10th
of August 1961, is considered as the saddest day in the last 50 years
of history of Vietnam. On very this day, American aircraft had
sprayed a chemical known as Agent Orange on jungles of Vietnam. This
chemical was transported in steel drums, which were painted with
orange stripes on the outside and this is the reason for which the
chemical was commonly known as Agent orange.
This chemical has a
property by which it destroys all the flora or foliage, including
shrubs, trees and grasses, on the ground, where it is sprayed. US
Generals had thought that US forces find it difficult to fight the
Communist Vietnamese soldiers, because they are hidden in the dense
jungles of Vietnam. It was therefore decided by US chief of staff
that the jungles themselves should be destroyed so that the
Vietnamese soldiers would be exposed and decided to use Agent orange
for this purpose. Between 1961 and 1971, or in a decade, American
airplanes sprayed 80 Million Liters of Agent Orange on Vietnam
Jungles. Agent Orange contains a deadly poisonous substance known as
Dioxin and it was found that in this decade approximately 366 Kg of
Dioxin was sprayed on Vietnamese soil.
The
Army Generals, who took the decisions of spraying Agent Orange,
perhaps never thought about the ill effects, this deadly poison would
have, on the innocent common people of Vietnam, who were not involved
in this war at all. According to an estimate, the decade of spraying
of Agent Orange affected at least 4.8 Million innocent Vietnamese and
at least 3 or 4 hundred thousand people must have lost their lives in
this period.
For
hundreds of thousands of other people, bad long term effects were
caused by this chemical, such as Cancer and Genetic mutations. Large
number of children were born in subsequent years with terrible
physical disabilities. Today within the southern city of Ho-Chi-Min
city itself, there are more that 4000 such citizens that are affected
by Agent Orange.
A
social service organization known as VAVA or Vietnam Association for
Victims of Agent Orange is making efforts to help the sufferers of
Agent Orange. American senator John MacCain claims that US
Government has spent more that 46 Million Dollars on care and
rehabilitation Agent Orange affected Vietnamese people. However in
2005, in a legal suite filed against the manufacturers of Agent
Orange, American judiciary has given a judgment that has ruled
against the 'Agent Orange affected' Vietnamese people. Because of this
judgment it has become almost impossible to get any funding from US
Government for help to these affected people. This organization
(VAVA) is now trying to arrange charity shows of popular rock stars
to raise money to help these people. Vietnam Government has also
decided to mark, 10th
of August of every year as “Orange Day,” to remember these
unfortunate people.
I saw
recently some photographs of these affected people and also of the
genetic defects with which some post war children are born with. The
photographs are so pathetic and sad that it requires a special effort
to stop and not to cry.
12
January 2013
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