INTRODUCTION
The Vietnamese War was, at its core, a fight between capitalist and communist forces at a time which the latter was viewed as one of the greatest threats to world order. This rang especially true to the United States, to whom the nation’s immense fear of the spread of communism was a call to action more than anything else, leading to a long period of military intervention. Now, with the war over forty years in the past, the negative effects of U.S. intervention are still coming to light, especially those that concern the infamous Operation Ranch Hand.
Operation Ranch Hand, a military operation undertaken by United States forces in Vietnam, lasted from roughly 1961 to 1971. It involved the systematic distribution of chemical defoliants specially designed to clear brush and forests where opposing forces had the upper hand (Stellman). The most well-known of the herbicides was Agent Orange, codenamed after the band of the same color that was found on the ginormous barrels that contained it; it quickly became the most successful of all the herbicides at destroying broad-leaved vegetation (Wilcox). To this day, its wide-ranging health effects are disputed by medical professionals and historians. The dangers of the use of Agent Orange were unbeknownst to many, but are now reflected in the lives of both Vietnamese citizens and United States veterans.
With unusual cancers striking veterans of Vietnam at uncharacteristically young ages, as well as the emergence of a whole generation of Vietnamese children plagued by birth defects like Spina Bifida, it is an issue that shockingly received very little media coverage (American Journal of Public Health). However, while adverse health effects are vehemently denounced by the United States and groups such as the Veterans Association, the extent to which Agent Orange detrimentally impacted the health of soldiers and citizens alike is an issue that must be discussed in depth; it is evident that Agent Orange has negatively impacted the quality of life for both groups, leaving a legacy of maladies and deaths in its wake.
BODY OF PAPER
Chemical composition of Agent Orange
The chemical defoliant used throughout the Vietnam War, Agent Orange, was a mix of two herbicides commercial herbicides, n-butyl-2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate (2,4-D) and n-butyl-2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetate (2,4,5-T), found in a 1:1 mixture. The herbicides themselves were assumed to have been fairly safe; unknown at the time was the fact that the 2,4,5-T had been contaminated by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). TCDD is a known dioxin, which is defined as a highly toxic compound, and is often seen as the most dangerous one known to man. In fact, Dr. Jacqueline Verrett, of the Food and Drug Association, once stated that 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin was “100,000 times more potent than thalidomide as a cause of birth defects in some species” (Wilcox). It is assumed that more than 65% of the chemical defoliants that used 2,4,5-T had been contaminated by TCDD, at different levels for each.
Beyond its initial toxicity, which can cause major damage to bodily tissues of those that come into contact with great amounts of the herbicides, TCDD is a carcinogen. As of 1997, the International Agency for Research on Cancer labeled TCDD as a group one carcinogen for humans, meaning that there is sufficient evidence supporting the notion that the aforementioned chemical compound causes cancers that would otherwise not have affected a human (Stellman). TCDD has been found to be fetotoxic, indicating that it is especially poisonous to a fetus. Moreover, levels of dioxin found in the bodies of Vietnam veterans, specifically in the blood and fatty tissues, is unfortunately incredibly high, which points to TCDD having a much longer half-life than expected. This, in turn, allows for a longer amount of time in which the dioxin is affecting those that had come in contact with it (Wilcox).
In addition, as time passed, more came to light concerning the dangers of the chemical defoliants themselves. In the April of 1970, 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetate was found to be a teratogen, and subsequently banned from domestic use in the United States. Teratogens such as 2,4,5-T are known to cause or increase the likelihood of congenital malformations, such as structural deformities in newborn babies (Stellman). If nothing else, the link between 2,4,5-T and the plethora of birth defects found in Vietnamese children born during or after the war shows the horrific health effects of defoliants such as Agent Orange.
Development and Usage of Agent Orange
The creation and use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam war was widely inspired by Great Britain’s earlier use and manufacture of the same type of defoliant. Britain had successfully used 2,4,5-T during the communist-led Malayan Insurgency, primarily to destroy crops and other plants that were grown in jungles, eventually starving those that dared to challenge the rule of Britain and clearing any cover they might have had. Following in the steps of the British, the United States began to delve into the world of herbicides and their possible offensive uses, especially as tools to destroy or limit the growth of plant life, with the help of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Project Agile.
The goals for the use of chemical defoliants were similar to those during the Malayan Emergency only years earlier. Guerilla warfare and knowledge of the terrain had given Vietnamese insurgents the upper hand. In an attempt to deprive the aforementioned opposition of sustenance and places to hide, as well as to clear areas such as base perimeters, the defoliation campaign was implemented (Stellman). Finally dubbed Operation Ranch Hand, under the overarching Operation Trail Dust. The campaign utilized camouflaged, low-flying C-123 aircrafts, as well as other vehicles in lesser amounts, to take on spray runs and disperse the defoliant over large portions of land (Stellman).
