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However, early plans to use chemicals to, for example, starve the Japanese by ruining their rice crops, faltered. In the end, the military campaign was called Operation Ranch Hand, but it originally went by a more appropriately hellish appellation: Operation Hades. The destruction of Vietnamese forests, however, has proven irreversible. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The Effect on Soldiers. -About 80 million litres of toxic chemicals were sprayed over the south of Vietnam. The U.S. and Vietnam are also undertaking a joint remediation program to deal with dioxin-contaminated soil and water. Exposure to . Carpinteria, CA 93013, Ladera Campus Stay updated with the latest news of the COVID-19 situation in Vietnam and information for traveling to Vietnam. Heather Bowser, a second-generation Agent Orange victim whose father, Bill Morris, was a U.S. soldier in the Vietnam war, walks at the Friendship Village, a hospice for Agent Orange victims . Agent Orange Working Group based in Hanoi, Vietnam and Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association in France are prime examples for the great NGOs that are working towards resolving dioxin legacy in Vietnam. More than 19 million gallons of various "rainbow" herbicide combinations were sprayed, but Agent Orange was . We saved those poor s.vietnamese fromTyranny. The disclosure led to immediate claims that New Zealand was in breach of the Geneva Convention and could face a flood of lawsuits from veterans and Vietnamese. 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. The name was given because of the color of the orange-striped barrels in which it was shipped. Marjorie Taylor Greene pilloried after endorsing secession for towns and counties, Trump has a 5-point attack plan designed to annihilate DeSantis as a presidential candidate: report, 'How confident your stupidity is': Lauren Boebert lampooned for posting crudely-cropped US map, Former RNC head offers stinging words of advice for 'crazy fool' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, 'The maths are hard': Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked for not understanding what 'seized' means. Agent Orange is a mixture of two active chemicals. We continue to host all oral defenses virtually through Pacificas resources. But since then, thousands of Vietnam veterans have fought illnesses related . In a just-published paper in the Open Journal of . However, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) has recently urged Veterans Affairs in the U.S. to take a closer look at the consequences of the deadly toxin not just on . While U.S. veterans have been compensated for their exposure to the herbicide mix since they filed a lawsuit in 1979, Vietnamese peoples efforts to secure similar compensation in a 2004 lawsuit was rejected by a U.S. court. By spraying Agent Orange, he thought he was helping the United States military bust through Vietnam's impenetrable jungles on the way to victory. Sept. 1, 2014 - PRLog -- When the United States began using Chemical Warfare in Vietnam, its stated goals were to defoliate jungle coverage to see the enemy and limit the enemy's food supply. See Coronavirus Updates for information on campus protocols. The most recent report, Update 11 (2018), presents the committee's analysis of peer-reviewed, scientific reports published between September 30, 2014, and December 31, 2017. Dioxin can have devastating, lethal effects on human health, and on top of that, it is hereditary.World Health Organization has listed dioxin as a cancer-causing substance, capable of impairing internal organs, the immune system, and the nervous system.Whats more dreadful is that dioxin can permeate into the soil and groundwater of Vietnam, and dig its way into plants and animals, which later can be consumed by people and accumulated in their body tissues without their knowledge. Exposure to Agent Orange has also been linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hormone disruption, and dysfunction in the muscular and immune systems. Albeit technically a herbicide, trees are not its only victim. Their substantial contribution has been greatly appreciated and remembered with profound gratitude by dioxin victims and their families. No matter what legacy the war left, life is moving on in this young and dynamic country. We have a strong desire to do the right thing for all of the U.S. veterans who were exposed to herbicides/Dioxin on Okinawa as well as for Okinawa, states the letter, which was organized by former Air Force sergeant Joe Sipala. 805.969.3626 The estimated airborne contamination exceeded the only available (German) standard.Dr. He concluded that the agent orange was not considered a poison under international law. Puede obtener ms informacin, o bien conocer cmo cambiar la configuracin, pulsando en. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! It was a 50/50 mixture of two herbicides: 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. 