This Page Is Dedicated To All Veterans & Families That Have Been Poisoned by AGENT ORANGE
Agent Orange was one of the weed-killing chemicals used by the U.S. in Vietnam. The chemical compounds considered as herbicide agents in Vietnam include 2,4-D; 2,4,5-T and its contaminant TCDD (or Dioxin); cacodylic acid and picloram. Airplanes, helicopters, trucks and backpack sprayers applied herbicides. Herbicides containing Dioxin were used by the U.S. military to defoliate base camps and other facilities in the U.S. and in other countries as far back as the 1950s.
NEW INFO: Re-examining military records, researchers at the Columbia University School of Public Health determined that about 21 million gallons of the herbicides were sprayed from 1961 to 1971 - 1.84 million gallons, or 10 percent, more than previously believed.
AGENT ORANGE, A KILLER THEN AND A KILLER NOW!
The following diseases are those officially recognized by VA as related to herbicide exposure. To win benefits, VA law and regulations also require that some of these conditions appear (or "manifest itself") within a deadline that began to run the day you left Vietnam. If there is a deadline, it is listed in brackets after the name of the disease. If your condition is not listed below, ask your doctor whether what you have is similar to any of these. There may be room to argue that your condition is the same as one of these.
WARNING: This list may change
Diabetes
Prostate Cancer
Peripheral Neuropathy -- (acute and sub-acute) (one year)
Spina Bifida in children of Vietnam Veterans
Chloracne
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) -- NEW!
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, including any diagnosis of a lymphoma [except Hodgkin's lymphoma], mycosis fungoides, and old terms such as lymphosarcoma, reticulum cell sarcoma and Sternberg's sarcoma
Porphyria cutanea tarda -- [one year]
Respiratory cancers [30 years], including cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx, and trachea
Angiosarcoma (hemangiosarcoma and lymphangiosarcoma)
Proliferating (systemic) angioendo- theliomatosis
Malignant glomus tumor
Malignant hemangiopericytoma
Synovial sarcoma (malignant synovioma)
Malignant giant cell tumor of tendon sheath
Malignant schwannoma, including malignant schwannoma with rhabdomyoblastic differentiation (malignant Triton tumor), glandular and epithelioid malignant schwannomas Malignant mesenchymoma
Malignant granular cell tumor
Alveolar soft part sarcoma
Epithelioid sarcoma
Clear cell sarcoma of tendons and aponeuroses
Extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma
Congenital and infantile fibrosarcoma
Malignant ganglioneuroma
Under the VA rule, soft tissue sarcoma does not include osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, or mesothelioma.
MORE THAN JUST AGENT ORANGE SPRAYED IN VIETNAM RAINBOW HERBICIDES
The various chemicals were labeled by color-coded stripes on the barrels, an arsenal of herbicides known by the colors of the rainbow, including Agent Blue which contained arsenic, Agent White, Agent Purple, and the lethal combination of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, Agent Orange.
On January 13, 1962, three U.S. Air Force C-123s left Tan Son Nhut airfield to begin Operation Hades (later called Operation Ranch Hand), the defoliation of portions of South Vietnam's heavily forested countryside in which Viet Cong guerrillas could easily hide. By September 1962, the spraying program had intensified, despite an early lack of success, as U.S. officials targeted the Ca Mau Peninsula, a scene of heavy communist activity. Ranch Hand aircraft sprayed more than 9,000 acres of mangrove forests there, defoliating approximately 95 percent of the targeted area. That mission was deemed a success and full approval was given for continuation of Operation Ranch Hand as the U.S. stepped up its involvement in Vietnam.
RAINBOW HERBICIDES AND THEIR COMPONENTS:
- Agent Orange: 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T; used between January 1965 and April 1970
- Agent Orange II (Super Orange): 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T; used in 1968 and 1969
- Agent Purple 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T; used between January 1962 and 1964
- Agent Pink 2,4,5-T; used between 1962 and 1964
- Agent Green - 2,4,5-T; used between 1962 and 1964
- Agent White Picloram and 2,4-D. MORE info on Agent White
- Agent Blue contained cacodylic acid (arsenic)
- Dinoxol 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T; used between 1962 and 1964
- Trinoxol 2,4,5-T; used between 1962 and 1964
- Diquat Used between 1962 and 1964
- Bromacil Used between 1962 and 1964
- Tandex Used between 1962 and 1964
- Monuron Used between 1962 and 1964
- Diuron Used between 1962 and 1964
- Dalapon Used between 1962 and 1964
Dates are insignificant because the Dioxin is still being found in heavy concentration's to this day in Vietnam (1999)!
SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD DO:
Educate yourself about issues facing Vietnam veterans and the nation; read some of the many good books that have been published recently.
Join VVA (Vietnam Veterans of America) to keep current on developments; if you are not a Vietnam era veteran, membership is open as an "associate" member.
File a claim for VA disability compensation if you are disabled; encourage others to do so. "NEVER GIVE UP!"
Volunteer your time and talents to the nearest Vet Center or veterans organization.
Work with groups of veterans to set up a meeting with the Director of the nearest VA Regional Office to review how it handles claims from Vietnam veterans.
Investigate what services are available from your state for veterans and how well those services are delivered.
Encourage civic organizations, unions, and business associations to which you belong to take a stand on veterans' issues.
