1	Agent Orange and American Responsibility In Memory of Joan Duffy
2	What I’m going to talk about … An introduction to victims of Agent Orange About Agent Orange and Dioxin The defoliation campaigns U.S. Vets and the struggle for compensation Vietnamese victims and American Responsibility Epilogue: The ongoing struggle for the just treatment of victims of war
3	“I tremble for my nation when I reflect that God is Just” Thomas Jefferson
4	Videotape Introduction
5	Agent Orange
6	Agent Orange Phenoxyacetic family of herbicides Invented at Fort Detrick during WW II First used by British in Malaya, 1960 Dioxin - a by-product TCDD - tetrachlorodibenzodioxin “Most toxic synthetic chemical ever”
7	Defoliant Test Videotape
8	Defoliation Campaign 45th Anniversary of Operation Hades (inaugurated August 11, 1962) Renamed Operation Ranch Hand Primary objective: eliminate concealment on supply trails Secondary objective: destroy food supply in areas dominated by Viet Cong
9	Operation Ranch Hand Agents color-coded barrels Blue, white, purple, green, pink and orange First missions used Agent Purple Agent Orange dominant from 1965 on “Only You Can Prevent Forests!” Increased effectiveness increased demand Increased demand accelerated production
10	Approval in the field, doubts at home Troops cognizant of benefits, ignorant of dangers Scientific criticism emerges Domestic health threat recognized
11	Ranch Hand Corralled April 15, 1970 - military and domestic use of most herbicides using 2,4,5-T is suspended by the Nixon administration Agents White and Blue used through 1970. Agent Orange never used again
12	Defoliation summary 19 million gallons 11% to 17% of South Vietnam sprayed 300,000 US personnel exposed 3,000,000 Vietnamese exposed Most extensive use of chemical weapons in history
13	Vets Struggle for Care and Compensation Best sources Fred Wilcox, Waiting for an Army to Die Wilbur Scott, Vietnam Veterans Since the War Peter Schuck, Agent Orange on Trial
14	Vets Struggle for Care and Compensation Beneath radar 1970-1978 1978 Maude deVictor collects data Paul Reutershan sues Dow and others for $10million Reutershan founds Agent Orange Victims International (AOVI)
15	Vets Struggle for Care and Compensation 1979 AOVI hires Victor Yannacone Yannacone launches class action mass product liability suit against Agent Orange manufacturers VA develops a Stonewall strategy
16	Vets Struggle for Care and Compensation Suit turns into a free-for-all Potential $4billion damages The ideal lead plaintiffs are discovered (The Ryan Family - short video) Fleeting victory -- Public Law 96-151
17	Vets Struggle for Care and Compensation Case complexity Number of players Issues of causation Potential size of damages Sovereign Immunity Government contract defense
18	Vets Struggle for Care and Compensation Smoking guns Dow meeting in March 1965 President’s Science Advisory committee meetings in April to July 1965 Domestic Explosion -- Times Beach
19	Vets Struggle for Care and Compensation A new judge and the case takes off Jack Weinstein reconceptualizes case Applies pressure for settlement Hires negotiators Achieves settlement Mfgrs place $180 million in interest bearing account $3400 to survivors of vets who die from AO $1280/yr for 10 years for vets on total disability from AO
20	Vets Struggle for Care and Compensation A new day at the VA (DVA) Judge Henderson rules claims tests “impermissibly demanding” New DVA Secretary Derwinski accepts ruling, hires Elmo Zumwalt as consultant Zumwalt gets 28 conditions recognized as presumed AO related
21	American Responsibility What do we owe to one another as members of the human family?
22	American Responsibility 3 million Vietnamese exposed 35 million acres of forest sprayed 7 million acres of forest and mangroves destroyed Widespread resulting ecological damage, habitat destruction, wildlife elimination, soil erosion, floods and droughts.
23	American Responsibility Hot spots - air bases where AO stored and areas downstream from them Bien Hoa Danang Phu Cat
24	American Responsibility Dioxin levels Danang harbor - 100 times international standard Former storage bases - 1000 times! Hot spot residents Dioxin levels in blood 38 times as high as Hanoi residents
25	American Responsibility Primary tasks: 1) Provide healthcare and supporting services 2) Detoxify hot spots as quickly as possible Current status: 1) No progress on number 1 2) Agreement in principle. $300K committed to Danang cleanup ( out of $60 million cost) 3) Ford Foundation commits $2.2 billion
26	Epilogue: Struggle for just treatment of victims of war Desert Storm - Gulf War Syndrome replays the Agent Orange history Operation Iraqi Freedom puts focus on Depleted Uranium -- the more things change, the more they stay the same Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us!”