Edlir Tale

Professor Jane Bolster

English 110

13 November 2018

Agent Orange and Its Persisting Impact On Vietnamese Society

Abstract

This research analyzes the effects of the utilization of Agent Orange as a herbicide during the Vietnam War. Insight is offered to familiarize the reader of the aspects of the war, revolving around Agent Orange utilization. Effects are analyzed and assessed through its interaction with the human body, specifically the Vietnamese people, American Veterans, and the Vietnamese environment. Current conditions of Vietnamese topography are presented to asses the aftermath of environmental effects. Studies are also incorporated to assess its impact on the body and biological deformities. Insight from reliable sources are indicated, as well as personal experiences from Vietnamese victims affected by this herbicide. Throughout this paper, results conclude that Agent Orange incorporation has had both devastating environmental and biological effects post usage.

The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War began in late November of 1955 when political leader Ho Chi Minh became inspired by Chinese and Soviet Communism. Minh eventually decided to form the Viet Minh, also known as the league of Independence of Vietnam. Minh then took over Vietnam and became president, expanding his beliefs of communism throughout the entire nation. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy decided to send troops to southern Vietnam and advise Ngo Dinh Diem, President of Southern Vietnam and fought against the spread of Communism. The United States involvement in the Vietnam War was provoked by the Domino Theory which essentially claimed that if one Southeast Asian Country fell to Communism, so would many others. By 1962, nearly 9,000 American troops were deployed to assist Diem and Southern Vietnam. The number of  American Soldiers being used to help the struggling Southern Vietnam army increased tremendously when President Lyndon B. Johnson– with the support of the American public– decided to send 175,000 American troops. By the end of 1967, nearly 500,000 American troops total had been deployed to Southern Vietnam. This costly war lead to the usage of many chemical weapons, specifically Agent Orange which “Fifty years ago, in 1967, the United States sprayed 5.1 million gallons of herbicides with the toxic chemical dioxin across Vietnam, a single-year record for the decade-long campaign to defoliate the countryside” (Nguyen, Viet Thanh, and Richard Hughes).

Agent Orange

A herbicide is a toxic chemical that is harmful to plants and used to destroy unwanted vegetation. A herbicide as such includes Agent Orange in which was commonly used as a chemical weapon during the Vietnam War. The name Agent Orange comes from the orange identifying stripe used on the 55-gallon drums that the product was stored.  It’s manufacturing in the U.S. and usage in agriculture was introduced in 1961 (Background on Monsanto’s Involvement). During the brink of war, the U.S. government functioned as a wartime government contractor, contracting nine companies to manufacture Agent Orange for the U.S. military. “From 1965 to 1969, the former Monsanto Company was one of nine wartime government contractors who manufactured Agent Orange.  The government set the specifications for making Agent Orange and determined when, where and how it was used” (Background on Monsanto’s Involvement). As the leading producer of Agent Orange, the Monsanto company accepted responsibility for its production– a production that affected the lives of more than 4 million people. Wartime production of Agent Orange ended in 1978, when its remnants were taken to Johnston Atoll, a U.S. controlled island about 700 miles southeast of Hawaii, and destroyed. However, before Agent Orange was finally killed, American and Vietnamese soldiers with perfectly healthy children prior to the war, came home to have other children with deformities and significant illnesses. The Department of Veterans Affairs has listed 14 diseases that have been connected to Agent Orange (Nguyen, Viet Thanh, and Richard Hughes).

Characteristics of Agent Orange

A sophisticated herbicide such as Agent Orange also requires a sophisticated Chemical makeup. “The two active ingredients in the Agent Orange herbicide combination were equal amounts of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T), which contained traces of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)” (US Department of Veterans Affairs). Dioxins are pollutants that are emitted into the environment through burning waste, diesel exhaust, chemical manufacturing, and other processes. Dioxins are also produced through improper incineration of waste products, such as the burning of trash, and this can lead to dioxins being released into the air. The dioxin TCDD was an unwanted byproduct of herbicide production and is the most toxic of the dioxins; classified as a human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency. “The actual Agent Orange product dries quickly after spraying and breaks down within hours to days when exposed to sunlight (if not chemically bound to a biological surface) and is no longer harmful” (US Department of Veterans Affairs).

