The Government Denial of Agent Orange Claims

The Government Reaction to Agent Orange Claims

PREFACE

United States involvement in Vietnam has been surrounded by controversy since the 1960s. Many felt that controversy would end with the withdrawal of US troops in the 1970s. The troops came home and were not welcomed with the fanfare that surrounded veterans of previous wars. Was the controversy surrounding Vietnam a “dead” issue now that the troops were home? The answer is no. The controversy continues to this very day. The issue of whether or not the US should have gotten involved with Vietnam is still undecided. The even larger issue, on the other hand, is that of exposure to Agent Orange.

I have been interested in the controversy surrounding Agent Orange since I was in 10th grade. I knew nothing of the topic before that. In 1997, my uncle died of lung cancer. When he was first diagnosed with the disease, I had thought that it was because he owned a bar. I believed that the cause of his cancer was due to all the second- hand smoke he inhaled over the years (he had quit smoking in the 1970s, after 6 years of being addicted). However, I realized that this might not be the case when I overheard him talking to a doctor. My uncle wanted his disability benefits from the Army to go to his son while he was sick and after he died. So, I asked him about his and he started to tell me about Agent Orange. He was drafted in the Army and stationed in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967. His job was to deliver and clean the buckets that Agent Orange was stored in. He attributed his illness to his exposure to Agent Orange.

The story of my uncle has motivated me to learn more on the topic of Agent Orange. However, because of the story of my uncle, I am bias in the way...

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...mber 1993.

New York State Temporary Commission on Dioxin Exposure, Dioxin Agent Orange: Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations. Albany: September 1983.

Scheim, Rich, “VA to Take Vets’ Word on Agent Orange Exposure,” Courier- Express, November 3, 1981.

U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Veterans Affairs, Statement of John. F. Sommer, Jr., Director National Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission Before the Committee on Veterans Affairs, 14 July 1988.

Veterans Administration, Worried About Agent Orange? Washington D.C., July 1, 1980 pamphlet.

Vietnam Veterans of America, Agent Orange, “VVA Sues VA Over AO Comp. Rules”. Washington, D.C., December 1986.

VVA Legal Services, “Agent Orange Settlement Upheld”, Agent Orange Claim forms, July 1983.

Wolff, Leslie Patten, “Defoliant Manufactures Launch Counter-suit,” Buffalo Veteran, 1980.