By the end of the war, and by a relatively conservative estimate, 45,677,937 litres of Agent Orange I had been sprayed over Vietnam, as well as areas of Cambodia and some eastern parts of Laos. A second version of the herbicide, named Agent Orange II, saw over 3.5 million liters shipped to Vietnam after 1968; this was in addition to the roughly 45 million liters originally dispersed (Stellman). By the end of the war in 1971, over 4.5 million acres of land in Vietnam had been turned desolate by the use of chemical defoliants (Wilcox). Millions of Vietnamese citizens, both innocents and those aiding the war effort, were thought to have come into contact with it. Soldiers that had only been doing their duty to their country had unknowingly been exposed to life-threatening carcinogens and teratogens, through working with the defoliant and by eating foods that had undoubtedly been sprayed by the “harmless” substance. Still, the worst had yet to begin.
Perspective: Negative Health Effect
While there have been many cases where soldiers in the United States army or Vietnamese citizens reportedly suffered no malformities, cancers, or any other health problem, that was unfortunately not the case for all who fought in or lived near the war. One of the greatest maladies that saw a surge in veterans was the wide variety of cancers; this was likely a result of TCDD’s highly carcinogenic properties. For example, a mortality study conducted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the years 1972 to 1982 concluded that there was indeed a link between cancers and having served in the Vietnam War, stating, “The results suggest that Vietnam veterans may be at increased risk of death due to soft-tissue sarcoma, kidney cancer…” (The Commonwealth of Massachusetts). Studies across the United States of America came to similar conclusions. In a study conducted by the state of Wisconsin concluded that those who served in Vietnam suffered from pancreatic cancer, more so than veterans not of the Vietnam era (Wilcox 7). In addition, Marine Corps ground troops who served in Vietnam were found to have “died of lung cancer and certain lymph cancers at a significantly higher rate than their colleagues who did not serve in the war” (Wilcox 5).
Young men with no familial history of cancer had begun to succumb to old-age cancers as a result of their exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides. Paul Reutershan, who flew through herbicide-clogged air in a helicopter almost daily, was a prime example. At merely twenty-eight years old, the Vietnam veteran who had been the picture of good health before the war, succumbed to an aggressive cancer that destroyed the majority of his liver, colon, and abdomen (Wilcox). Reutershan’s story is similar not only to other American veterans, but to Vietnamese citizens as well; research by Vietnamese doctors indicates that their own soldiers and people continue to suffer from the same conditions that American veterans have complained about for years.
Unfortunately, cancers were only the beginning of the maladies that plagued veterans; reproduction brought a plethora of its own issues. As veterans begged their governments to look into issues such as inabilities to reproduce or birth defects in their offspring, new studies were conducted. Many studies concluded that veterans of the Vietnam War and their partners suffered from greater fetal loss, more stillbirths, and more children with abnormalities, tumors, and chronic health problems (Field, Kerr).
In Vietnam, the effects of Agent Orange on children is now clearer than ever. Over 40 years after the end of the war, the chemical dioxin remains in the Vietnamese ecosystem; in foods, soil, and water, it’s almost impossible to escape the lasting threat of Agent Orange exposure, and with its unnaturally long half life, it’s no surprise either. To this day, traces of dioxin can not only be found in the soil, but also in the tissues of humans and animals that have come into contact with it, as well as in the breast milk of Vietnamese mothers, which could prove detrimental to their children (Wilcox).
The Red Cross of Vietnam places the number of Vietnamese citizens who are disabled or affected in terms of health as a result of Agent Orange at one million, of which 100,000 are children (Anand). The disabilities affecting these children come range from mild skin diseases to life-threatening maladies such as Spina Bifida, a condition in which the spinal cord of a baby develops outside of its body that has no cure. In addition to Spina Bifida, the ‘Children of Agent Orange’ suffer from hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain, and encephalocele, a neural defect where one’s brain protrudes through openings of the skull, concealed only by thin skin. In all three cases, research has linked the diseases to Agent Orange exposure (Arand). When the effect of TCDD is considered, studies have shown that the most dangerous time to come into contact with TCDD is during fetal development, where tissues among various species are highly sensitive (Lawson); following that train of thought, a clear association can be made between the adverse reproductive outcomes and the Vietnamese who unknowingly came into contact with the toxic dioxin.
Moreover, results of research on the effects of Agent Orange state that “infant mortality in two villages located near heavily defoliated forests was twice than that of a village untouched by the herbicide… The risks of both liver cancer and birth defects three to four times higher among exposed people” (Wilcox 16). Findings like these, which come from studies focused on Vietnam, frighteningly parallel those focused on American veterans, both boasting high rates of cancers and effects on children.
Perspective: No Health Effect
In an interview in the March of 2004, John Kerry, a veteran of vietnam and the current Secretary of State of the United States, recalled fighting in the contaminated battlefields of Vietnam, stating, “I’m in perfect health” (Kerry) and recounting no impediments to his health. Unlike many other veterans, Kerry’s own experience illustrates the other side of the matter almost perfectly. To many, their experience in the Vietnam War has been superseded by years of declining health and suffering, but to others, the two are seemingly unconnected.