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. It was contaminated with dioxin, a potent toxicant that persists for. It had been the most popular one, probably the only one most Vietnamese know, because of the press coverage and the fact that it was used in the largest quantity among the Rainbow group, and also for the longest duration in the Vietnam War. Mangrove forests before and after spraying. Dioxin has been linked to the cultivation of several dire physical conditions, most notably birth defects, different types of cancer, heart disease, and numerous brain malfunctions. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to be catastrophic not only to our health - mental and physical - but also to the stability of millions of people. There is an obvious disinformation campaign on this issue that only makes me want to look closer.. 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. Agent Orange: Directed by Alan Adelson, Kate Taverna. During this period, the island was a major staging point for the U.S. war in Vietnamwhere the United States sprayed millions of liters of Agent Orange, poisoning tens of thousands of its own troops and approximately 3 million Vietnamese people. The class action case was dismissed in 2005 by a district court in Brooklyn, New York. They were nicknamed according to the color on the barrels in which they were shipped. The issue was re-ignited after the Sunday News quoted Government minister and New Plymouth MP Harry Duynhoven saying he had information the ingredients of Agent Orange were shipped from. Vietnamese people werent the only ones poisoned by Agent Orange. U.S. Air Force aircrafts spraying Agent Orange over South Vietnam battlefields. No such plan is in store in Vietnam. I would love to make a charity trip to the Agent Orange villages. 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. In parts of central and southern Vietnam that were already exposed to environmental hazards such as frequent typhoons and flooding in low-lying areas and droughts and water scarcity in the highlands and Mekong Delta, herbicide spraying led to nutrient loss in the soil. Of this figure, nearly 11.45 million (equivalent to over 208,000 drums) was Agent Orange, discharged mostly between 1965 and 1970. Dioxin (Agent Orange) on the Carriers. 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. Jason von Meding receives funding from Save the Children and the Australian government for disaster related research in Vietnam. American soldiers had also been exposed to the herbicides, reassured by their superiors that they presented no risk. Most concerning was the extremely high levels of dioxin in the soil, especially at the main bases like Bien Hoa, Da Nang, and Phu Cat. Because of its high dioxin content, Agent Orange is a carcinogen, meaning that it can cause cancer in those who are exposed. It was a 50/50 mixture of two herbicides: 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. -Dioxin chemical name is 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-dibenzo-para-dioxin, or TCDD. Stay updated with the latest news of the COVID-19 situation in Vietnam and information for traveling to Vietnam. Toxic hotspots also remain at several former U.S. air force bases. In November 1961, with the authorization of President Kennedy, the U.S. Air Force officially launched Operation Ranch Hand, the codename for its aggressive defoliation program in the Vietnam War. 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. This is one of the greatest legacies of the countrys 20-year war, but is yet to be honestly confronted. Lambert Campus This is not the first time that Agent Orange has been linked to Red Hat. These include Agent White, Agent Blue, Agent Pink, and Agent Green, among others. What are symptoms of being exposed to Agent Orange? As a result, flooding has gotten worse in numerous watershed areas. Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved, exhaustive Vietnam War documentary series, sometimes showered in the empty 55-gallon drums, protect shorelines from typhoons and tsunamis, informed the U.S. military that Agent Orange was toxic, alleging that the use of chemical weapons constituted a war crime. Add one more primary color to the poisonous palette of Vietnam: Agent Blue. In the United States alone, a ProPublica analysis suggests, a child born to a veteran exposed to Agent Orange was a third more likely to be born with a birth defect. 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. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. Today crops are grown and livestock graze at former U.S. bases where toxic dioxin continues to pollute the soil. The dangerous quantity of residual dioxin in the earth thwarts the normal growth of crops and trees, while continuing to poison the food chain. As part of this Vietnam War effort, from 1961 to 1971, the United States sprayed over 73 million liters of chemical agents on the country to strip away the vegetation that provided cover for Vietcong troops in enemy territory.. The VA concept of a dried residue that is biologically unavailable is not consistent with widely accepted theories of the behavior of surface residues. The Burns and Novick documentary could have finally raised this uncomfortable truth, but, alas, the directors missed their chance. "After President Nixon ordered the U.S. military to stop spraying Agent Orange in 1970, this is the site where all the Agent Orange barrels remaining in Vietnam were collected. Efforts of the US governments in accepting its responsibility have remained slow and minimal. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Air Force sprayed more than 80 million litres of Agent Orange and other herbicides contaminated with dioxin, a deadly compound that continues to poison the land, the rivers, the ocean and the people. Sipala said that he hopes the letter will convince the U.S. government to provide compensation to veterans who believe they were exposed to Agent Orange on Okinawa. Agent Orange is dangerous because it contains 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, otherwise known as TCDD. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. 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. - According with the Vietnam Red Cross the chemical has affected 3 million of Vietnamese, including at least 150,000 children. 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. The EPA calls it a carcinogen (something that causes cancer . The natural habitat of such rare species as tigers, elephants, bears and leopards were distorted, in many cases beyond repair. 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. Phone Number. However, there is one weapon the Pentagon has always denied that it kept on Okinawa: Agent Orange. James R. Clary was a young Air Force officer and scientist who designed the spray tank for the C-123 cargo planes that dispensed Agent Orange and other herbicides during the Vietnam War. All Rights Reserved. Over the past decade, Vietnam and the U.S. governments have discussed and put into practice with remarkable success several short-term, and long-term operation plans to address the legacy of dioxin in Vietnam. While Agent Orange may be the most well-known chemical used during the Vietnam War, it wasnt the only one. Others included, Agent Orange II (super orange), Agent Blue, Agent White, Agent Purple, and Agent Pink. The success of the operationand its justificationprompted the United States to keep experimenting with the chemicals. From 1961 to 1971, the U.S. Armys tactical herbicides program focused on tropical forests in central and south Vietnam. Let a viet name take care of their own. However, it was surely inevitable that Vietnamese civilians had to bear the brunt. (Credit: Dick Swanson/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images), Dick Swanson/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images. Hundreds of thousands of American veterans of the Vietnam War have died, or are still suffering because of exposure to dioxin, the deadly toxin in Agent Orange. In several heavily affected areas of Vietnam, dioxin levels in blood samples are a dozen times higher than permitted, and occurrences of deformities, birth defects, and cancer have been significantly more frequent than other regions. Moreabout usor visit home page, Check out the necessary information for traveling to Vietnam, Airport Arrival Tips at Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Ho Chi Minh), Airport Arrival Tips at Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi). Considering how toxic dioxin is, it is truly shocking that after extremely minimal experimentation, Agent Orange and other herbicides were shipped to Vietnam in 1961 to aid in anti guerilla efforts. Nurses caring for two children in dioxin victims care centers in Vietnam. Many areas of forest in Vietnam suffered from such great contamination that recovery has been impossible ever since - no trees ever managed to grow there again. 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. On August 10, 2023 - Agent Orange Awareness Day - we will bring light to the continuing dark toll of the war. And during the course of 9 years, over 6,000 spraying missions took place in South Vietnam, according to U.S. Air Force statistics. During the past year and a half, dozens of U.S. veterans have spoken out about the use, storage, and disposal of Agent Orange on Okinawa during the 1960s and 70s. No matter how hard it is, Vietnam is bound to pull it off. This is one of the greatest legacies of the countrys 20-year war, but is yet to be honestly confronted. (Credit: Kuni Takahashi/CHI-Photo/REX/Shutterstock). Agent Orange was used along with several other herbicides, code-named Agents White, Purple, Blue, Pink, and Green. Erin Blakemore is an award-winning journalist who lives and works in Boulder, Colorado. The destruction of Vietnamese forests, however, has proven irreversible. Now, for the first time, a recently uncovered U.S. army report reveals that, during the. This dissertation addresses the long-term effects of improper handling and management of the herbicides during Operation Ranch Hand which caused excessive levels of dioxin contamination in Da Nang and surrounding areas. Sipala, who believes he was exposed to Agent Orange on the island in 1970, and the nine other veterans have offered to travel to Washington to testify on the issue. Birth defects, disabilities, and irreversable environmental damage are all results of the ten-year aerial bombardment. As a result, nobody is officially accountable for the suffering of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange. Dioxin can have devastating, lethal effects on human health, and on top of that, it is hereditary. Some 45 million liters of the poisoned spray was Agent Orange, which contains the toxic compound dioxin. The Dioxin is the deadly toxin in Agent Orange and the responsible for countless health damages. The U.S. had a rainbow of chemicals at their disposal. 