Environmental Effects of Chemical Warfare

With the U.S. at the brink of war, desperately fighting communist influences, U.S. forces resorted to the use of Agent Orange. In an attempt to eliminate forest cover for North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops, as well as their food sources, 19 million gallons of herbicides were sprayed over 4.5 million acres of land in Vietnam from 1961 to 1972 (Institute of Medicine (US) Committee). Dense concentrations of Agent Orange have left South Vietnam with 5 million acres of heavily defoliated upland and coastal forests. “An estimated 49.3 million liters were sprayed over 2.6 million acres during the war. Within days of application, plant and animal life for kilometers were completely devastated” (Cain W. Crouse). The attack on trees, biological diversity and cropland has slowed development and led to economic stagnation, poverty, and malnutrition. Animal and bird species have suffered from habitat loss, with some at the verge of extinction.

The livelihoods of the inhabitants of these contaminated regions have suffered as a result of chemical warfare. Many who had depended upon forest crops and hunting lost their livelihoods. Villagers have resorted to harvesting dead mangroves for fuel. They suffer poverty, unemployment, and malnutrition as aggregated areas were destroyed, barren soils became heavily eroded, and many peasants abandoned their lands.

Effects of Agent Orange on the Human Body

The usage of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War impacted not only the agricultural aspects of Vietnamese society but also the health of people residing in these areas, including American and Vietnamese soldiers. Healthline Networks, a privately owned provider of health information headquartered in San Francisco, CA, includes an article titled: “The Lingering Health Effects of Agent Orange” written by Jamie Reno discusses the profound results encountered by individuals exposed to Agent Orange. In the article, Reno writes, “The Vietnam Red Cross estimates that Agent Orange has affected 3 million Vietnamese people, including at least 150,000 children. Babies in Vietnam are still being born with birth defects due to Agent Orange.” Of these people that have been exposed to Agent Orange, not all of them experienced the same health hazards. Exposure to Agent Orange led to many health issues. The diseases associated with Agent Orange include Hodgkin disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, prostate cancer, cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea (windpipe), Soft tissue sarcoma (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi sarcoma, or mesothelioma), Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, hairy cell leukemia, and other chronic B-cell leukemias (Agent Orange and Cancer ). Other diseases associated with Agent Orange may exist; however, past exposures to this herbicide are challenging to prove.

Accommodating Agent Orange Victims  

Veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange lead the United States Government to accommodate these veterans who have experienced health effects due to it. One such government accommodation includes The Agent Orange Act of 1991 which established a presumption of herbicide exposure for veterans who served in Vietnam and who developed one or more of the diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure (Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure). This lead to veterans who have been affected to receive disability compensation then.

While the United States worked hard to compensate for Veterans affected by the herbicide, the U.S. efforts to pay for the Vietnamese Victims affected by this dioxin were limited. The United States has only recently provided greater willingness to accommodate the Vietnamese.  “Since 2007, Congress has appropriated $43.4 million for dioxin removal and related health care activities in Da Nang”(Martin, Michael E.). Any U.S. contribution to the Vietnamese people is much appreciated; however, the Vietnamese government and its citizens would like to see the United States provide greater help for victims. The Vietnamese government has long sought U.S. assistance. Over the years the United States has provided scientific and technical support for the Vietnamese, but in multiple occasions, it has denied any legal liability to assist the Vietnamese. As a result, there is a growing concern that tension between the two governments would arise over the issue of Agent Orange (Martin, Michael E.).

Da Nang was the beginning of an environmental cleanup in Vietnam; however, according to the Washington Post article titled: “The U.S. helping defuse Vietnam’s dioxin hotspots blamed on Agent Orange” the author indicates how the United States has not helped or in other words, has not done nearly enough to accommodate Vietnamese victims currently facing health hazards associated with this herbicide. The article discusses a mother named  Le Thi Mit who experiences the full aftermath of Agent Orange. “Three of her four children were born severely disabled. One died young. Truong, 28, who crawls because his sticklike legs cannot support him, cannot speak, bathe himself or eat on his own. Lanh, the 34-year-old is confined to a bed of wooden slats by his gnarled back”(Daniel Malloy). There are many more victims such as Le Thi Mit and her family that have experienced the same effects induced by the actions the American government has taken on Vietnamese society. Mit and her family have been severely impacted by the herbicide and Malloy indicates how Mit wishes for her children to die before she does because there is no one else to care for them.  

