3 million Vietnamese exposed to chemical suffered illnesses, country says
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comAgent Orange's catastrophic legacy still lingers
Seeded on Sun May 23, 2010 1:16 PM EDT (msnbc.com)
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This story is being repeated in Fallujah Iraq with Depleted Uranium munitions, which of course our service people are exposed to.
We are terrorists. We destroyed one third of Vietnam with agent organge. Vietnam will never be the same. Our treatment of the people of Iraq is not better. Twice we bombed them back to the stone age. The first gulf war and GW Bush's war have caused unbelievable suffering for the people of Iraq. Yet we feel superior to them and have forced them into a system of government doomed to fail considering the Sunni and Shia divide. A military dictator will take over in Iraq with political instability leading to years of suffering for the Iraqi people.
Jan, just wake up? UHH, I suggest you find someplace else other than the USA to call your home.
Not really, there has been a lot of exaggeration by that Iraqi doctor in fallujah steve.
.
Agent Orange is also here in USA
Eglin Air Force Base, Florida - site for test in 1960s
Story got out in the 1980s - curious if area was cleaned up ?
If not - then now it's probably washed into Choctawhatchee Bay
.
You are right.... my husband had lung cancer from Agent Orange,,,, He had his lung removed... he was in vietnam.... he was also blown up by these people.... So what about the soldiers suffering from Agent Orange in the U.S. ..... Some people don't even know what Agent Orange is in the U.S. ...... such a shame.... People are still suffering..... and nobody is aware of this.......
my father was in vietnam for 3 tours(3 years) as a volunteer. he died in 1987 from cancer he was 38.. he had agent orange exposure and had liver cancer. when i was 18 i had my first miscarrige followed by 6 more, one still birth and my beautiful daughter who was only 2lbs and 11 oz when she was born 8 weeks premature..i found out after she was born that i had birth defects in my reproductive organs when the high risk doctor found what was wrong he asked me if my father served in vietnam, i said yes 3 tours. he told me that my birth defects are a result of my father being exposed to agent orange, i was born in 1975 and my father came home in 1972 and died 15 years later and 8 of his grand children died as a result of this agent orange.. so i know first hand what these people are going thru i live with the pain of losing my son who was still born and his 6 siblings who also died..but i do thank God for my beautiful daughter who is 13 now, but i am also scared what if this chemical causes my daughter to go through losing a child because of something her grand father whom she never got to meet, was exposed to because he lied said he was 18 when he was 17 and served this country with his life and then comes home gets spit on by the very people he fought for, and then his daughter is still paying for it and his grand daughter may too...i hope that for the sake of all of our grand children that our soldiers are NEVER exposed to chemicals like these again... I HOPE!!!!
And our buddy, Obama, won't be in Arlington for a tribute, but in Chicago for Memorial Day.
I had a cousin that was a nam vet. The agent orange killed him too. He never got any help from the VA. It's hard to prove it's from agent orange to their standards.
When my brother got back from VN and got sick they told him they found NO connection to Agent Orange so he suffered. NOW he is dying well before his time because of this. OH they treated him at the VA because they had to by law but they never admitted their guilt in all of this.
Children in VN now are paying the price for this gas as are many of our brave veterans. The worst part of this is now we are seeing much of this cropping up in Iraq where the number of deformed children has skyrocketed. To see these children with all kinds of deformities will break your heart. In a country that will return to a dictatorship the minute we leave this is blemish on America. When will we as a country learn that we cannot and should not try to control the world? When will we learn that we cannot force others to believe as we do?
I will lose a brother soon and I have to wonder for what? I have one grandson of military age and I have begged him NOT to join. I have three great grandchildren and unless we as a nation change our policies for war, I will beg them not to join. We should not be fighting for money and that is all this is.
I come from a long line of people that served in the military, including a grandson just back from Iraq but as an older America I feel like I am waking up from a deep sleep where nothing but lies has been fed to us.
Agent Orange wasn't a gas.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic and international problems that plague this country.
They always will be until "We, the people" hold them 100 percent accountable for everything, including this mess.
Neg, WOW that is the best you could come up with. OKAY it was not a gas and I was NOT there (never said I was) but the truth is the truth and everything else I said was true.