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. 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. This operations was called the Operation Ranch Hand. Specific impacts on children. 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. Apparently striped with painted lids, they are consistent with the way in which the U.S. military shipped herbicides during the Vietnam War. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. During the Vietnam War (1955-1975) the United States military forces used the Agent Orange to eliminate forest cover and crops in order to deprive of food and hiding places to the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops (Vietnamese communists also known as the National Liberation Front). Its abundantly clear now that this is false. For more information, and to find out how to change the configuration of cookies, please read our, Utilizamos cookies para realizar el anlisis de la navegacin de los usuarios y mejorar nuestros servicios. It is estimated that, in total, tens of thousands of people have suffered serious birth defects spina bifida, cerebral palsy, physical and intellectual disabilities and missing or deformed limbs. It has unleashed in Vietnam a slow-onset disaster whose devastating economic, health and ecological impacts that are still being felt today. Contradicting decades of denial by Washington, the report is the first direct admission by the U.S. military that it stored these poisons on Okinawa. 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. How has Agent Orange affected Vietnamese people? To do so would set an unwelcome precedent: Despite official denials, the U.S. and its allies, including Israel, have been accused of using chemical weapons in conflicts in Gaza, Iraq and Syria. This, in turn, has caused erosion, compromising forests in 28 river basins. Thanks to the associations proactivity, countless dioxin victims in Vietnam have received precious gifts that go beyond material values. Open Journal of Soil Science , 2019; 09 (01): 1 DOI: 10.4236/ojss.2019.91001 Tags: Agent Orange . No such plan is in store in Vietnam. 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. The most heavily exposed locations among them Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc, Thua Thien Hue and Kontum were sprayed multiple times. Agent Orange was one of several herbicides used in Vietnam, the others including Agents White, Purple, Blue, Pink, and Green. 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?' However, it was surely inevitable that Vietnamese civilians had to bear the brunt. 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. Some of these vulnerable areas also happen to be very poor and, these days, home to a large number of Agent Orange victims. In the early morning low angle sunlight, it appeared to have an orange hue. By spraying Agent Orange, he thought he was helping the United States military bust through Vietnams impenetrable jungles on the way to victory. When they're combined, an unwanted byproduct -- a dioxin called TCDD -- is formed. -The use of the agent orange by the US Army in Vietnam was inspired in "The Malayan Emergency" when the British used herbicides and defoliants as an anti-guerrilla operation against the Malayan National Liberation Army (Malasia) between 1948-1960. 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. The former service members were angered last year when the U.S. government and Japans Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggested that the veterans accounts of herbicides on Okinawa were dubious. The People vs. At the moment, the government provides help to U.S. veterans who were exposed to military herbicides in Vietnam, Thailand, and along the demilitarized zone in Korea. Many former service members stationed on Okinawa claim that they are suffering from similar illnesses due to exposure to the herbicide. The chemicals were sprayed from aircraft contaminating soil, water, air. Its abundantly clear now that this is false. It is unlikely that the U.S. will admit liability for the horrors Agent Orange unleashed in Vietnam. When you subscribe to the blog, we will send you an e-mail when there are new updates on the site so you wouldn't miss them. 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. Invest with us. Lending weight to suspicions that the barrels were shipped as part of Operation Red Hat was the discovery by independent researcher Nao Furugen of a set of photographs in the Okinawa Prefectures archives. Chemicals could be associated with serious health issues such as muscular dysfunction, inflammation, birth defects, nervous system disorders and even the development of various cancers. Aerial spraying in central and southern Vietnam. 