During the 2nd Indochina War which started in 1959, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Air America, and the Air Force waged a secret and unconventional air war in Laos from Udorn Air Force base locat...During the 2nd Indochina War which started in 1959, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Air America, and the Air Force waged a secret and unconventional air war in Laos from Udorn Air Force base located in Thailand and across the Mekong River from Vientiane, Laos. Starting in 1961, four years before the official start of the American-Vietnam War, Agent Blue, the arsenic-based herbicide used to kill rice and other food crops, was used extensively in Laos, Vietnam and to a lesser extent in Cambodia. During the secret 2nd Indochina War and the Vietnam Civil War the public knew little about the use of Agent Blue. After the official start of the American-Vietnam War in 1965, the United States media news reports, about chemical warfare were dominated by the story of Agent Orange and its devastating impacts. The public knew very little about the previous use of Agent Blue in both wars. The first known media pick up of the Agent Blue (arsenic based) and Agent Pink, Agent Green, and Agent Purple (all three contain 2, 4, 5-T and unknown amounts of dioxin TCDD) was in May of 1964. Jim G. Lucas, a Scripps-Howard staff reporter submitted an article that was published as an editorial in Washington Post on May 26, 1964. The next news reference to this chemical weapon was a Letter to the Editor published in the New York Times titled “Agent Blue” in Vietnam by Arthur H. Westing in (1971). The use of herbicides, including Agent Blue in Laos during the 2nd Indochina War, was kept a secret until 1982, when a draft of Buckingham’s study of Operation Ranch Hand was made public. Much about the U.S. war effort in Laos is still classified. In a 2014 issue of the VVA Veteran magazine, Loana Hoylman published an article on “Today’s Blue Arsenic in the Environment”. The first refereed journal article on this topic, “The Fate of Agent Blue, the Arsenic-Based Herbicide, Used in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War” was published in 2020 in the Open Journal of Soil Science by Kenneth R. Olson and Larry Cihacek. In 2021 the Asia Times (print) and VietnamVeteranNews (radio podcast) picked up the Agent Blue story. During the early 2020s, Olson published six additional refereed journal articles on Agent Blue, cacodylic acid, and arsenic. The primary objective is to determine why no major news organization in the United States, including the New York Times and Washington Post, have never investigated Agent Blue use during the 2nd Indochina and Vietnam wars? Why did the use of Agent Blue story, used to destroy Laotian and South Vietnamese civilian food (rice) sources and production sites, received only very limited coverage by US print media news organizations during the last 64 years?展开更多
Agent Blue, a mixture of cacodylic acid (CH<sub>3</sub>) As O<sub>2</sub>H) and sodium cacodylate (C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub> AsNaO<sub>2</sub>), was a tacti...Agent Blue, a mixture of cacodylic acid (CH<sub>3</sub>) As O<sub>2</sub>H) and sodium cacodylate (C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub> AsNaO<sub>2</sub>), was a tactical arsenic-based herbicide used during the Vietnam War to destroy grasses and rice crops. Natural and synthetic sources of arsenic can degrade into water-soluble forms and persist in groundwater and potentially contribute to elevating As levels in drinking water. The United States Department of Defense (DOD) and United States Department of Agricultural (USDA) Operation Ranch Hand records for tactical herbicides including Agent Blue sprayed in southern Vietnam during the Vietnam War (1961-1971) are very detailed, rather complete and publicly available. The same is not true for tactical herbicides sprayed by the Republic of Vietnam (RV) during the Khai Quang program which was supported by the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the Mekong Delta. Agent Blue was sprayed by the RV military for three years before the official start of the American-Vietnam War. Few, if any, RV military, US Army, US