The Agent Orange in Vietnam Program

Providing Geospatial Data about How the Legacies of the Vietnam War Continue to Affect Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Today

Continue U.S. Assistance on War Legacies in Vietnam

“Suspending USAID programmes risks undermining years of work building trust between the former enemies and helping victims of the Vietnam War.”

Addressing the Agent Orange issue can further advance US-Vietnam bilateral relations and should be a priority for Washington. READ THE FULL ARTICLE in the Pacific Forum

Yen was disabled by polio as a child at the end of the Vietnam war when childhood immunization programs no longer worked. The Ramon Magsaysay Award, informally known as the “Asian Nobel Prize,” showcases her and what can be done to include, inform and create new opportunities for the disabled everywhere.

Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee Agent Orange

In December the United States Agency for International Development announced that it had launched dioxin cleanup operations and signed an agreement to implement a $65 million program to support people with disabilities in Vietnam. READ THE FULL PIECE BY Amruta Byatnal

On April 20, 2019, Vietnam and the U.S. recorded a significant milestone on Agent Orange when Senator Patrick Leahy led a Congressional Delegation of nine U.S. senators to Bien Hoa, Vietnam. They witnessed the signing of a five year $50 million Memorandum of Intent to assist children and young Vietnamese born with disabilities linked to exposure of a parent, grandparent or great grandparent to Agent Orange/dioxin. Click to read more including: Memo of Intent Speeches by Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink Senator Leahy’s Instagram photos of the trip

From 1962 to 1971, the American military sprayed vast areas of Vietnam with Agent Orange, leaving dioxin contamination that has severely affected the health of three generations of Vietnamese. Now, the U.S. and Vietnamese governments have joined together in a massive cleanup project. READ THE FULL PIECE By George Black in Food & Environment Reporting Network Photo credit: Cuong Tran and George Black

On March 26th the governments of the United States of America and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, in partnership with the United States Institute of Peace, hosted a landmark event examining the transformation from enemies to partners by the two countries since the end of the war in 1975.

Charles Bailey and Le Ke Son continue to provide the latest information and insights about Agent Orange/Dioxin in Vietnam through periodic updates to their book, From Enemies to Partners: Vietnam, the U.S. and Agent Orange. They also prepared a policy brief discussing six recommendations the two governments can do to deepen their partnership on Agent Orange. Click to read: Policy Recommendations to Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Postscript, From Enemies to Partners

November 28, 2018 – Charles Bailey addresses members of the European Parliament and diplomatic corps in Brussels at a program on Agent Orange in Vietnam. Read the full speech and see the presentation.

Details the shared responsibility of the US and Vietnamese governments to address the public health and environmental impacts associated with dioxin contamination in Vietnam from wartime use of Agent Orange and other herbicides. READ THE FULL PIECE BY Charles Bailey in The Hill

November 4, 2018 (program aired) – Le Ke Son and Charles Bailey are interviewed in this 45-minute VTV4 program. The segment provides a comprehensive and positive understanding of the past, present and future of Agent Orange in Vietnam. Simulcast in English and Vietnamese via subtitles.

June 16, 2018 – Veterans News Report – How U.S. is mending fences with Vietnam; a path forward that acknowledges the past while looking to the future. READ THE FULL REVIEW

June 13, 2018 – Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs– Alex Woodson interviews Charles Bailey to discuss the issues surrounding the Agent Orange legacy. LISTEN TO PODCAST WITH Alex Woodson

June 19, 2018 – thomasbopedersen – A new must-read book for decision makers, donors and everyone else dealing with one of the worst man-made disasters in modern history. READ THE FULL REVIEW

May 31, 2018 – KPFA Radio– Fifty years later, babies in Vietnam are still being born disabled by U.S.-sprayed Agent Orange. We hear what’s being done to take responsibility. LISTEN TO INTERVIEW WITH Kris Welch

May 28, 2018 – Forbes – While honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice during war, Memorial Day also presents an opportunity for Americans to reflect upon the loss of life because of war. READ THE FULL REVIEW BY Nicole Fisher

May 28, 2018 – In this eye-opening and profound interview, Dr. Charles Bailey, a leading authority on Agent Orange remind us the importance of reconciliation and healing, and what all citizens can do to bring this about. LISTEN TO INTERVIEW WITH Christina Nitschmann

May 28, 2018 – The Green Blues Show Between 1961 and 1970, US forces sprayed twenty million gallons of herbicide across Vietnam, over ten thousand square miles of the country. Why? To deny forest cover and food to enemy troops. Also, to clear sight lines for US forces. The most common defoliant – Agent Orange – was contaminated with a highly toxic chemical called dioxin. LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW

