S. government’s spraying of the chemicals. “I saw a plane pass with a cloud behind it. And then my whole body was drenched in a sticky powder, and I started coughing and coughing. I didn’t know that this powder that had just covered me was a poison,” Tran says in the new documentary, The People vs. Agent Orange, directed by Alan Adelson and Kate Taverna and scheduled to air on PBS on June 28.

Tran’s first daughter weighed 6.6 pounds at the age of three months. Shortly after birth, her daughter’s skin began shedding. The baby could not bear to have any skin contact or simple demonstrations of affection, Tran testified in 2009 before the International People’s Tribunal of Conscience in Support of the Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange. The child still weighed 6.6 pounds when she died at 17 months. Tran’s second daughter still suffers from alpha thalassima, a genetic blood disease rarely found in Asia. Tran herself has type 2 diabetes, tuberculosis and cancer.

“For forty years, I carried within me this guilt of being a bad mother who did not know how to protect her children, or worse, who sowed misfortune to her offspring,” Tran told Truthout in an email. It wasn’t until 2008 when Tran visited Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange that she made the connection between her toxic exposure and the illnesses she and her daughters have endured.

Tran decided to sue the U.S. companies “because all the other victims no longer have the opportunity to do so. If I don’t,” she added, “the [Agent Orange] drama would be unknown for a long time to come and the crime of the greatest chemical war against humanity still goes unpunished. Above all, millions of dioxin victims would never have any assistance to be able to live with dignity during their already too miserable and painful lives.”

Tran’s lawyer, William Bourdon, who is appealing the judge’s ruling, said the court applied an obsolete definition of sovereign immunity that did not comply with international and French law. “I am disappointed, I am angry, but I am not sad,” Tran said at a news conference. “We are going to carry on because our cause is just. Truth is on our side.”

U.S. Chemical Companies Committed “Ecocide”

Tran’s lawsuit alleges that the U.S. chemical companies committed “ecocide” because Agent Orange destroyed the environment of Vietnam. The 2009 Paris tribunal, which heard testimony from 27 victims, witnesses and scientific experts, made a finding of “ecocide.” The seven judges from three continents, including me, concluded, “The damages caused to the land and forests, water supply, and communities and the ecosystems can be legitimately be called an ecocide, as the forests and jungles in large parts of southern Vietnam have been devastated and denuded, and may either never grow back or take 50 to 200 years to regenerate.”

Today, dozens of environmental hotspots continue to contaminate the soil, food, sediment, wildlife and livestock in Vietnam with dioxin. In 2017, the United States assisted in cleaning up the Agent Orange contamination at the largest hotspot at the Da Nang Airport. In addition, the United States has pledged $30 million a year for 10 years toward the cleanup of the hotspot at Bien Hoa, but the total cost may exceed $1 billion. And there are several other smaller hotspots throughout Vietnam that must also be cleaned up as they continue to expose the people there to dioxin and arsenic.

Lee told Truthout she is “proud that, at the request of the Vietnam government, the U.S. cleaned up Danang Airport and reduced the risk of dioxin exposure to the surrounding community. Now, we are working together on dioxin remediation at Bien Hoa Airbase, which is the largest remaining dioxin hotspot in Vietnam.” Lee noted, “USAID has agreed to provide an initial five-year, $183 million contribution to this project. The bill provides for additional cleanup in areas that were heavily sprayed, such as areas that served as military bases and sites of aircraft crashes, and I will continue to ensure that U.S. assistance is provided for the Bien Hoa Airbase clean up.”

But the Chemical Companies Get Off Scot-Free

In 1979, U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War sued the U.S. government and the chemical companies, including Dow and Monsanto, for compensation resulting from their exposure to Agent Orange. The case settled out of court in 1984 for $180 million which gave a few of the plaintiffs a few thousand dollars each. Later, U.S. veterans won a legislative victory for compensation and they receive several billion dollars per year in benefits.

Vietnamese victims filed a lawsuit in 2004 against the chemical companies that manufactured Agent Orange. In 2008, U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein, who had also presided over the U.S. veterans’ lawsuit, dismissed the case brought by the Vietnamese people, concluding that Agent Orange did not constitute a poison weapon prohibited by the Hague Convention of 1907. Weinstein had reportedly told the chemical companies when they settled the U.S. veterans’ suit that their liability was over and he apparently made good on his promise. His 2008 dismissal was affirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. In the film The People vs. Agent Orange, Weinstein says that the veterans’ case “was not settled on any scientific basis. It was settled on a political basis … The moment it was settled, [the chemical companies’] stock went up.”