Jeffreey I suggest you take a LOOK at some pictures of those in Iraq and if it does NOT make you sick then you have NO heart. There are babies being born with gross deformities, even with two heads. WE need to rethink being the world's police because we sometimes do more harm than good.
Some Vietnam Vets exposed to Agent Orange turned to a company call Biomed Comm which develope bio-electric (homeopathic) preparations of growth factors ... which the body uses for cells to communicate with each other. Now only available a www.CellMemoryActivators.com under the label Optimunne, it might be possible that it could help address certain symptoms, including those associated with neural degeneration. It is non-prescription, over-the-counter. Just a thought, and my sympathies to your brother.
I have seen pictures but some of them are suspicious also again there isn't any real proof that DU munitions caused those deformities. Keep in mind that DU munitions are only dangerous if you inhale them and since DU particles are heavier then air in order to be exposed to them you have to be right next to the to the blast of a DU munition right when it detonates meaning that you are pretty much in the kill zone of a DU munition. Also DU munitions are in really low concentrations, I mean your TV gives off more radiation then a DU munition meaning there would have to be dozens of DU munitions being detonated in the same area say a meter radius.
Again it is unlikely when you look at DU munitions and what the stats are of those munitions.
So luvenia48 I do have a heart but just because someone says this is the cause does not mean it is. A lot of those deformities can be caused by malnutrition and considering how many people don't have access to clean water or food, especially in a city, it wouldn't be surprising if chances are the cause of those deformities was from malnutrition.
Agent was not a gas. It was a defoliant sprayed on the vegetation which caused the leaves to fall off.
Causing leaves to fall off was not the only thing it was doing. This horrible atrocity also killed a lot of innocent people, and is still causing mental and physical deformities to this very day.
What's your point there Nostradamus? We used DDT right here in our own country at one time. Hind sight is always 20/20 so quit ACTING smart. Better to remain silent.................. You know the rest.
Granted, there is now more and more scientific evidence that the use of AO (as well as AP and AG which all contained dioxin) is responsible for a boat load of problems due to dioxin contaminating the gene structure of virtually anything which is/was exposed to it.
Having a few serious health issues myself (70-71 NhaTrang MOS 11B4S), I have dealt with the reality that some of these problems could be the result of exposure to the "magic juice" (speculated but not confirmed by the VA). Now I am probably going to be torched by a few by this post, but I want a few of you to think back a bit. In retrospect, at least when some of us saw them lining up drums with the big orange stripe, we knew at the time that this "s%$t" was going to keep "Chuck" from being able to eat and more importantly make it harder for him to be able to hide on ambush. There are a lot of people voicing their opinion on our military strategies who wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a P38 and a pea pod. And while I fought for their right to voice such opinions, sometimes "it is better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and prove the fact". It is unfortunate that not enough was known of dioxin at the time, but please name one thing that even now, science has developed which is 100% foolproof. What our Government did at the time was done in order to try to give us an advantage in the war and save American lives, period.
Well off the soap box and on to the article. " Agent Orange's catastrophic legacy still lingers...." Article is mainly based on the insufficient funds being relegated to the Vietnamese people in regards to help with their exposure to AO. I see no problem with adding additional funds to the "kitty" as long as there are also additional funds relegated for our veterans so that they are also given every opportunity to be able to live productive lives (if possible).
Now forgive me, but that screaming from the soap box is so deafning that I can't help but jumping on it again. BEFORE any additional funds are requisitioned for Vietnam, their government needs to finally come clean on the status of our MIA's. This issue has been sidestepped long enough and while there have been a few half-hearted attempts, it seems like this could be the ideal opportunity to demand a full accounting of our brothers who never made it back.
I, like many others will NEVER FORGET!
