00:12 Silent testament to Vietnam’s dark past.
Con-joined twins and malformed foetuses stand on the shelves of a Ho Chi Min City Hospital.
Since the end of the Vietnam War, known here as the American War – extra ordinarily high numbers of malformations and birth defects are still being recorded.
BATTLE’S POISON CLOUD
00: 42 SUEL JOHNSON (American ex Vietnam Vet):
“I was in combat here, and I fought against them and everywhere you look I was here. I was shot right here.”
00: 52 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert) (English):
“When I went to the war, they told me I would have the life of Robinson Crusoe, which means I entered the war with absolutely nothing, almost nothing. I had a few instruments for surgery, but I had to plant to have food.”
01:31 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village):
“I was only a boy of 12 years old when I began serving my country. During the American war I operated as the liaison and communication link between units on the ground.”
01:48 PHAN THI KIEU OANH (Agent Orange Victim)(Vietnamese):
“Both my father and my mother served in the war and both of them became war invalids. My father was injured in his arm and hand and my mother was injured in her shoulder.”
02:04 In an attempt to halt the domino effect of communism rolling through South East Asia, from 1965 for eight years, United States dispatched their forces to Vietnam to engage in guerrilla warfare against the North Vietnamese Army.
02:29 But they miscalculated the ingenuity of the Viet Cong enemy.
They were impossible to find.
02:36 NGUYEN MANH MA (Vietnam War Vet)(Vietnamese):
“I was serving with the Vietnamese Special Forces. We worked under the ground in tunnels during the day and came out to do intelligence work at night. My job was to seek out the American targets, locate their bases and then make maps of the areas for our forces. Later this would form the basis for our attacks.”
03:10 TAM (Cu Chi Tunnel Expert):
“Cho Chi guerrillas used the American uniforms, everything belonging to the American soldier, the uniform, the cigarettes, and even the soap. The cut it into small pieces and covered the entrance to distract the dogs. The dogs come there they recognise the friendly smell, the same smell as the American soldiers, and run away – they couldn’t find the tunnel at all.”
03:37 The tunnel system was extensive. Here at Cu Chi, 250 kilometres of underground passages connected six outlying villages. Several stories deep, over 16000 Vietcong lived, performed medical operations and made weapons in horrific conditions, for months, sometimes years, at a time.
The tunnels provided the poorly equipped Vietcong the opportunity to control large tracks of land.
Faced with this invisible enemy, the Americans resorted to a massive firepower campaign – dropping more bombs than were dropped in World War Two.
04:14 TAM (Cu Chi Tunnel Expert):
“The American army nuked the area of the tunnels. But they did not know exactly where the tunnels were. They dropped a lot, about half a million bombs. In the war time they dropped from B52 bombers, what we call carpet bombs, a lot of bombs over a long space.”
SUEL JOHNSON (American ex Vietnam Vet):
“It feels peaceful. It feels nice. It feels nice to hear the kids laughing and not screaming.”
04:46 The relentless bombing campaign across South Vietnam did not achieve its objectives. With the enemy still at large hidden in the dense jungle cover the Americans devised a far more insidious weapon –
05:02 - chemicals.
05:14 SUEL JOHNSON (American ex Vietnam Vet):
“Well, we hear people yelling about chemical warfare and I ask what is chemical warfare? They are doing it in Columbia right now. We are spraying all over Columbia to ‘kill the marijuana, to kill the coca’. We don’t solve the problem in out own country – we want to go over there and spray these people. So you have to ask yourself – what is chemical warfare? We know it is a legal term, but what is the moral term? What do you do when you spray 20 million gallons of chemicals? If that ain’t chemical warfare then I don’t know what is. You can name it what you want, but it is still chemical and it is still spraying and it is still warfare.”
05:44 The chemical war did not end with the silence of the guns. It continues to poison Vietnam and her people, thirty four years after the withdraw of the American forces.
05:55 TO TIEN HUAT (Agent Orange Victim)(Vietnamese):
“I don’t know how to explain the feelings I had the moment I saw my son after he was born. Some people said I should leave him at the healthcare centre. But I had to take my son home, I knew I had to look after him well.”
06:10 NGUYEN MANH MA (Vietcong Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“When my granddaughter was born, she looked quite normal and we thought we had no problems. But after six months she couldn’t sit and we realised that something was wrong with her arms and legs and then we realised that she was not normal at all.”
06:28 PHAN THI KIEU OANH (Agent Orange Victim)(Vietnamese):
“My dream is that I want to become a painter or a writer, but it is just a dream, because I am not a normal child.”
DR ARNOLD SCHECTER (American Dioxin expert):
“We believe that Vietnam is, unfortunately for the Vietnamese people, a good laboratory to determine the effects of dioxins on humans.”
06:54 Dioxin is the planet’s most deadly substance. It is 100000 times stronger than any poison found in nature. And for eight years the American’s relentlessly sprayed this toxic chemical all over South Vietnam.
07:10 NGUYEN MANH MA (ex Vietnam Special Forces Vet)(Vietnamese):
“When I first saw the spraying, I thought that it was fog or mist. But you know, at the same time I could still see the sunset, so I knew that it could not be mist. After this I got some information and was told that it was be toxic chemicals.”
07:31 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnam War Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“When we saw the mist of chemicals falling from the sky and we saw it cover all the trees in the forest, we tried to use anything to protect us. We used out own towels, and if we had water, we made them wet to protect out mouths and when we did not have any water we had to use our own urine. We used the towels to cover our faces and we tried to face away from the wind direction.”
07:55 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“In a way with the spray operation I had to move every two or three months because of the defoliation – they could have bombed us. So I had to move from the place and I had to transport the patients from.. to my hospital.”
08:16 SEUL JOHNSON (American ex Vietnam War Veteran)
“Well, all the highways, like Highway One, would be sprayed. Anywhere where you would have an airforce base – like Dahang, Quan Tri, Kang Tien, any place would be sprayed and it was to kill off the vegetation. Along the Lao, Cambodia border it was heavily, heavily sprayed. So we could see from the air anybody who was moving down there. It was also to kill the rice to eliminate any food for the Vietcong.”
08:42 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnam War Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“We saw with our own eyes how all the trees fell down and we knew it was bad. After this the US airforce also used Napalm bombs to burn away all the dead trees. We then realised that this was their tactic to clear the land and to see the infantry, but we didn’t realise we would be affected so badly.”
09:03 SEUL JOHNSON (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“I didn’t know anything about Agent Orange. I had never heard of Agent Orange. I just knew these planes would come over us sometimes and spray us when we were in the bush. You would get that oily stuff over you – you could see it in the water. I didn’t have a clue about it.”
09:19 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“Oooh – my hospital received 1000, 1000 battle victims. So I have 1000 patients in the hospital and most of them are from malaria and I realise afterwards that maybe the increased rate of malaria maybe is linked to dioxin. When I learnt that dioxin gets to change the immune system.
09:53 Agent Orange is not one of the past. Its devastating toxic effects are still evident today.
Not only are war veterans suffering but so too are the children – many born with horrific and unusual birth defects.
Scientists here are adamant this a direct result of dioxin poisoning but the US refuses to recognise this link and thus continues to deny responsibility for the chemicals they sprayed.
10:20 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“I went to the war in 1966 when I was 38 years old, so I was so impatient and so anxious for these problems. I saw the first plane operation when I was almost 40 years old and now I am almost 74 years and the problem of Agent Orange have not yet been solved and they are still big problems. So.
10:55 To find the hiding Vietcong, the US military launched an intense and unprecedented chemical war on South Vietnam’s rich and dense primary forest. Operation Ranchhand was specifically designed to strip the land of its trees and to destroy every vestige of living vegetation.
11:13 TAM (Cu Chi Tunnel Expert):
“Before the war the area used to be a very big jungle. They came here and used Agent Orange to kill the tree first, then they used Napalm to burn the jungle and then bulldozed to clean the area.”
11:28 US defence force documents show sixty six and a half million litres of chemicals were poured over South Vietnam.
Thousands of chemicals were experimented with – but when the war began in earnest Agent Orange, Agent Blue and Agent White - named after the colour code on the containers were the main chemical compounds. They were so powerful that within two hours of spraying leaves would drop off the tree. Repeated spraying killed the roots and trunks and the devastated remnants were burned by over one hundred thousand tons of Napalm.