Navy and CIA spray records exist from 1962 to 1965. Vietnam War veterans, historians and scholars have reported the spraying of 3.2 million liters (468,008 kg As) of Agent Blue on rice paddies and mangrove forests in the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands by the RV military with the support of the US Army, US Navy and CIA. The Institute of Medicine estimated that 3.2 million liters (468,000 kg As) were sprayed during the RV Khai Quang program. This was in addition to the U.S. Air Force’s Operation Ranch Hand spraying of the tactical herbicide Agent Blue primarily by C-123 aircraft. The Operation Ranch Hand missions maintained location and quantities of herbicides sprayed (over 4,712,000 liters (664,392 kg As) from 1961-1971. The RV military and US military (Army and Navy) spray equipment included hand and backpack sprayers, sprayers mounted on Brown Water Navy boats, on Army track vehicles and Army land-based helicopters and helicopters based on the decks of Blue Water Navy ships. Some of these spray missions were a military secret and spray records were classified or if kept were not maintained. Agent Blue containing cacodylic acid had a short half-life and degraded to water-soluble arsenic, which was released into the surface water and/or leached into the groundwater. Once the water-soluble arsenic leached into the Vietnam Mekong Delta groundwater, the arsenic-rich water was pumped back to the surface by tens of thousands of tube wells for urban and agricultural use. The primary objectives of this research are to explore the conditions during the Vietnam War under which 1) the RV military herbicide spray program with the support of the US Navy, CIA and US Army, and 2) the US Air Force spray program during Operation Ranch Hand may have significantly contributed to the natural and anthropic As spikes found in the Mekong Delta today. The environmental impacts of Agent Blue, on the Menominee River at manufacturing sites in the United States, were studied to identify possible As remediation and mitigation strategies. The lessons previously learned at the manufacturing sites in Wisconsin and Michigan, United States can be considered and applied to the Mekong Delta to help mitigate and remediate the arsenic-rich surface water, soil, sediment and groundwater found in the Mekong Delta.展开更多
Seven Royal Thai Air Force bases in Thailand were used by the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Vietnam War as staging hubs for operations in Laos and Cambodia. Five bases in Thailand, including Nakhon Phanom ...Seven Royal Thai Air Force bases in Thailand were used by the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Vietnam War as staging hubs for operations in Laos and Cambodia. Five bases in Thailand, including Nakhon Phanom (NKP), Ubon, Korat, U-Tapao and Udorn endured sniper fire interdiction, perimeter penetration, and sapper (combat engineer) attacks. Nam Phong, an eighth Royal Thai Air Force base was used by the United States Marine Corps air operations starting in 1972. US Military personnel stationed throughout Thailand were also attacked by Communists insurgents. Two herbicides, Agent Purple and Agent Orange containing 2, 4, 5-T contaminated with dioxin (TCDD—2, 3, 7, 8 tetrachlorodibenzodioxin) and a third herbicide, the arsenic-based Agent Blue, were routinely received at these Thailand airbases in support of air missions and to keep airbases and perimeter fences clear of vegetation. Udorn Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) base, established in the 1950s was consistently a target of enemy attacks during this period. The Thai government allowed the United States to use five bases, covertly, and two other Thai bases, openly, due to concerns that the civil war inside Laos might spread into Thailand. The US Air Force began, in 1961, to provide the air defense of Thailand and to fly reconnaissance flights over Laos. Under the United States and Thailand’s “gentleman’s agreement”, the bases used by the USAF were considered RTAF bases under the command of Thai officers. The USAF at Udorn was under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Thirteenth Air Force and was used to temporarily store and distribute Agent