U.S. veterans who continue to suffer Agent Orange related diseases were exposed to, but were not the intended victims of, the deadly chemicals. Nonetheless, the U.S. government is paying for their compensation when private companies that manufactured the chemicals, which they knew to contain deadly dioxin, have not paid the price for allowing the United States to use those chemicals in the first place. Moreover, those companies profited from their sales of Agent Orange to the government.

The post Barbara Lee Introduces Bill to Help Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange appeared first on VAORRC.

Whereas it is estimated that between 1961 and 1971, approximately 77 million litres of herbicides, including 49.3 million litres of Agent Orange containing more than 360 kilograms of dioxin‐contaminated defoliants, were sprayed multiple times over 5.5 million acres in South Vietnam;

Whereas, the United States government, in violation of international law, waged this massive chemical warfare on Vietnam;

Whereas, chemical companies, including Dow and Monsanto, knew of the terrible dangers to humans related to dioxin and could have eliminated it from Agent Orange, but did not do so because it would have required additional costs; and maximizing profits came before human suffering and lives;

Whereas, dioxins are known to be risk factors for cancer, immune deficiency, reproductive and developmental disorders, and central nervous system and peripheral nervous system effects;

Whereas studies conducted by the international scientific community have shown the association between exposure to herbicides and health outcomes, including cancer, reproductive illnesses, immune deficiency, endocrine deficiencies, nervous system damage and other ill effects and developmental disabilities in children;

Whereas several generations of children who were born after the Vietnam war to parents exposed to Agent Orange during that war are now suffering from serious physical and mental disabilities that require medical, vocational, educational and other social services;

Whereas residues from herbicides that were transported, loaded, and stored at or near U.S. Air Force bases in Vietnam, and the spraying of Agent Orange by helicopters, backpacks, and Naval spraying in other locations have led to the contamination of the environment and food in the surrounding areas, resulting in exposure to herbicides by civilians that continues today;

Whereas the Vietnam Agent Relief and Responsibility Campaign is leading a national and international campaign to hold the U.S. government and those involved chemical companies accountable for the death and destruction of both humans and environment and to secure justice for Agent Orange victims;

Therefore Be It Resolved That, in support of the Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign, we (name of organization) demand that:

• U.S. Congress appropriate funds to provide health care services, education, social services, chronic care, home care, medical equipment, support for family and other services as they may arise to the more than 3 million Vietnamese people hurt by Agent Orange, including second and third generations as well as to American veterans and their children and grandchildren and to Vietnamese Americans;

• Those involved chemical companies assume their responsibility and allocate a significant amount of money from the profit of Agent Orange/dioxin to make a significant contribution to meet the needs of the victims of Agent Orange;

• Both the U.S. government and involved chemical companies be responsible to remediate and or attempt to clean up those areas in Vietnam that continue to contain high levels of dioxin.

Submitted by ________ on _____ (date) ______. Approved by ___________ on ____ (date) ____
Name, address and contacts of the organization.

The post Agent Orange Sample Resolution appeared first on VAORRC.

Agent Orange is a chemical herbicidal weapon used by the U.S. government during the war in Vietnam. These chemicals were shipped to Vietnam in barrels with an orange band. Agent Orange is a mixture of two dangerous chemicals: 2,4,D and 2,4,5,T. The 2,4,5,T used in the Agent Orange sprayed over Vietnam was contaminated with high amounts of dioxin during manufacture. Dioxin, one of the most toxic chemicals known to humanity, was manufactured by 37 companies, including Dow Chemical and Monsanto.

HOW WAS AGENT ORANGE USED IN VIETNAM?

Millions of gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed from 1961 to 1971 in South Vietnam. The U.S. military sprayed approximately 12% of the land of Vietnam in order to deprive Vietnamese of food and shelter and to defoliate the jungles. About 5 million Vietnamese people were exposed along with many U.S. and allied soldiers. International law scholars believe the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam constituted chemical warfare, a violation of the Geneva Convention and a war crime…

The post VAORRC Fact Sheet (2015): What is Agent Orange, how was it used, and what does it do? appeared first on VAORRC.

Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign, United States

Spring, 2010

National Coalition Formed on February 28, 2005

In support of justice for Vietnamese Agent Orange victims, a national coalition of veterans, Vietnamese-Americans and other community leaders announces the formation of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign (VAORRC) on February 28, 2005. This corresponds to the first court hearing on the lawsuit of Vietnamese Agent Orange victims against 37 U.S. chemical companies in U.S. federal court.

The post VAORRC Activity Report 2010 appeared first on VAORRC.

Introduction

Wars do not end when the bombs stop falling and the fighting ceases. The devastation continues long after, in the land and in the minds and bodies of the affected population.

Today, three million Vietnamese suffer the effects of chemical defoliants used by the United States during the Vietnam War. In order to deny food and protection to those deemed to be “the enemy,” the U.S. defoliated the forests of Vietnam with the deadly chemicals Agent Orange, White, Blue, Pink, Green and Purple. Agent Orange, which was contaminated with trace amounts of TCDD dioxin – the most toxic chemical known to science – disabled and sickened soldiers, civilians and several generations of their offspring on two continents.

In addition to the millions of Vietnamese still affected by this deadly poison, tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers are also affected. It has caused birth defects in hundreds of thousands of children in Vietnam and the U.S. – that is, the second and third generations of those who were exposed to Agent Orange decades ago. Medical evidence indicates that certain cancers (for example, soft tissue nonHodgkin’s Lymphoma), diabetes (type II), and in children spina bifida and other birth defects, are attributable to the exposure.

The deadly mark left by Agent Orange on the natural environment of Vietnam includes the destruction of mangrove forests and the long-term poisoning of soil and crops.

Organized by

The International Association of Democratic Lawyers in coordination with the IADL affiliate French committee Droit Solidarité, along with the Franco-Vietnamese Friendship Association, Republican Association of Veterans, International Committee for Vân Canh Friendship Village, French Peace Movement, International Association of Humanitarian Law, General Union of Vietnamese in France, and Committee Vietnam-Dioxin.

Paris, France May 15-16, 2009

Executive Summary of the Decision

The International Peoples’ Tribunal of Conscience in Support of the Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange met on May 15 to 16 2009 in Paris to hear evidence of the impact of the use of Agent Orange by the US military in Vietnam from 1961 and 1971.  A summons and complaint announcing the Tribunal was sent to the United States Government, and the Chemical Companies which manufactured Agent Orange.  Despite notice neither the Government nor the firms responded.

The Tribunal was constituted by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL).  The Judges of the Tribunal came from every part of the globe: Jitendra Sharma, India; Judge Juan Guzman, Chile; Judge Claudia Morcom, USA; Professor Marjorie Cohn, USA; Dr. Gavril Chiuzbaian, Romania; Prof. Adda Bekkarouch, Algeria; and Attorney Shoji Umeda, Japan.

The Tribunal received evidence and testimony from 27 people including victims and expert witnesses.  The testimony from the victims was very compelling and the testimony of the experts tied the damages that these victims suffered to their exposure to Dioxin.  Testimony also described the extent of the spraying, the millions of persons exposed, the jungles and forests destroyed and families devastated.

After examining the evidence the Tribunal found that the United States Government and the Chemical manufacturers were aware of the fact that Dioxin, one of the most dangerous chemicals known to man, was present in one of the component parts of Agent Orange; yet they continued to use it and in fact suppressed a study which showed in 1965 that Dioxin caused many birth defects in experimental animals.   It was not until the results of that study were released by a leak from concerned citizen that the use of Agent Orange was stopped.

Considering that this Tribunal finds:

1) that the evidence presented to the Tribunal  has  established that during the war of USA against Vietnam, from 1961 to 1971, military forces of the United States sprayed chemical products which contained large quantities of Dioxin in order to defoliate the trees for military objectives;

2) that the chemical products which were sprayed caused damages to the people, the land, the water,  the forest, the ecology and the economy of Vietnam that this Tribunal  can categorize as:

a.  direct damages to the people:   The illnesses produced directly to the people who have been exposed to Dioxin include cancer, skin disorders, liver damage, pulmonary and heart diseases,  defects to reproductive capacity, as well as nervous disorders;

b.  indirect damages to the children of those exposed to Dioxin, including severe physical deformities, mental and physical disabilities, diseases  and shortened life spans;

c.  damages caused to the land and forests, water supply, and communities.  The forests and jungles in large parts of southern Vietnam have been devastated and denuded, and may either never grow back or take 50 to 200 years to regenerate.  Animals which inhabited the forests and jungles have become extinct, disrupting the communities which depended on them. The rivers and underground water in some areas have also been contaminated. Dioxin will persist in the environment for many years; and

d.  erosion and desertification necessarily will change the environment contributing to warming the planet and the dislocation of crop and animal life.