But Agent Orange created the worst damage.
12:06 WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“This is not a historical problem. Absolutely not. This is a present day problem. The situation that resulted in today’s problem was historical, but the problem is not.”
12:21 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village)(Vietnamese):
“When the US Airforce sprayed a massive amount of chemicals during the war, it did not just destroy the forest and crops – it also badly damaged the people.
12:38 No doubt To Tien Hoa this much decorated and proud veteran has been affected. As an infantry man he daily patrolled the heavily sprayed DMZ for eight long years.
12:50 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnamese Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“First before we went into the battlefield, we were provided with big gas masks, but these were too cumbersome for us to carry throughout our campaigns, so these were the first things we had to loose. The second type of mask issued was made of rubber. But during the hardship of war, we usually did not have anything to cook with so we had to burnt them for fuel.”
13:25 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnamese Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“When my son was born with only four toes on one foot, the midwives at the birth told my relatives that it was punishment for my time in the war when I had to kill the enemy. For this reason, my son was paying the price for the many deaths I caused during the war.
13:43 TO TIEN HUAT (Agent Orange Victim)(Vietnamese):
“I can tell you that in everyday life, I never think about this, but sometimes when I see that my friends are perfect, then I get a little upset about my destiny.
13:57 But Huat never anticipated that his destiny would be passed onto his son Nam. Severe abnormalities are now being seen in the second generation of children born after the war. In the grandchildren of those exposed to Agent Orange.
14:30 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnamese Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“In 1977, my daughter-in-law gave birth to my grandson with no legs. I saw that he was not a normal child. At the same time I started hearing stories about the effects of Agent Orange in the media. So then I realised that I could be one of those affected by the exposure during the war. This is the legacy of war. I knew that if it wasn’t my family affected in this way, then it would be another family. I knew that there would be many cases. This is what we got for serving our country.
15:09 TO TIEN HUAT (Agent Orange Victim and father of Second Generation Victim) (Vietnamese):
“At first I was worried and disappointed about my son, but I soon realised that he could do many things like a normal boy and was bright and could learn. I then felt happy and optimistic for him.
15:26 “My wife and I feel that this is our destiny, we were unlucky to have such a boy and we have to try our best to make him happy and of course give him a bright future.”
15:52 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnamese Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“When my son was born with a deformity, I didn’t make the connection, but when I saw my grandson born with a similar deformity, I thought it could be linked to the war and I fear it may also be carried into the next generation. I hope that maybe the scientific community can help stop the effects of dioxins on the next generation.
16:15 That is the greatest fear, that the dioxin may have irreparably damaged the DNA structure. And it may be seen for many generations.
16:31 But it could also be from new contamination.
16:38 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“According to the official account I believe that there is a bout one million victims of Agent Orange in which there are about 150 00 children. But no one knows for sure because the victims are changing all the time. Victims die and then new victims are born.
17:10 DR ARNOLD SCHECTER (American Agent Orange Expert):
“So this indicates that there is ongoing contamination. It isn’t simply that people were sprayed 30-40 years ago. It is not just ancient history but it is probably contamination in the hot spots at the present time.”
17:28 Dioxin hotspots are highly contaminated reservoirs of dioxin.
It is estimated that there are 12 such areas in South Vietnam – all located near to former US bases.
They were discovered accidentally by Canadian independent researchers.
Here in the Aloui Valley, near the A Shou airbase, dioxin levels in the soil have been measured at 17 times higher than the World Health Organisation’s acceptable level.
17:56 DR ARNOLD SCHECKTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“Well, probably we should have expected it but what we were seeing was a gradual decrease and what we assumed was that the rain was washing it off and the floods were washing it off and it was moving away from where it was originally sprayed and it was being diluted – which is what was probably happening, but in some of these hotspots there are unfortunately spectacularly high findings – some in elevated levels of sediment and quite high levels of dioxin in people.”
18:31 The American origin of this dioxin or the TCDD molecule is unquestionable. Agent Orange’s chemical formula is unique, it is made of only two compounds
WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“When you manufacture 2,4,5,T the dioxin molecule came along, unknowingly at first by Dow Chemical and Monsanto and the others that made Agent Orange for the military. Our recommendations are out there for all to see and on the basis of our research which we are very confident is accurate and the origin of the tcdd that we have found is unquestionably Agent Orange.”
19:16 And the problem facing Vietnam today is that the deadly dioxin from Agent Orange has not disappeared into the soil. It has worked its way up, into the food chain.
19:26 WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“The molecule moves from the contaminated soil into aquacultural ponds that the people raise fish to supplement the diet, into the fish, into the ducks. The interesting thing about the people the we work with because of the economic situation of the people they will eat a lot of the fat of these animals and will sell the meat in the market for funds. And now the interesting thing is the dioxin molecule is lipophillic – it loves fatty tissue, it will hold onto, adhere to and stick onto fatty tissues so that the fat is where there are the highest levels and the highest areas of contamination exist.”
20:04 So unknowingly for the local population the American War continues. 3 million Vietnamese were killed defending their country against their powerful enemy. But for a few of the Americans conscripted to serve a year’s tour of duty the war has left more than physical scars.
SEUL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“I saw people dying, but I didn’t know that they were dying, I didn’t realise. It took me a second to realise that we had been hit. And when I saw everyone going down I realised that we had been hit really bad. I was in the tree line and every one to my right was dead. They sent a sniper around and I took a bullet here through my spine. There was no flesh around the spine, I didn’t know this – the doctor told me, but there was nothing there and he told me that I would never walk again.”
SUEL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“Some where back here was Third Marine Headquarters and a supply dump. I don’t recognise anything. There were helicopters here, and tanks, concertina wire, and armaments. And now there is nothing. You cannot even tell that there was a war here.
SUEL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“I was thinking how much time and energy and lives were wasted.”
SEUL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“It was time you know. I spent all of my time in the bush, I never saw the Vietnamese people. I never dealt with the Vietnamese people. I just used to shoot them. I didn’t know a thing in the world about them. It was time to come back and do some reconciliation and meet the people and give something back no matter how small it is. Ease your consciousness, ease your guilt and ease your soul, somehow or other.”
SEUL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“I feel I know them as a very forgiving people, a very soft type people. When I first came back in 98 I always made a habit of telling everyone I was in the marines over her. I don’t tell people any more. They’ll just say the war is over with, or they will put their arms around me and give me a big hug and say don’t worry it is over with. Now I have so many people come up to me aftger the bombings of the twin towers. So many Vietnamese who knew I was American and they could not speak a word of English and they would come up to me and do this…cover their hearts in a way to show how terribly sorry they felt for you. They say they feel sorry for us because we had 3000 people killed. We’ve never told them we are sorry for killing 3 million of them.”
SEUL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“It could easily be Agent Orange. How old is he? Can he talk? 15 years old? I bet anything that he was affected by Agent Orange. Second generation, you are looking at it right here, they are everywhere.
“You see this type of deformity. You see his legs, may well be from Agent Orange. And the fact that he is so small. This area – all through here was very heavily sprayed throughout the war.”
SUEL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“They claim it takes 1 part in a billion, 1 part in a billion to affect a kid like this – so it is very hard to detect in the body without really expensive and intense type of technical equipment, and they don’t have it. So instead of spending money trying to decide what happened – why don’t they just try to help the kid? Why don’t they help the people?”
“It is my responsibility as a soldier and a human behind to give something back to these children. I feel very strongly about that. And I think that if you talk to other GI’s you’ll find the same things – they feel strongly too. You’ve got to help them.
“I wish that I could help you – I don’t know what to do. You’re just a hero.”
25:00 But Suel Jones is helping in his small way. He is involved in Hanoi’s Friendship Village – a respite home for Vietnamese Veterans and young victims of Agent Orange.
It is Tet the Vietnamese New Year and a party is being held for the 20 volunteer workers and their families, to thank them for the year’s hard work. These staff members provide nourishing meals, modern medical treatment, education, physical therapy and traditional herbal remedies to the 45 ill Veterans and 80 children for whom the Friendship Village is a temporary home.
25:35 Suel Jones raises a glass with the foes he once raised the sight of his gun to. The Vietnamese tell him – we are brothers.
25:52 The Friendship Village was built, and is run entirely by volunteer contributions from caring Veteran Associations in 5 different countries.
