Agent Orange

[eema.gray]

Agent Orange, the notorious defoliant made infamous during Vietnam.  Nobody realized then how terrible a toll AO would exact on friendly troops in the decades since we left that troubled country.  Many men and women came home already sickened by their exposure to AO.  The VA fought their claims, denied them health care, insisted that if illnesses caused by AO were "real" then it was the fault of the troops themselves for not wearing the protective equipment issued, never mind that in many cases, infantrymen in the field had no warning of defoliant passes, didn't have protective equipment, or opportunity to put it on.

When I first learned about AO in high school, I had no idea the chemical would eventually affect me personally.  When I first learned about AO, I didn't even know one of my uncles had served in Vietnam.  That was one of many revelations I discovered while doing my second semester American History research paper as a Junior.  I was astonished.  I had no idea that my dad's older brother had gone to Vietnam, or that he was a volunteer, not a draftee.

In the past two years, my own little family has experienced first hand the long term effects of AO.  Over this past summer, my FIL was diagnosed with leukemia of a specific type seen only in people exposed to Agent Orange.  He served twice in Vietnam as a Air Force Security Police NCO.  My uncle was diagnosed with lung cancer two years ago.  His cancer is also linked to AO exposure.  He served his year as a mechanic and then when he was discharged, returned as a civilian contractor.  Or at least that's the story he's told family over the years - my husband suspects that may only be a cover story.

I'm frightened by the fact that two men I know who served in Vietnam in very different places and way would both eventually be felled by diseases linked to Agent Orange exposure.  It makes me wonder if most vets of that conflict will eventually be treated for and/or die of the long term effects of the chemical.  We killed our own service men and women.  We just wouldn't know it, in some cases for many decades.

Tags: agent orange, vietnam

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