Putting A Human Face on the Tragedy of Agent Orange

Ten years ago, a friend of mine lost his father. His dad was employed as a long-distance truck driver - the modern-day concrete cowboys. He did not die from fatal injuries suffered in a collision on a major highway. His fate was sealed 30 years previously in a jungle serving our country in the U.S. military. Death followed him home in deadly poisons coursing through his veins. Millions of gallons of Agent Orange were intentionally discharged during the Vietnam War, resulting in staggering human tragedy.

His name was James Inman from Waynesville, North Carolina. He was drafted into the Vietnam War at age 18. His birthday celebration of turning twenty came and went in a foreign land. His assigned job was a helicopter mechanic in the 92^nd Assault Helicopter Company. The unit's callsign was Stallions. 92 Stallions is proudly displayed on their insignia patch. James helped keep the "iron steeds" in the air. This unit performed dangerous missions from the Vietnam coast to the region near the Cambodian border. Flying into and out of valley farmland, humid jungle, and high mountains, these brave Americans faced a stronghold of Communist insurgents.

James Inman had been feeling sick for years, his back aching for weeks at a time, but he refused to go to the doctor. At a scheduled DOT, physical to renew his CDL the cancer was discovered. It had spread from his prostate to his kidneys. Three decades after his service in Vietnam, he was diagnosed with Agent Orange related cancer. He died the next year. His son, Randy Inman, asked me to stress to Vietnam veterans the importance of regular medical check ups. Inform your family physician if there is a danger of Agent Orange exposure. If a veteran believes they suffer harmful effects from their military service, they have a right to submit a claim for treatment and compensation with the VA at any time and at no charge.

After James Inman's diagnosis, he received $2,500 a month from the US government. Sadly, he did not live very much longer. His widow will continue to draw nine hundred dollars monthly from the VA unless she remarries or goes to prison. (Aren't these the same sentence?) Mr. Inman had one year after being diagnosed to file for a lump sum payment of $25,000, otherwise he would only be eligible for the monthly installments.
I know of personally, three Vietnam veterans, none of those lived much past a year after being told they had cancer caused by Agent Orange.

My neighbor, Charles Emory, also served in Vietnam. At his funeral there were photographs placed near his casket of him as a young soldier in uniform. The contrast of the photos to the aged beyond his year's man in the coffin told the story of a poison traveling from tainted soil, returned to be planted on American ground. Charles was one of the gentlest souls I have ever known. He suffered a horrible death. The cancer ate him alive, burrowed deep in his bones. The last time, I saw him before he was buried; he had deteriorated into a shrunken shadow. He heard me trying to start my Jeep from his home next door. He stumbled over without my asking with jumper cables before I opened the hood.

Agent Orange was laced with dioxins, toxic to humans, which accumulates in the blood, and fatty tissues of the body causing cancers. Many diseases lie in wait for long periods before it strikes. A person can be exposed to toxins without ill effects showing up for twenty years or more. The use of Agent Orange in Vietnam ended in 1971, after six thousand applications of the pesticide were completed.

The United States was responsible for spraying poisonous chemicals over a tenth of Vietnam, a country the size of California. Fifteen herbicides were used including Agents Pink, Green, and White, but Agent Orange was the most commonly used. It was also, mostly in secret, spread over parts of neighboring Cambodia. The powerful weed killer was intended to destroy crops and jungle cover for the Vietcong. In its path, it left behind a human toll sentenced to a lifetime of pain, and early death. The victims of Agent Orange are at a higher risk of passing on genetic defects to their children.

What really burns is the fact this act was carried out with the full knowledge of the destructiveness of the chemical Agent Orange.

Dr. James Clary, a scientist at the Chemical Weapons Branch, Eglin Air Force Base, who designed the herbicide spray tank, wrote the following in a 1979 report on Operation Ranch Hand, the name of the Agent Orange military operation.

"When we initiated the herbicide program in the 1960s, we were aware of the potential for damage due to dioxin contamination. We also knew that the 'military' formulation had a higher dioxin concentration than the 'civilian' version due to the lower cost and speed of manufacture. Because the material was to be used on the 'enemy,' none of us was overly concerned. We never considered a scenario in which our own personnel would become contaminated with the herbicide."

Quoted by Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, 1990

The CDC was brought in to weigh the analysis of dioxin's side effects. It took the panel four years and $63 million in federal funds to reach a conclusion. The panelists decided that an Agent Orange study could not be done based on military records, and without this data, it could not prove veterans were ever exposed to harmful doses of Agent Orange!

More American taxpayer's money was allocated to investigate the CDC's findings. The re-examination discovered changes made to the initial study in an apparent attempt to hide the damaging proof that was found. Congress learned that administration officials had blocked CDC research scientists from weighing in on the negative effects of dioxin.

The Ranch Hand study is still ongoing, despite allegations of fraudulent practices shown every few years. Additional studies are projected at a taxpayer cost of over $100 million.

This is just a glimpse at two of our honored veterans among the millions that served in Vietnam War. James Inman and Charles Emory were laid to rest in a grave that US officials dug for them. They survived combat overseas to lose the battle waged from American shores. The country's thoughtless actions slowly killed our own women and men, the same country they were fighting for.

Sources:

http://stallion505.homestead.com

http://www.lewispublishing.com/orange.htm