The cash strapped Vietnamese government has built several villages like this called Peace Villages. But it is too few for the many demands of those that have been hurt by Agent Orange.
26:15 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village)(Vietnamese):
“I think this village will help the war-affected and disabled children to overcome their hardships in life and I am proud to work here and be part of this. The disabled children are unlucky and unfortunate, but they have the right to have a life and to live in peace. They are less fortunate than us, so we must help them, and even if we can bring just a little bit of happiness and relief to them then we have done our job.”
27:08 Away from the celebrations, six Agent Orange sufferers are keeping one another company. Their 74 other friends have returned home for the New Year holidays. Selection is a hard choice and is based on need and on those who can benefit most from the services available. The two years these children live at the village will make a big difference to their future.
27:30 Fourteen year old Quyhn was born with a hole in her throat which was treated at the Village. Her father died from leukaemia and her two brothers have eye problems.
27:40 Gam is deaf and cannot speak. Her mother was exposed to Agent Orange whilst a youth volunteer on the Ho Chi Min Trail. Both her brother and her younger sister are denied sound and speech.
27:54 Cam is eight. Although he appears bright, he has severe mental disabilities which prevent him from passing the first grade. His father was a war Vet who died from lung cancer.
28:06 Although the war ended long before many of these children were born – it is still prevalent in their psyches.
28:11 PHAN THI KIEU OANH (Victim of Agent Orange)(Vietnamese):
“The subject is a family after the war, the father is a war veteran who was injured in the fighting. He lost his arm in battle and he was also affected by the toxic chemicals used in the war. And he has a disabled daughter who is blind. Here is the mother, she is very sad about the family and she is crying.”
28:37 PHAN THI KIEU OANH (Victim of Agent Orange)(Vietnamese):
“In the families of my normal friends they are very happy, but for the disabled people like myself and my friends here in the Friendship Village, the families are not very happy because of the great sorrow of the war. But even so they still love us and they try very hard to make a happy life for us.”
29:01 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village)(Vietnamese):
“It is important that she drew that picture; it is a reminder for us all that war is terrible. And we have to oppose war and make sure it never happens again in the world. Especially the awful use of toxic chemicals which make such a heavy impact.
29:17 Ironically, this impact has been acknowledged in the United States. In 1991, after severe pressure from ill Vietnam veterans, the US Government began to compensate their own victims of Agent Orange. They recognise 10 diseases directly attributed to dioxin and the list is growing.
29:35 DR. ARNOLD SCHECTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“Dioxins can cause cancers, they can cause immune deficiencies which means the inability to fight cancer or infections, nervous system damage, reproductive and developmental problems, lower IQ in children and they are just very persistent and toxic chemicals.
30:02 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village)(Vietnamese):
“Our government together with the Vietnam Veterans Association have asked the US Government to take responsibility for what they did in Vietnam, but they continue to ignore it. They do not want to acknowledge it at all.”
30:30 Neither do they want to admit the damage to the environment.
Bach Ma Nature Reserve is one of the only remaining pockets of primary forest that used to cover much of South Vietnam.
Over 3 million hectares of these forests were defoliated and destroyed. The loss of viable hardwoods, wildlife, and seed beds is irreparable.
And has caused an ecological imbalance from which the country will never recover.
30:58 TAM (cu Chi Tunnel Expert):
“Before the war the area used to be a very big jungle and we have very large areas with rubber tree plantations. So when American army attack they used Agent Orange to killed all the rubber trees, and they use napalm bombs to burn all the jungle and they use bulldozers to clear all around.”
31:22 This is what Vietnam looks like today. Desolate. Where once stood the mighty forest today the landscape is bare, scarred by landslides and erosion.
WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“It could be hundreds and hundreds of million dollars in order to bring the country back, and it will never be back, to where it was if you consider the toxic issue, etc. But in terms of the forest alone it would be a minimum of 500 US dollars a hectare, just to start and you extrapolate that to 10/12/15% of Southern Vietnam that was sprayed and a lot of the forest destroyed, the dollar signs do come up to a very high level.
32:04 Opportunistic grass, called American grass, has grown over much of the original wood land. Its thick cover denies forest seeds from taking hold preventing natural reforestation but the Vietnamese are making concerted efforts to restore their precious flora.
32:20 WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“Well it is going to take a long time. They are planting rapidly growing plantation trees for example in areas where the indigenous trees were flattened and removed. Because if they do not have the rapidly growing shade trees then any young trees of the indigenous forest gets burned right out and is killed. So they are planting plantation trees, eucalyptus and acacia. These trees can grow 8 to 10 meters in a few years and then they plant the teak and the other indigenous trees under it. And once the tress have taken a hold they will cut back the plantation trees and hopefully in time the natural forest will be back – but we are looking at a long way away – maybe 100 to 150 years.
33:14 TAM (Cu Chi Tunnel Expert):
“In the war time the area was called Why Chi”
Called what sorry?
“Why Chi – nothing there. It was very quiet no people, no animals, no trees”
33:36 Vietnam’s forests used to be home to large animals - elephants, tigers, wild cats, buffalo, and the Indo Chine gorilla. Now there is nothing. They have all vanished.
33:48 TAM (Cu Chi Tunnel Expert):
“But now not so many animals come back, just little rabbit, mouse or snakes, small animals”
33:57 WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“But lets get started. It has taken 25/30 years to get to this point. I don't think that it should take another 25/30 years to take the next step.”
The next step is for America’s leading dioxin expert to acknowledge the Vietnamese evidence of a direct link between Agent Orange and severe birth abnormalities.
34:22 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“..The South has always had higher events of malformation and the cases are always more serious and most of them are happening in sprayed areas and in families exposed to Agent Orange. So I think there is a link to Agent Orange, but to prove it certainly is difficult.”
DR ARNOLD SCHECKTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“Well, I think we need to be certain, we need to be a little more certain what the cause or causes are. I don’t think that we have any compelling evidence that the causes of malformations is definitely from Agent Orange. I don’t think that that evidence exists today, with rare exceptions – possibly spina bifida and ensephody. But not the majority and we do not know if the malformations are at a higher number or the same as in other countries.”
PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“Anyway in other countries they already mention this problem – in animal experimentation and also in some group of veterans in America where some studies have demonstrated this problem. So even in America they recognise these diseases to be linked to dioxin and the Americans only came to Vietnam for a few months – at most for one year and they already get those problems – why would the Vietnamese who stay for the whole of their lives not have similar problems. So I think that although there should be much more research, but to deny those problems is not fair.”
DR ARNOLD SCHECKTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“Whenever the papers are looked at, the Vietnamese papers, they are anecdotal case studies, but systematic health studies, using the best techniques we have for determining dioxin levels in people and exposure and what causes there might be – I think that these remain to be done and I think this will be a major scientific project to be considered and to be looked at.
PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“To clarify the problem needs sophisticated study and at the moment the only way to make sure it is due to dioxin is to test for dioxin and the test is so expensive. So for many reasons there are difficulties, but in comparisons with groups and non affected groups so you shall see clearly that there are clear problems. Clinical epidemiological studies show problems but to prove it is still difficult.”
37:02 And while the culpability argument continues among experts, it is the harsh survival on a day to day basis for the victims of Agent Orange. It is not discussion they need – it is help.
38:18 NGUYEN CANH (Grandmother of Victim of Agent Orange)(Vietnamese):
“I am a teacher, so I have to work half the day at teaching, but when I come home then I look after my granddaughter. The most difficult part of caring for her is getting her to eat, because she can’t eat by herself and I have to help her. I make the food soft with water and help her to eat it. But beside this, life is very hard for her, she cannot speak, she cannot understand, she cannot listen to me and can’t do anything for herself, we have to help her with everything.”
39:09 Money would make all the difference to the lives of Ma a Special Forces vet and his family. Ten US dollars are awarded by the government to those affected. But it does not go far.
39:15 NGUYEN MA(ex Vietnam Special Force Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“Our family was very sad and disappointed to have a disabled child. Especially the family of my daughter-in-law, they were really very upset and so disappointed. So, we had to encourage them and to explain that it was the effects of the toxic chemicals from the war. Then we all decided to try and help each other to overcome our negativity and we began to focus on the best ways to help our son and daughter-in-law to take care of our disabled granddaughter.
