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

This was a great article, and another reminder of the agent- orange-disaster that still haunts us.  I’m glad I’m a member of Pesticide Action Network and Northwest Coalition for Alternative to Pesticides, among other groups.  Agent Orange may be banned here, but so many toxic pesticides and herbicides (like Paraquat and Atrazine) continue to be used, which is truly criminal.

Ben’s story reminds me some of myself.  Although I lucky not to have suffered from a physical deformity due to pesticides, my two upper primary front teeth were badly chipped from around the age of 7 until they were repaired at the age of 18, and like Ben, I was always shy about my problem—extremely so.  I couldn’t open my mouth around strangers without always feeling pain or an odd sort of self-incrimination.

Thank you, Thea, for the amazing music.  And thank the rest of you for your comments and work in the face of the madness and terrible beauty of the 21st century.  Bernie, your story is one that should be told, and your courage is something I can only dream of.  Our stories are all we truly own.  Let us share them with each other, and through the sharing, let us heal.  I want to recommend a book, “Crossing the Yard,” by Richard Shelton, a mentor and friend.  If you’re interested in witnessing words and hope overcoming brutality, here it is.  Also, the documentary, “Operation Homecoming,” in which veteran authors like Tim O’Brien lead workshops that give voice to the soldiers in Iraq, is stunning.  It will make you cry.

Hi Ben, I graduated from LP (just down the road from you) a couple of years before you did, made my way out west to Denver and then spent the last four years in Vietnam. What a lovely people the Vietnamese are, I always thought of what my country did there. I’ve followed the Agent Orange saga faithfully, and hope that someday there will justice for all, including yourself.  I’m not sure what the justice will look like, but it is certainly past due.  Thanks for the great article and best of luck to you.

Hey you all, hoe about the depleted uranium, and other equally destructive weapons produced and sold (with your consent)by your government. How about the millions dead, maimed, sent to mental institutions poverty and misery all over the world. How about the destruction of Okinawa and its environs due to Depleted uranium.
How silent can you all get… Oh you are writing a book… oh you are creating for profit green business, Chalmers Johnson - Nemesis: The last days of the American Republic and his other two books Blowback: The costs and consequences of the american empire and The sorrows of empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the end of the republic, hopefully will jolt you all of your obliviousness.
The world is not waiting for you to wake up.
Intellectual exchange does not suffice.  Ideological smugness is a sign of arrogance.
The time to wake up and smell thge coffee is over.
See http://www.freedocumentaries.org for corroboration of your delusion of intellectual grandeur and prove of capitalism disaster.
Harris

Hi , Ben,

I was so moved by your story.
I am a Japanese filmmaker, became one at the age of 55 because the death of my husband, Greg Davis at the age of 54 of liver cancer compelled me to become one.
Greg served in Vietnam form 1968 to 1970.  Stationed at Long Thanh base near Bien Hoa.  We met in Kyoto, Japan in 1970.  We never had children because he told me he could not have one since he was sprayed with defoliants while in Vietnam.
I made a film called “Agent Orange – a personal requiem” because I had to find out why he had to die so young, so suddenly.
I visited Vietnam and found the victims everywhere, so immediate and present. Children who were not even born then are suffering from all kinds of deformities and illnesses. In spite of such difficulties and poverty, everywhere I found love, caring, warmth. Meeting the victims and their families helped me heal .
I just returned from Vietnam two days ago after revisiting people that I filmed 3 years ago.  I was again so moved by the courage of some of the children—now becoming adults—coping so bravely and naturally with life. 

Ben, I need to talk with you and meet you.
I am now attending Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley as a visiting scholar, a position granted me because of the film on “Agent Orange”.

Please contact me at .
Looking forward to hearing from you.
All best,
Masako Sakata

its really good...im thankful to have read it.

portland, or

Inexpressibly fine story.  I also lost a friend to Agent Orange.

There are two other sources of “pollution” to which I would like to draw attention.  They are affecting life in Vietnam and the USA as well as in every other country on Earth.

Has the political ideology of economic globalization poisoned the minds of the family of humanity in the way CO2 emissions have polluted Earth’s atmosphere?

If so, could these ideological and physical pollutants also become dangers to human and environmental health?

I encourage you to look up the blogs of veteran Bernie Duff and Bao Anh: michvet3.multiply.com.

Next month they are walking from Saigon to Hanoi to raise money for kids affected by Agent Orange.

I had the pleasure of traveling with them and my veteran father in Vietnam last year.Ben,please feel free to contact me.Have you been to Vietnam yet?