On Thursday, January 18, 1962, I was in seventh grade. Chubby Checker had the Number 1 song in America, called “The Twist.” Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA, the largest black university in the U.S. was shut down over civil rights demonstrations, and President John F. Kennedy gave final approval for the U.S. Military Assistance Command to proceed with Operation Ranch Hand, which was a “a massive effort to defoliate the forests of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos with an herbicide known as Agent Orange.” In doing so, the U.S. would be denying the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) the means to move weapons and men into these three countries under the thick canopy cover of the jungle. It also deprived the Viet Cong of food. Only two months earlier, Secretary of State Dean Rusk noted: “the use of defoliant does not violate any rule of international law concerning the conduct of chemical warfare and is an accepted tactic of war.” But there were toxic clouds gathering nonetheless. Read about it in this post called “Deadly Harvest: Agent Orange & Our Vets.”
The Federation of American Scientists began to object to the use of defoliants. The American Association for the Advancement of Science passed a resolution in 1966 calling for a field investigation of the Vietnamese herbicide program. In 1967, 17 Nobel laureates and 5,000 other scientists signed a petition asking for the immediate end to the use of herbicides in Vietnam.”
The Administration ignored their pleas. By then, Operation Ranch Hand was firmly entrenched.
Many more veterans may have suffered and died from the effects of Agent Orange than from conventional combat wounds. And in some cases, their future children who were not yet conceived have suffered as well from birth defects and other medical issues. According to the North Dakota State Veterans Affairs office, “The number of Vietnam veterans affected by the chemical Agent Orange is astonishing. Roughly 300-thousand veterans have died from Agent Orange exposure — that’s almost five times as many as the 58-thousand who died in combat.” Forbes magazine suggests that the number of deaths from Agent Orange among U.S. forces may be much higher, as it speaks of “the estimated 2.8 million U.S. vets who were exposed to the poisonous chemical while serving and later died.” However, it is not known what exactly these vets died from, certainly not all from Agent Orange issues.
“’Did [Agent Orange] save lives? No doubt. Over there it did, but nobody knew it was going to be taking them later,’ said Dan Stenvold, President of the North Dakota branch of the VVA.” This post is the story of one such vet. I am that vet.
While stationed at Da Nang, RVN, I worked in logistics, a building surrounded by warehouses and several acres of outdoor storage including hazardous materials (presumably including Agent Orange.) I would also ride shotgun up and down the surrounding mountains and jungles with the protestant chaplain on Sundays. I did not realize until just a week ago while researching this topic that my base and my outfit (the 366th Gunfighters) were Ground Zero in the biochemical war against the enemy during those years. Perhaps those fifty or one hundred gallon metal drums that we’d wander by in warehouses or outdoor storage contained this herbicide? Perhaps some of the drums leaked, exposing us to hazards as deadly as mines or mortars, but with a time delay fuse because they would make themselves known only long after we returned to “The World.”
Panorama of Vietnamese jungle with dense overgrowth. Photo credit: Riccardo.calli (Shutterstock.)
What is Agent Orange
Agent Orange was a defoliant, a herbicide meaning that it destroyed leaves and other plant life without regard. The active ingredient in Agent Orange was dioxin.
While the science of dioxin is not completely understood, it is known to alter cell growth, hormones and growth factors with more severe and consistent effects coming in the early stags of development. At verly low concentrations, dioxin has been shown to have very serious effects on the reproductive systems.”
(Palmer:174)
How did exposure to Agent Orange occur?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, people (e.g., U.S. soldiers, civilian contractors and inhabitants of the countries where Agent Orange was stored or deployed) were exposed to the chemicals in Agent Orange by:
Breathing it in.
Ingesting it while eating or drinking food or beverages that the herbicide touched.
Absorbing it through your skin from physical contact with the herbicide.
Absorbing it through your eyes, mouth or breaks in your skin while the chemicals were in the air.
You can’t prevent Agent Orange effects after exposure to the herbicide. While the herbicide received a ban in 1971 and the U.S. destroyed all remaining inventory shortly after, there are still lingering effects present among veterans and Vietnamese people who lived in areas where the U.S. sprayed Agent Orange.”
Portrait of a black American G.I. from the Vietnam War period. Photo credit: John GOmez (Shutterstock.)
The U.S. Government made it a priority to remove the dense overhead triple canopies over and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and elsewhere which concealed North Vietnamese convoys from maurading American aircraft. According to U.S. History.com, the Ho Chi Minh Trail:
. . .was actually a 16,000-kilometer (9,940-mile) web of tracks, roads and waterways. The Vietnam People’s Army had decided to build a secret road system to carry war supplies to the south. . . it would take a North Vietnamese soldier as many as six months to make the grueling trek through jungle down the Ho Chi Minh Trail.”