39:55 NGUYEN CANH (Grandmother of Agent Orange Victim)(Vietnamese):
“Sometimes I have such worrying thoughts about when I pass away, who will look after my son’s family and support them? At the moment I can help them, but my daughter-in-law works very hard in the fields to earn a living. And if I pass away, a greater burden will be placed on her shoulders. I love my son and daughter-in-law and my grandchildren. I can’t describe what will happen to them, but I love them and I hope they will be happy and I wish them all the best after I am gone.”
40:40 NGUYEN MANH MA (ex Vietnam Special Forces Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“I think the American public are very good people, but people who work for the government want to ignore the toxic effects of the war in Vietnam. I myself hope that the United States government and the Vietnamese government will begin to work together to find a good way to help the victims of Agent Orange, especially victims families like mine.
41:09 In Hanoi in March of this year, for the very first time, the two Governments met to discuss Agent Orange and its ongoing effects.
41:19 DR ARNOLD SCHECKTER (Dioxin Expert):
“The conference is an attempt to get specialists in the room together and then push forward and see what can be done. It is the first time that the US government has officially addressed this although US scientists and Vietnamese scientists have worked together for many decades.”
41:38 WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“I think the level of co-operation is quite high given historical events. The Vietnamese in our experience see history is history and they look forward, they do not look back with any venom and I think that that sort of attitude develops a very positive atmosphere for co-operation. Now I think that in order for it to proceed in a very positive manner both sides, and I mean sides liberally, both sides have to have that attitude and I hope that this is the case.
42:17 Unfortunately the results of the much-anticipated conference were disappointing. No compensation, no clean up. Only a joint letter to do further scientific research was signed. A major blow for those working to find a solution.
42:32 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village)(Vietnamese):
“It’s because the American’s lost the war. I have heard that many of the American vets who served here still have a lot of ‘Vietnam symptoms’ and psychological problems, that is why they want to forget the past.”
42:49 SUEL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“To me, they do not want to accept the moral responsibility, I don’t even think that it is the money that is important. I think it is the moral responsibility of what we did here and what we did to our own people and how many lies were told to the American people. It changed our country and the world as we know it today. I have a cousin who teaches history at high school and I ask him how much time to you spend on the Vietnam war and he says well – one day, a page and a half. A page and a half. It changed politics it changed society of America as we know it today and they spend a page and a half. It just shows you how much we want to deny. They say Oh the Japanese deny what they did in world war two, the German’s deny what they did in world war two. What are we doing? We do not want to accept our moral responsibility. And we’ve got to.”
PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“We don’t want to enter into a very long battle concerning the responsibility of the war or something like that – it would be very very long – so the best way to solve the problems. And for the better understanding of between two countries and a better relationship between our two countries so we want to forget the war and close the door to the war but you have to solve the aftermath problems.
WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“The problem is a present day problem given the levels of tcdd that we have found in the bases in particular - I mean the high levels will indicate it is not going anywhere, it is sitting there and as our publication indicates there are probably n number of potential reservoirs of dioxin in Southern Vietnam waiting to be tapped - through infrastructure development, road construction, through digging of wells through n number of scenarios which could unearth the reservoir and then result in the passage of the molecule into the food chain. I mean there is documented evidence of chemicals, machinery, barrels that were buried rapidly by dozes as a result of the withdraw. Where are those sites - many of them have not even been catalogued - so what is it going to take to determine those sites I am not even sure - if they are not in the military archives - do you wait until they are unearthed and illness or whatever develops?
45:19 These people, taking a moment from the hectic pace of the surrounding city, are oblivious to the dangers so close. This lake is possibly the most poisonous stretch of water in the world. Dioxin levels here are so high, that even the Americans cannot ignore it.
45:34 DR ARNOLD SCHECTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“It was a surprise that we saw such really high levels. I have worked here for 18 years and all of a sudden we are seeing levels as high as 413 parts per trillion of dioxin in blood when the back ground in this country at the moment is about 2. And it is a surprise that evidently the fish are probably contaminated and people are eating contaminated fish right now. When one thinks of Agent Orange one usually thinks of the Spring occurring between 1961/62 and 1971. And it is just really distressing and surprising to find such very high levels now and to find that it is current consumption as well as previous consumption.
46:34 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“There are new born, still newly born every day and I highly believe that the mother’s milk of people living close to Bien Hoa must be very high in dioxin, so the young baby will be fed by dioxin contaminated milk.”
WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“It is very simple the people are consuming contaminated foods at a level that we in the west would not tolerate”.
47:10 The lake lies just meters away from Bien Hoa one of the largest air bases of the American army. Huge quantities of chemicals used in the spraying operations were stored here. Pumping chemicals onto the plane and releasing surplus meant that leakages were common. In 1970 there was a major spill of over 22 000 litres of Agent Orange.
It still contaminates today.
Recent tests have recorded dioxin concentrations in the soil 1000 times higher than the level warranted as dangerous in the United States. A legislated condition where the area must be evacuated, and the land ‘cleaned up’.
47:51 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“First of all you need to evacuate all the people living close to the lake. There are twenty thousand people who live close – and they must evacuate and leave the contaminated place. Secondly you have to clean up the areas the airbase and the lake and the sewage place and it is very expensive. It will cost billions of dollar, millions of dollars, but it is necessary. It is necessary – you cannot allow to such a poisoning to continue to our people.”
48:36 These residents innocently making a living from the floating plankton are poisoning themselves. Urgent work is needed to prevent further contamination. Clean up is vital. Why are the US government, the chemical companies responsible and the international community not acting?
WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“That is a very good question, that is a very good question. We have been asking that question. The levels that we have found when you put them on comparative basis with a tolerable daily intake in the west would indicate that many of the foods, particularly on the A Sho base that we found would warrant a risk assessment, risk management approach to these foods in order to determine whether there should be restrictions on consumption whether there should be a complete cessation of consumption of these foods. It is a simple issue here and why it is not been worked on with more rapidity is confounding.”
49:42 Perhaps it is the Vietnamese government themselves who fear that if this information comes out, their newly budding economy will be seriously affected.
49:52 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“Yes, I must tell you some stupidity idea of the people are afraid. But scientists do not believe it at all because you can hide nothing in exported goods. In exported rice in, in exported fish. You know Vietnam is now coming the biggest exported or rice of food of fish and so on and cannot hide if the fish is contaminated. They cannot hide it, if your fish is contaminated you cannot hide it. People buy it because it is safe.”
51:00 DR ARNOLD SCHECTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“One other question came up of course and that is ‘Are fish from Vietnam contaminated with dioxins?’ so we presented a second section to our study we purchased a fish in the United States that was imported from Vietnam and for all the fish that we purchased which amounted to about 20, we had no fish with elevated dioxin levels, so that was good news.”
51:08 Yes, that is good news for the Vietnamese Government and her people. It is with great hope that they greet in the New Year. But most are unaware of the dangers that have beset their land, and the poison that continues to hurt them.
51:24 It is a country in need and without the necessary money coming in they will continue to die for defending their country long after the battle cry has silenced.
51:38 DR ARNOLD SCHECTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“Do you think the Vietnamese should receive compensation?”
“That takes me out of my area of research expertise and takes me into the realm of being just another person and while I have my own feelings there, at this time I choose to keep them to myself.”
52:10 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnamese Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“I think the people in the world know the effects of Agent Orange, and I call on the US government and the Americans who have good hearts, to do something to help the victims of Agent Orange.”
SUEL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“But you know when you spent 400 billion dollars, 300 billion dollars and drop tons and tons of bombs and spread 20 million gallons of agent orange and other chemicals and then just walk away – you have to ask yourself ‘What have you done? what are you doing?’ and what are we going to continue to do?”
PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“If the DNA is damaged maybe the second the third the fourth and the fifth and many, many long limes we could get problems for these children”
52:52 PHAN THI KIEU OANH (Victim of Agent Orange)(Vietnamese):
“I do hope that in the future we can live in peace and there is no more war, then there won’t be any more disabled children like me.”
53:04 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village)(Vietnamese):
“Without action discussion is just discussion. Now it's time for them to recognise and help the victims. If they do not, they will die silently.”
END
Con-joined twins and malformed foetuses stand on the shelves of a Ho Chi Min City Hospital.
