Speaker
1: |
East
winds one more over this land and these villages. A green freshness has
returned to this mountain forests. No one arriving today would think a
ruthless war raged here 30 years ago. |
Speaker
1: |
Our
hero sacrifice will be engraved on our thoughts and feelings for generations
to come. |
Speaker
1: |
The
war stole the lives of millions. Millions more lost limbs. No one knows how
many still suffer from wounds inflicted by bullets and bombs. The bodies of
others may be in tact, yet Harbour wounds left by
agent orange, who can describe that pain. |
Speaker
1: |
From
1961 until the end of 1971, the US Military sprayed 15 kinds of chemicals, totaling 72 million litres on the rural delta and
mountains of South Vietnam. After 1965, Agent Orange was the major chemical
used. Agent Orange contains Dioxin, an extremely toxic and stable chemical.
No other known substance is as poisonous or as dangerous as Dioxin. |
Speaker
2: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
1: |
Misses
Jonti Li is the former head of the Women's Union of
Cam Lo. |
Nguyen
Thi Dung: |
Two
of the aeroplanes flew over head and sprayed me. I
was soaking wet as if I had been cloud in a hidden rain. |
Speaker
2: |
[Vietnamese] |
Nguyen
Thi Dung: |
I
vomited black blood. It was terrifying. |
Speaker
2: |
[Vietnamese] |
Nguyen
Thi Dung: |
My
skin rose up in welts as if I had been burned in boiling water. They weren't
burns, they well stung and itched. It felt like someone was lancing me with
needles. |
Speaker
2: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
4: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
In
1967 I went to the South in fought in Thai Binh,
[inaudible 00:03:41], and [inaudible 00:03:42]. I was sprayed by Agent Orange
three times. |
Speaker
6: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
Two
or three of the aeroplanes released poisonous chemicals that hung in the air
like a yellow mist all morning. |
Speaker
6: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
At
the time we didn't know what this was. It turned out the air campaign would
destroy our cover by spraying the [inaudible] in mountainous areas. The
leaves dropped from the trees. |
Speaker
5: |
Then
after the time, the planes dropped bombs. The forest burned. |
Speaker
6: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
The
spray destroyed our crops, standing in the fumes, leaving us with nothing to
eat. Our drinking water was poisoned. We couldn't move to another area. |
Hoang
Binh Cau: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
13: |
Professor
Hoang Bing Cau is President of the 1080 Committee,
which researches the effects of Dioxin. When Dioxin enters a human body, it
damages the genes and immune system. The adverse effects on genes continues
from generation to generation. |
Speaker
4: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
I
married in 1977 after the end of the war. In December 1977 my wife gave birth
to [Zoan 00:05:13], who was abnormal from birth. |
Speaker
4: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
She's
so retarded, she has little awareness. |
Speaker
4: |
[Vietnamese] |
Pham
Thi Tuyen: |
[Vietnamese] |
Nguyen
Thi Dung: |
Anyone
looking at our children will think she's healthy. She's usually sick every
five or seven days. Sometimes she'll have convulsions three times or even
five times in a day. |
Pham
Thi Tuyen: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
In
March of 1981, my wife gave birth to this, our second child. She was also
abnormal at birth. Her body was small, her head large. |
Speaker
6: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
After
demobilisation in late 1975, I married and had my first child in 1976. Her
skin is very thin. When she was six months old pimples appeared all over her.
After that, the pimples turned into splotches. Now the splotches have grown
larger and thicker. They cover her body, even her skull. |
Speaker
6: |
[Vietnamese] |
Nguyen
Duy Dang: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
I
was in the battle fields of [Vietnamese] and Cam Lo. But why it was a
socially thing where afterwards, we returned home, married and had three
children. Not one is healthy. My own health is weak. |
Speaker
5: |
After
Red Cross doctors examined us, a number of times they wrote in their records
that we had been poisoned by chemicals during the war. |
Nguyen
Duy Dang: |
[Vietnamese] |
Dinh Thi Mang: |
[Vietnamese] |
Nguyen
Thi Dung: |
This
is my younger brother who was a solider at the front from 1968. He returned
in apparent good health. But three years later became so seriously ill the he
didn't know anything. |
Nguyen
Thi Dung: |
When
we took him to the hospital, the doctors said he had been contaminated by
poisonous chemicals. The toxin also harmed his three children, not a one is
normal. |
Speaker
2: |
[Vietnamese] |
Nguyen
Thi Dung: |
I
was sprayed by poisonous chemicals when I was three months pregnant with my
daughter [Hian 00:07:51]. She's been demented from
birth. It is not terminal dementia. Sometimes she knows things but then she
immediately forgets. And then there are these growths like extra muscle
emerging from inside her body. |
Nguyen
Thi Dung: |
They
continue to emerge and continue to emerge. |
Speaker
2: |
[Vietnamese] |
Bang
Van Minh: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
I
fought along the banks of the Thai Cam River in Western [inaudible] Province.
Where the Americans sprayed poisonous chemicals, killing all the vegetation. |
Speaker
5: |
After
demobilisation I married and had two children. Both like this. |
Bang
Van Minh: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
13: |
Dang
Thi Wa, age 20 and Dang Thi We, age 18 are both blind and toothless. They can
neither talk nor smile. |
Speaker
13: |
Mr.
