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Agent Orange Studies: One & One

By Bill Davis

The end of August, beginning of September 1987 brought Vietnam's veterans renewed national attention on the subject of Agent Orange poisoning.

The first report came from the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta that they had been unable to successfully conduct an investigation (started 5 years ago) into the effects of defoliants on Vietnam veterans because they could not find enough veterans to make the study—an understandable claim if the CDC were located in Nepal, perhaps.

On the heels of this astonishing revelation came the Veterans' Administration disclosure a week later that U.S. Marines who served in Vietnam have died of lung cancer and certain lymph cancers at a significantly higher rate than their stateside colleagues. There was a 58% higher rate of lung cancer for Marines who were in Vietnam, and a 110% higher rate of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; the study was based on deaths of almost 50,000 Marines and Army veterans who were ground troops in Vietnam and elsewhere between 1965 and 1973. While refusing to take a stand, the VA report did say that "Exposure to Agent Orange may be suspected."

The CDC announcement was more or less expected. From the time the protocol for the study was established, critics of the study pointed out that requirements were impossible to meet. Whereas the study required veterans with levels of exposure to Agent Orange that were precise and extremely high, most vets could simply say they were in an area that was sprayed or even how often spraying took place around base camps, along roads, etc. Records of such things were at best spotty.

The second announcement was the shocker, given the VA's usual role in the on-going battle to shelve, squash, suppress and discourage veterans and their families on any aspect of defoliant poisoning.

As different federal agencies continue to muddy the water on Agent Orange, VVAW's commitment remains the same we demand testing, treatment and compensation for ALL Agent Orange victims and their families.

—Bill Davis
VVAW National Office