Since the end of the Vietnam War, known here as the American War – extra ordinarily high numbers of malformations and birth defects are still being recorded.
BATTLE’S POISON CLOUD
00: 42 SUEL JOHNSON (American ex Vietnam Vet):
“I was in combat here, and I fought against them and everywhere you look I was here. I was shot right here.”
00: 52 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert) (English):
“When I went to the war, they told me I would have the life of Robinson Crusoe, which means I entered the war with absolutely nothing, almost nothing. I had a few instruments for surgery, but I had to plant to have food.”
01:31 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village):
“I was only a boy of 12 years old when I began serving my country. During the American war I operated as the liaison and communication link between units on the ground.”
01:48 PHAN THI KIEU OANH (Agent Orange Victim)(Vietnamese):
“Both my father and my mother served in the war and both of them became war invalids. My father was injured in his arm and hand and my mother was injured in her shoulder.”
02:04 In an attempt to halt the domino effect of communism rolling through South East Asia, from 1965 for eight years, United States dispatched their forces to Vietnam to engage in guerrilla warfare against the North Vietnamese Army.
02:29 But they miscalculated the ingenuity of the Viet Cong enemy.
They were impossible to find.
02:36 NGUYEN MANH MA (Vietnam War Vet)(Vietnamese):
“I was serving with the Vietnamese Special Forces. We worked under the ground in tunnels during the day and came out to do intelligence work at night. My job was to seek out the American targets, locate their bases and then make maps of the areas for our forces. Later this would form the basis for our attacks.”
03:10 TAM (Cu Chi Tunnel Expert):
“Cho Chi guerrillas used the American uniforms, everything belonging to the American soldier, the uniform, the cigarettes, and even the soap. The cut it into small pieces and covered the entrance to distract the dogs. The dogs come there they recognise the friendly smell, the same smell as the American soldiers, and run away – they couldn’t find the tunnel at all.”
03:37 The tunnel system was extensive. Here at Cu Chi, 250 kilometres of underground passages connected six outlying villages. Several stories deep, over 16000 Vietcong lived, performed medical operations and made weapons in horrific conditions, for months, sometimes years, at a time.
The tunnels provided the poorly equipped Vietcong the opportunity to control large tracks of land.
Faced with this invisible enemy, the Americans resorted to a massive firepower campaign – dropping more bombs than were dropped in World War Two.
04:14 TAM (Cu Chi Tunnel Expert):
“The American army nuked the area of the tunnels. But they did not know exactly where the tunnels were. They dropped a lot, about half a million bombs. In the war time they dropped from B52 bombers, what we call carpet bombs, a lot of bombs over a long space.”
SUEL JOHNSON (American ex Vietnam Vet):
“It feels peaceful. It feels nice. It feels nice to hear the kids laughing and not screaming.”
04:46 The relentless bombing campaign across South Vietnam did not achieve its objectives. With the enemy still at large hidden in the dense jungle cover the Americans devised a far more insidious weapon –
05:02 - chemicals.
05:14 SUEL JOHNSON (American ex Vietnam Vet):
“Well, we hear people yelling about chemical warfare and I ask what is chemical warfare? They are doing it in Columbia right now. We are spraying all over Columbia to ‘kill the marijuana, to kill the coca’. We don’t solve the problem in out own country – we want to go over there and spray these people. So you have to ask yourself – what is chemical warfare? We know it is a legal term, but what is the moral term? What do you do when you spray 20 million gallons of chemicals? If that ain’t chemical warfare then I don’t know what is. You can name it what you want, but it is still chemical and it is still spraying and it is still warfare.”
05:44 The chemical war did not end with the silence of the guns. It continues to poison Vietnam and her people, thirty four years after the withdraw of the American forces.
05:55 TO TIEN HUAT (Agent Orange Victim)(Vietnamese):
“I don’t know how to explain the feelings I had the moment I saw my son after he was born. Some people said I should leave him at the healthcare centre. But I had to take my son home, I knew I had to look after him well.”
06:10 NGUYEN MANH MA (Vietcong Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“When my granddaughter was born, she looked quite normal and we thought we had no problems. But after six months she couldn’t sit and we realised that something was wrong with her arms and legs and then we realised that she was not normal at all.”
06:28 PHAN THI KIEU OANH (Agent Orange Victim)(Vietnamese):
“My dream is that I want to become a painter or a writer, but it is just a dream, because I am not a normal child.”
DR ARNOLD SCHECTER (American Dioxin expert):
“We believe that Vietnam is, unfortunately for the Vietnamese people, a good laboratory to determine the effects of dioxins on humans.”
06:54 Dioxin is the planet’s most deadly substance. It is 100000 times stronger than any poison found in nature. And for eight years the American’s relentlessly sprayed this toxic chemical all over South Vietnam.
07:10 NGUYEN MANH MA (ex Vietnam Special Forces Vet)(Vietnamese):
“When I first saw the spraying, I thought that it was fog or mist. But you know, at the same time I could still see the sunset, so I knew that it could not be mist. After this I got some information and was told that it was be toxic chemicals.”
07:31 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnam War Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“When we saw the mist of chemicals falling from the sky and we saw it cover all the trees in the forest, we tried to use anything to protect us. We used out own towels, and if we had water, we made them wet to protect out mouths and when we did not have any water we had to use our own urine. We used the towels to cover our faces and we tried to face away from the wind direction.”
07:55 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“In a way with the spray operation I had to move every two or three months because of the defoliation – they could have bombed us. So I had to move from the place and I had to transport the patients from.. to my hospital.”
08:16 SEUL JOHNSON (American ex Vietnam War Veteran)
“Well, all the highways, like Highway One, would be sprayed. Anywhere where you would have an airforce base – like Dahang, Quan Tri, Kang Tien, any place would be sprayed and it was to kill off the vegetation. Along the Lao, Cambodia border it was heavily, heavily sprayed. So we could see from the air anybody who was moving down there. It was also to kill the rice to eliminate any food for the Vietcong.”
08:42 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnam War Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“We saw with our own eyes how all the trees fell down and we knew it was bad. After this the US airforce also used Napalm bombs to burn away all the dead trees. We then realised that this was their tactic to clear the land and to see the infantry, but we didn’t realise we would be affected so badly.”
09:03 SEUL JOHNSON (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“I didn’t know anything about Agent Orange. I had never heard of Agent Orange. I just knew these planes would come over us sometimes and spray us when we were in the bush. You would get that oily stuff over you – you could see it in the water. I didn’t have a clue about it.”
09:19 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“Oooh – my hospital received 1000, 1000 battle victims. So I have 1000 patients in the hospital and most of them are from malaria and I realise afterwards that maybe the increased rate of malaria maybe is linked to dioxin. When I learnt that dioxin gets to change the immune system.
09:53 Agent Orange is not one of the past. Its devastating toxic effects are still evident today.
Not only are war veterans suffering but so too are the children – many born with horrific and unusual birth defects.
Scientists here are adamant this a direct result of dioxin poisoning but the US refuses to recognise this link and thus continues to deny responsibility for the chemicals they sprayed.
10:20 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“I went to the war in 1966 when I was 38 years old, so I was so impatient and so anxious for these problems. I saw the first plane operation when I was almost 40 years old and now I am almost 74 years and the problem of Agent Orange have not yet been solved and they are still big problems. So.
10:55 To find the hiding Vietcong, the US military launched an intense and unprecedented chemical war on South Vietnam’s rich and dense primary forest. Operation Ranchhand was specifically designed to strip the land of its trees and to destroy every vestige of living vegetation.
11:13 TAM (Cu Chi Tunnel Expert):
“Before the war the area used to be a very big jungle. They came here and used Agent Orange to kill the tree first, then they used Napalm to burn the jungle and then bulldozed to clean the area.”
11:28 US defence force documents show sixty six and a half million litres of chemicals were poured over South Vietnam.
Thousands of chemicals were experimented with – but when the war began in earnest Agent Orange, Agent Blue and Agent White - named after the colour code on the containers were the main chemical compounds. They were so powerful that within two hours of spraying leaves would drop off the tree. Repeated spraying killed the roots and trunks and the devastated remnants were burned by over one hundred thousand tons of Napalm.
But Agent Orange created the worst damage.
12:06 WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“This is not a historical problem. Absolutely not. This is a present day problem. The situation that resulted in today’s problem was historical, but the problem is not.”