Purple, Agent Orange and Agent Blue to Laos’s airfields for spraying of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Thai air police controlled access to the bases using sentry dogs, observation towers, and machine gun emplacements. The USAF Security police assisted the Thai air police in base defense. In this study, we document the use of Agent Orange, Agent Purple and Agent Blue on Royal Thai Air Force base perimeters and grounds during the Vietnam War, potential active-duty service personnel exposure to these toxic herbicides and health impacts of the contaminant dioxin TCDD and arsenic on U.S. Vietnam Era Veterans and Vietnam Veterans. This documentation is important evidence in the “assumption of exposure” for health claims to the US Veterans Administration (VA) by veterans that served in Thailand between 1962 and 1976.展开更多
During the last 60 years, the southern Vietnam environment and Vietnamese living in the Mekong Delta have bio-accumulated arsenic from natural and anthropic (Vietnam Civil War (1962-1965)) sources via their drinking w...During the last 60 years, the southern Vietnam environment and Vietnamese living in the Mekong Delta have bio-accumulated arsenic from natural and anthropic (Vietnam Civil War (1962-1965)) sources via their drinking water (groundwater from tube wells) and food supply leading to an increasing risk of chronic poisoning over time. A synthesis and analysis of publications and records is presented to document the Republic of Vietnam (RV), the official name of the South Vietnam Government, and United States (US) militaries contribution to arsenic levels and toxic spikes in the Vietnam Mekong Delta groundwater. During the Vietnam Civil War, Agent Blue, in powder form, was shipped to Port Saigon, via the Saigon River, and transported to the Tan Son Nhut Air Force base during the Vietnam Civil War. After the official start of the American-Vietnam War (1965-1973) the tactical herbicides were re-routed to Bien Hoa Air Force base (1965 to 1971). Approximately 3.2 million liters of Agent Blue (468,008 kg As) was sprayed or dumped by the RV military with the assistance and support of the Central Intelligence (CIA), US Army and US Navy, during the 1962-1965 Khai Huang (Hamlet) Program. A portion of an additional 4.6 million liters of Agent Blue (664,392 kg of As) was sprayed between 1962 and 1965 by the US Air Force as part of Operation Ranch Hand and prior to the official start of the American-Vietnam War in August 1964. Operation Rand Hand began in 1962 and ended in 1971. The Institute of Medicine estimated a total of 7.8 million liters (1,132,400 kg As) of Agent Blue was applied to southern Vietnam landscape from 1962 to 1971. This total includes both the 1962 to 1965 RV Khai Huang program with the assistance of the CIA, US Army and US Navy, and the total Agent Blue applied by US Air Force Operation Ranch Hand from 1962 to 1971. The primary objective of this study was to document how Agent Blue, the arsenic-based herbicide, became a secret US military and environmental chemical weapon used by the RV and US militaries in southern Vietnam during the Vietnam Civil War years (1962-1965). This assessment found that the anthropic arsenic, including Agent Blue, added a toxic burden to the Mekong Delta soils, surface water, groundwater, drinking water, food supply, and human health. However, there are missing details regarding political decisions and a full accounting of the geographic locations sprayed and amount of Agent Blue used. Vietnam War Archives have paper correspondence and RV herbicide spray records that shed greater light on this period. These records are over 50 years old and need to be electronically scanned, stored, and made available for additional historical analyses.展开更多