Viet Vet I appreciate what you and others have done for MY freedom. My Father was in ww2 and Korea and was shot up pretty bad, was never in contact with the chems as other Vets but I know what you and he gave for US. To HECK with what others think about your writing on this issue. I SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU GAVE, and may you be ever so BLESSED :)
After 38 years my wife and some other vets pushed me to go to the VA for both mental and medical help. I hated the system when I first got out and told my wife to just let me die if my only choice was the VA hospital. I will say now that they have really changed since my first encounter with them. They now test you from top to bottom, for everything, and will take care of you. I have a 70% disability rating and now I'm being processed for 100%. They take care of everything one could ask for. Yes, there has been major problems in the past, but today is a new day, and I ask all vets to go get they help they need. The system is getting hammered with our men and women coming back today, but they will get the best treatment possible. Angent orange was a curse for all time, but war is a curse in its self. I'll die with it tearing my body up inside and out, but one learns that life IS NOT fair, and goes on. Been married 30 years to a great lady who understands it all.
my father died at 42 from cancer he was on a ship were they tested the A bomb in the bikinis islands.how many died here in the us from the Abomb?we will neva no!had a friend die from agent orange when he was 46.now they using depleted uranium shells ova there just hope they get to live longer.but all is well were do you think all these new flu's coming from ?4 new flu's in last 3 yrs hummmmmmmmm!dont kill the messenger kill the scientists bs afraid be very afraid big bro is going to get yo!
product of monsanto, now their modifying our food and getting away with that too.
www.instituteforresponsibletechnology look it up. we're next
theres nothing wrong with genetically modified food, u NUT! its the only way the world will be able to feed the hordes of people we will have in the coming years
I have no doubt that the people of Vietnam were greatly affected by Agent Orange, anything that will destroy an entire triple canopy jungle is not going to be good for any other living thing in its path. Dioxin is a major problem in the soil, as evidenced by a place in Missouri called Times Beach. I doubt that these people are going to see much relief from our government, hell they don't even want to take care of their own veterans. I have been fighting with the VA since 1992 and I only recently found out why I was denied back then. When I left the military in the early 70's, during outprocessing I was talked out of filing any type of claim for disablity by the NCO in charge of my last station of out processing. As he put it, you can file anytime, the army will always take care of you. They took care of me all right, the same as they did thousands of other veterans. Read the links below to see what they were caught doing, especially if you have had claims denied. They were rubber stamping everything denied and destroying the evidence.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2008/10/31/military-veterans-benefit-claims-records-wrongly-headed-for-va-shredders.html
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfoct08/nf102008-1.htm
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/10/military_va_stopshredding_101608w/
YOU GOT IT ALL RIGHT......It was a terrible shame for any human to be exposed to Agent Orange. And the comments you read on the article about VETERANS are taken care of who sufer from AO....well you have NO CLUE. If they have been taken care of, in such the great ways as it states in the article, why do I continue to meet Vietnam Vets where it takes 20-25 yrs to finally get disability? And why is it, that we have to to go through red tape, suffer, lose our houses, families, everything in life we work hard for, and in some cases become homeless....OH YEAH...THE VA IS REALLY TAKING CARE OF THE VETERANS....but the VA can only do what the government allows them to do. If I am diagnosed with a serious disease, why should I have to wait for years before I receive disability compensation if I am a veteran? When there are people who eat themselves almost to death, become obese, are wheel chair riden....and we give them the max benefits. PLEASE.....if you are going to make comments about who we should take care of, and it was our fault, and the U.S. should just pay out to every person around the world.....please, we did not start the war. The American people should have an education on the true meaning of sacrifice. If you knew the real meaning of the sacrifices the men and women have made for your many freedoms, maybe more people would get invovled with trying to make a difference for those who made the sacrifices for YOU....... As a veteran caught up in the great system, fighting for more than 15 years....I am disappointed in our government system, and how our veterans are taken care of. So go get a clue, get educated, and get up off your butts and do something to make a difference for our veterans, families of fallen troops, and our wounded heroes. And why do we keep trying to help everyone around the world...let's try helping each other in AMERICA.
My Marine buddy we went together on the buddy system in 1969 after boot he wound up on a Arty 105 base on a hilltop cleared with AO just before the combat engineers built the arty base,then they cleared another 1000 yd perimeter outside the base with AO, both his son's were born with health defects unknown by doctors as to why they were screwed up. The stuff affects your genes so I know how bad the Vietnamese got it. You want to know how strong it is? It was the best known weed killer on the market it made Round Up look like fertilizer. Victor Charles didn't need the jungle anyway they worked from tunnels. Let MacNamara & Johnson's family pick up the tab. Nixon used it too on the Ho Chi Mihn.