12:21 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village)(Vietnamese):
“When the US Airforce sprayed a massive amount of chemicals during the war, it did not just destroy the forest and crops – it also badly damaged the people.
12:38 No doubt To Tien Hoa this much decorated and proud veteran has been affected. As an infantry man he daily patrolled the heavily sprayed DMZ for eight long years.
12:50 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnamese Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“First before we went into the battlefield, we were provided with big gas masks, but these were too cumbersome for us to carry throughout our campaigns, so these were the first things we had to loose. The second type of mask issued was made of rubber. But during the hardship of war, we usually did not have anything to cook with so we had to burnt them for fuel.”
13:25 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnamese Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“When my son was born with only four toes on one foot, the midwives at the birth told my relatives that it was punishment for my time in the war when I had to kill the enemy. For this reason, my son was paying the price for the many deaths I caused during the war.
13:43 TO TIEN HUAT (Agent Orange Victim)(Vietnamese):
“I can tell you that in everyday life, I never think about this, but sometimes when I see that my friends are perfect, then I get a little upset about my destiny.
13:57 But Huat never anticipated that his destiny would be passed onto his son Nam. Severe abnormalities are now being seen in the second generation of children born after the war. In the grandchildren of those exposed to Agent Orange.
14:30 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnamese Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“In 1977, my daughter-in-law gave birth to my grandson with no legs. I saw that he was not a normal child. At the same time I started hearing stories about the effects of Agent Orange in the media. So then I realised that I could be one of those affected by the exposure during the war. This is the legacy of war. I knew that if it wasn’t my family affected in this way, then it would be another family. I knew that there would be many cases. This is what we got for serving our country.
15:09 TO TIEN HUAT (Agent Orange Victim and father of Second Generation Victim) (Vietnamese):
“At first I was worried and disappointed about my son, but I soon realised that he could do many things like a normal boy and was bright and could learn. I then felt happy and optimistic for him.
15:26 “My wife and I feel that this is our destiny, we were unlucky to have such a boy and we have to try our best to make him happy and of course give him a bright future.”
15:52 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnamese Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“When my son was born with a deformity, I didn’t make the connection, but when I saw my grandson born with a similar deformity, I thought it could be linked to the war and I fear it may also be carried into the next generation. I hope that maybe the scientific community can help stop the effects of dioxins on the next generation.
16:15 That is the greatest fear, that the dioxin may have irreparably damaged the DNA structure. And it may be seen for many generations.
16:31 But it could also be from new contamination.
16:38 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“According to the official account I believe that there is a bout one million victims of Agent Orange in which there are about 150 00 children. But no one knows for sure because the victims are changing all the time. Victims die and then new victims are born.
17:10 DR ARNOLD SCHECTER (American Agent Orange Expert):
“So this indicates that there is ongoing contamination. It isn’t simply that people were sprayed 30-40 years ago. It is not just ancient history but it is probably contamination in the hot spots at the present time.”
17:28 Dioxin hotspots are highly contaminated reservoirs of dioxin.
It is estimated that there are 12 such areas in South Vietnam – all located near to former US bases.
They were discovered accidentally by Canadian independent researchers.
Here in the Aloui Valley, near the A Shou airbase, dioxin levels in the soil have been measured at 17 times higher than the World Health Organisation’s acceptable level.
17:56 DR ARNOLD SCHECKTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“Well, probably we should have expected it but what we were seeing was a gradual decrease and what we assumed was that the rain was washing it off and the floods were washing it off and it was moving away from where it was originally sprayed and it was being diluted – which is what was probably happening, but in some of these hotspots there are unfortunately spectacularly high findings – some in elevated levels of sediment and quite high levels of dioxin in people.”
18:31 The American origin of this dioxin or the TCDD molecule is unquestionable. Agent Orange’s chemical formula is unique, it is made of only two compounds
WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“When you manufacture 2,4,5,T the dioxin molecule came along, unknowingly at first by Dow Chemical and Monsanto and the others that made Agent Orange for the military. Our recommendations are out there for all to see and on the basis of our research which we are very confident is accurate and the origin of the tcdd that we have found is unquestionably Agent Orange.”
19:16 And the problem facing Vietnam today is that the deadly dioxin from Agent Orange has not disappeared into the soil. It has worked its way up, into the food chain.
19:26 WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“The molecule moves from the contaminated soil into aquacultural ponds that the people raise fish to supplement the diet, into the fish, into the ducks. The interesting thing about the people the we work with because of the economic situation of the people they will eat a lot of the fat of these animals and will sell the meat in the market for funds. And now the interesting thing is the dioxin molecule is lipophillic – it loves fatty tissue, it will hold onto, adhere to and stick onto fatty tissues so that the fat is where there are the highest levels and the highest areas of contamination exist.”
20:04 So unknowingly for the local population the American War continues. 3 million Vietnamese were killed defending their country against their powerful enemy. But for a few of the Americans conscripted to serve a year’s tour of duty the war has left more than physical scars.
SEUL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“I saw people dying, but I didn’t know that they were dying, I didn’t realise. It took me a second to realise that we had been hit. And when I saw everyone going down I realised that we had been hit really bad. I was in the tree line and every one to my right was dead. They sent a sniper around and I took a bullet here through my spine. There was no flesh around the spine, I didn’t know this – the doctor told me, but there was nothing there and he told me that I would never walk again.”
SUEL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“Some where back here was Third Marine Headquarters and a supply dump. I don’t recognise anything. There were helicopters here, and tanks, concertina wire, and armaments. And now there is nothing. You cannot even tell that there was a war here.
SUEL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“I was thinking how much time and energy and lives were wasted.”
SEUL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“It was time you know. I spent all of my time in the bush, I never saw the Vietnamese people. I never dealt with the Vietnamese people. I just used to shoot them. I didn’t know a thing in the world about them. It was time to come back and do some reconciliation and meet the people and give something back no matter how small it is. Ease your consciousness, ease your guilt and ease your soul, somehow or other.”
SEUL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“I feel I know them as a very forgiving people, a very soft type people. When I first came back in 98 I always made a habit of telling everyone I was in the marines over her. I don’t tell people any more. They’ll just say the war is over with, or they will put their arms around me and give me a big hug and say don’t worry it is over with. Now I have so many people come up to me aftger the bombings of the twin towers. So many Vietnamese who knew I was American and they could not speak a word of English and they would come up to me and do this…cover their hearts in a way to show how terribly sorry they felt for you. They say they feel sorry for us because we had 3000 people killed. We’ve never told them we are sorry for killing 3 million of them.”
SEUL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“It could easily be Agent Orange. How old is he? Can he talk? 15 years old? I bet anything that he was affected by Agent Orange. Second generation, you are looking at it right here, they are everywhere.
“You see this type of deformity. You see his legs, may well be from Agent Orange. And the fact that he is so small. This area – all through here was very heavily sprayed throughout the war.”
SUEL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“They claim it takes 1 part in a billion, 1 part in a billion to affect a kid like this – so it is very hard to detect in the body without really expensive and intense type of technical equipment, and they don’t have it. So instead of spending money trying to decide what happened – why don’t they just try to help the kid? Why don’t they help the people?”
“It is my responsibility as a soldier and a human behind to give something back to these children. I feel very strongly about that. And I think that if you talk to other GI’s you’ll find the same things – they feel strongly too. You’ve got to help them.
“I wish that I could help you – I don’t know what to do. You’re just a hero.”
25:00 But Suel Jones is helping in his small way. He is involved in Hanoi’s Friendship Village – a respite home for Vietnamese Veterans and young victims of Agent Orange.
It is Tet the Vietnamese New Year and a party is being held for the 20 volunteer workers and their families, to thank them for the year’s hard work. These staff members provide nourishing meals, modern medical treatment, education, physical therapy and traditional herbal remedies to the 45 ill Veterans and 80 children for whom the Friendship Village is a temporary home.
25:35 Suel Jones raises a glass with the foes he once raised the sight of his gun to. The Vietnamese tell him – we are brothers.
25:52 The Friendship Village was built, and is run entirely by volunteer contributions from caring Veteran Associations in 5 different countries.
The cash strapped Vietnamese government has built several villages like this called Peace Villages. But it is too few for the many demands of those that have been hurt by Agent Orange.