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.. During the Vietnam War, U.S. aircraft sprayed more than 20 million gallons of . When Tornoe heard that the military may have used the toxic weed killer Agent Orange to defoliate the canal zone she started digging. The US military sprayed Agent Orange from helicopters or low-flying aircraft to kill jungle growth. Monsanto, once a major manufacturer of Agent Orange, denies that the herbicide mix has long-lasting health impacts. On 9 August 2012, the United States and Vietnam began a cooperative cleaning up of the toxic chemical. The Geneva Protocol, developed after World War I to prohibit the use of chemical and biological weapons in war, would seem to forbid the use of these chemicals. Finally, soldiering on the fight for justice for the dioxin victims, with efforts to win more advocacy from the international public. There is increasing evidence to suggest that ordinary Okinawans, including the 50,000 employed by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War, were also affected. As a result, flooding has gotten worse in numerous watershed areas. Two heroic women fight to hold the manufacturers accountable. Toxic byproducts of Agent Orange are polluting the environment in Vietnam, including its food supply, 50 years later. The use of Rainbow Herbicides was adopted by United States military during the, Agent Orange and Herbicides Spraying Missions in Vietnam War, In November 1961, with the authorization of President Kennedy, the U.S. Air Force officially launched, By estimation, Ranch Hand sprayed roughly 20 million gallons (75.7 million liters) of Rainbow herbicides, containing nearly, 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, Why Agent Orange and Herbicides were used in the Vietnam War, Agent Orange and Herbicides Immediate Efficacy in the Vietnam War, 20,000 towns and up to 4.8 million people. Long-Term Fate of Agent Orange and Dioxin TCDD Contaminated Soils and Sediments in Vietnam Hotspots. 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. In Quang Ngai province (in the southern half of the central coast), for example, 85% of the croplands were demolished in 1970 alone. Weve always understood the importance of calling out corruption, regardless of political affiliation. A veteran of the Vietnam War, he has been working on issues relating to Agent Orange exposure since 1989. Surviving Vietnam veterans in the United States, after many years of organized action, have finally achieved compensation from U.S government. The herbicide and defoliant exposed Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops who previously sheltered under the . It is estimated that, in total, tens of thousands of people have suffered serious birth defects spina bifida, cerebral palsy, physical and intellectual disabilities and missing or deformed limbs. After many years without monitoring, tests revealed the presence of dioxin (also known as TCDD). In the end, the military campaign was called Operation Ranch Hand, but it originally went by a more appropriately hellish appellation: Operation Hades. 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 VA estimates that as many as 2.8 million Vietnam veterans could have been exposed to Agent Orange while between 2.1 and 4.5 million Vietnamese civilians may have been affected by exposure. -Up to now, babies in Vietnam are still being born with birth defects. Numerous domestic and foreign-based associations have been founded to promote relief acts for the Agent Orange aftermath in Vietnam. The illnesses should not come as a surprise. Every reader contribution, no matter the amount, makes a difference in allowing our newsroom to bring you the stories that matter, at a time when being informed is more important than ever. She found. 2013-2022 i Tour Vietnam | All Rights Reserved | contact: info@itourvn.com, MUI NE, DA LAT & NHA TRANG (6 DAYS, 5 NIGHTS). Agent Blue, an arsenic-based herbicide, is becoming known . i Tour Vietnam | Top-rated private Ho Chi Minh City tours and Vietnam travel guides. Many American victims have had better luck, though, seeing successful multi-million-dollar class action settlements with manufacturers of the chemical, including Dow, in 1984 and 2012. Forces sprayed over the rural landscape in Vietnam from 1961 to 1971 to defoliate trees and shrubs and kill food crops that were providing cover and food to opposition forces. The Geneva Protocol, developed after World. Today, Agent Orange has become a contentious legal and political issue, both within Vietnam and internationally. All levels of Government Agencies claimed to be ignorant of the cost in human death and misery that would result . This was used extensively in Vietnam and in the Gulf and also to clean up the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. This dispersion of Agent Orange over a vast area of central and south Vietnam poisoned the soil, river systems, lakes and rice paddies of Vietnam, enabling toxic chemicals to enter the food chain. . The names derived from colour-coded bands painted around storage drums holding the herbicides. The companies could have used fewer or no dioxins in their products, but they failed to do so. Following the discovery of the army report, 10 former service members wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs demanding a full investigation into the militarys use of Agent Orange on Okinawa. Its an even more sobering twist to an already terrible storyone that keeps on illuminating the horrors of the Vietnam War decades after it came to an end. About Agent Orange: Agent Orange was one of a class of color-coded herbicides that U.S. forces sprayed over the rural landscape in Vietnam from 1961 to 1971 to defoliate trees and shrubs and kill food crops that were providing cover and food to opposition forces.