Agent Orange

There is a man at my church who has a number of health problems because of Agent Orange. I don't really know much about it, and as that would be a very personal question and may bring up things he does not wish to think about or talk about, I have not asked any questions.

Do you know anyone this happened to? How has it affected them?

 

No, I am not a sufferer of the effects of Agent Orange, nor do I know personally of such a sufferer. All I can write about is of what generalities I have learned over the years, if that interests you.

 

I know someone who has. It causes MS and birth defects in children. His kids were affected by it.

 

Now that AGHART has informed you of the basics.... AO was primarily DIOXIN. The US government powers that be will close public schools in which concentrations of "Parts per millions" is found.

I saw once a xerox copy of a report on where and when AO was aero-sprayed. Part of the report was a map. The now declassified report exists; I suppose it can be found.

 

Wow, I did not realize it could also affect the children of someone exposed to it. I wonder if that was a factor in this man's son dying of a brain tumor in his 30s. It's so sad that something like this happened to people. Most soldiers probably go to war assuming that if they don't get shot or blown up they will be physically fine when they return home, but that's not always the case.

 

Yes, it can have birth defects in children. I'm not sure how it affects the reproductive organs, but somehow it does. It's a harmful chemical and not just to the immediate carrier.

 

One of my close friends was (now deceased) was a Marine in Vietnam, and he eventually developed a rash over much of his body almost 20 years after his last exposure. He was also sterile for about 20 years. His death was related to after-effects.

 

Sorry to hear that pendrake. Sorry for your loss.

 

That is really awful. I wonder if they realized when they were using it how dangerous this was. It doesn't seem like something they would use if they knew how it could affect people.

 

I have a friend who dad was a service men that was exposed to agent orange. He is in the process of trying to collect some kind of restitution for having health problems because of the exposure. The worst part is that his kids could of been affected by it as well. They all suffer from some kind of neurological disorder.

 

I do not have access to classified materials regarding DIOXIN (Agent Orange) use in Vietnam, only the information available "open source". I am lead to understand the US GIs who handled were given 'safety briefings' which lauded the lack of harmful or toxic effects to humans to this herbicide. As apart of this briefing some on staff actually drank some 'AO' as proof of its lack of effect.

EEEEK.

Now public schools are temporarily closed for cleaning if Dioxin is found in parts per million qualtities.

 

Wow, that is so unfortunate. So they honestly did not think it was harmful to humans? I wonder what happened to those that did the little demo? I hope they got some kind of compensation when their health failed later on because of this.

 

I would like to know this, too! Not only them, but the person or people who told them it wasn't harmful and caused them to drink it. I doubt that anyone was ever held responsible. Sad stuff.

 

I don't think this was a deliberate thing. They just didn't know the effects it would have on people. That doesn't excuse it's use but makes it a bit more understandable. So awful that so many people have suffered from this chemical when it could have easily been avoided.

 

In 1982 when the Vietnam Memorial Wall was dedicated, a large hall was opened up for part of the dedication. I was not there, but I did see it on TV. During one of the dedication events a GI stood up and asked (yelled) about what the government was going to do about all of the soldiers who were sprayed down with AO. He pretty much spoke for everyone when he said that it was the government that trained us, and we were trained well enough to march on D.C. if something wasn't done to compensate the GI's. A committee was formed the next day.

Since then, the VA said that compensation would be made available to those children of any of the affected GI's if anything was wrong with the children. Then it was discovered that a lot of the GI's were coming down with Type II diabetes. It is now conclusive that AO caused the diabetes.

A lot of different things such as sterization, nerve defects, brain tumors just to name a few have also been attributed but not proven to be a result of agent orange. GI's have been waiting for years for their claims to be met. Some have, some still haven't been met even though the VA has access to all of the med records.

The mandate given now says that the government has to prove that whatever may be medically wrong with GI's who were out of certain areas in Vietnam during the years the agent was used was NOT a product of AO. In other words, I do not have to prove Agent Orange produced the nerve damage in my hands and feet....the government now has to prove AO had nothing to do with it. My claim has been in for over 5 years....

 

Hey, who's grabbing the scoop hours before I did *this* time?! Yep, I saw this diabetes report and was going to mention it here, but now I don't need to, so thank you for bringing it up!

I can easily see a cancer link, of course... and birth defects... things like that. But I'm having a tough time making the connection to diabetes. (And there absolutely *is* a link or they wouldn't be paying all this out in claims... hope you soon get yours, @preacherbob50 !!) I'm the type of person who needs to see the links and my scientific (sometimes hehe) brain is having a problem here. Anyone know what the connection would be?

 

One of my dad's friends was in Vietnam, I do not know if he was exposed to AO, possibly, but it was never mentioned. He got diabetes at a pretty young age. He also contracted hepatitis there. He ended up dying of liver cancer in his 50s.

 

According to my many medical advisers AO exposure is a very minor factor in the rather sweeping 'epidemic' of diabetes. There are many contributing factors, such as poor diet, or genetics, which lead to kidney/liver failure.

And diabetes seems to only a lesser side effect of AO exposure.

 

The Agent Orange correlation to diabetes is like the studies concerning cancer and high power lines. People who live in areas with major high tension power lines going overhead and around them are supposed to have a better chance at getting some forms of cancer.

The same thing with Agent Orange. The soldiers around areas such as Tai Ninh east and west, Quan Loi, Long Bien, Bien Hoa, ect. who were exposed to the spraying in '67-'69 are the control group. The data taken in confirms (at least for meds. use.) that the G.I.'s in those areas are more prone toward Diabetes, Neuropathy, and other glandular problems. They finally took away the age factor in that as people get older things happen.

But 6, you are right about diabetes in that it is a horrible major malfunction. I have had too many friends wind up blind or one with missing feet and a few others dead from the disease. Whether your many advisors have mentioned it or not it just seems like the "smart" Americans in the sciences gave a lot of Vietnam soldiers a gift that keeps on giving.

I guess the ultimate thing was that they killed a lot of foliage so the chuhoi leaflets could get to the ground so the VC who were hiding underground and sway from the foilage could read them. or use them for toilet paper. Either way, it was a waste of chemicals and a waste of paper.