26:15 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village)(Vietnamese):
“I think this village will help the war-affected and disabled children to overcome their hardships in life and I am proud to work here and be part of this. The disabled children are unlucky and unfortunate, but they have the right to have a life and to live in peace. They are less fortunate than us, so we must help them, and even if we can bring just a little bit of happiness and relief to them then we have done our job.”
27:08 Away from the celebrations, six Agent Orange sufferers are keeping one another company. Their 74 other friends have returned home for the New Year holidays. Selection is a hard choice and is based on need and on those who can benefit most from the services available. The two years these children live at the village will make a big difference to their future.
27:30 Fourteen year old Quyhn was born with a hole in her throat which was treated at the Village. Her father died from leukaemia and her two brothers have eye problems.
27:40 Gam is deaf and cannot speak. Her mother was exposed to Agent Orange whilst a youth volunteer on the Ho Chi Min Trail. Both her brother and her younger sister are denied sound and speech.
27:54 Cam is eight. Although he appears bright, he has severe mental disabilities which prevent him from passing the first grade. His father was a war Vet who died from lung cancer.
28:06 Although the war ended long before many of these children were born – it is still prevalent in their psyches.
28:11 PHAN THI KIEU OANH (Victim of Agent Orange)(Vietnamese):
“The subject is a family after the war, the father is a war veteran who was injured in the fighting. He lost his arm in battle and he was also affected by the toxic chemicals used in the war. And he has a disabled daughter who is blind. Here is the mother, she is very sad about the family and she is crying.”
28:37 PHAN THI KIEU OANH (Victim of Agent Orange)(Vietnamese):
“In the families of my normal friends they are very happy, but for the disabled people like myself and my friends here in the Friendship Village, the families are not very happy because of the great sorrow of the war. But even so they still love us and they try very hard to make a happy life for us.”
29:01 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village)(Vietnamese):
“It is important that she drew that picture; it is a reminder for us all that war is terrible. And we have to oppose war and make sure it never happens again in the world. Especially the awful use of toxic chemicals which make such a heavy impact.
29:17 Ironically, this impact has been acknowledged in the United States. In 1991, after severe pressure from ill Vietnam veterans, the US Government began to compensate their own victims of Agent Orange. They recognise 10 diseases directly attributed to dioxin and the list is growing.
29:35 DR. ARNOLD SCHECTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“Dioxins can cause cancers, they can cause immune deficiencies which means the inability to fight cancer or infections, nervous system damage, reproductive and developmental problems, lower IQ in children and they are just very persistent and toxic chemicals.
30:02 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village)(Vietnamese):
“Our government together with the Vietnam Veterans Association have asked the US Government to take responsibility for what they did in Vietnam, but they continue to ignore it. They do not want to acknowledge it at all.”
30:30 Neither do they want to admit the damage to the environment.
Bach Ma Nature Reserve is one of the only remaining pockets of primary forest that used to cover much of South Vietnam.
Over 3 million hectares of these forests were defoliated and destroyed. The loss of viable hardwoods, wildlife, and seed beds is irreparable.
And has caused an ecological imbalance from which the country will never recover.
30:58 TAM (cu Chi Tunnel Expert):
“Before the war the area used to be a very big jungle and we have very large areas with rubber tree plantations. So when American army attack they used Agent Orange to killed all the rubber trees, and they use napalm bombs to burn all the jungle and they use bulldozers to clear all around.”
31:22 This is what Vietnam looks like today. Desolate. Where once stood the mighty forest today the landscape is bare, scarred by landslides and erosion.
WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“It could be hundreds and hundreds of million dollars in order to bring the country back, and it will never be back, to where it was if you consider the toxic issue, etc. But in terms of the forest alone it would be a minimum of 500 US dollars a hectare, just to start and you extrapolate that to 10/12/15% of Southern Vietnam that was sprayed and a lot of the forest destroyed, the dollar signs do come up to a very high level.
32:04 Opportunistic grass, called American grass, has grown over much of the original wood land. Its thick cover denies forest seeds from taking hold preventing natural reforestation but the Vietnamese are making concerted efforts to restore their precious flora.
32:20 WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“Well it is going to take a long time. They are planting rapidly growing plantation trees for example in areas where the indigenous trees were flattened and removed. Because if they do not have the rapidly growing shade trees then any young trees of the indigenous forest gets burned right out and is killed. So they are planting plantation trees, eucalyptus and acacia. These trees can grow 8 to 10 meters in a few years and then they plant the teak and the other indigenous trees under it. And once the tress have taken a hold they will cut back the plantation trees and hopefully in time the natural forest will be back – but we are looking at a long way away – maybe 100 to 150 years.
33:14 TAM (Cu Chi Tunnel Expert):
“In the war time the area was called Why Chi”
Called what sorry?
“Why Chi – nothing there. It was very quiet no people, no animals, no trees”
33:36 Vietnam’s forests used to be home to large animals - elephants, tigers, wild cats, buffalo, and the Indo Chine gorilla. Now there is nothing. They have all vanished.
33:48 TAM (Cu Chi Tunnel Expert):
“But now not so many animals come back, just little rabbit, mouse or snakes, small animals”
33:57 WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“But lets get started. It has taken 25/30 years to get to this point. I don't think that it should take another 25/30 years to take the next step.”
The next step is for America’s leading dioxin expert to acknowledge the Vietnamese evidence of a direct link between Agent Orange and severe birth abnormalities.
34:22 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“..The South has always had higher events of malformation and the cases are always more serious and most of them are happening in sprayed areas and in families exposed to Agent Orange. So I think there is a link to Agent Orange, but to prove it certainly is difficult.”
DR ARNOLD SCHECKTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“Well, I think we need to be certain, we need to be a little more certain what the cause or causes are. I don’t think that we have any compelling evidence that the causes of malformations is definitely from Agent Orange. I don’t think that that evidence exists today, with rare exceptions – possibly spina bifida and ensephody. But not the majority and we do not know if the malformations are at a higher number or the same as in other countries.”
PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“Anyway in other countries they already mention this problem – in animal experimentation and also in some group of veterans in America where some studies have demonstrated this problem. So even in America they recognise these diseases to be linked to dioxin and the Americans only came to Vietnam for a few months – at most for one year and they already get those problems – why would the Vietnamese who stay for the whole of their lives not have similar problems. So I think that although there should be much more research, but to deny those problems is not fair.”
DR ARNOLD SCHECKTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“Whenever the papers are looked at, the Vietnamese papers, they are anecdotal case studies, but systematic health studies, using the best techniques we have for determining dioxin levels in people and exposure and what causes there might be – I think that these remain to be done and I think this will be a major scientific project to be considered and to be looked at.
PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“To clarify the problem needs sophisticated study and at the moment the only way to make sure it is due to dioxin is to test for dioxin and the test is so expensive. So for many reasons there are difficulties, but in comparisons with groups and non affected groups so you shall see clearly that there are clear problems. Clinical epidemiological studies show problems but to prove it is still difficult.”
37:02 And while the culpability argument continues among experts, it is the harsh survival on a day to day basis for the victims of Agent Orange. It is not discussion they need – it is help.
38:18 NGUYEN CANH (Grandmother of Victim of Agent Orange)(Vietnamese):
“I am a teacher, so I have to work half the day at teaching, but when I come home then I look after my granddaughter. The most difficult part of caring for her is getting her to eat, because she can’t eat by herself and I have to help her. I make the food soft with water and help her to eat it. But beside this, life is very hard for her, she cannot speak, she cannot understand, she cannot listen to me and can’t do anything for herself, we have to help her with everything.”
39:09 Money would make all the difference to the lives of Ma a Special Forces vet and his family. Ten US dollars are awarded by the government to those affected. But it does not go far.
39:15 NGUYEN MA(ex Vietnam Special Force Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“Our family was very sad and disappointed to have a disabled child. Especially the family of my daughter-in-law, they were really very upset and so disappointed. So, we had to encourage them and to explain that it was the effects of the toxic chemicals from the war. Then we all decided to try and help each other to overcome our negativity and we began to focus on the best ways to help our son and daughter-in-law to take care of our disabled granddaughter.