Named for the Father of modern Vietnam, parts of the trail wandered among mountains sometimes more than a mile high. North Vietnamese soldiers would constantly have to load and unload trucks along the trail as they slowly but surely smuggled guns and weapons to their comrades in the South. The thick overgrowth obscurred the trail and made precision of any sort of aerial bombing ineffective.
“You can’t prevent Agent Orange effects after exposure to the herbicide. While the herbicide received a ban in 1971 and the U.S. destroyed all remaining inventory shortly after, there are still lingering effects present among veterans and Vietnamese people who lived in areas where the U.S. sprayed Agent Orange.”
At first, the Americans tried to simply set the jungle ablaze, but the heat from the fires had a climatic effect that led to downpours of rain that extinguished the fires. So, the U.S. Department of Defence settled on a large pre-Korean War cargo plane known as the Fairchild C-123 Provider to deliver a deadly chemical cargo over the trail, and occasionally–if unintentially–into the lungs and chromosomes of American service members. However, these slow propeller aircraft proved to be tempting targets to the enemy, and a number of the aircraft were shot down.
The commander of the 366th Combat Support Group “Gunfighters” (Brigadier General John Roberts–my CO) proposed using modified and faster F-4D/E fighter jets to spray the jungle areas and environs immediately around the base and elsewhere as required. We had many such fighter aircraft at the time. They would take off every five minutes around the clock on assorted “sorties.” This alternate delivery system was called Project Fast-Mover. The special storage tanks that were added to the fighter jets to contain Agent Orange could not saturate as much territory at the C-123’s could, but the jets were much more challenging for the enemy to shoot down than the old propeller aircraft.
The last Operation Ranch Hand mission took place June 1, 1971, roughly a month before I left Vietnam (Duckworth:12.)
Does Agent Orange (AO) cause cancer?
This is a difficult question. I have type II diabetes and the government recognizes it as being presumably associated with Agent Orange exposure. My father had Type II diabetes and both of his parents were diabetic as well. Plus, he was overweight. So, it is difficult to say whether Agent Orange caused diabetes or not in my case. But let’s look at bladder and prostate cancer for a moment (I also have bladder cancer, another presumptive AO issue.) Dr. Vikram M. Narayan, assistant professor of urology at Emory University School of Medicine and director of urologic oncology at Grady Memorial Hospital said:
. . . the actual causation of this increased risk has not formally been established. I think that as we see more individuals who may have been exposed to Agent Orange, veterans and others, we’re beginning to see persistently higher rates of bladder cancer.
‘If (patients with bladder cancer) were in the Vietnam War (or potentially certain other places where Agent Orange was manufactured, stored, used or tested), it would be presumed that their bladder cancer was due to their service, and they could apply for benefits that could include compensation and increased health care eligibility in the Veterans Health Administration,’ according to a VA spokesperson.“
Put another way, while there is no “smoking gun” that Agent Orange causes bladder cancer, statistically, the number of Vietnam War vets per thousand men who develop bladder cancer is much higher than is found in other vets (and non-vets as well.)
Narayan added that proving causation between Agent Orange exposure and bladder cancer is difficult to accomplish on a population level, although knowing about this hypothesis may help patients and their families regardless.
There are so many other factors that an individual’s exposed to in their lives, whether that be environmental exposures, things they consume, places where they live or grow up and genetic factors as well,’ Narayan said. ‘To take something like a singular exposure from a while back and link it conclusively will likely be very difficult. That being said, if you see trends in populations, you can draw inferences, and this is how many of our hypotheses are generated. And at least being aware of the fact that a link is possible makes it important for patients and families to be aware of just so that they can look to be screened for bladder cancer, and then seek care early, particularly if they have signs or symptoms of the condition.’”
Ibid.
So, Vietnam War vets do not need to prove that Agent Orange caused this illness or that condition if the condition is on the list. You are given the benefit of the doubt simply by being there.
What’s a vet to do?
It has taken decades for the U.S. government to understand what diseases and disorders were caused by Agent Orange, and who qualifies for benefits, and what those benefits should be. Many Vietnam War veterans don’t even know that their medical issues were presumably caused by Agent Orange or that they are eligIble for benefits. Still others for some reason or another never apply. An unknown number of vets die from Agent Orange issues before the VA can even process their applications or acknowledge their illness, and the list of issues grows slowly over time as more evidense and correlations become known. Add to this Gulf War I health issues from burn pits and Afghanistan and Iraq War injuries plus health issues from contamination at Camp Lejeune SC and the fuel leaks from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in 2021 at Oahu, Hawaii which contaminated water for thousands of residents and you can see why it takes the VA so long to process claims. For vets, this is process seems maddening, but the VA is probably doing the best that they can under the circumstances.