Considering also that this Tribunal finds:

1) that the US war in  Vietnam was an illegal war of aggression  against a country seeking national liberation: the illegality is  based on Articles 2(3) and 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations which require countries to peacefully resolve their disputes.  The massive spraying of Agent Orange/Dioxin on the southern part of Vietnam and the massive bombardment of the northern part of Vietnam clearly demonstrates that the United States violated the UN Charter mandate to refrain from the use of force in international relations;

2) that the Nuremberg Principles define a war of aggression as a crime against peace punishable under international law;

3) that the use of Dioxin was a war crime because it was a poisoned weapon outlawed both in customary international law and by the Hague Convention of 1907. [Hague Convention 23(a)]. Violations of the customs and laws of war are considered war crimes under Principle VI b of the Nuremberg Principles. The Chemical companies knew how their Dioxin- laced products would be used in Vietnam; yet they continued to manufacture and supply these agents with very high levels of Dioxin to the US government.  By providing poison weapons the companies were complicit in the war crimes committed by the US government;

4) that the use of Dioxin was a crime against humanity as defined by VI c of the Nuremberg Principles, because it constituted an inhuman act done against a civilian population in connection with a crime against peace and war crimes;

5) that the use of illegal weapons in an illegal war has caused the devastation described above. These crimes have produced so much pain, suffering and anguish to at least 3 to 4 million people and their families.  The effects of these crimes will be felt for generations to come; and

6) that the time has come to provide an adequate remedy to the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange and their families and to repair as much as possible the environment of Vietnam.

CONCLUSIONS:

This Tribunal finds:

1. that the United States Government is guilty of the offenses listed above and determines that the damage to the environment of Vietnam can be defined as “ecocide”;
2. that the Chemical companies who were charged in the summons and complaint are guilty of complicity in the offenses listed above; and
3. that the United States Government and the Chemical companies which manufactured and supplied Agent Orange must fully compensate the victims of Agent Orange and their families. The US Government and the Chemical companies must also repair the environment to remove the contamination of Dioxin from the soil and the waters, and especially from the “hot spots” around former US military bases.

To complete the above task of compensation and repair, the Tribunal recommends that the Agent Orange Commission be established to assess the amount of compensation to be allocated to each victim, family group, and community.

The Agent Orange Commission will also determine the amount necessary to provide specialized medical facilities and rehabilitation and other therapeutic services to the victims and their families.

The Agent Orange Commission will also estimate the costs of the necessary studies of contaminated areas and the cost of environmental repair in the future.

The Agent Orange Commission will also determine the amount to be paid to the State of Vietnam to indemnify it for monies it has expended to support the victims and  repair the environment.

The Tribunal urges the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to forthwith constitute such Agent Orange Commission of people of eminence in the fields of medicine, science, engineering, law, epidemiology, agriculture, toxicology, ecology, public administration, and representatives of civil society.  The Agent Orange Commission shall make its recommendations within one year of its constitution.

Once the Agent Orange Commission has established the requisite amounts, those monies shall be paid by the United States Government and the Chemical companies jointly and severally to a trust fund specially created for present and future victims and their families, and repair of the environment. The amount of $1.52 billion a year being paid by the United States Government to the US Vietnam veteran victims of Agent Orange can be employed as a guide for the calculations performed by the Agent Orange Commission.

The full report of the Tribunal along with this Executive Summary shall be submitted to the Vietnamese Government within 4 weeks and will be published in full and widely distributed in the International community.

Press Advisory

May 22, 2009

Tribunal renders judgement against U.S. government and chemical companies – Hears testimony of U.S. Veteran and Vietnamese Agent Orange victims

For information, please contact:
Jearnne Mirer, Esq., Secretary General, International Association of Democratic Lawyers
(313) 515-2046 — Email: jeanne@eisnerassociates.com

On May 18, 2009, an international tribunal, sitting in Paris, ruled that the United States government and corporate manufacturers of Agent Orange are liable and responsible for the spraying of the dioxin laden chemical on the people and land of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.  The judges decided that “the use of Dioxin was a war crime because it was a poisoned weapon outlawed both in customary international law and by the Hague Convention of 1907” and ” that that the use of Dioxin was a crime against humanity as defined by VI c of the Nuremberg Principles. ”

The Tribunal held that, because the use of Agent Orange was illegal under international law and its use ” produced so much pain, suffering and anguish to at least 3 to 4 million people and their families… [that] the effects of these crimes will be felt for generations to come… the time has come to provide an adequate remedy to the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange and their families and to repair as much as possible the environment of Vietnam.”

