On April 12, 1961, the first application of the chemical nicknamed Agent Orange was sprayed on Vietnamese foliage in an attempt to stop guerilla warfare, launching a herbicidal disaster ("Herbicidal Warfare"). The consequences of agent orange, unbeknownst to the former government officials, led to a series of catastrophic effects including, but not limited to neurobehavioral and physical anomalies of the human body. As a result of the lacking knowledge of Agent Orange, the United States and Vietnam are still cleaning up the herbicidal mess that could have been avoided (Magnuson). Decades later, scientific evidence proved that the use of the dioxin herbicide Agent Orange was linked to many physical and neurobehavior disorders (Poremba).
Agent orange became popularized during the Vietnam war when president John F. Kennedy sought radical solutions dealing with Guerilla Warfare (Poremba). He launched a mission called Operation Ranch Hand that lasted 9 years, ceasing in 1971 ("Agent Orange Cancer"). It was said that over 2.6 million soldiers were serving in Vietnam at the time of the mission. The shipments of the chemical arrived in Vietnam inside barrels
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wrapped in an orange identifying strip, coining the nick name 'Agent Orange' ("Agent
Orange and Cancer"). The chemical was sprayed from airplanes on trees, base perimeters, roadways, and communication lines. It was also sprayed by riverboats and trucks (committee, 74). Agent Orange is a dioxin herbicide containing Dichlorophenoxyacetic and Trichlorophenoxyacetic acids. "Dioxin is the most toxic and most durable chemical mankind has developed so far" ("Vietnamese"). Both acids are highly toxic and considered mutagens ("Toxipedia"). Trichlorophenoxyacetic is considerabl...
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Committee to Review the Health Effects, in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides. Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam. Washington, D.C.: NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS, 1994. Print.
Martin, Michael. Vietnamese Victims Of Agent Orange And U.S.-Vietnam Relations. Darby, PA: DIANE Publishing, 2010. Print.
Poremba, Barbara. "Effects of Agent Orange." Salem State University: Salem State Home. Miller 6
N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .
"Toxipedia." Dichloroacetic Acid - Toxipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .
"Vietnamese Agent Orange." Guiana Shield Media Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .
These applications include pesticide, herbicide, defoliating agent such as Agent Orange, cleaning agent and electrical insulation. Consequently, human exposure to dioxin is not a recent phenomenon and the dangers of dioxin are not unknown. Only in recent years, especially after the Vietnam War, has the media concentrated on the dangers and impact of dioxin. The physical effect of exposure to dioxin was first seen in skin diseases developed by chemical plant workers in 1895. Exposure to dioxin results in a type of skin disease like acne called "chloroacne," since its cause was initially and incorrectly linked to chlorine gas.
The Vietnam War was from 1959 to 1975. Is was also known as American War in Vietnam, Vietnam Conflict, Second Indochina War, War Against the Americans to Save the Nation (Rosenberg n.d.). Operation Frequent Wind was conducted at the end of the war in 1975.
In the article, “A Legacy of Illness: The Healing Process Is Far From Done” by Amanda Spake, the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War is shown to be detrimental to Vietnam War veterans’ mental and physical health. The aftermath and effects of the agent did not and still does not receive the acknowledgment it deserves. The depth of the mental and physical distress of Vietnam veterans exposed to the agent is dismissed by the Veteran Administration, Department of Veteran Affairs and the general public. It is from this lack of awareness for the hardships of the veterans of the Vietnam War endangered by Agent Orange that their psychological and physical struggles stem.
Why has the use of Agent Orange become so controversial? The Americans dropped the atomic bomb to end World War II and did not have the backlash that it had, and still has, with Agent Orange. The ver...
The Vietnam War (1965-1975)was fought between the North and South Vietnam. The North was called Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the South was the Republic of Vietnam which was supported by the United States. On August 2nd, 1964 the USS Maddox was on a secret intelligent mission on the North Vietnamese coast where in the Gulf on Tonkin they were attacked by torpedo boats. The USS Turner Joy was attacked in the same area two days later. Due to the second attack Congress declared the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which led to air strikes.In 1959 there were 5,000 guerilla fighters and in 1964 the numbers jumped to 100,000. At Pleiku on March, 1965 U.S Marine barracks were attacked causing the three stage escalation bombing of North Vietnam to begin. The 3 year lasting bombing was used to force North Vietnam to stop supporting the "National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam" by destroying their industrial infrastructure and Vietnam's air defenses. Unfortunately this did not stop the North's support for the NLF. The U.S. Air Force bases were constantly being attacked so the U.S. on March 8, 1965 the 3,500 U.S. Marines was deployed to South Vietnam. At this point in time, the U.S. public supported the dispatch because the Vietnam War had been portrayed to the American people as a war against the spread of Communism. Johnson was president at the time and he kept adding more and more troops as the war went on. As the draft quotas increased, the American public protests started. When Nixon came into presidency his policy towards the Vietnam War was "peace with honor" in other words he wanted to widen the war. After more bombing and fighting, on January 27, 1973 the Paris Peace Accords was signed, restoring peace in Vietnam and U.S. forces pulled out. Nixon stopped all American attacks on Vietnam. The condensed summary of the Vietnam War is to see what presidents were involved in this war (Johnson, and Nixon) and what foreign policies were taken towards Vietnam mostly before the protests began.
"Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam." Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam. N.p., 1994. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. .
In one year's time, President Johnson had gained the support of the congress to send troops to Vietnam. He claimed that those troops were meant to stop the spread of communism. By the year 1965 more than 200000 US troops were in Vietnam.
The herbicide warfare used during the Vietnam War? Well, crazy fact triclosan and agent orange are compound cousins. Triclosan another harmful ingredient is a known pesticide, however, is considered an antibacterial in toothpaste. The FDA banned the antibacterial chemical from soaps. Again, it’s allowed in toothpaste. That top-selling toothpaste brand, Colgate Total claims the benefits (fights plaque and gingivitis) outweighs any risk present from the ingestion of triclosan. The world is so weird, isn’t it? Triclosan is a major component of the problem antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is when the bodies antibiotics have lost their ability to control or kill bacteria growth. In simple form, the bacteria resist the antibiotics and continue to multiply. The dangers of triclosan over the years have shown evidence of its negative effects on humans. Hormonal problems, allergies, and even cancer. Studies have shown that triclosan alters testosterone and thyroid serum levels, estrogen adapters and synthesis. Triclosan stores itself in Breast milk and blood which could lead to long-term effects that could potentially be passed along, affecting immune system health, fertility and
Fries, A. A., & West, C. J. (1921). Chemical warfare,. New York [etc.: McGraw-Hill book company, inc..
In 1961 John F. Kennedy secretly sent in 400 Special Operations Force trained soldiers – known as Green Berets -- taught South Vietnamese how to fight against the communist Guerillas in South Vietnam. On September 2, 1963, in an interview Kennedy said, “We need to send our men as advisors, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam against the Communist, we’re prepared to continue to assist them.” After Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon Johns...
America first sent troops to Vietnam when President Kennedy was still in office to train the Southern Vietnamese soldiers war tactics to help them fight against the Northern Vietnamese soldiers. “Kennedy’s decision to sen over 2,000 military advisers to South Vietnam in 1961 marked the beginning of twelve years of American military combat,” (Anderson). That number would slowly grow over the next year and a half would slowly increase. By the end of 1962 Kennedy had ordered more supplies and equipment to aid the Southern Vietnamese along with a total of 9,000 military advisers (Anderson). To better advise the soldiers in Vietnam President Johnson made General William C. Westmoreland commander, who immediately asked for more troops and at the end of 1964 there were more than 23,000 United States personnel in country (Anderson). The number of soldiers that were sent over to Vietnam increased each year and at the end of 1966 there were over 385,000 troops (Anderson). At the end of the war the total number of troops that served during the Vietnam war was over eight million with over three million of those being shipped to Southeast Asia (“America’s War”).
and N-Butyl Ester 2,4,5,-T, Agent Orange made many Vietnam soldiers go insane (Vietnam Veterans, 11-10-2000). This atrocious chemical lead and still today leads to death, deformation, and diabetes. Dr. Joel E. Michalek, who deals with statistics for the air force, was the first to notice a link between Agent Orange and diabetes. But the federal government was not willing “...to spend millions of dollars on such studies”.
Johnson, it was time to change the way we were distributing our forces to help aid the Southern Vietnamese military forces (History.com, 2010). The use of aircrafts first started out to transport wounded off the battlefield, but quickly turned into the use of different chemicals such as agent orange, to destroy brush for troops to travel through easier. Operation Rolling Thunder started out as just a discussion among those of higher ranking command, but on March 1965 the talk became action (Pike, 2016).
In comparison, “They also pointed out that factors other than exposure to the herbicide showed themselves as possible causes of some of the problems. These factors included alcohol consumption and heavy smoking.- the researchers said that they could not find among the ranch handers a set of symptoms or a pattern of symptoms to suggest a solid connection between present-day health problems and exposure to Agent Orange in the past (Dolan 76).” Although the damages of Agent Orange were given little attention, a few investigations and minor court cases attempted to settle the devastation. In an effort to research, “Maude De Victor tried to determine if Operation Ranch Hand aircraft sprayed ground
The Vietnam War was the first major war American’s had suffered defeat. The Vietnam war was a war of confusion, competition and biasness. The outcome of the war was far greater than an upset American nation, but a severe breakdown of the Vietnamese culture, economy, environment and government. It also had a tremendous impact on American society even up to present day. It was unclear from the beginning of the war if the American’s should even be involved. It was a war between Northern and Southern Vietnam but the U.S saw it as an indirect way to challenge the USSR’s sphere of influence in Southern Asia and to prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism. The Vietnam War completely changed the way the United States approached military action and helped establish the role of the United States within the new world order.