Agent Orange is a powerful mixture of chemical
defoliants. One of the most powerful operations that used Agent Orange is Ranch
Hand. Ranch hand sprayed more than 19 million gallons of herbicides over 4.5
million acres of land in the Vietnam from 1961 to 1972. They sprayed Agent Orange
around roads, rivers, canals and
military bases, as well as on crops that might be used to supply food for enemy
troops. Agent Orange was the most common and most effective tool to use
in the war. This caused serious health issues among returning U.S. service men
and their families and also the Vietnamese population. Because of Agent Orange
over 400,000 people were killed or maimed as a result of exposure. Children
have been born with serious birth defects and they suffer from all the exposure
they have faced.
Agent Orange was used
by the U.S. military forces during the Vietnam War to eliminate forest cover
for North Vietnamese and Viet Cong Troops, as well as the crops that might be
used to feed them. Returning Vietnam Veterans and their families had reports of
afflictions, including rashes and other skin irritations, miscarriages, psychological
systems, type-2 diabetes, birth defects in children and cancer such as Hodgkin’s
disease, prostate cancer and Leukemia. Agent Orange was very powerful and it
was very harmful for the people who were exposed and caused a lot of affects
for the people.
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| Agent Orange being sprayed over a forest. |
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| Side Affects of Agent Orange. |
I think it's terrible the effects that this chemical mixture had on the people, not only on the people but on the ways of life. Is this the worst chemical used by the military to date?
ReplyDeleteAlthough this was used more as an indirect form of attack which focused on enemy foliage and crops I can't help but think of something very odd...
ReplyDeleteRemember WWII When the Nazi's used chemical warfare and we said "Don't do that anymore because of the long term health effects"? So of course we do the same thing ourselves because hey it only looked bad when the Nazi's were doing it but us? Oh yeah it's totally fine.
I think it's really terrible and sad that we were brought down to the level of such harmful chemicals, and it's even more depressing that no one took into account the aftermath these agent orange chemicals would have on people.
ReplyDeleteSad to think that even napalm would be a more humanitarian option.
ReplyDelete