Orange Crush - An American Legacy

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During the Vietnam War, the American military sprayed over 18 million gallons of the defoliant named "Agent Orange" on Vietnam. The military claimed it was harmless and was only used to clear the leaves off of trees to spot North Vietnamese soldiers. The harmless aspect of Agent Orange would later be challenged, and proved wrong. The dioxin in Agent Orange can lead to many health and environmental issues. Health issues range from liver cancer to severe birth defects and...
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During the Vietnam War, the American military sprayed over 18 million gallons of the defoliant named "Agent Orange" on Vietnam. The military claimed it was harmless and was only used to clear the leaves off of trees to spot North Vietnamese soldiers. The harmless aspect of Agent Orange would later be challenged, and proved wrong. The dioxin in Agent Orange can lead to many health and environmental issues. Health issues range from liver cancer to severe birth defects and miscarriages. The dioxin in Agent Orange can actually change a person's DNA, reacting in different people in different ways. One of the reasons why studying the effects of Agent Orange is such a monumental task. Not to mention the potential political ramifications of a full scale study of its effects. Environmentally, Vietnam and its landscape were forever altered once the herbicide rained from the skies onto the land. Animals disappeared, jungles died never to come back, livestock, fish, and some game became carriers of dioxin, passing it on the human population. People that were not yet born, or never came in to direct contact with Agent Orange, became victims of its effects through the land they lived in. Today, over 3o years later, the effects of Agent Orange are stronger then the day it was sprayed.
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