Photo of the Day

It is January 1962.

The ten-year US defoliant spraying program over South Vietnam,

Laos and Cambodia has begun.

The program is intended to deprive the Vietcong

of food and defensive jungle cover.

Before and after view of a river which has been sprayed with Agent Orange. The surrounding mangrove forest has been killed.

An unmentioned objective of the program, revealed later,

is to drive Vietnamese villagers out of their rural hamlets,

where they often hide enemy Vietcong fighters.

Clearing jungle along inland waterways reduced US swift boat casualties. The British use of Agent Orange in Malaysia in the 1950s convinced US officials that its use did not violate international law. The US vetoed UN actions in the mid-1960s intended to stop the US Agent Orange spraying program.

Most of the spraying will be done by low-flying aircraft,

Air Force C-123 aircraft were the primary methods of spraying the chemicals. The planes were fitted with 1,000-gallon spray tanks and flew at low altitudes (about 150 feet) in groups of three to five aircraft.

but trucks, boats and backpack sprayers will also be used.

Air Force records indicate the Agent Orange spraying program consisted of at least 6,542 spraying missions which were flown over South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

In 1962, these chemicals were considered safe if handled correctly.

The Agent Orange manufacturing process creates an unintended chemical by-product called dioxin. Dioxin is a highly toxic and persistent organic pollutant linked to cancers, diabetes, birth defects and other disabilities. Dioxin remains in contaminated soil for long periods and enters the food chain, contaminating food crops, grazing livestock and fish. Scientists began raising concers about the Agent Orange program in the mid-1960s.

US consumers could buy them in retail stores.

A 1978 G.A.O. report states that 18.85 million gallons of defoliants and herbicides were sprayed during the Agent Orange operation at an average concentration of 13 times the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommended application rate for domestic American use. These higher concentrations of the chemicals were used to ensure the success of the defoliation mission. By the end of the program in 1971, approximately 12 percent of the total area of South Vietnam had been sprayed. The red sections of the map above are sprayed areas.

But in Vietnam, consumer protections were not followed.

The spray solution was mixed at a concentration rate

which was thirteen times stronger than recommended.

The intention was to make the chemical more effective.

Drums containing the chemicals were stored improperly.

Leaking storage drums containing Agent Orange.

Agent Orange produces a by-product called dioxin.

It’s a toxic organic pollutant

which has been linked to cancers, diabetes and birth defects.

Agent Orange spray mission.

During the Agent Orange program,

US military personnel were told that the chemicals were harmless.

It was only after the servicemen returned home

that veterans began to suspect their ill health or wives’ miscarriages

or children born with birth defects might be related

to their exposure to Agent Orange.

Rusting Agent Orange storage drums.

Documents revealed in a veteran group’s class action lawsuit

against Agent Orange manufacturers

showed that the manufacturers were aware of the health risks of dioxin

but concealed this information from the government.

There is scant evidence, however,

that the government intentionally hid any information from the public.

Private Fred L. Greenleaf crosses a deep Vietnamese irrigation canal.

Toxicology studies of dioxin eventually persuaded the government

to accept a connection between Agent Orange exposure

and a long list of illnesses.

The VA now runs a special benefits program for Vietnam veterans

and their dependents affected by exposure to Agent Orange.

[Take a moment to watch this Youtube clip! The spraying begins at 0:16.]

All this took years, but eventually,

science interpreted by experts

convinced the government to make amends.

The facts were laid bare and veterans got government help.

Would this be the outcome today?

I don’t know.

But a society whose leadership treats science as a matter of opinion

and elevates common sense over expertise

is headed for trouble.

******************************

I’ll see you tomorrow.

— Brenda