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Agent Orange in Vietnam: ‘Our hearts are still bleeding’

“Thirty years after the war we give birth to innocent deformed babies. ... Our hearts are still bleeding,” Dang Hong Nhut told a meeting here Oct. 4. Mrs. Nhut was exposed to Agent Orange when she was part of the resistance to the U.S. war against Vietnam. She is in this country for the Fourth Vietnam Agent Orange Justice Tour, calling for compensation for the millions of Vietnamese suffering from exposure to the toxic defoliant two generations later.

Vietnamese women give strong argument that U.S. pay for Agent Orange’s damages. WW photo: Ellen Catalinotto

More than a decade after the war ended, Tran Thi Hoan was born without legs and a deformed arm. Now a 21-year-old college student, she addressed the meeting in English and sang a song asking for  some help to alleviate the suffering.

Between 2.5 and 4 million people are affected, including 150,000 children born with missing limbs, Ambassador Bui The Giang of the U.N. mission of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam told the audience. As a former soldier, he had looked forward with anxiety to the births of his children, not knowing what deformities they might suffer as a result of his exposure.

Thousands of former GIs are similarly afflicted by Agent Orange poisoning.

The U.S. sprayed 82 million liters of dioxin-containing Agent Orange on Vietnam.

As part of the peace accords signed when they were driven out of Vietnam, the U.S. agreed to compensate for some of the destruction inflicted on the land and people.

But no compensation has been paid. The Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign has filed suit against Dow and Monsanto for profiteering from illegal chemical warfare.

Other speakers included Frank Stearns of New York City Veterans for Peace, Merle Ratner, Esmeralda Brown and Frank Velgara. Vietnamese food and a cultural performance were provided by the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence Youth Leadership Project.

Further information can be found at www.vn-agentorange.org.