Lock was sprayed by chemicals while on the [Hochimane]
train. He has since died, leaving his wife to care for four handicapped
children and his elderly mother, age 80. |
Speaker
13: |
All
three children of a Veteran in Bok Min began to have muscle contractions at
age 14 or 15. |
Speaker
13: |
Misses
Hin in Thai Ming Province gave birth to five
children, all without eyes. |
Speaker
13: |
According
to estimates made in 1995 by the Ministry of Labour, [inaudible] and social
welfare, the number of Asian outage victims in our country is more than two
million. More than half a million of these are children. |
Speaker
13: |
The
toxic chemicals the American Military sprayed didn't distinguish between
sides. Both sides were victims. |
Lehuu Dong: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
During
the war I was a soldier for the [inaudible] Army. In 1965 I was stationed in
the [Ching Son 00:10:50] Mountains between Com Lo and Kua
[inaudible 00:10:53]. I was sprayed by poisonous chemicals. After that I had
two children, both handicapped. |
Lehuu Dong: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
13: |
After
a third of a century, Agent Orange has moved into the third generation. To
the grandchildren of the first victims. Who knows how long these after
effects will continue. Will it be 50 years or 100? Or even longer? |
Speaker
13: |
During
the 20th century, two cruel events of war were the Atomic War in Japan. And
the chemical war in Vietnam. |
Hoang
Binh Cau: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
Dioxin
didn't only harm Vietnamese. It also injured American soldiers. American
Veterans suffer from its destructive after effects. |
Speaker
5: |
We
have a clear example in the family of Admiral Sam Walt. Walt at the Spring of
Agent Orange during the war. His son, an Attendant in the Navy was sprayed.
Ten years later he died from cancer and his son is mentally and
psychologically handicapped. |
Speaker
5: |
Admiral
Sam Walt wrote this book, My Father, My Son, describing the illnesses of two
successive generations. His sons and his grandsons. He gives us a poignant
image of the destructive effect of Dioxin. |
Hoang
Binh Cau: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
13: |
Individual
American Veterans sued the manufacturers of Agent Orange and settled out of
court for damages. American Veterans Associations are suing the United States
Government over Agent Orange. |
Speaker
13: |
The
Australian Government and the Korean Parliament have passed laws providing
compensation for their Veterans who are victims of Dioxin during the Vietnam
war. |
Pham
Van Khai: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
I
was sprayed with toxic chemicals in Thai Ming but haven't yet had any
assistance. |
Nguyen
Duy Dang: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
5: |
My
family has difficulty now because my wife died leaving me with four children.
But I have yet to receive any assistance. |
Speaker
13: |
When
the war ended, the soldiers returned home. Married and had children, never
thinking the worst aftermath would bring them such painful wounds. The
families of those who died or lost a limb during the war have received
financial assistance. But soldiers like these men sprayed by chemicals have
yet to receive any help. |
Pham
Minh Tam: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
13: |
Mr.
Pham Ming Tam is Chair of the committee for the care and protection of
children in Thai Ming Province. |
Pham
Minh Tam: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
17: |
In
Thia Ming we have 1,483 handicap children of
soldiers who were sprayed by poisonous chemicals during the war. Most of
these children face difficulties because they don't fit the requirements to
children of fallen or wounded soldiers. That's the reason we've concentrated
on these children. |
Speaker
17: |
Our
committee has assisted 516 children with regular and intermittent handouts.
It's a small step to solving their difficulties. |
Pham
Minh Tam: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
13: |
In
past years, the committee for the Care and Protection of Children has moved
from national to local levels to assist tens of thousands of children who are
victims of Agent Orange. Local authorities, charitable organisations, and
local residents have helped with rice, money and medicine. |
Speaker
13: |
Assistance
and compassion for near and far have been life savers for families suffering
from the effects of Dioxin. |
Speaker
13: |
The
Vietnam Fund for The Protection of Children has drafter
a rehabilitation plan for handicapped children in Juan Chi, the Province of
former South Vietnam bordering the demilitarised zone. A number of children
there have been harmed by Agent Orange. |
Speaker
13: |
This
first step has drawn upon the financial assistance of millions of individuals
and 700 national and international organisations. Especially the Australian
Christian Fund for Children. |
Speaker
13: |
Veterans
wives who are mothers of handicapped children have borne hardships for years. |
Speaker
18: |
[Vietnamese] |
Nguyen
Thi Dung: |
I've
been pregnant 10 times, each time the foetus atrophied during the fifth or
sixth month. And each time in the ninth month, doctors at the Provincial
Hospital told me the foetus had died. The doctor said this was an after
effect of the war. Til this day I haven't been able
to give birth to a normal child. |
Speaker
18: |
[Vietnamese] |
Speaker
13: |
Misses
Dung's husband, Veteran [inaudible] was sprayed by toxic chemicals during the
war. Now he is blind. Even though he spins [inaudible] from morning to night,
he makes less than seven cents a day. If the local leaders, neighbours and
the editors of Labour Newspaper hadn't given help in time, they would have
committed suicide. |
Pham
Thi Khanh: |
[Vietnamese] |
Nguyen
Thi Dung: |
Neighbours
try to help the families beset by difficulties. But it can't do anything, it
can only help now and then or a time the greatest need. But it can't tend
their ordinary daily needs. |
Nguyen
Thi Dung: |
These
brothers and sisters get their health for our countries revolution, but now
they live in a state beyond poverty. They have to bear these additional
losses. The worst thing of all is that their children are damaged. |
Speaker
2: |
[Vietnamese] |
Nguyen
Thi Dung: |
A
child in such desperate need, yet she's lucky to have a father and a mother.
But after we are gone, who will take care of her? No mother can ever forget
the needs of such child. The mother will eventually die, but she can never
close her eyes. |
Speaker
13: |
The
war has slipped away into the past. However, its ongoing horrors and their
painful repercussions continue to hunt. |