The judges ordered the U.S. government and chemical manufacturers of Agent Orange to fully compensate to compensate the victims and their families and to clean up the environmental contamination in and around dioxin laden “hot spots” in Vietnam.

American veteran Frank Corcoran, who served in Vietnam and later contracted cancer acknowledged by the Veterans Administration to be related to Agent Orange, testified that, while he received 100% disability for his illness, ” the US is denying the Vietnamese people the same justice.”  Rena Kopystenski whose Vietnam veteran husband, John, died a year ago and whose son and grandson suffer from the effects of  John’s exposure to Agent Orange testified that when she looks at photos showing Agent Orange’s terrible impact on the children of Vietnam she realizes that, “while the chemical companies maimed and destroyed a selected segment of the American population, it has totally devastated an entire population and future populations of the country of Vietnam.”  She concluded, “with the death of my husband comes a new dedication to force answers, treatment and compensation for those who have been left to relive the War in Vietnam.”

The panel of international judges included Jitendra Sharma, President of the IADL and Supreme Court lawyer, India, Claudia Morcom, judge, Michigan and Juan Guzman, Judge, Chile, the judge who tried Augusto Pinochet. The judges heard testimony about the personal impact of Agent Orange from Vietnamese, U.S. and South Korean victims and from renowned scientists from May 15-16th.

The post Judgement of the International People’s Tribunal of Conscience appeared first on VAORRC.

Susan Schnall, RN, FACHE
Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign
Veterans For Peace Convention
August 27, 2008

The post Agent Orange: Lasting Legacy of the American War in Vietnam appeared first on VAORRC.

Merle Ratner, Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong and Susan Schnall. Photo Do Thi Ngoc (Phu Nu newspaper), November 6, 2007

It is estimated that between 1961 and 1971, approximately 77 million L of herbicides, including 49.3 million L of Agent Orange containing more than 360 kg of dioxin-contaminated defoliants, were sprayed multiple times over 5.5 million acres in South Vietnam.¹ Research studies show elevated ^2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) from dioxin in the Vietnamese people, in sediment, in soil, in wildlife, and in food in some areas of South Vietnam only, thus showing Agent Orange contamination.^2,3 Dioxins are known to be risk factors for cancer, immune deficiency, reproductive and developmental disorders, and central nervous system and peripheral nervous system effects.^4–6 Studies conducted by the international scientific community have shown the association between exposure to the herbicides and health outcomes, including cancer, reproductive illnesses, immune deficiency, endocrine deficiencies, nervous system damage, and other ill effects and possible developmental disabilities and emotional problems in children.^5–7 Those negatively affected may include children born to parents who were sprayed directly.⁵ Current conditions recognized by the US Veterans Administration as service connected to Agent Orange exposure include the following: soft tissue sarcoma, chloracne, Hodgkins Disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy, porphyria cutanea tarda, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diabetes (type 2), and spina bifida in the children of veterans.^7,8

In 2005, the US Government Accounting Office published a study involving the payout to 160,000 veterans with the⁴ most common illnesses of approximately $1.52 billion in disability payments and $56 million for medical costs per year.9 It has been estimated that at least 2.1 million, but perhaps as many as 4.8 million, people were present during the Agent Orange spraying and many more were exposed through contact with the environment and food that was contaminated.^4,6,10 Residues from herbicides that were transported, loaded, and stored at or near US Air Force bases in Vietnam and the spraying of Agent Orange by helicopters, backpacks, and Naval spraying in other locations have led to the contamination of the environment and food in the surrounding areas, resulting in exposure to herbicides by civilians that continues today.^2,4,5

In spite of scientific studies that correlate the incidence of illness with Agent Orange, the involved chemical companies continue to maintain that there is no scientific proof that the Agent Orange causes disease. Recognizing that since the passage in 1991 of APHA Policy Statement 91-24 titled “Continuing Consequences of the Vietnam War,”¹¹ progress has been made in significant areas such as ending the trade embargo of Vietnam and developing legislation to address some of the psychological and physical health effects of war on American veterans of the Vietnam War and their families, outstanding issues still remain to be addressed.

