Agent Orange

U.S. Military planes spraying Agent Orange over dense jungle in Vietnam

Brutal murders, burning of villages, violent rape, torture and more plagued Vietnam for over twenty years in combat.  However, arguably the most damaging perhaps, is rarely discussed in American discourse.  Agent Orange was used as a military tactic for the United States, in an attempt to defoliate forested and rural land, depriving guerrillas of cover, destroy the ability of peasants to support themselves in the countryside with the destruction of crops, thus depriving the guerrillas of their rural support base and food supply.  During the Vietnam War, between 1962 and 1971, the United States military sprayed nearly 20,000,000 US gallons (75,700,000 liters) of chemical herbicides and defoliants in Vietnam.

Infamous picture of Vietnamese families fleeing village after U.S. forces dropped nepalm

United States Air Force records show that at least 6,542 spraying missions took place over the course of Operation Ranch Hand. By 1971, 12 percent of the total area of South Vietnam had been sprayed with defoliating chemicals, at an average concentration of 13 times the recommended USDA application rate for domestic use.  Overall, more than 20% of South Vietnam's forests were sprayed at least once over a nine year period.

The problem with Agent Orange is that it is incredibly toxic – and the effects are far too visible today, forty years after the war.  According to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 people being killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth defects.  Women had higher rates of miscarriage and stillbirths, and children in the areas where Agent Orange was used have been affected with multiple health problems including cleft palate, mental disabilities, hernias, and deformities.

As we walked through the museum of pictures, modules and deformed baby fetuses, I felt sick.  I was horrified that my country had used such extreme measures that are specifically denoted as illegal under the Geneva Convention which details international war.  How could the United States, only four decades ago, used such primal, barbaric and horrific crimes such as violent rape, mass murder, and toxic chemicals?  And how have we not been held accountable by the international community!?

Unborn Vietnamese fetuses with defects from Agent Orange

“Peace without justice cannot be sustainable.  It is a terrible mistake to believe that people will simply forget.”

-        Carla Del Ponte, former ICT for the former Yugoslavia prosecutor

It is a mistake to think that people will simply forget – and the War Remnants Museum is a beautiful sight for those who were not told the other side of the story.  It gives voice to the children and women who lie dead in trenches dug by United States military, and it serves as a reminder to the international community on the devastating and damaging effects of war.  

Third generation Agent Orange victim

There was one piece of hope in the museum at the end of the Agent Orange exhibit.  To assist those who have been affected by Agent Orange/dioxin, the Vietnamese have established "peace villages," which each host between 50 and 100 victims, giving them medical and psychological help, including one Vietnam Friendship Village that is organized by US Vietnam Veterans.  While the United States has yet to acknowledge the countless cries, claims and reports that have come from Vietnam demanding acknowledgement, compensation and help in riding the landscape of the highly toxic chemical, the Vietnamese government provides small monthly stipends to more than 200,000 Vietnamese believed affected by the herbicides; this totaled $40.8 million in 2008 alone.