And you fighting in these 2 illegal wars better wake up the US government does not give a crap about the american fighting man or women its all about corporate profit. They used agent orange on our own soliders before they had even tested it. If anyone remembers the rich kids got out of the draft and the poor kids got killed. So what if we drop agent orange on our troops just a bunch of low lifes but we sure love the profits war brings. How many years the government denied agent orange was causing any health problems. What is wrong with americans this government could give a crap about our young men and women its all corporate greed wise up. Your hate should be against corporate greed not muslins who are trying to protect themselves against american invasion.
I worry about people such as you. You don't like this country or its people, get the hell out of here. Yes, we should never had gone to war in these places. They hate us anyway. But we are there and men and women are gone forever in body, but not spirt. I do believe people that kill other human beings in the name of god or any religion for whatever reason are sick.
blucon, YEP! Nam vet myself. 66-70
Neg, what can one say. Thought RVN would be a John Wayne moment. What a surprise learning that war and all things connected suck to the 10th degree. But I did learn that draftess, or those, such as I who enlisted by choice, were the best people I have ever known or will know and that I learned that if you don't like this country get the hell out. Right or wrong, we still have the best country in this entire world. We are not perfect, but we are the best.
Yep! I'm trying to remember if AO was 2-4D or T. I know it was reformulated in the 70's for farm/commercial use.
neg-good question. Just remember having to hump in areas just sprayed, not knowing then what it was. Kontum, and areas in the highlands were sprayed alot. Hind sight, don't we all wished we had it?
Yep!
Iraq after the invasion was not an illegal war due to a UNSC resolution and the SOFA that the US and Iraq have signed. The Afghan war is not illegal Master Jim.
Haven't heard that name in what seems like several lifetimes.
blucon, the Vietnamese do not hate us.
P.R. I will agree with you with what they did to all of us when we were be discharged was a discredit to each and everyone of us who served. I spent 6 yrs.6 days & 6 months in the army. 2 1/2 tours, 67-68,70-71 in the Republic of, and was given an Undesirable Discharge because I refused to go back for a third tour. Due to MOS, no choice. It took me one year to get it over turned and I was given an honorable. I never knew what hell I would have to go through to get my benifits. I played the game and got them all. I even had to prove I was even in the Army. Go Figure. But I work with VFW's, DAV's, & Amer.Legions. You don't mess with them. Once in the system, it all fell into place. The VA has really changed since our day and I have high regard for the system now. As my wife has said many times, that if I used nall the anger I had of the military and everything connected to it over the years, god knows what else I could have done for vets over the years.
korea it was used on DMZ 68 -69 when i was there. dupont made it the army used it . help ? there is no help sine here IF the big IF something happns we will help. ya right! thay have helped but need to do more. just because you served dont mean you can go to the va and be treated that is a missconception you have to be hurt inaction or be indigant or homeless . or you could be like my frend ralph hash 33 years of service he pays 64 dollars to walk in the va. thay used AO in the usa on the roadside in i think about 13 or 14 states 68 to 74 i think. no one will take the responsabilty for what it has done up to this day
As we used to say,"better living through chemistry".
Brmfld.,Colo.
Check: www.AgentOrangeChildren.org
Ken, add this link to yours. I must warn everyone that the photos are Graphic to say the least. This is from Iraq.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~stgvisie/VISIE/extremedeformities.html
Thank you both for the links.
I've often thought that we all are, to one degree or another, prisoners of war -- not to be confused with POW's or their trials and tribulations.
This wonderful creation of the world wide internet does not allow any government to hide their behaviors. With due diligence and accountability we just might be able to survive as a people as these social constructs either find a better way to interact or they will perish as they all have throughout history.
You bunch of bleeding heart fruit cakes need a reality check. Do the majority of us a favor. Since most of you obviously hate our government and country, Join the Peace corps, move over there somewhere and never come back. Better yet, just send your entire yearly income and wages.
The lame "if you don't like America then leave" schtick has become quite boring, lame, ineffective. But that is what you expect from sockpuppets like Evil, Blucon, and Neq, all of who are nothing but brainwashed, mindless tools of the military industrial complex, unable to form their own original thoughts.
Thanks for educating all of us, you are obviously an "outside" the box thinker. Our mistake. If you would be so kind as to bless us with some of your "original thoughts" we would be greatly appreciative. Tool. The only thing lame about "if you don't like it then leave" is the fact that it is true and you still haven't left.
