Geographies of Chemical Warfare in Vietnam: The Merry Band of Retirees

This review explores the recent development of research on rainbow herbicides as chemical weapons and the geographies of chemical warfare in what is now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. While the use and impacts of Agent Orange have previously been well documented, the production and extensive application of five other rainbow agents by the United States military has only recently been investigated in detail. What is exceptional about this research of chemical warfare landscapes is that the 23 refereed journal publications in this review were designed, implemented, and published in a unique collective research project by Ken Olson and a Merry Band of Military Retirees. Their groundbreaking research portfolio includes many geographical dimensions and the political ecology of chemical warfare. This includes the extensive exposure of civilians in Vietnam to these chemical agents, exposure of US military personnel in Southeast Asia and Panama, exposure of civilians near the private industrial sites that produced these rainbow agents in North America and the hazardous soil contamination that perseveres at these sites in Vietnam and the US. Given this impressive research depth and global scope, this review explores the unique way this research portfolio was developed by a Merry Band of Retirees through an interview with its leader, Ken Olson. It examines the goals and ethical orientation of these military veterans, the political ecology involved, the creative strategies they utilized to produce this innovative research, and how they changed the way Veterans exposed to chemical warfare agents are treated by the US government.

Improving Urban Retirees’ Well-Being by Leisure Activities

This research is to investigate urban retirees’ needs and suggest the design direction of leisure facilities. Unlike the existing approach based on deterioration of physical ability, this will allow a new type of suggestion to enable the retirees to live their second lives in a more creative way. By analyzing their common memories and events, it was found that they developed their desire for leisure from their experience of wealth and economic growths. Some preceding research pointed out that their actual leisure activities tend to be static and passive in general. Through the interview, however, this research has found that there are 45 indoor activities and 75 outdoor leisure activities, while their potential demands for leisure further extends to 88. With outdoor activities outnumbering indoor activities, the result shows the opposite tendency to the preceding research. On the other hand, their potential demands for leisure further extended to include more intellectually stimulating learning activities.

Measuring the Needs for Medical Service in the Retirement Residential Community in Korea

Medical facilities in retirement residential areas provide diverse medical and health-related services to retirees, and they are equipped and programed with various medical services for enhancing retirees’ daily activities. To find out the current status of using medical facilities by retirees, this study surveyed retirees in their fifties, sixties, and seventies, who live in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. The survey data was sorted by the types of medical facilities they visit, reasons for their visit, and the types of medical facilities in a retirement residential area they would prefer to visit. The pros and cons of using private and general hospitals can be evaluated further to set up the right strategy to reconcile them;and each type of hospital can be improved by adding those missing elements that the interviewees mentioned. In the broad perspective, this indicates the need to suggest the direction of preparing residential areas that are technically planned for retirees on the basis of the analysis of Korean retirees’ needs.

Why Retire Later?

For people who have spent years onexhausting work schedules, life after retirement— which usually includes