May 24, 2018 – Legiontown – Two leading experts on Agent Orange and its aftermath have been working tirelessly to explore both current scientific understanding of the chemical and some promising solutions to addressing the consequences of its use. READ THE FULL REVIEW

Apr 25, 2018 – AsAmNews, a community of users interested in reading, learning and commenting on news, events, people & issues in the Asian Americans and Pacific Islander communities, provides a glowing review of the book, From Enemies to Partners: Vietnam, the U.S. and Agent Orange. READ THE FULL REVIEW BY Brittney Le

April 22, 2018 – Citizen Truth – As we mark Earth Day this Sunday, we remember the first Earth Day in 1970. That year saw another landmark event: President Nixon brought to an end to the spraying of Agent Orange in Vietnam. READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY Charles R. Bailey

April 17, 2018 – The VVA Veteran – The national magazine of Vietnam Veterans of America reviews From Enemies to Partners: Vietnam, the U.S. and Agent Orange. READ THE FULL REVIEW BY Henry Zeybel

April 5, 2018 – Today’s Honoree – Recognized for his work to mobilize attention and resources in the United States around the effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam. READ THE FULL REVIEW

March 7, 2018 – The Environmental Magazine – Roddy Scheer provides a succinct review of “From Enemies to Partners” agreeing it is not too late to clean up our toxic mess. READ THE FULL REVIEW

City Pass Guide – The lack of definitive intragenerational medical studies, paired with the lack of funding from the US government to care programs for the disabled, has not been an oversight. READ THE FULL BLOG BY Keely Burkey

Charles Bailey talks about faith, practice, and the legacy of Agent Orange.

Cleaning up the toxic legacy that was left behind in Da Nang, and at other sites by the U.S., is an ongoing process and a moral reckoning.

Vietnam Reporting Project fellow and CBS5 anchor/reporter travels to Vietnam to report on the impact of Agent Orange on Vietnam, 35 years after the end of the war.

Over a decade of war in Vietnam, the United States sprayed about 20 million gallons of Agent Orange, a defoliant linked to cancers, birth defects and other diseases.

Agent Orange was a herbicide mixture used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Much of it contained a dangerous chemical contaminant called dioxin.

The most effective approach to reduce the legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam is to focus assistance to health and disabilities services to heavil-sprayed areas and hot spots.

Agent Orange was one of a class of color-coded herbicides that U.S. forces sprayed over the rural landscape in Vietnam from 1961 to 1971.

Understanding the terms used around Agent Orange in Vietnam

CNN report unveils the devastating effects of Agent Orange in children in a photo series – “Effects of Agent Orange ‘ Ongoing Silently’ in Children.”

Sailors from a U.S. aircraft carrier on Wednesday visited a Vietnamese shelter for people suffering from the effects of Agent Orange, a chemical used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War to destroy foliage. READ THE FULL PIECE BY Minh Nguyen in Reuters

Oscar-Nominated Documentary: Chau, a teenager living in a Ho Chi Minh care center for children disabled by Agent Orange, battles with the reality of his dream to one day become a professional artist. Screened at the United Nations, NY (2016) Screened at the United States Senate, Washington DC (2017)

Vietnam and the U.S. have kickstarted the process of cleaning up the dioxin around Bien Hoa Airport, a heavily contaminated zone just outside Ho Chi Minh City. READ THE FULL PIECE in the VN Express International Photo courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi

Just a few years ago, the runway where Trump and other world leaders arrived was heavily contaminated with a highly toxic chemical the United States had used during the Vietnam War. Now, thanks to a years-long transnational cleanup effort advanced by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the soil around the airport is on track to be decontaminated within a few months. READ THE FULL PIECE BY Elizabeth Hewitt

HANOI, Vietnam — Visiting Vietnam for the first time, President Trump arrived for an economic summit meeting on Friday in a country still grappling with the legacy of its war with the United States two generations ago — land mines and Agent Orange, and some three million people killed. READ THE FULL PIECE BY Hannah Beech in The New York Times Photo credit: Quinn Ryan Mattingly/The New York Times

Phan Thanh Hung Duc, 20, lies immobile and silent, his midsection covered haphazardly by a white shirt with an ornate Cambodian temple design. His mouth is agape and his chest thrusts upward, his hands and feet locked in gnarled deformity. He appears to be frozen in agony. He is one of the thousands of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange. READ THE FULL PIECE BY Viet Thanh Nguyen and Richard Hughes Photo credit: Hokyoung Kim