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... ists contributed this to sun exposure. In 1992 the Air Force finally acknowledged that Ranch hand was a contributor to these birth defects. In the two years since the IOM report, the Ranch Hand results have been reanalyzed by the U. S. Air Force, and this new analysis bolstered the evidence from other studies, leading to the committee's conclusion that there is limited or suggestive evidence of an association. " (Institute of Medicine, 1) It took the Air Force 8 years to come out with this report.
It is clear that the tactic of the Air Force is delay. The Air Force had withheld information about cancer and birth defects longer than they should have. These Veterans should have been notified immediately of the harm they were subject to and the harm possibly still to come. Misinformation has left behind a generation of men and women, who served in Vietnam, to start families without knowing the potential risks and now they are paying the price.
Since these reports have been released the Veterans Association has been aiding in the awareness of the exposure to Agent Orange by conducting an Agent Orange screening or a dioxin analysis. The Agent Orange screening is just like a routine physical, which is useful in the early detection of disease or health problems. The Dioxin analysis is a test, which measures the dioxin levels in both the blood and the fatty tissues. However, this test is done as research and is quite expensive, which makes it less accessible to many veterans.
As more information was released about the possible illnesses attributed to Agent Orange, justice was starting to be served. On October 1, 1997, the Atlantic Monthly reported, "The Agent Orange Benefits Act takes effect today, entitling Vietnam veteran's children born with the congenital birth defect spina bifida to receive up to $ 1, 200 a month from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Congress passed the act after the National Academy of Sciences issued a report citing new evidence that veterans' exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange. " (Atlantic Monthly, 1) It was not until after 1990 that illnesses, other than chlorine (reddening of the face), were recognized by the government to be connected to Agent Orange. Compensation for those exposed to Agent Orange was few and far between. It is through The Department of Veterans Affairs that the Agent Orange compensation list can be obtained. After 1990 this list was expanded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, to 10 diseases.
Most of the diseases are cancers and the only birth defect is Spina Bifida. The veterans who are eligible are those who have a medical condition and are fit to be chosen to receive medical care at the Department of Veterans Affairs Hospitals. The veterans now receive government compensation whether they are service connected or non-service connected. It has taken 30 years for the government to finally disclose that Agent Orange has actually been a contributing factor to many of these cancers and birth defects. Men and women have been fighting, for a long time, to have some acknowledgment as to the causes from Agent Orange. To some, recognition of Agent Orange's destruction to the human body is not enough.
Something should have been done a lot sooner, these men and women should have been told about the herbicide and many cancers could have been prevented. Knowledge is the key. Agent Orange has ruined many lives. Mike Castle, a man I met on the Agent Orange website, e-mailed me a letter that demonstrates from a veteran's perspective just what effect Agent Orange has had on man. "Dear, I became friends with the Agent Orange web site, because a friend of mine who is an Attorney is in the process of going after the chemical companies to help so many that suffer the most undignified deaths because of Agent Orange. I would be ashamed of myself to try to get payment for the small amount of cancer I have had removed compare to those who are suffering so much. I fight for them, I cry for them, I pray for them!
I have had cancer removed from my face and I have some to be removed from my chest. I cannot prove that it is a cause from the Agent Orange. I am more worried about those that are dying daily from Agent Orange. My claim would not be recognized by the VA. I do worry about as time goes by what may happen because of this and I am more worried my wife could get sick along with my daughter. I am a combat veteran I received head wounds from shrapnel and extreme explosions causing me brain damage and a seizure disorder.
I am 100 % totally disabled and have a huge fight with the VA over the brain damage and seizure disorder. Imagine sitting in a fox hole for 13 months of your life fighting not only your foe, but all elements of war. We were sprayed with this Agent Orange a deadly killer. Everything you touched, handled, drank or ate was contaminated.
Hygiene was not present, no showers, no place safe to bath, your tooth brush was used to clean your weapon. If you were wounded chances are the Agent Orange got into your blood stream, because your close were covered with the dioxin and most time your brothers dried blood. There was no change of clothes, only more ammo and sometimes your mail. Food and water were the last things combat veterans seen.
It is a life of unimaginable horror. We came home to pass this on to our families and our loved ones. As you know it stays in your fat tissue and is transmitted though your skin and through intercourse. Now we have the picture, first the veteran, then the family on and on.
My friend, I want you to know that our country has turned there back on the Vietnam Veterans. We never lost a battle our leaders were and are the cowards of this country. The Vietnam Veterans are good, intelligent, caring men and women. We carry the silent killer in us and people watch us die every day. My heart is broken my body full of shrapnel and I will carry the flag, you would be surprised at those that won't. There is a fire down below!
Keep on Rocking in the Free World!" (Neil Young) Mike Castle The Environment has been effected in every way by Operation Ranch Hand. As the herbicide was sprayed it killed the plants and eventually the animals, and now it is killing those who fought for us, where is the justice? We are a large part of the environment. We are there to help shape, preserve, and even create it.
Man created the dioxin in Agent Orange, and in doing so created another killer. Nature did not give us this killer, we gave it to ourselves. Mother Nature has given us her wrath, but she has never given us her poison, we seem to create it. If nature would not create something so awful that would kill off it's species, then why did we?
We are our own worst enemy; no war, mudslide, or natural disaster could ever destroy the environment the way humankind does. We kill the weeds, we kill the bugs, we cut down the trees and we keep building as the pollution keeps getting worse. Everybody has a role in nature and preservation is the key. So as you spray the ant spray all over your house just remember that you are doing to these plants and animals, just what Operation Ranch Hand has done to our families. Something that can be undone and there will never be enough justice to make up for the effects of Agent Orange.
Works Cited "Agent Orange and Related Issues. " VA Fact Sheet 1 (October 1997). 3 Mar. 1999 < web "Agent Orange Update Supports Association Between Herbicides and Veterans' Diseases. " Institute of Medicine News [Washington] 14 March 1996 Arizona, Lindsey. "The Herbicidal Warfare Program in Vietnam. " Executive Summary 1 (June 1997). 3 Mar. 1999 < web Buffer, Philip. "Agent Orange in Vietnam 30 Years Later" New York Times 8 September 1998 Brooks. Clark. "Fatal flaws; How the military misled Vietnam Veterans and their families about the health risks of Agent Orange" San Diego Union-Tribune [Vietnam] 1 November 1998: "Hodgkin's Disease. " Encyclopedia Encarta. 1999 ed. Lane, Earl. "Study Links Agent Orange to Birth Defects in Children of War Veterans" Newsday [Washington] 15 March 1996: P 3. "The October Almanac. " The Atlantic Monthly October 1997: 20. Walker, Melissa. " Introduction: Using Resources, Choices and Trade-offs. " Reading the Environment. 1 st Ed. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company, 1994. 276 - 279.
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Research essay sample on Agent Orange And Vietnam