If you don't like it change it - that's what this country is all about. Info: My cousin died from Agent Orange, he was in Vietnam. Evil-1460911 - you are the one who needs to leave.
hmmm...looks like another "all american rationale"...we called it exfoliant, but it smells like chemical warfare...(isnt that what hussein was a bad guy for doing to the kurdish?...and hitler for gassing the jewish people?)...its about the same crock as the US pretending to "lead" in the march against nukes...but still, to my knowledge, the US stands alone as the only country thus far, to deploy the use of first strike capability...(not once, but twice...ask the japanese)...
i mean, hey...im not vietnamese, iraqi, nor kurd...but then, traveling thousands of miles, to rally a massive military invasion, does not smell like defense, either...it smells like motive...but what?...figure it out...youre smart...if youre reading this, you are already much more affluent than the average asian villager...
Quote----
Neg
Yep! I'm trying to remember if AO was 2-4D or T. I know it was reformulated in the 70's for farm/commercial use.
Unquote---
Agent Orange was a combination of 2,4-D and 2,4.5-T. Both materials have been around since the 40's. Originally developed to use in agriculture and was a very safe product.
Where the problem came in was when it was made to use in Nam and dioxin was added to it because it couldnt be safely disposed of here.
When
What was the dollar value on foreign investments lost when the communists seized power? They can use that to clean up the mess. Unlike a lot bleeding heart liberals that feel as though all the worlds problems are cause by the USA I tend to disagree and rarely, if ever, feel the need to say sorry. Can someone tell me why in the hell we are spending $80M on aids/hiv there? WTF? Don't we have that problem at home? Are they spending any of the their red money on any of our problems? This is total BS. If we really cared about doing something right we would cut off all funding on all fronts. They would get a grand total of $0 for ANYTHING. Papa Ho Chi can fix it.
A brilliant research doctor in Texas was a baby in S. Viet Nam as the Viet Cong raced into Saigon. Before, the town was completely taken over by the enemy. The child was huddled into the arms of the nuns and along with other children placed on a military plane. The military plane lifted away from the war and the children were adopted by families who waited for them all over the U.S.
If, that child had been left in Viet Nam, the soldiers would have removed her small body to the fields in the country. Indeed if they had allowed her to live. In the fields, she would have been mothered by a farm worker until she was old enough to pull the crops from the dirt.
She would be there now living in the countryside probably married to a farmer and the mother of several small children. Maybe, she would see her babies affected by Agent Orange and cry in anguish at the sight?
Instead, she lives in America and spends six days a week in a lab doing research on lung diseases. Maybe, one day with all of her well-recognized work, she will help to cure a deadly killer.
The sad part is that the man she married, an American by birth, claimed at one time, that she would have been better off if her adoptive family (that ended up going through a divorce yet years later) had LEFT her in the orphanage.
This man who has a prominent position in Wash., DC stated that just maybe his present bride, if she had been left at the orphanage might have been lucky enough to have been adopted by ANOTHER "more loving" family...that "just" maybe "later on" in life...might not have gone through a divorce.
By the blessing of God, some people were able to leave Viet Nam and move into other countries and start new lives. The genetic factor will exist and all that resided in VN will have to face that reality. The American military believed that by spraying Agent Orange and removing the foilage from the bushes and the trees, they could clearly see the enemy easier.
NO war is great...NO war is without anguish for all involved. NO war does not leave pain and scars for the survivors. Yet, people ache to fight..they hate and they want to gouge out the eyes of the one they despise.
There will never be a way to protect oneself from an enemy...we become our own enemies with our paranoia and deceit. The enemy "out there" will always find a way to sneak up behind you. But, we cannot live in constant fear...we cannot put chains on the door and believe that no one can come through the windows.
We have to "think" about what we do and the consequences of our actions. We have to think smart. That does not occur very often. Men love war games; women hate suffering.
Old men send young men to fight their battles. Old men make money when young men go to war. Women cry at the sight of a child leaving....never knowing if they will return. Women long to be held one more time...before the darkness arrives.
WWI had mustard gas that sprayed over the enemy as well as the defenders. WWII had bombers that could hit a target with precision and kill or maim all that held the position nearby. Viet Nam had Agent Orange that covered everything that was green and laid the bush to waste.
