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Toxic legacies
• I WAS interested to read your article (Toxic legacy of Vietnam war, September 17).
In August 1961 the spraying began of Agent Orange over areas of South Vietnam, it was to continue for the next 10 years. A total of 80 million litres were used to destroy forests and crops, to poison the lakes and rivers. US forces also sprayed the hamlets of the people. All this led to Agent Orange getting into the food chain.
Today in Vietnam, 48 years after the spraying began, and 34 years after the war ended, there are over 3.5 million Vietnamese seriously affected with illnesses, and disabilities caused through Agent Orange, a war crime that has gone unpunished.
In their book My Father, My Son, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Jr and his son Lt Elmo Zumwalt III, wrote how, through being affected by Agent Orange, Lt Zumwalt III’s son was born with severe learning difficulties. Lt Zumwalt III himself, in 1983, learnt that he had developed cancer from which he died.
Having checked with the Army and Air Forces people about possible injurious effects of Agent Orange on humans, and being told people would not be harmed, Admiral Zumwalt, Jr gave the order that the use of Agent Orange be increased along the riverbanks that the US forces in their boats patrolled. He later stated, “Had I known that Agent Orange would cause some human harm, I probably would have used it anyway. I knew that not using it would cost many more American lives”.
LEN ALDIS
Secretary, Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society,
London E3
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