Vietnamese Women and Agent Orange
Ms. Le Thi (Vietnam)
Although the Vietnamese people are striving to overcome the aftermath ofwar, presently hundreds of thousands of people are victims of the chemical"Agent Orange." This fact reminds us everyday of the terrible consequencesof war. And from this disaster, women and children have suffered the most.
Scientists working at Columbia University (USA) have recognized that:'From 1961 to 1971, in South Vietnam, the 100 million litres of chemical
toxins used included 366 kilograms of dioxide. Among those toxins, theamount of Agent Orange used was 45,677,937 litres. ' Three thousand, onehundred and eighty-one villages and hamlets were directly affected by thosechemical toxins and at least 2.1 million people were directly affected (Anumber of scientists evaluate this number as 4.8 million). In addition, 1,430
other villages were directly affected, but data has yet to be collected. In total,
about 16 million have lived, struggled, and worked in the areas where US
chemical toxins were sprayed.
A majority of people affected by Agent Orange now live in poverty, havelost their working capacity, and suffer from serious diseases caused by thechemical. In many families, victims include three generations--the parents,
their children and their grandchildren. Many women cannot experience thehappiness of motherhood; some give birth to deformed babies or theirchildren cannot stand. We cite some cases below:
In the central part of Quang Binh province, 5,000 people have been
affected by Agent Orange. Among them, 2,441 people are first-generation(exposed during their participation in the resistance war), 2,903 people aresecond-generation (the children of the above combatants), and 105 people arethird-generation (their grandchildren).
Do Duc Diu, a man native to Vu Ninh commune, Quang Binh province,
returned to the commune after participating in the army during theresistance war. He got married. However, he could not have a normal childsince he had been affected by Agent Orange. His wife gave birth 15 times todeformed babies. Among them, 13 died and the remaining 2 suffer from
diseases with frequent violent convulsions.
Diu said: "Agent Orange is killing my family."
In Dong Nai province (southern Vietnam), 9,000 people have been affectedby U.S. chemical toxins. In many families, three or four members areaffected, suffering from dangerous diseases, such as cancer and deformities.
We meet children with extremely big heads or bodies similar to a quarter ofmeat, standing on scrawny twisted or swollen ulcerated legs. Many people
affected by Agent Orange dare not marry and resign themselves to celibacy.
In some cases, victims of Agent Orange feel despair or kill themselves after
giving birth to monstrous babies.
In Can Tho province, Nguyen Hong Manh, a former soldier of Thanh Mycommune, returned to his native village and got married. However, affectedby Agent Orange, he can only sit down to sleep. Each time he lies on the bed,
he feels a tightness across his chest and has difficulty in breathing. His wife
gave birth to eight children. All are alive but because of the effects of Agent
Orange are slow-witted.
In Hưng Yen province (northern Vietnam), Mrs. Tuu of An Vien commune
married a soldier. Four days after their wedding, he went to the battlefield,
returning after the war with diseases caused by Agent Orange. The firstchild born by his wife had two faces and died after three months. The second
child had the face of a pig and the third had the face of a mouse. Both died
immediately after birth.
Her fourth child with a normal appearance died eight months after birth
because of a "red face" crisis. At last Mrs Tuu gave birth to a fifth child with anormal appearance but who had mental deficiencies. The latter often
screams and tears every object he finds to pieces. He even bites his own bodyin fits of madness. He is now 23 years old. For Mrs. Tuu, his mother, it has
meant 23 years of continuous efforts and difficult hard labour in caring forhim. "My life is full of tears," confided Mrs Tuu.

In the mountainous area of Thua Thien Hue province, the district of A Luoi
has 20 communes and towns. Agent Orange was sprayed on all 20 localities.
In Hong Trung commune for example, where there are 313 households, wefind 350 cases of patients struck by mental deficiencies, paralysis, dumbness,deafness, blindness, deformity and other diseases caused by Agent Orange.
The victims of U.S. chemical toxins in Vietnam have not received any
indemnity from the U.S. They have to bring a suit against the U.S.
companies that produced chemical toxins for the U.S. army to use during theVietnam war. The companies received exorbitant profits by spreading pain
and suffering on millions of people, especially, women and children.
On January 31, 2004, the Association of Agent Orange victims and a numberof victims stood up against 37 American companies that have produced thechemical toxics used in Vietnam. The complaint was sent to the Brooklyn
Tribunal, in New York State (U.S.). On June 25, 2004, the Vietnamese
Motherland Front decided to organize a national day of action for the Agent
Orange victims in Vietnam every year on August 10 (the first day that U.S.
chemical toxins were sprayed in Vietnam). In this way, they are mobilizing
the masses for their complaint now being handled in tribunals in the U.S.