Discuss: Agent Orange: A Chapter from History That Just Won’t End

Excellent article! This story really resonated with me as I lost my dad twice. Once because of having been to Vietnam and coming home a different man, and the second time because of Agent Orange.

When they speak of the cost of war, they have no clue what the hidden costs really amount to.

Thank you for this oh so personal look at what our national policies do when we do not believe in the humanity of our so-called enemies. We must realize at some point that we all must share the planet and all must care for it.

Heartbreaking.  Also heartbreaking is the fact that we’ve been in this continuum of wars in other peoples’ lands every day since Vietnam, be it in Latin America, Middle East, the Balkans.  And we’ve gone from Agent Orange to Depleted Uranium.  The Post Traumatic Stress of our military is surely nothing compared to that of the citizens of those invaded lands.  It’s all madness.

The cloud of poison spread far. Some Canadian veterans who were at Camp Gagetown, New Brunswick, Canada in the early sixties (those still alive)are still seeking compensation for various medical problems.This is one of the places where agent orange was tested.

I thought the article incredible - not the right word because it was believable.  I had an acquaintance in business who went off the deep end about 20 years ago.  The explanation was that he had handled Agent Orange.
If you don’t believe war sucks, you should attend one.  I did, but I was extremely lucky and came away pretty much unscathed.  I feel if more people were forced into the service as I was by the draft, the public might be more passionate when our leaders try to lead us astray and they might not succeed as often as they do!

I lived in Tucson and have seen the ghosts of those planes.  I have grieved so deeply for what we have lost collectively, individually; my friends to shrapnel so many years later and of course, Agent Orange.  I am a singer-songwriter and it is my healing and release to address these difficult issues.  Please check out the song “Some Other Mother’s Son” at the following - http://cdbaby.com/cd/thea2
Thank you for this amazing personal story.

Such incredible courage you have shared with us through your life’s story-telling!  Thank you, Ben, for providing through language your expressions of horror, your understanding of pain, your understanding of the need for all wars to cease, and more.  The lessons you taught me are repeated daily as refugees tell their stories; for example, though the “end of the war” in Vietnam was 1975, there really will be no “end” until the humans on the planet decide to stop killing each other. I’ve come to think that Dr. Suess’s Butter Battle Book and Howard Zenn’s A People’s History of the US should be required reading. May we learn sooner than later that non-violence is life-giving, respect for all life is essential, and that ignoring the costs of war on our children and grandchildren’s children will kill the planet as surely as Agent Orange has killed and changed life as we have known it. Thank you, again.

This information needs to get out. Thanks for sharing your experiences and some about the victims in Vietnam. Now, we have DU, nuclear radiation, and how many other toxics? This is what is happening on this beautiful planet.

I protested the Dow Chemical Company’s production of napalm and Agent Orange, in 1969, went to prison for it. Need more protests and actions. Yes, I still do.

Peace,