The legacy of the human misery caused by the application of the herbicides including Agent Purple and Agent Orange contaminated with unknown amounts of dioxin TCDD and Agent Blue, the arsenic-based herbicide, sprayed ...The legacy of the human misery caused by the application of the herbicides including Agent Purple and Agent Orange contaminated with unknown amounts of dioxin TCDD and Agent Blue, the arsenic-based herbicide, sprayed over the jungles, rice fields, and hamlets of Vietnam is still haunting us today. Why did this happen? Could it have been prevented? Was it necessary United States military strategy? Was it an intentional decision to inflict this blight on the enemy soldiers and the Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian civilians, to poison their land and cause generations of harm? Alternatively, was it an unpreventable accident in the march of military history? What patterns in the U.S. government’s thought process could be identified as the cause, which led to the decision to use these herbicides as tactical chemical weapons? If the introduction of herbicide (chemical) weapons had not been made, would the outcome of the Vietnam War and the Secret Wars in Laos and Cambodia have been any different? The objective of this treatise is to outline the role of world events and backgrounds and the role of the leaders, U.S. military, CIA, USDA, U.S. State Department, the U.S. President appointed Ambassadors to Vietnam and Laos, chemical companies, and President Diệm’s Republic of Vietnam (RVN) government and military. Their collective advice led to the decision to use herbicides as military and environmental chemical weapons in the Second Indochina War. Were the National interests achieved by U.S. military strategy in the RVN using herbicide weapons worth the long-term environmental and human health consequences in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos? Did it impact the outcome of the Second Indochina War?展开更多
文摘During the 2nd Indochina War which started in 1959, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Air America, and the Air Force waged a secret and unconventional air war in Laos from Udorn Air Force base located in Thailand and across the Mekong River from Vientiane, Laos. Starting in 1961, four years before the official start of the American-Vietnam War, Agent Blue, the arsenic-based herbicide used to kill rice and other food crops, was used extensively in Laos, Vietnam and to a lesser extent in Cambodia. During the secret 2nd Indochina War and the Vietnam Civil War the public knew little about the use of Agent Blue. After the official start of the American-Vietnam War in 1965, the United States media news reports, about chemical warfare were dominated by the story of Agent Orange and its devastating impacts. The public knew very little about the previous use of Agent Blue in both wars. The first known media pick up of the Agent Blue (arsenic based) and Agent Pink, Agent Green, and Agent Purple (all three contain 2, 4, 5-T and unknown amounts of dioxin TCDD) was in May of 1964. Jim G. Lucas, a Scripps-Howard staff reporter submitted an article that was published as an editorial in Washington Post on May 26, 1964. The next news reference to this chemical weapon was a Letter to the Editor published in the New York Times titled “Agent Blue” in Vietnam by Arthur H. Westing in (1971). The use of herbicides, including Agent Blue in Laos during the 2nd Indochina War, was kept a secret until 1982, when a draft of Buckingham’s study of Operation Ranch Hand was made public. Much about the U.S. war effort in Laos is still classified. In a 2014 issue of the VVA Veteran magazine, Loana Hoylman published an article on “Today’s Blue Arsenic in the Environment”. The first refereed journal article on this topic, “The Fate of Agent Blue, the Arsenic-Based Herbicide, Used in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War” was published in 2020 in the Open Journal of Soil Science by Kenneth R. Olson and Larry Cihacek. In 2021 the Asia Times (print) and VietnamVeteranNews (radio podcast) picked up the Agent Blue story. During the early 2020s, Olson published six additional refereed journal articles on Agent Blue, cacodylic acid, and arsenic. The primary objective is to determine why no major news organization in the United States, including the New York Times and Washington Post, have never investigated Agent Blue use during the 2nd Indochina and Vietnam wars? Why did the use of Agent Blue story, used to destroy Laotian and South Vietnamese civilian food (rice) sources and production sites, received only very limited coverage by US print media news organizations during the last 64 years?