Of all of the groups that deny the effects of Agent Orange on Vietnamese citizens and United States veterans alike, the Veterans Administration has done the most to denounce the claims of the sick. From 1978, the Veterans Administration has vehemently insisted that far too little is known about dioxin to come to any conclusions concerning its effect on humans, denying any sort of aid to the veterans who were plagued by a plethora of conditions (Wilcox). While outrage is prevalent in soldiers and their families, who have suffered through horrific health effects, the claim that Agent Orange has had no effect on veterans and their families is not completely unfounded. In fact, many studies find little or no link between Agent Orange exposure, as well as TCDD exposure, and the emergence of illnesses and other disabilities.
According to one study that examined the link between paternal exposure to TCDD in relation to the birth outcomes of their offspring, the link between exposure and health effects in children is relatively weak. After collecting data and studying the effect of exposure on birth weight, preterm delivery, and birth defects, the conclusion was that the results “did not support a causal relationship between low birth weight and high paternal TCDD exposure” (Lawson). In addition, only one case of Spina Bifida had been reported, with medical records that were unable to confirm the case. While the father was exposed to TCDD much more than many others in the study, no link was able to be made (Lawson).
A lot of controversy follows studies such as these; for each that denounces the association between health problems and Agent Orange exposure, two new studies seem to prove a link between the two. In direct contrast to Lawson’s denial of a link between Spina Bifida and exposure to TCDD, others have claimed the opposite. In a study conducted in the August of 1984, the risks for children fathered by Vietnam veterans were examined, only to find that veterans did in fact have a higher likelihood of producing offspring with certain birth defects (Erickson). In a study conducted in the January of 1995, the effect of exposure to TCDD on offspring of veterans of Operation Ranch Hand was analyzed, only to show that there was an elevation in risk of miscarriages and stillbirth, as well as increases in the chances of children being born with birth defects (Wolfe).
To some, the denial of Agent Orange’s effects is seen as the United States Government protecting itself. The United States Army repeatedly stated that Agent Orange was, “relatively nontoxic to humans and animals” (Wilcox), even after the end of the war. In addition, the government continually denied any link between Agent Orange and health problems in its own soldiers. Whether or not the United States Government knew of the devastating effects of TCDD or that Agent Orange was contaminated remains unclear; in any case, soldiers sent to fight in defoliated areas were not warned of possible toxicity.
Some veterans, such as John Green, who served as a medic in Vietnam, recalls the army claiming that the chemical defoliant was harmless, and even stating that it was supposed to be saving their lives. He remembers drinking water from muddy craters near defoliated areas, stating that the food they had eaten had no doubt come into contact with Agent Orange (Wilcox). Supposedly, the relaxed actions soldiers like Green had taken should have been safe, causing no adverse effects. However, with the war fading into the past, such seems to be far from the truth.
Conclusion
The truth behind the horrendous effects of Agent Orange on both American veterans and Vietnamese citizens has been shrouded since the end of the war. Denials from the United States government and the Veterans Administration, along with the Department of Veterans affairs, have belittled the claims of those who have suffered because of exposure to the chemical defoliant, continually claiming that Agent Orange was not to blame for the multitude of deaths and illnesses in veterans and a generation of children plagued by birth defects in Vietnam. Only as time went on, and with the emergence of new scientific studies into the matter, was the association between exposure and a severe decline in health solidified: Agent Orange has negatively affected the health of both American veterans and Vietnamese citizens.
Those affected by Agent Orange and TCDD, the dioxin found in the toxic mixture of n-butyl-2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate (2,4-D) and n-butyl-2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetate (2,4,5-T), dubbed a relatively harmless herbicide, suffer from a wide array of maladies. Various cancers, such as that of the kidney, lung, and liver, skin diseases ranging in detrimentality, and soft-tissue sarcoma plague veterans, who have an increased chance of death by these diseases. The same can be said for citizens in Vietnam who live in areas tainted by Agent Orange, as they are four times more likely to have liver cancer than their counterparts that have never been exposed to the herbicide.
The children of veterans continue to suffer. In the United States, veterans of the Vietnam war and their spouses suffer from a much higher chance of stillbirths and miscarriages than non-veteran counterparts. In Vietnam, orphanages and hospitals are flooded with children who suffer from life-threatening maladies and deformities such as the previously mentioned Spina Bifida, Encephalocele, and Hydrocephalus. Studies have shown the link between birth defects and TCDD exposure in full, citing both TCDD’s nature as a teratogen and a carcinogen, as well as sensitivity of the tissues of developing fetuses to the toxic chemical, as evidence of the association between parental exposure to Agent Orange and the negative effects that it has had on children.
In any case, the legacy of Agent Orange has become devastatingly clear. To say that the contaminated chemical defoliant has had no effect on the lives and health of Vietnamese citizens and American veterans would be a lie; it has adversely and irreversibly affected the health of both groups of people, and will likely affect generations to come.