Agent Orange
In June 2009, NOD issued a report called US Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange: Understanding the Impact 40 Years Later. The report is the culmination of intensive research by NOD into how exposure to Agent Orange has affected not only the veterans who were exposed to the chemical but also successive generations of their families. The purpose of the report is to both raise awareness of the problem and to inspire the public and private sector to act.
Background
Between 1962 and 1971, the United States sprayed approximately 20 million gallons of dioxin-contaminated herbicides over some 6 million acres of Vietnamese terrain. Among these was a compound known as Agent Orange, named for the orange stripe on its label. Hundreds of thousands of US service personnel and millions of Vietnamese were exposed to the chemicals in the air, water, and soil, and through food raised on contaminated farms. Today, Vietnam veterans and their children still struggle with the effects of exposure to this toxic chemical.
The Department of Veterans Affairs maintains a nominal outreach effort to help veterans navigate the process of examination, diagnosis, applications, and care. But veterans and their advocacy organizations report that the service is not widely used or effective. More than 50 voluntary organizations manage to reach and help many former service members. But these Veterans Service Organizations have many competing priorities and limited resources, and are responding to the consequences of more recent wars.
In 2007, the Ford Foundation invited NOD to join the US-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin, a bipartisan, non-governmental initiative comprised of five representatives from Vietnam and five from the United States. NOD was asked to explore and report on Agent Orange linked disability among US Vietnam veterans and their families. NOD representatives provided advice and counsel to the Dialogue Group on disability programming, and traveled to the region to view programs on the ground and discuss future needs.
Reports
US Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange: Understanding the Impact 40 Years Later surveys how matters got to their present state, and how veterans currently fare in the complex process of learning about, diagnosing, treating, and living with the lingering effects of Agent Orange. It concludes with a specific list of recommendations and gaps to be filled.
This paper was the culmination of independent research conducted by Mary Dolan-Hogrefe of NOD, and by Mary Carstensen, US Army, Colonel (retired), consultant to NOD. Ms. Dolan-Hogrefe, Senior Advisor and Director of Public Policy for NOD, serves as NOD's representative on the Dialogue Group.