(https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/us-helping-defuse-vietnams-dioxin-hot-spots-blamed-on-agent-orange/2016/04/07/3be16152-fb65-11e5-80e4-c381214de1a3_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4ffd3227fed3)

• Link to Image (will not let me upload this particular image)

Farewell Agent Orange

The last of Agent Orange utilized by the U.S. had been destroyed at Johnston Atoll, a territory of the United States located about 1,390 km southwest of the island of Hawaii. Its incorporation into the environment of Vietnam provides humankind with an example of how disastrous Agent Orange exposure can be to both to the individual and the environment. Agent Orange incorporation in agriculture is a weapon. It is lethal to its touch and chemically toxic to all that it encounters. Its different effects are trying to control or monitor, and have been known to appear randomly throughout generations. The Vietnamese people have not seen the last of it and will continue to encounter its everlasting effects. Through its interaction with the environment, the genetic damage has resulted in mutations that have plagued vast amounts of people whose ancestors had been predisposed to Agent Orange.

Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide utilized and mass-produced by the U.S. government against the Communist forces of Vietnam. The war was won, but stability lost. As time elapses, instability will fade but at an astonishingly slow pace.  To ensure a world free from dioxin instability, Agent Orange utilization must remain an exploit of the past.

   

Works cited

• History.com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history.

 

• “Agent Orange and Cancer.” American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/agent-orange-and-cancer.html.

 

• “Agent Orange: Lasting Side Effects.” Healthline, Healthline Media, www.healthline.com/health-news/lingering-health-effects-of-agent-orange#1.

 

• Clark, Kylienne A., et al. “Environmental ScienceBites.” Introduction – Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research, The Ohio State University, ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/sciencebites/chapter/the-use-and-effects-of-agent-orange-in-vietnam/.

 

• Institute of Medicine (US) Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides. “The U.S. Military and the Herbicide Program in Vietnam.” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 1994, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236347/.

 

• Malloy, Daniel. “U.S. Helping Defuse Vietnam’s Dioxin Hot Spots Blamed on Agent Orange.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 8 Apr. 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/us-helping-defuse-vietnams-dioxin-hot-spots-blamed-on-agent-orange/2016/04/07/3be16152-fb65-11e5-80e4-c381214de1a3_story.html?utm_term=.fd09a1a0b345.

 

• Martin, Michael E. Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange and U.S.-Vietnam Relations. Defense Technical Information Center, 2009.

 

• Nguyen, Viet Thanh, and Richard Hughes. “The Forgotten Victims of Agent Orange.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/15/opinion/agent-orange-vietnam-effects.html.

 

• US Department of Veterans Affairs, and Veterans Health Administration. “Public Health.” PTSD and Vietnam Veterans: A Lasting Issue 40 Years Later – Public Health, 25 Nov. 2013, www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/basics.asp.

 

• Armitage, J., Ginevan, M., Hewitt, A., Ross, J., Watkins, D., & Solomon, K. (n.d.). Environmental fate and dietary exposures of humans to TCDD as a result of the spraying of Agent Orange in upland forests of Vietnam.Science of The Total Environment, 621-630.

 

• Chamie, K., Devere, W., Lee, D., Ok, J., & Ellison, L. (2008, November 1). Agent Orange exposure, Vietnam War veterans, and the risk of prostate cancer. Retrieved November 3, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18666213

 

• Edwards, L. (2006). Genetic damage in New Zealand Vietnam War veterans: A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Genetics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

 

• Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure. “SUMMARY.” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 1970, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20

 

• Newsroom. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2018, from http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/pages/agent-orange-background-monsanto-involvement.aspx

 

• Public Health. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2018, from http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/basics.asp

 

• Schecter, A., Dai, L., Thuy, L., Quynh, H., Minh, D., Cau, H., . . . Baughman, R. (n.d.). Agent Orange and the Vietnamese: The persistence of elevated dioxin levels in human tissues. American Journal of Public Health, 85(4), 516-522.

 

• What is Agent Orange? (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2018, from http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/agent-orange/what-is-agent-orange