Chloracne(or similar acneform disease) A skin condition that occurs soon after exposure to chemicals and looks like common forms of acne seen in teenagers. Under VA’s rating regulations, it must be at least 10 percent disabling within one year of exposure to herbicides.
Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 A disease characterized by high blood sugar levels resulting from the body’s inability to respond properly to the hormone insulin
Hypertension
Hodgkin’s Disease A malignant lymphoma (cancer) characterized by progressive enlargement of the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, and by progressive anemia
Hypothyroidism A condition that causes the thyroid gland to not produce enough of certain important hormones
Ischemic Heart Disease A disease characterized by a reduced supply of blood to the heart, that leads to chest pain
Multiple Myeloma A cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell in bone marrow
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma A group of cancers that affect the lymph glands and other lymphatic tissue
Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)
Parkinsonism Any condition that causes a combination of abnormal movements. These include slow movements, trouble speaking, stiff muscles, or tremors.
Parkinson’s Disease A progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects muscle movement
Peripheral Neuropathy, Early-Onset A nervous system condition that causes numbness, tingling, and motor weakness. Under VA’s rating regulations, it must be at least 10 percent disabling within one year of herbicide exposure.
Porphyria Cutanea Tarda A disorder characterized by liver dysfunction and by thinning and blistering of the skin in sun-exposed areas. Under VA’s rating regulations, it must be at least 10 percent disabling within one year of exposure to herbicides.
Prostate Cancer Cancer of the prostate; one of the most common cancers among men
Respiratory Cancers(includes lung cancer) Cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus
Soft Tissue Sarcomas(other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or mesothelioma)
A group of different types of cancers in body tissues such as muscle, fat, blood and lymph vessels, and connective tissues
If you are a Vet who served anywhere in Vietnam between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975 you are presumed to have been exposed to herbicides, as specified in the Agent Orange Act of 1991. You don’t need to show that you were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides in order to get disability compensation1 for diseases related to Agent Orange exposure. There are some other locations included in this general category and they can be found here.
If your county has a Veterans Service Officer, they can help you file a claim. The Disabled American Veterans (DAV), American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and also help you here. You can file for yourself if you wish, but there are a multitude of acronyms and terms that are positively daunting. Also available are legal firms that only charge a percentage (typically twenty percent) of back pay that you may be entitled to. I personally use a firm that I am happy with because as I see it, eighty percent of something is better than one hundred percent of nothing.
Footnotes
1In some cases, if you are a qualifying AO vet and have a disease or disorder on the list above, you may not receive any monthly monetary disability benefits, but you will almost certainly establish a “service connection” for the disorder. That service connection may be of value to a veteran’s spouse if the veteran precedes the spouse in death and the cause of the veteran’s death is the AO issue for which the vet has a service connection. This is true even if the illness is not rated for compensation purposes. For example, I have an Agent Orange condition for hypertension (HTN) which the VA recognizes, but for which I am rated at 0% disabling. This is probably because I take medications daily for high blood pressure and these medications tend to keep me in the normal blood pressure range. If I die in a car wreck, then AO has nothing to do with it. One the other hand, if I have an episode of uncontrolled high blood pressure that leads to my cause of death, then it may be very important to my surviving spouse and benefits available to her that I have the service connection for HTN.
Bibliography
Booker, Susan M. “Dioxin in Vietnam: Fighting a Legacy of War.” Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 109, no. 3, 2001, pp. A116–17. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3434680. Accessed 17 Mar. 2023.
Duckworth, Richard D. “Fast-Movers and Herbicidal Spraying in Southeast Asia.” Air Power History, vol. 45, no. 1, 1998, pp. 4–15. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26287827. Accessed 17 Mar. 2023.
Koppes, Clayton R., and William A. Buckingham. “Agent Orange and the Official History of Vietnam.” Reviews in American History, vol. 13, no. 1, 1985, pp. 131–35. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2702023. Accessed 17 Mar. 2023.
Lewis, James G. “James G. Lewis on Smokey Bear in Vietnam.” Environmental History, vol. 11, no. 3, 2006, pp. 598–603. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3986032. Accessed 17 Mar. 2023.
Palmer, Michael G. “The Case of Agent Orange.” Contemporary Southeast Asia, vol. 29, no. 1, 2007, pp. 172–95. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25798819. Accessed 17 Mar. 2023.
Sills, Peter. Toxic War: The Story of Agent Orange. Vanderbilt University Press, 2014. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1675571. Accessed 17 Mar. 2023.
