Thoa is one of 100 physically or mentally handicapped children living at the center, which mainly cares for victims of Agent Orange. About 80 percent of their parents served in the Vietnam War. They are retarded or with stunted limbs or twisted spines. Most arrive unable to walk, speak or read. Between 1962 and 1971, U.S. military tanker planes and helicopters sprayed 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other defoliants over 14 percent of southern Vietnam's lush forests, mangrove swamps and river basins.
Vietnamese families seem cursed with reproductive problems.
A handful of studies suggest the rates of birth defects, miscarriages and other complications here are uncommonly high. Again, the finger of suspicion points to Agent Orange. During his visit to Vietnam, President Clinton probably won't glimpse these children, mostly innocents born to veterans or villagers whose homes were sprayed. But Agent Orange and the children of the peace villages will be in the background of his discussions. Thoa's delicate features are wrapped in a shroud of spongy skin tumors and charcoal splotches sprouting bristles.