Agent Orange: Effects Still Evident Four Generations After Vietnam War

Agent Pink. Agent Purple. Agents Blue, White, and Green. Along with Agent Orange, these cutely-named chemical concoctions were devised by Monsanto and the Dow Chemical Company for U.S. military use in the densely vegetated jungle war zone of Vietnam. None of these chemical weapons has so severely impacted generation after generation the way that Agent Orange does.

If you think the United States stopped maiming and killing soldiers and citizens in Vietnam when American troops departed Vietnam in March 1973 or when the last choppers flew out of Saigon 41 years ago, you’re wrong. This year alone, more than 300,000 Vietnamese babies were born with ghastly birth defects that may be directly attributed to their parents’ and grandparents’ exposure to toxic Agent Orange defoliants deployed by U.S. military forces in their effort to win an unwinnable conflict.

Designed to destroy vegetation, dioxin-based Agent Orange was the key chemical weapon used in a U.S. military offensive called “Operation Ranch Hand.” Millions of gallons of Agent Orange were dispersed over millions of acres along the Mekong River delta and on the forests of Vietnam, and the stuff wasn’t selective about where it landed.

The list of diseases the Veterans Administration presumes to be associated with Agent Orange exposure is staggering. The VA pays benefits to vets who developed multiple myeloma, chronic B-cell leukemia, peripheral neuropathy, soft tissue sarcoma, ischemic heart disease, prostate cancer, and other disabling and/or deadly conditions as a result of exposure to chemical weapons while serving in Indochina. The VA is currently reconsidering its position on bladder cancers that affect many veterans who may have been exposed to the chemical weapon that was simply called “orange” on the battlefield.

According to the History Channel, Operation Ranch Hand lasted from 1961 to 1972, directly leading to Agent Orange effects that include cancer, tumors, birth defects, and lasting psychological and neurological damage in American military veterans as well as the people of Vietnam.

American soldiers who were affected by Agent Orange ostensibly had and continue to have access to post-war medical care. Four generations of deformed Vietnamese people have not been so fortunate.

Why is there such social stigma attached to Agent Orange effects?

Christopher Hitchens visited Ben Tre Province, formerly known as Kien Hoa Province, in 2006. The following year, he recounted the experience in Vanity Fair magazine and offered an explanation as to why so many Vietnamese affected by Agent Orange, especially children born with birth defects, do not receive the medical help they need.

“The government is too poor to pay much compensation to victims, and prefers anyway to stress the heroic rather than the humiliating aspects of the war. And traditional Vietnamese culture has a tendency to frown on malformed children, whose existence is often attributed to the sins of a past life.”

Rennie Davis is one good American who is doing something about the mess the U.S. left behind

Earlier this month, Davis traveled to Hanoi where he met with Madam Nguyen Thi Binh, Jack Nguyen, and a team of volunteers who are dedicating themselves to ridding Vietnam of the residual chemical weapons and explosive ordnance left behind by American soldiers four generations ago.

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New Humanity World Tour

Noting some 3 million Vietnamese suffering from the effects of Agent Orange and new victims being born every day, Davis said that it’s time for the global community to step up and help these largely forgotten people. Calling upon former Vietnam war protesters and other members of the global family who are “on a journey to evolve,” Rennie explains that we have in our possession “new healing discoveries that can rid the body of the poisons and restore cellular vitality.” He added that action of concerned people is necessary when governments largely ignore a situation such as is happening in Vietnam.

“We can change this tragedy by returning to Vietnam. For the Vietnamese victims unable to feed themselves, cloth themselves or take care of themselves, we can adopt them into our own global family and love and support them for the rest of their days. Since their burden on their own family is unspeakable, they call out for help.”

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Restoring Vietnam is just a part of Rennie Davis’ vision

As the New Humanity World Tour continues, the group will visit Chernobyl, Syria, and Africa where they will address issues of food and water shortages. Davis reminds his Facebook followers:

“It is time to build a new nation on Earth based on a new way of living. It is time to nourish the magnificence and beauty in every human being that has been forgotten, abused and ignored. For those who ask why, let us ask ourselves why not?”

Who is Rennie Davis and why does he care about Vietnam?

If Rennie’s name sounds familiar, you may have been alive during the Chicago police riots surrounding the Democratic National Convention in 1968. Along with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) co-founder Tom Hayden, Youth International Party “Yippie” leaders Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, Lee Weiner, David Dellinger, and John Froines, Davis was a defendant in the so-called “Chicago Seven” trial.

Another original defendant, Bobby Seale, was removed from trial proceedings after being gagged and tied to a chair subsequent to his vigorous complaint that he was not allowed access to his preferred attorney.

The five-month judicial circus concluded in February 1970 with a split verdict. U.S. District Judge Julius J. Hoffman (no relation to Abbie) found Weiner and Froines innocent of all charges but brought the gavel down when he declared Davis and the rest guilty of crossing state lines with the intent to start a riot. Thanks to egregious behavior by the prosecution and stellar representation by William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass, all convictions were ultimately overturned.

Today, Rennie Davis is a champion for global causes. Hailed as an inspirational speaker everywhere he goes, Davis is a futurist who shares his hopeful vision for humanity around the world and at RennieDavis.com.

If you were exposed to Agent Orange

Any U.S. military veteran who was in Indochina during chemical defoliation campaigns and thinks they may have been exposed to Agent Orange is invited to call the VA at (877) 222-8387 to schedule a free Agent Orange Registry health exam.

[Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images]