39:55 NGUYEN CANH (Grandmother of Agent Orange Victim)(Vietnamese):
“Sometimes I have such worrying thoughts about when I pass away, who will look after my son’s family and support them? At the moment I can help them, but my daughter-in-law works very hard in the fields to earn a living. And if I pass away, a greater burden will be placed on her shoulders. I love my son and daughter-in-law and my grandchildren. I can’t describe what will happen to them, but I love them and I hope they will be happy and I wish them all the best after I am gone.”
40:40 NGUYEN MANH MA (ex Vietnam Special Forces Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“I think the American public are very good people, but people who work for the government want to ignore the toxic effects of the war in Vietnam. I myself hope that the United States government and the Vietnamese government will begin to work together to find a good way to help the victims of Agent Orange, especially victims families like mine.
41:09 In Hanoi in March of this year, for the very first time, the two Governments met to discuss Agent Orange and its ongoing effects.
41:19 DR ARNOLD SCHECKTER (Dioxin Expert):
“The conference is an attempt to get specialists in the room together and then push forward and see what can be done. It is the first time that the US government has officially addressed this although US scientists and Vietnamese scientists have worked together for many decades.”
41:38 WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“I think the level of co-operation is quite high given historical events. The Vietnamese in our experience see history is history and they look forward, they do not look back with any venom and I think that that sort of attitude develops a very positive atmosphere for co-operation. Now I think that in order for it to proceed in a very positive manner both sides, and I mean sides liberally, both sides have to have that attitude and I hope that this is the case.
42:17 Unfortunately the results of the much-anticipated conference were disappointing. No compensation, no clean up. Only a joint letter to do further scientific research was signed. A major blow for those working to find a solution.
42:32 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village)(Vietnamese):
“It’s because the American’s lost the war. I have heard that many of the American vets who served here still have a lot of ‘Vietnam symptoms’ and psychological problems, that is why they want to forget the past.”
42:49 SUEL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“To me, they do not want to accept the moral responsibility, I don’t even think that it is the money that is important. I think it is the moral responsibility of what we did here and what we did to our own people and how many lies were told to the American people. It changed our country and the world as we know it today. I have a cousin who teaches history at high school and I ask him how much time to you spend on the Vietnam war and he says well – one day, a page and a half. A page and a half. It changed politics it changed society of America as we know it today and they spend a page and a half. It just shows you how much we want to deny. They say Oh the Japanese deny what they did in world war two, the German’s deny what they did in world war two. What are we doing? We do not want to accept our moral responsibility. And we’ve got to.”
PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“We don’t want to enter into a very long battle concerning the responsibility of the war or something like that – it would be very very long – so the best way to solve the problems. And for the better understanding of between two countries and a better relationship between our two countries so we want to forget the war and close the door to the war but you have to solve the aftermath problems.
WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“The problem is a present day problem given the levels of tcdd that we have found in the bases in particular - I mean the high levels will indicate it is not going anywhere, it is sitting there and as our publication indicates there are probably n number of potential reservoirs of dioxin in Southern Vietnam waiting to be tapped - through infrastructure development, road construction, through digging of wells through n number of scenarios which could unearth the reservoir and then result in the passage of the molecule into the food chain. I mean there is documented evidence of chemicals, machinery, barrels that were buried rapidly by dozes as a result of the withdraw. Where are those sites - many of them have not even been catalogued - so what is it going to take to determine those sites I am not even sure - if they are not in the military archives - do you wait until they are unearthed and illness or whatever develops?
45:19 These people, taking a moment from the hectic pace of the surrounding city, are oblivious to the dangers so close. This lake is possibly the most poisonous stretch of water in the world. Dioxin levels here are so high, that even the Americans cannot ignore it.
45:34 DR ARNOLD SCHECTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“It was a surprise that we saw such really high levels. I have worked here for 18 years and all of a sudden we are seeing levels as high as 413 parts per trillion of dioxin in blood when the back ground in this country at the moment is about 2. And it is a surprise that evidently the fish are probably contaminated and people are eating contaminated fish right now. When one thinks of Agent Orange one usually thinks of the Spring occurring between 1961/62 and 1971. And it is just really distressing and surprising to find such very high levels now and to find that it is current consumption as well as previous consumption.
46:34 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“There are new born, still newly born every day and I highly believe that the mother’s milk of people living close to Bien Hoa must be very high in dioxin, so the young baby will be fed by dioxin contaminated milk.”
WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“It is very simple the people are consuming contaminated foods at a level that we in the west would not tolerate”.
47:10 The lake lies just meters away from Bien Hoa one of the largest air bases of the American army. Huge quantities of chemicals used in the spraying operations were stored here. Pumping chemicals onto the plane and releasing surplus meant that leakages were common. In 1970 there was a major spill of over 22 000 litres of Agent Orange.
It still contaminates today.
Recent tests have recorded dioxin concentrations in the soil 1000 times higher than the level warranted as dangerous in the United States. A legislated condition where the area must be evacuated, and the land ‘cleaned up’.
47:51 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“First of all you need to evacuate all the people living close to the lake. There are twenty thousand people who live close – and they must evacuate and leave the contaminated place. Secondly you have to clean up the areas the airbase and the lake and the sewage place and it is very expensive. It will cost billions of dollar, millions of dollars, but it is necessary. It is necessary – you cannot allow to such a poisoning to continue to our people.”
48:36 These residents innocently making a living from the floating plankton are poisoning themselves. Urgent work is needed to prevent further contamination. Clean up is vital. Why are the US government, the chemical companies responsible and the international community not acting?
WAYNE DWENICHECK (Independent Dioxin Consultant):
“That is a very good question, that is a very good question. We have been asking that question. The levels that we have found when you put them on comparative basis with a tolerable daily intake in the west would indicate that many of the foods, particularly on the A Sho base that we found would warrant a risk assessment, risk management approach to these foods in order to determine whether there should be restrictions on consumption whether there should be a complete cessation of consumption of these foods. It is a simple issue here and why it is not been worked on with more rapidity is confounding.”
49:42 Perhaps it is the Vietnamese government themselves who fear that if this information comes out, their newly budding economy will be seriously affected.
49:52 PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“Yes, I must tell you some stupidity idea of the people are afraid. But scientists do not believe it at all because you can hide nothing in exported goods. In exported rice in, in exported fish. You know Vietnam is now coming the biggest exported or rice of food of fish and so on and cannot hide if the fish is contaminated. They cannot hide it, if your fish is contaminated you cannot hide it. People buy it because it is safe.”
51:00 DR ARNOLD SCHECTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“One other question came up of course and that is ‘Are fish from Vietnam contaminated with dioxins?’ so we presented a second section to our study we purchased a fish in the United States that was imported from Vietnam and for all the fish that we purchased which amounted to about 20, we had no fish with elevated dioxin levels, so that was good news.”
51:08 Yes, that is good news for the Vietnamese Government and her people. It is with great hope that they greet in the New Year. But most are unaware of the dangers that have beset their land, and the poison that continues to hurt them.
51:24 It is a country in need and without the necessary money coming in they will continue to die for defending their country long after the battle cry has silenced.
51:38 DR ARNOLD SCHECTER (American Dioxin Expert):
“Do you think the Vietnamese should receive compensation?”
“That takes me out of my area of research expertise and takes me into the realm of being just another person and while I have my own feelings there, at this time I choose to keep them to myself.”
52:10 TO TIEN HOA (Vietnamese Veteran)(Vietnamese):
“I think the people in the world know the effects of Agent Orange, and I call on the US government and the Americans who have good hearts, to do something to help the victims of Agent Orange.”
SUEL JONES (American ex Vietnam War Veteran):
“But you know when you spent 400 billion dollars, 300 billion dollars and drop tons and tons of bombs and spread 20 million gallons of agent orange and other chemicals and then just walk away – you have to ask yourself ‘What have you done? what are you doing?’ and what are we going to continue to do?”
PROF LE CAO DAI (Agent Orange Expert):
“If the DNA is damaged maybe the second the third the fourth and the fifth and many, many long limes we could get problems for these children”
52:52 PHAN THI KIEU OANH (Victim of Agent Orange)(Vietnamese):
“I do hope that in the future we can live in peace and there is no more war, then there won’t be any more disabled children like me.”
53:04 NGYUEN KHAI HUNG (Director of Friendship Village)(Vietnamese):
“Without action discussion is just discussion. Now it's time for them to recognise and help the victims. If they do not, they will die silently.”
END