Therefore, APHA—

The post American Public Health Association (APHA) Policy on Agent Orange appeared first on VAORRC.

Vanity Fair

VII derives its name from the number of founding photo-journalists who, in September 2001, formed this collectively owned agency. Designed from the outset to be an efficient, technologically enabled distribution hub for some of the world’s finest photojournalism, VII has been responsible for creating and relaying to the world many of the images that define the turbulent opening years of the 21st century.

Alexandra Boulat, Ron Haviv, Gary Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, Christopher Morris, James Nachtwey and John Stanmeyer were joined in 2002 by Lauren Greenfield and in 2004 by Joachim Ladefoged. Eugene Richards joined in April 2006. Together they document conflict – environmental, social and political, both violent and non-violent – to produce an unflinching record of the injustices created and experienced by people caught up in the events they describe.

On September 9th 2001, VII announced its formation. On the following night, covering for the missed return flight of a colleague, James Nachtwey arrived at his Manhattan apartment close to the World Trade Center. The next morning, he photographed some of the most haunting pictures of the collapse of the towers, at the same time eloquently conveying the destruction of a way of life.

While the stark realities of the battlefield loom large, VII turns its gaze with equal intensity to more subtle forms of conflict and documenting the changes and development of society and culture worldwide. The work of Lauren Greenfield, particularly in her social documentary of youth culture and gender identity, adds a further perspective and depth to the work of the agency

But this is not merely artfully captured, neutral observation; nor is it the doctrinaire elaboration of a political or social position. Each photographer is inspired by an array of often very different motivations, and it is from this breadth of reference that the agency draws its originality and strength. What unites VII’s work is a sense that, in the act of communication at the very least, all is not lost; the seeds of hope and resolution inform even the darkest records of inhumanity; reparation is always possible; despair is never absolute.

nachtwey01

Nguyen Thanh Hai, 24, with his father, Nguyen Thanh Quang, in the foreground.

nachtwey02

Dallas, Texas. Eric Ramsey, 35, who suffers from hydrocephalus and has a deformed foot and hand. A large part of his brain is also missing. Eric’s father was a Marine during the Vietnam War and was severely wounded by a land mine and exposed to Agent Orange. Eric receives some benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, but not for Agent Orange.

nachtwey03

Twelve-year-old Tran Thi Thang, with her mother, Ngo Thi Sen. Her father was in the North Vietnamese Army during the war and was exposed to Agent Orange

nachtwey04

Fulshear, Texas. Harold Jackson, 62—who suffers from hydrocephalus peripheral neuropathy, skin cancer, and prostate cancer—and his wife, Doe. Jackson was in the army during the Vietnam War and was exposed to Agent Orange. He receives benefits from Veterans Affairs.

nachtwey05

A boy watches TV at Tu Du Hospital, in Ho Chi Minh City.

nachtwey06

Highland Lake, New Jersey. Michael Szymczak, 23—who suffers from spina bifida—and his mother, Doreen Szymczak. Michael’s father was in the Air Force during the Vietnam War and may have been exposed to Agent Orange. Michael receives benefits from the Veterans Administration, as spina bifida is recognized by the V.A. as a consequence of Agent Orange.

nachtwey07

Le Thi Tuyet, 25, with her mother, Pham Thi Manh, and father, Nguyen Van Xuan. The family lived in the area during the war and saw Agent Orange being sprayed.

nachtwey08

Greensboro, North Carolina. Rodney Tyler, 58—who suffers from Parkinson’s disease—and his wife, Martie Tyler. Rodney was in the navy during the Vietnam War and was exposed to Agent Orange. After 21 years of trying to get benefits, he now receives 100 percent disability compensation from Veterans Affairs.

nachtwey09

Seventeen-year-old Nguyen Thi Hue, who is blind, with her mother.

nachtwey10

Hackettstown, New Jersey. Ryan Albertson, aged six—who suffers from spina bifida—and his father, Kelly Albertson. Ryan’s grandfather James Albertson was in the army in Vietnam during the war and was exposed to Agent Orange. Ryan does not receive benefits from Veterans Affairs.

nachtwey11

Cam Lo, Quang Tri Province. Phan Thi Hoi kissing her 14-year-old son, Bui Quang Ky.