Viet Nam created nightmares that still make a grown man scream in terror as he wakes in the middle of the night. I knew a man several years ago, that sat across from me speaking very quietly as he told me how ill his lovely wife was from MS. He would lift her light-weight body into the van and take her away to Savannah to shop for antiques. Sometimes, they would steal a few days from the week and go to the shore in Daytona, to sit by the ocean and watch the waves roll across the sand.
As he spoke of his wife, he told me that he knew he was facing a short-life also because of his exposure to Agent Orange. He told me that the VA would only deny that he was suffering from such an apparant exposure.
He knew that he had fought bravely in a war so many decades before as a young man and he knew he had to be brave now. He had to be strong for his wife that was dying from the crippling of MS to her body. He had to be brave because his mother lingered in a nursing home nearby and he had to keep on working to pay her bills.
This man who spoke so politely harbored no ill will for anyone. He was not bitter. This man held no vulgar words that needed to slip off of his tongue. He believed that he had done the job that his country had asked its young men to sign up for and serve.
If, you have never been personally affected by a war, you really should sit and listen. In listening, you will learn of the experiences that those involved wish to share. If, you have never stood in a field and looked up at the belly of a B-52 carrying bombs strapped to the undercarriage...you have no idea of the force of war...not the sound of it...not the smell of it...not the fear of it.
Anyone with compassion and a belief in the reality of life and God will know that wars only need to be fought with a purpose of protection for the ones who suffer. Killing just for the sake of killing is not a thrill...it is murder.
If, we teach compassion based on listening to the needs of others, we step forward in making changes. If, we spout out hate, with out listening...or understanding, than we are surrounded by fools...and fools have no idea of what they are doing.
The oil spill in the Gulf cannot be "taken back" now. We had choices before the first platform moved into the waters. But, the idea of more oil for bigger cars...and bigger houses was too tempting. We now will suffer for that greed for years to come.
Agent Orange was a killing agent for foilage that affected human beings...and will now for generations to come...it affected the lands....and it will for all of those that eat from those tilled soils.
YOU will also be eating vegetables from MEXICO now that you have no idea as to what is placed on the soil in order to kill the vermin and pests that run through the soil around the vegetables.
The packing houses closed in the US, when the Mexican workers were sent back to Mexico. The packers had to move where the crops are now grown, being Mexico. You have no control...you have no FDA protection...you have no inspectors checking on the produce that you eat...or the meat that you purchase as it comes in from other countries, now.
Americans think that they are so smart as they make the rules for so many other countries...but, in fact, you are again your own worst enemy!
Not sure whether it should only be the US government's role to contribute towards remedying the adverse effects of toxin drenching. The purpose of the Vietnam war was to keep the communists out, i.e. those people who nationalize companies. Business was supposed to be the benefitor of the Vietnam War, had the US won. Government was only doing the bidding for business, big business mostly.
Don't always cry out for government to do something. It is the big companies who hold all the cards; government dusts the card tabels and provides the entertainment in the casino of life!
The suffering of the people in Viet Nam was a history of the Chinese...the French...the Chinese again and northern Viet Nam victimizing the nationals. As with all wars, that America participates in, there are mostly factors of saving lives in the plan.
Business benefits from the war. We do not get into wars because of business...unless it is because of oil. Oil is held by investors here...and they pay the "boys" in the Congress big bucks to say "yeh"!
We did not go into Viet Nam to savalge any business. We went out of mercinary concerns. WE lost, as the Communists won. America did not know how to fight in a jungle. Hence, the quickest way to get out was to take down the jungle...and move!
There are players here in this country that are the holders of the corporations that make those tanks..those jeeps...those bullets...and they do indeed benefit from any war. Funny how America always faces a major financial downturn...just as we head for a war....and lo and behold all of the Joes and Janes...are glad to join and fight...not out of desire but necessity to have an income.
Our corporations play an up and down roller-coaster ride with our economy which squeezes our children into wars that they would not go to if they had jobs at home to survive with now. The military offers many a bread-winner a paycheck and medical coverage, which is not easy to find on a bread-line.
We allow our soldiers to go to wars, that they cannot win..they are only spinning mud on wheels that are stuck in the bogs. If countries have strife..sell them the guns....and the ammo...send over the food....and let them fight it out. I wonder how many countries would send soldiers to America, if we broke out into a major inner civil conflict?
