It is the war that will notend. It is the war that continues to stalk and claim its victims decadesafter the last shots were fired. It is the war of rainbow herbicides, Agents Orange, Blue, White, Purple, Green andPink.
This never-ending legacyof the war in Vietnam has created among many veterans and their families deep feelings ofmistrust of the U.S. government for its lack of honesty in studying the effects of the rainbow herbicides, particularly Agent Orange, and its conscious effort to coverup information and rig test results with which itdoes not agree.
Agent Orange is the codename for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand , during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth defects . [ 1 ]
A 50:50 mixture of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D , it wasmanufactured for the U.S. Department of Defense primarily by Monsanto Corporation and Dow Chemical . The 2,4,5-T used to produce Agent Orange was later discovered to be contaminated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin , an extremely toxic dioxin compound . It was given its name fromthe color of the orange-striped 55 US gallon (208L) barrels in which it wasshipped, and was by far the most widely used of the so-called " Rainbow Herbicides ". [ 2 ]
During the Vietnam War,between 1962 and 1971, the United States military sprayed nearly 20,000,000 US gallons (75,700,000 L) of chemical herbicides and defoliants in Vietnam, eastern Laos and parts of Cambodia, as part of Operation Ranch Hand . [ 3 ] [ 4 ] The program's goalwas to defoliate forested and rural land, depriving guerrillas of cover; another goal was to induce forced draft urbanization , destroying the ability of peasants to support themselves in the countryside, and forcing them to flee to the U.S. dominated cities, thus depriving the guerrillas of their rural support base and food supply. [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
The US began to target food crops in October 1962, primarily using Agent Blue . In 1965, 42 percent of all herbicide spraying was dedicated to food crops. [ 5 ] Rural-to-urban migration ratesdramatically increased inSouth Vietnam, as peasants escaped the destruction and famine in the countryside by fleeing to the U.S.-dominated cities. The urban population in South Vietnam nearly tripled: from 2.8 million people in 1958, to 8 million by 1971. The rapid flow of people led to a fast-paced and uncontrolled urbanization ; an estimated 1.5 million people were living in Saigon slums , while many South Vietnamese elites and U.S. personnel lived in luxury. [ 6 ]
United States Air Force records show that at least 6,542 spraying missions took place overthe course of Operation Ranch Hand. [ 7 ] By 1971, 12 percent of the total area of South Vietnam had been sprayed with defoliating chemicals, at an average concentration of 13 times the recommendedUSDA application rate fordomestic use. [ 8 ] In South Vietnam alone, an estimated 10 million hectares of agricultural land were ultimately destroyed. [ 9 ] In some areas TCDD concentrations in soil and water were hundreds of times greater than the levels considered "safe" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange
Agent Orange - Vietnam
http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=IN&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=GJxb7CY13uc
Relying on a recent report from an independent organization (the Institute of Medicine), Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced on October 13, 2009, that the VA will add three new diseases to its list of 12 illnesses associated with exposure to Agent Orange. The three newlyrecognized diseases are:
• Ischemic heart disease(including coronary artery disease);
• Parkinson’s disease; and
• B cell leukemias (such as hairy cell leukemia).
This announcement means that veterans who suffer from one of these diseases will become entitled to service-connected disability compensation from the VA as long as they stepped foot on land in Vietnam during active duty at any time between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975. Other veterans who suffer from one of these diseases will become entitled to these benefits if they can show that they were exposed to Agent Orange during active duty.
To qualify, it will not matter when the disease first appeared. Thus, a Vietnam veteranwho is first diagnosed with ischemic heart disease 50 years after discharge from service will become entitled to VA disability compensation benefits.
The announcement also opens the door to deathbenefits. Qualifying surviving family members of Vietnam veterans who have died,or who die in the future, from one of the three diseases will become entitled to service-connected deathbenefits known as Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC).
Vietnam Veterans fromAustralia do not suffer in silence | Agent ...
http://agentorangelegacy.com/2011/04/australia-do-not-suffer-in-silence-box-hill-vietnam-veterans-say/
Children of Vietnam veterans - reported Illnesses | Agent Orange ...
http://agentorangelegacy.com/reported-illnesses/
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine . He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution . He failed to secure a runoff spot during the 2010 Ukrainian Presidential Election . [1] [2]
As an informal leader of the Ukrainian opposition coalition , he was one of the two main candidates in the October–November 2004 Ukrainian presidential election . Yushchenko won the presidency through a repeat runoff election between him and Viktor Yanukovych , the government-supported candidate.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko

Millions and millions of gallons of the stuffwere blanketed across South Vietnamand a shroud still hangs, unshakable, on the shoulders of the country today. Horrific after-effects of exposure to AO cast a long-running plague on the peoplethere, and it followedmany American soldiers home.
It took a long time and a lot of deaths before the United States government would acknowledge any possible connection between certain grave health conditions and exposure to the chemical. Now, scientists have reported new evidence linking Agent Orange to Parkinson's and Heart Disease.

a client of mine was just telling me about this the other day. ok, going to be completely honest, i didnt read you're entire post just some of it but i have a question for you. she was telling me there is a site that will tell you which foods dont have this stuff in it, it was 3 letters but for the life of me i cant remember what they were. do you by any chance know what that is?

My brother works for a company that fights terrorism world wide, and I am very interested in such matters.....Thanks for the post!
Deb

This is my battle.... meeting the criteria of "accepted" proof is where they are killing us Nam vets.

It's been a battle of mine for 44 years now, with the burden of proof "on me" to support my claim. 1,000s of pages of paperwork, Drs reports, scans, byopsies, xrays.... and 7 denials, that came quicker than the times it takes to fill out and submit the paperwork!

My cancer, PTSD, health problems of my children, have been given EVERY name BUT agent orange poisioning, or "campaign related"!

Over the years I have started the process, become buried under red tape, stopped, restarted.... 4 attempts in this time, several denials at each attempt, this last battle I continue now....4 years later "status still pending"!

Unable to "work" a regular job (by Dr opinion), I am unemployable by most standards due to medical history disclosure on apps, now age plays a factor in the current economy.

Denied for VA pension due to "status pending", no "determination" with status pending so I can't get SS, I can't work so no "welfare" because I can't comply with their demands, and my 1,000's of pages of medical records aren't "definative" enough for deferrment!

This is what I, and many more like me, are going thru in our struggles after service to our great nation, and why many of us are homeless, jobless, and forgotten!

War hawks, chicken hawks (the Shrubs Sr and jr, the Grinch, InSanetorum, Owe-Bummer) have NO "fight" in them, so they offer up still more of the children of others (NEVER their own!) to a lifetime of problems like mine!

AND PEOPLE STILL VOTE FOR THEM!

It's a crime, not just because I am affected by this, but multiple 1,000's of others as well, both past and present.....

so what will YOU, anybody, do to help fix it?

I have a "patch" which reads: "If I have to explain, you could never understand!" .... the reason many Nam vets are a "silent" minority....

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange?title=Agent_Orange&seg=3&useformat=
Agent Orange's lethal legacy: For Vietnam War veterans , injustice
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange2-dec06,0,2356181.story
Horrible Situation