Agent Orange: Negative Long-term Effects on People and Wildlife

1. Agent Orange: Negative Long-term Effects on People and Wildlife Brandon Pensabene Humanities English II Mr. Chiumento June 11, 2012

2. What exactly is Agent orange? • Agent orange was a defoliation chemical used to eliminate the thick jungles and brush as an alternative to napalm • Nicknamed agent orange because it was stored in barrels with orange stripes on it • Contains TCDD, one of the most deadly toxins known to man, even low doses can cause kidney, liver, and other problems • By 1970, over 12 million gallons of agent orange had been sprayed over an area of about 5 million acres

3. Agent orange and it’s service to the military • Was first tested in 1961 and was used extensively until 1970 • About ten percent of the spraying was done by hand, that is on boats or cars, but the rest was dropped from planes • Proved to be a cheaper, more effective alternative to napalm • Completely destroyed once lush jungles, and harmed countless innocent villagers

4. First signs of agent orange’s deadly long-term effects • By 1967 peasants and villagers were suffering miscarriages, skin rashes, sick and dying farm animals, and the sudden death of sick and elderly people • In 1978 a 28 year old Vietnam veteran who had been exposed to agent orange announced “I died in Vietnam but I didn’t even know it.” (Facts on file) • Later that year he died of liver, colon, and abdominal cancer

5. Suffering veterans begin to take action • 1978 Paul Reuthersahn initiated a class action lawsuit against Dow chemicals and other manufacturers of agent orange • Largest class action lawsuit in American history at the time • In 1984 the case was settled for $180 million • Most veterans received and average of $12,000 over the course of 10 years

6. The long-term effects of agent orange are still felt today • In 2004, Vietnamese victims of the toxin filed a class action lawsuit too, this time claiming that the production of agent orange was a war crime • Many parts of Vietnam are still polluted with agent orange and other herbicides • Also many rivers contain agent orange that if exposed to will cause certain death

7. Agent oranges effects on the current generation of Vietnamese people • Many children born suffer monstrous birth defects • Many women have miscarriages, the population is declining each year • Many children suffer from terminal illnesses such as cancer before they even reach their teenage years • Other birth defects include: missing/extra limbs, no eyes, misshaped heads, and even genitalia growing from ones head

8. The effect of Agent orange on Vietnam’s wildlife • There was once thick forest’s and jungles but a large portion of that was destroyed by herbicides like agent orange • Many animals still die from exposure to agent orange • Large pockets of this toxin are found all through the rivers and streams of Vietnam • Much of the rice paddies and farmland has been eradicated by agent orange and is no longer useable as farmland

9. Public opinion of agent orange • “He works for the CIA. Johnny RedYellow is his name, but I just simply call him agent orange.” (Jarod Kintz) • This quote refers to agent orange in a negative light. He calls it Johnny RedYellow because there was agent blue, red, yellow, etc. however they all had the same effect • This is a slam on the CIA and the governments use of this herbicide, he’s basically saying he doesn’t care what you call it, it’s still the same deadly toxin

10. Public knowledge of the dangers of agent orange • “Much of my early career was spent working with two of the most toxic chemicals ever discovered, dioxin and aflatoxin. I initially worked at MIT, where I was assigned a chicken feed puzzle. Millions of chicks a year were dying from an unknown toxic chemical in their feed, and I had the responsibility of isolating and determining the structure of this chemical. After two and a half years, I helped discover dioxin, arguably the most toxic chemical ever found. This chemical has since received widespread attention, especially because it was part of the herbicide 2,4,5-T, or Agent Orange, then being used to defoliate forests in the Vietnam War.“ (T. Colin Campbell) • This shows that we did understand it’s harmful effects and the possibility of deadly side-effects • The government obviously knew these to be true and so did most people yet the government still used this toxin for years to come

11. Cynicism towards agent orange and it’s prolonged use in the war • “Why an arbitrary figure of 30 days? The US Government has long accepted it only takes one day to be exposed to Agent Orange” (John Atkins) • Many people were angry with the government because they knew the harmful side effects that agent orange could have but used it anyway • This fueled the already growing theme that the government lies and cannot be trusted • Many veterans still suffer today and have not received proper care or reimbursement from our government

12. Denial/cover-up • We pretended there was no problem with Agent Orange after Vietnam and later the Pentagon recanted, after untold suffering by veterans. (Jim McDermott) • The government attempted to deny that agent orange had negative effects on the human body • This was later disproved when countless Vietnam veterans who had been exposed to agent orange began to suffer from diseases and even die • This quote is saying that it’s wrong that it took veterans suffering and dying for the government to finally be honest

13. Agent Orange being sprayed over the jungles of Vietnam Agent orange was easy to transport and drop as seen above. Missions like this were taken every day for almost ten years, countless acres of land and jungle was doused by agent orange daily.

14. Child effected by agent orange Like I mentioned birth defects are extremely common amongst the current generation of Vietnamese. This child above has no eyes at all. His head is larger than average and is slightly pointed, and he appears to be unhealthily skinny. It’s haunting images like these that make us regret the use of agent orange.

15. Vietnam veterans still protest the government’s use of agent orange These are veterans in a modern day setting protesting still. This really shows that agent orange had a huge impact on many people’s lives. This also shows that the government has denied these people proper compensation. This is an issue that is still important even 50 years later.

16. Political cartoon about agent orange This poster is saying that our soldiers, young kids, were forced to test new weapons in warfare in Vietnam. Uncle Sam is portrayed as evil looking in this poster and he is holding a can of agent orange in his hand. This shows the discontempt that people held for the government and agent orange at the time.

17. My opinion of agent orange • Agent orange was extremely effective on the battlefield, however it was unethical and wrong to use it • Not only are those involved in the war suffering, but so are the children of Vietnam, that’s wrong they don’t deserve that • The government very well knew the effects of agent orange but used it anyway, this is wrong and sickening. The government was playing war games with young kids forced to fight 10,000 miles away from home • Agent orange was an extremely poor decision to use and the world is still recovering from it today

18. Works Cited • "Defoliation Mission in Vietnam." National Archives and Records Administration. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=AHI0818&SingleRecord=True (accessed June 10, 2012). • Wilcox, Fred A. "Agent Orange." In Burch, Susan, ed. Encyclopedia of American Disability History. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EADH0016&SingleRecord=True (accessed June 10, 2012). • Bouny, Andre. "The effects of Agent Orange and it's consequences." www.globalresearch.ca. Globalresearch.ca, January 16, 2007. Web. 10 Jun 2012. <http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? • Fujiwara, Tetsuya. "Vietnam War, disability and." In Burch, Susan, ed. Encyclopedia of American Disability History. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EADH0729&SingleRecord=True (accessed June 10, 2012).