Agent Orange Vietnam War

The Vietnam war was a long, costly Armed war between America and Vietnam, that was an attempt to stop the communist regime of North Vietnam and its southern allies, known as the Vietnam Cong, up against south Vietnam and America. The US Troops used napalm in 1965 – 1972, (essentially an inflammable liquid used in warfare.) This mixture creates a jelly-like substance that when lit, sticks to anything within range of it for 10 minutes, the effects of napalm on human skin is devastating, It can kill anything or burn down any object that sounds in its way, A survivor Of the napalm strike called Kim Phuc once said ‘Napalm is the most terrible pain you can imagine’ the fire from napalm can burn up to 2120 degrees, Kim was one of the only people to

Agent Orange was used during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was, “a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States”

Chemical Warfare was also something that the Americans used that was drastically negative. Many innocent South Vietnam citizens were killed from a chemical called napalm. This jelly like substance stuck to a surface and burned. Much of it was dropped on villages

The first chemical to be discussed is Agent Orange; Agent Orange has been identified as a human carcinogen; this chemical was introduced during the Vietnam War as a defoliant for the thick Vietnamese jungle. Although Agent Orange contained a variety of herbicides, most of the pesticide contained Phenoxyacetic acid – based herbicide 2,4-D and 2,4, 5-T. The most common mixture

During the peak of U.S involvement in the Vietnam War, between 1967 and 1969 the U.S employed a strategy that proved to be a disaster on many different levels. With over 500,000 of their troops serving in Vietnam at the time, the widespread use of herbicides, particularly Agent Orange began being sprayed over the Vietnamese jungle by planes. The aim of this was to eliminate the ‘invisibility' of the Viet Cong and offer a safe path for the American troops to follow. This was a good idea in theory, but what the American strategists didn't think of was the toxicity of the herbicides, and the fact that not only would the Viet Cong be exposed to it, but their troops and innocent South Vietnamese would be also. A widely speculated and argued repercussion of this is that many Vietnam veterans, and Vietnamese villagers began to give birth to babies with birth defects. However, a confirmed result

Kara Hinson The war in Vietnam started in 1955 and lasted until 1975. Many Americans believed it was a pointless war that had no meaning. The United States became involved in the Vietnam Warbecause they wanted to stop the spread of communism. This war took 50,000 lives and wounded 300,000 American men. Due to the My Lai massacre which killed hundreds of innocent and unarmed Vietnamese civilians, protests about the draft start all over the country, because of draft dodgers and draft deferment, and the government misleading people back home, this was known as the credibility gap, Americans are turning against the war in Vietnam. This leads to anti-war protesters, known as doves springing up across the United States demonstrating their opposition to the war.The Vietnam War is one of the most known wars in history, many innocent people were killed that had no involvement. United States soldiers came up with strategies to kill off the Vietcong, but occasionally the United States was not sure who were Vietcong and who were not. Napalm was a jellied gasoline that explodes when dropped in large canisters the napalm was usually dropped on villages. When the napalm was dropped on the villages, the Vietnamese houses and vegetation were destroyed. Napalm burned men, women, and children who were in the villages the clothes would burn completely off their bodies. Agent orange another substance used this was sprayed by an aircraft over the jungle. Agent

The first chemical to be discussed is Agent Orange; Agent Orange has been identified as a human carcinogen; this chemical was introduced during the Vietnam war as a defoliant for the thick Vietnamese jungle. Although Agent Orange contained a variety of herbicides, most of the pesticide contained Phenoxyacetic acid – based herbicide 2,4-D and 2,4, 5-T. The most common mixture of the Agent Orange used during

“We were told, ‘it’s totally safe and it won’t hurt you at all,” he added. “We were told you can drink it, you can brush your teeth with it, or you can bathe in it. It won’t hurt you. Those were lies.” (“U.S. Soldiers Sprayed Agent Orange across Korea” 1) Agent Orange was an herbicide used by the United States military forces in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971 to destroy their enemies’ food supply, land, and protection. Twelve million gallons of this toxin were sprayed. (Department of Preventive Medicine 1) It affected the Vietnamese and the American troops who were fighting in the same jungle. Little did the United States military know the effects of this dangerous herbicide. It caused many long-term complications, including health problems

