agent orange

USAID Mission Director for Vietnam Donovan talks to media in front of Lotus Lake during joint US-Vietnam Dioxin Cleaning P...

USAID cuts jeopardize Agent Orange cleanup in Vietnam

By David Rising, Aniruddha Ghosal, Associated Press

Will U.S. stay committed to toxic Agent Orange cleanup in Vietnam?

Vietnam's Da Nang International Airport was less than a year ago one of the most toxic Agent Orange sites in the world. In advance of President Trump's arrival for the APEC Summit, the USAID marked the completion of the first…

By Mike Cerre

BA VI, VIETNAM -MARCH 15: Handicapped orphans rest after eating lunch at the Ba Vi orphanage March 15, in Ba Vi, Vietnam. There are around 125 children who are cared for by medical staff after being abandoned by their parents who cannot afford a severely handicapped child. These young children represent the 3rd generation of Agent Orange victims although many don't ever get the costly tests to prove it. More than 30 years after the war in Vietnam, a battle is still being fought to help people suffering from the effects of Agent Orange. Many of the families living in the remote villages have little access to medical care and don't even understand the medical term for the disability that their children have had since birth. They only know that the herbicide used by the US military during the Vietnam war called Agent orange caused this and the government gives monthly support of about $8 dollars per handicapped individual . Between 1961 and 1971, the U.S military sprayed nearly 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides across Vietnam in an attempt to kill vegetation that hid the enemy. Much of it contained the toxic nerve gas called dioxin. After so many years has past, studies have stated that lingering health and environmental problems effected an estimated 3 million Vietnamese, including 150,000 children. As a result an increased number of Vietnamese children have been born with severe birth defects and Down syndrome since the war ended in 1975. Recently, Vietnamese and U.S policymakers have finally started the first phase to clean up environmental damage leftover from the chemical defoliant. The action plan urges the U.S government to provide an estimated $30 million annually over 10 years to clean up sites still contaminated by dioxin. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

Agent Orange puts a new generation at risk in Vietnam

At the height of the Vietnam War in 1968, two young Americans who shared a sense of service made two very different decisions: one joined the Marine Corps and one went to Saigon to help war orphans. Decades later, they…

By Travis Daub

VA seeks new benefits for Air Force reservists exposed to Agent Orange

Reversing a long-held position, the Department of Veterans Affairs now says Air Force reservists who became ill after being exposed to Agent Orange residue while working on planes after the Vietnam War should be eligible for disability benefits.

By Hope Yen, Associated Press

50 years on, veterans find healing by returning to Vietnam to help

By PBS News Hour

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