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US pacifists urge Washington to compensate Agent Orange Victims

Prensa Latina - January 23, 2013

US citizens honoured with 'For the Vietnamese AO victims' insignia - Voice of Vietnam. January 23, 2013
A battle unending: The Vietnam War and Agent Orange - The Diplomat. November 13, 2012
Questions on efforts to clean up Agent Orange - Providence Journal. September 13, 2012
US dioxin cleanup politically driven - Global Times. September 9, 2012
Agent Orange cleanup overdue, and not enough for real justice - Global Times. August 26, 2012

Hanoi – United States (US) pacifists urged Washington and chemical companies in that country to reward Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange, used during the war against the Indochinese nation.

This statement was made by Merle Ratner, coordinator of the Campaign for Help and Justice for Vietnamese victims of the dioxin and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton during a friendly meeting in Ho Chi Minh.

The visitors toured the Tu Du maternity center, which hosts children with birth defects because of the toxic substance, the tunnels of Cu Chi used by the national resistance, and an institution specializing in Phuoc Thien serving disabled infants.

In South Vietnam alone, the US Air Force dumped about 80 million gallons of herbicide containing 400 kilograms of dioxin, also known as Agent Orange, one of the most aggressive known chemicals.

Da Nang Airport, serving in that time as a US military base, stockpiled huge amounts of the defoliant, with serious polluting consequences still remaining for new generations.