At the rate that we are going now with nothing but talk of hate in this country...we may one day just find out...who will land on "OUR" shores to protect us in our own country?
The TEST for the use of Dioxin was Viet Nam. The American Viet Nam war veterans know that to be true. The United States government has barred any help for the vets in the past. Now, the facts are so strong, that the VA can no longer deny the rate of vets that face a hastened death is now on record because of Agent Orange.
Dioxin was banned from use by consumers a long time ago for health issues. We now have more pests in a greater multitude affecting our crops.
The United States government also tested nuclear bombs out in the Nevada desert and told the soldiers..."trust us"...just look straight into the blast"!
Yes, we are responsible for cleaning up the mess in Viet Nam. It should have been done a long time ago. But, then the government would have acknowledged their part in the lives of the VN vets that complained and died painful deaths because of Agent Orange.
This country does as it pleases...to whomever it wants...the government will never share its secrets with the "mere mortals" that vote...it is not their place to do so....as far as they are concerned..they rule...we pay...and we obey. If, we start to make too much noise..our names go on a list...and we are monitored.
Thank heavens...my eternity is not on this earth....for mankind is ruining it any way that they can.
What is your point windbag? It is not our responsibility to clean up that mess over there. Right or wrong the war was there, it is over. They won. To the victor belongs the spoils or in this case the soils. I don't want any of my tax dollars going over there, they aren't paying for any of the vets we have here that have suffered countless mental traumas and anguish. We took our lumps, they can take theirs. You are so happy to throw tax money away, do you even pay taxes? What the hell is wrong with you people? I am at ease with my concious, if you are not might I suggest you go to church. The good ship lolly pop and the love boat have already sailed. You missed em.
Evil - exactly who won? We were on the side of the Vietnamese in the South. I was in college, and I was forced into a big auditorium in which a movie explained the DominoTheory. If we didn't go the Vietnam, the Communists would take over the world. South Vietnam lost the civil war. McNamara cried when he explained that Vietnam was a mistake. Anyway, South Vietnam lost. The Communists in the North won.
I feel the remnants of War in this case is now a Vietnam (North Vietnam) problem. You want the land, now it is yours and the environment too. I wish I could kick someone's ass then get them to pay for my shoes being dirty.
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The US Government knows exactly how toxic Agent Orange is and still to this day only attach a handful of illnesses to Dioxin. As the Vietnam Veterans who served in Vietnam, in area's that they sprayed Die off, the Government will come forward an tell all once they don't have to compensate Vets for exposure. I served in 68-69 Quang Tri was our base, and our foward base was Vandergrift where most operations were staged, about 10 miles north of Quang Tri. The surrounding Mountains and Jungle were inundated with Agent Orange, Area's where we performed Operations were flattened from The Round up they sprayed. Any Combat Vets that were in thoughs area, were exposed to Dixon, and god knows what else. I feel bad for the civilians that were exposed to Dioxin. As a Marine I was trained to kill NVA, & Vietcong, but we always did our best to keep civilians our of harms way when possible. To Spray innocent People with such a highly toxic substance, makes me sick, to think that our government was capable of such an Act. They knew that all of the water sources were streams that fed down through the mountains, which ended up being in their drinking water, and they knew they were contaminating their food sources. For that I am ashamed. God help us all.
John, I too was in the same place as you with HMM-262. I can remember landing in zones freshly sprayed and the rotor wash blowing dust and everything else right through the open doors and into the cabin of the helicopter. I have developed type II diabetes (none in my family history) and am now breaking out with lesions of the skin all over. Been fighting for benefits for over 4 years. However, I was a Marine, I am a Marine, and will always be a Marine and though I may be older and slower I would pick up my "steel pot" and rifle and defend this country and it's people. God Bless you and all my brothers!
A thousand years from now, the history books will reflect the demise of the United States of America as having resulted from its incessant warring with sovereign nations and its mistreatment of the citizens of those nations. Agent Orange will be reflected in but one of many chapters.
wow, go to the middle east and tell me about mistreatment roger. some of you people's ignorance is unbelievable. we are so horrible, huh. i think since you think we're so bad, we should stop funding everyone else's problems.