文摘Agent Blue, a mixture of cacodylic acid (CH<sub>3</sub>) As O<sub>2</sub>H) and sodium cacodylate (C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub> AsNaO<sub>2</sub>), was a tactical arsenic-based herbicide used during the Vietnam War to destroy grasses and rice crops. Natural and synthetic sources of arsenic can degrade into water-soluble forms and persist in groundwater and potentially contribute to elevating As levels in drinking water. The United States Department of Defense (DOD) and United States Department of Agricultural (USDA) Operation Ranch Hand records for tactical herbicides including Agent Blue sprayed in southern Vietnam during the Vietnam War (1961-1971) are very detailed, rather complete and publicly available. The same is not true for tactical herbicides sprayed by the Republic of Vietnam (RV) during the Khai Quang program which was supported by the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the Mekong Delta. Agent Blue was sprayed by the RV military for three years before the official start of the American-Vietnam War. Few, if any, RV military, US Army, US Navy and CIA spray records exist from 1962 to 1965. Vietnam War veterans, historians and scholars have reported the spraying of 3.2 million liters (468,008 kg As) of Agent Blue on rice paddies and mangrove forests in the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands by the RV military with the support of the US Army, US Navy and CIA. The Institute of Medicine estimated that 3.2 million liters (468,000 kg As) were sprayed during the RV Khai Quang program. This was in addition to the U.S. Air Force’s Operation Ranch Hand spraying of the tactical herbicide Agent Blue primarily by C-123 aircraft. The Operation Ranch Hand missions maintained location and quantities of herbicides sprayed (over 4,712,000 liters (664,392 kg As) from 1961-1971. The RV military and US military (Army and Navy) spray equipment included hand and backpack sprayers, sprayers mounted on Brown Water Navy boats, on Army track vehicles and Army land-based helicopters and helicopters based on the decks of Blue Water Navy ships. Some of these spray missions were a military secret and spray records were classified or if kept were not maintained. Agent Blue containing cacodylic acid had a short half-life and degraded to water-soluble arsenic, which was released into the surface water and/or leached into the groundwater. Once the water-soluble arsenic leached into the Vietnam Mekong Delta groundwater, the arsenic-rich water was pumped back to the surface by tens of thousands of tube wells for urban and agricultural use. The primary objectives of this research are to explore the conditions during the Vietnam War under which 1) the RV military herbicide spray program with the support of the US Navy, CIA and US Army, and 2) the US Air Force spray program during Operation Ranch Hand may have significantly contributed to the natural and anthropic As spikes found in the Mekong Delta today. The environmental impacts of Agent Blue, on the Menominee River at manufacturing sites in the United States, were studied to identify possible As remediation and mitigation strategies. The lessons previously learned at the manufacturing sites in Wisconsin and Michigan, United States can be considered and applied to the Mekong Delta to help mitigate and remediate the arsenic-rich surface water, soil, sediment and groundwater found in the Mekong Delta.
文摘Seven Royal Thai Air Force bases in Thailand were used by the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Vietnam War as staging hubs for operations in Laos and Cambodia. Five bases in Thailand, including Nakhon Phanom (NKP), Ubon, Korat, U-Tapao and Udorn endured sniper fire interdiction, perimeter penetration, and sapper (combat engineer) attacks. Nam Phong, an eighth Royal Thai Air Force base was used by the United States Marine Corps air operations starting in 1972. US Military personnel stationed throughout Thailand were also attacked by Communists insurgents. Two herbicides, Agent Purple and Agent Orange containing 2, 4, 5-T contaminated with dioxin (TCDD—2, 3, 7, 8 tetrachlorodibenzodioxin) and a third herbicide, the arsenic-based Agent Blue, were routinely received at these Thailand airbases in support of air missions and to keep airbases and perimeter fences clear of vegetation. Udorn Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) base, established in the 1950s was consistently a target of enemy attacks during this period. The Thai government allowed the United States to use five bases, covertly, and two other Thai bases, openly, due to concerns that the civil war inside Laos might spread into Thailand. The US Air Force began, in 1961, to provide the air defense of Thailand and to fly reconnaissance flights over Laos. Under the United States and Thailand’s “gentleman’s agreement”, the bases used by the USAF were considered RTAF bases under the command of Thai officers. The USAF at Udorn was under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Thirteenth Air Force and was used to temporarily store and distribute Agent Purple, Agent Orange and Agent Blue to Laos’s airfields for spraying of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Thai air police controlled access to the bases using sentry dogs, observation towers, and machine gun emplacements. The USAF Security police assisted the Thai air police in base defense. In this study, we document the use of Agent Orange, Agent Purple and Agent Blue on Royal Thai Air Force base perimeters and grounds during the Vietnam War, potential active-duty service personnel exposure to these toxic herbicides and health impacts of the contaminant dioxin TCDD and arsenic on U.S. Vietnam Era Veterans and Vietnam Veterans. This documentation is important evidence in the “assumption of exposure” for health claims to the US Veterans Administration (VA) by veterans that served in Thailand between 1962 and 1976.