Near the end of 1964 the involvement of the American troops in the war was rising. During the 1970’s it became evident that there were serious long lasting effects because of the chemicals. Not only soldiers but children also experienced physical ailments. Veterans of war were experiencing abnormalities after conceiving children. Several veterans had come forward stating that it was Agent Orange that had affected their health or birth defects of their children. There were a lot of soldiers unable to come back home and live normally after some of the harrowing things they had experiences and their own countrymen were criticising their involvement, when a lot of them had been conscripted and had no choice in whether they joined the army or

The war in Vietnam was, and continues to be, one of the most controversial hot button topics in American history. The military’s use of dangerous pesticides, like Agent Orange, is a major part of this controversy. Agent Orange is a defoliant that was widely used to deforest dense jungle areas to reduce both hiding places and food sources for the Vietnamese. During the war, American B-52 bombers released over nineteen million gallons of Agent Orange over the Vietnamese countryside. After ten years of continuous dumping, 1971 finally marked the end of America’s use of Agent Orange and other herbicides. In 1974, the United States government, headed by Richard Nixon, swore the country would never again use chemical weapons in a first strike. (Levy and Scott-Clark)

This causes death to innocent people after the war and there were also many innocent people killed during the war which bothered America’s inner voice and for many that inner voice became an outer voice in protests. The second issue of Agent Orange also bothered the conscience of the United States. “Between 1961 and 1971 about 20 million gallons of herbicides were dropped on South Vietnam.” (Black 19) The U.S. “...had no idea of how dioxin, the lethal contaminant in Agent Orange, might blight [people’s] lives down through 3 generations.” (Black 14) This was a very inhumane tactic used in the war and many who opposed the Vietnam war “...felt that U.S. actions in Southeast Asia were crimes against humanity.” (Maxwell 439) The Vietnam war also

Almost thirty years after the last troops were pulled out of what was then South Vietnam, its effects are still felt in today’s society. It is hard not to find someone who’s life has not been affected because of this war. One of the most controversial decisions made in the war was to use chemicals to fight the enemy. The most boradly used chemiucal was called Agent Orange. Some people agreed with the use of Agent Orange. They saw it as a very viable weapon that needed to be used in order to keep the Communist from taking control of South Vietnam and subverting their democratic government. Many others disapproved of its use. They knew, correctly, that it would severely devastate the landscape of Vietnam and would forever ruin the

Many of the scars of the Vietnam War have healed, but one toxic wound continues to fester. An herbicide used by the United States promised to save the lives of many GIs by decreasing the strategic cover of the Viet Kong, who were North Vietnamese Communist. Agent Orange proved to have side effects that were not intended. Not only did it destroy the environment, but the lives of those it surrounded. While people can make moral judgments before their actions, a chemical does not discriminate between foe or ally.

The chemical weaponry that were used on the Vietnam vegetation had an adverse effect on the people in a way that even after three generations, the effects are still evident on the children. Many of them are born with malformations and severe defects in the nervous structure and immune system. The chemical also affected the American soldiers and veterans as many of them have health issues related to these weapons. Although the American government thought that they were only punishing the North Vietnamese, American veterans ended up victims of chronic and unhealthy conditions.

We must do everything in our power to make the world recognize that our veterans are still paying a high price for fighting the war in Vietnam. Agent Orange is slowly taking the lives of these brave veterans. The government has recognized some diseases but the rules to compensation can be complex. It was in the 1960's that we were in the process of trying to destroy vegetation and brush in Vietnam, in doing so we proceeded to contaminate one of the largest parts of the environment, Humankind. War Veterans were exposed to Agent Orange and now live their lives with a disease not necessarily curable. The question remains did these Veterans know about the hazardous effects, and how are they being compensated now? Agent Orange was the code