nachtwey12

Defiance, Ohio. V.F.W. Post 3360. The U.S. government refuses to award Purple Hearts to Agent Orange victims, so the Order of the Silver Rose, an association of Vietnam veterans, gives medals to vets affected by the chemical.

nachtwey13

The Vietnam Friendship Village, outside of Hanoi. A home for disabled war veterans, many of whom have various forms of cancer, diabetes, and skin disease, most likely caused by Agent Orange.

nachtwey14

Nguyen Van Thong, 22, who has mental and physical disabilities, crawls beneath the shadow of his brother, Nguyen Van Thuy, who suffers from hydrocephalus and spina bifida. Their father was exposed to Agent Orange when he served in the North Vietnamese Army.

nachtwey15

Cam Lo, Quang Tri Province. Phan Thi Hoi bathes her 14-year-old son, Bui Quang Ky. She was exposed to Agent Orange when she was in the North Vietnamese Army during the war.

The post The Vietnam Syndrome in Photographs by James Nachtwey appeared first on VAORRC.

Association between Agent Orange and birth defects: systematic review and meta-analysis, by Anh D. Ngo, Richard Taylor, Christine L Roberts and Tuan V. Nguyen, to appear in the International Journal of Epidemiology, March 16, 2006.

Abstract

Background

The association between parental exposure to Agent Orange or dioxin and birth defects is controversial, due to inconsistent findings in the literature. The principal aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis of relevant epidemiological studies that examined this association and to assess the heterogeneity among studies.

Methods

Relevant studies were identified through a computerized literature search of Medline and Embase from 1966 to 2002; reviewing the reference list of retrieved articles and conference proceedings; and contacting researchers for unpublished studies. A specified protocol was followed to extract data on study details and outcomes. Both fixed-effects and random-effects models were used to synthesize the results of individual studies. The Cochrane Q test and index of heterogeneity (I2) were used to evaluate heterogeneity, and a funnel plot and Egger’s test were used to evaluate publication bias.

Results

In total, 22 studies including 13 Vietnamese and nine non-Vietnamese studies were identified. The summary relative risk (RR) of birth defects associated with exposure to Agent Orange was 1.95 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.59-2.39], with substantial heterogeneity across studies. Vietnamese studies showed a higher summary RR (RR = 3.00; 95% CI 2.19-4.12) than non-Vietnamese studies (RR = 1.29; 95% CI 1.04-1.59). Sub-group analyses found that the magnitude of association tended to increase with greater degrees of exposure to Agent Orange, rated on intensity and duration of exposure and dioxin concentrations measured in affected populations.

Conclusion

Parental exposure to Agent Orange appears to be associated with an increased risk of birth defects.

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Black and white photography of Vietnamese persons presumed to be suffering the effects of Agent Orange multiple generations after the U.S. ended the war.

AGENT ORANGE:

Collateral Damage in Viet Nam

Philip Jones Griffiths, for a record five years the President of Magnum Photos, created in Vietnam, Inc. a record of the war there of almost Biblical proportions. No one who has seen it will forget its haunting images. In Agent Orange he has added a postscript that is equally memorable. In 1960 the United States war machine concluded that an efficient deterrent to the enemy troops and civilians would be the devastation of the crops and forestry that afforded them both succour and cover for their operations. Initial descriptions of the scheme included “Food Denial Program”, later adapted to “depriving cover for enemy troops”. They gave the idea the name “Operation Hades”, but were advised that “Operation Ranch Hand” was a more suitable cognomen for PR purposes. The US had developed herbicides for the task. The most infamous became known as Agent Orange after the coloured stripe on the canisters used to distribute it. The planes that carried the canisters had ‘only we can prevent forests!’ as a logo on their fuselages. They were right. It was very effective. Unfortunately the herbicide also contained Dioxin, probably the world’s deadliest poison. In Agent Orange Philip Jones Griffiths has photographed the children and grandchildren of the farmers whose faces were lifted to the gentle rain of the poison cloud. Some maintain that the connection between the maimed subjects of Griffiths’ photographs and the exposure to Agent Orange is not scientifically established. However, the compensation payments made by the herbicide manufactures to those Americans sprayed in Viet Nam refute this assertion. Historians will find it sufficient to say that there will always be collateral damage, that useful PR phrase, in war and that Philip Jones Griffiths should understand the consequences of martial endeavours. He most certainly does. He has catalogued here a pitiless series of photographs, and there can be no doubt that they should and will be recognised.

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