文摘During the last 60 years, the southern Vietnam environment and Vietnamese living in the Mekong Delta have bio-accumulated arsenic from natural and anthropic (Vietnam Civil War (1962-1965)) sources via their drinking water (groundwater from tube wells) and food supply leading to an increasing risk of chronic poisoning over time. A synthesis and analysis of publications and records is presented to document the Republic of Vietnam (RV), the official name of the South Vietnam Government, and United States (US) militaries contribution to arsenic levels and toxic spikes in the Vietnam Mekong Delta groundwater. During the Vietnam Civil War, Agent Blue, in powder form, was shipped to Port Saigon, via the Saigon River, and transported to the Tan Son Nhut Air Force base during the Vietnam Civil War. After the official start of the American-Vietnam War (1965-1973) the tactical herbicides were re-routed to Bien Hoa Air Force base (1965 to 1971). Approximately 3.2 million liters of Agent Blue (468,008 kg As) was sprayed or dumped by the RV military with the assistance and support of the Central Intelligence (CIA), US Army and US Navy, during the 1962-1965 Khai Huang (Hamlet) Program. A portion of an additional 4.6 million liters of Agent Blue (664,392 kg of As) was sprayed between 1962 and 1965 by the US Air Force as part of Operation Ranch Hand and prior to the official start of the American-Vietnam War in August 1964. Operation Rand Hand began in 1962 and ended in 1971. The Institute of Medicine estimated a total of 7.8 million liters (1,132,400 kg As) of Agent Blue was applied to southern Vietnam landscape from 1962 to 1971. This total includes both the 1962 to 1965 RV Khai Huang program with the assistance of the CIA, US Army and US Navy, and the total Agent Blue applied by US Air Force Operation Ranch Hand from 1962 to 1971. The primary objective of this study was to document how Agent Blue, the arsenic-based herbicide, became a secret US military and environmental chemical weapon used by the RV and US militaries in southern Vietnam during the Vietnam Civil War years (1962-1965). This assessment found that the anthropic arsenic, including Agent Blue, added a toxic burden to the Mekong Delta soils, surface water, groundwater, drinking water, food supply, and human health. However, there are missing details regarding political decisions and a full accounting of the geographic locations sprayed and amount of Agent Blue used. Vietnam War Archives have paper correspondence and RV herbicide spray records that shed greater light on this period. These records are over 50 years old and need to be electronically scanned, stored, and made available for additional historical analyses.
文摘The legacy of the human misery caused by the application of the herbicides including Agent Purple and Agent Orange contaminated with unknown amounts of dioxin TCDD and Agent Blue, the arsenic-based herbicide, sprayed over the jungles, rice fields, and hamlets of Vietnam is still haunting us today. Why did this happen? Could it have been prevented? Was it necessary United States military strategy? Was it an intentional decision to inflict this blight on the enemy soldiers and the Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian civilians, to poison their land and cause generations of harm? Alternatively, was it an unpreventable accident in the march of military history? What patterns in the U.S. government’s thought process could be identified as the cause, which led to the decision to use these herbicides as tactical chemical weapons? If the introduction of herbicide (chemical) weapons had not been made, would the outcome of the Vietnam War and the Secret Wars in Laos and Cambodia have been any different? The objective of this treatise is to outline the role of world events and backgrounds and the role of the leaders, U.S. military, CIA, USDA, U.S. State Department, the U.S. President appointed Ambassadors to Vietnam and Laos, chemical companies, and President Diệm’s Republic of Vietnam (RVN) government and military. Their collective advice led to the decision to use herbicides as military and environmental chemical weapons in the Second Indochina War. Were the National interests achieved by U.S. military strategy in the RVN using herbicide weapons worth the long-term environmental and human health consequences in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos? Did it impact the outcome of the Second Indochina War?
