Are the Impacts of Vietnam Fading, is it Possible?

How can the U.S. decry human rights violations as it fails to be responsible a war that should never have been waged in the first place?

Airman fills tanks of a C-123 at Da Nang with defoliation spray. Photo credit: U.S. Air Force

(DA NANG, Vietnam) - (Editor's note: Our correspondent in Vietnam receives a great amount of feedback in his efforts to help people affected by the chemical Agent Orange manufactured by Monsanto. His contribution is an interchange of dialog on some of the key points of the Vietnam War.)

The following comment that began this dialog is from a source that we are choosing not to name:

"Let it go, Brother. Your attention to figures can scramble your brain. And don't think 58,000 Americans died in vain in Viet Nam. There were lessons to learn and a need for this for the U.S. to realize the limits of its power. Viet Nam didn't matter in the scheme of things and it wouldn't have made any difference to the vast majority of us, regardless of the outcome."

But I responded and told him I would publicize. He was writing to me in response to my asking for stats re: how many of are left, how many disabled, etc. This is my reply:

I appreciate what you have said, and I agree with you to an extent. But to never let anyone believe our brothers and sisters have died in vain, I for one, cannot ever let it go. Yes, I have let many things go - including the fact that I was an 18 year old kid thrust into a war that I had no idea was about - except I came from an era and was told, by my dad, friends, and of course the US Government that we had to fight the spread of communism. What crap, I am sure you would agree.

You see, in my opinion, Vietnam does matter in the scheme of things, especially when it comes to facts and figures - and more important, what continues to occur in Iraq and the current escalation in Afghanistan. You cannot fix what you cannot measure. It might be easy for some to forget what the US did in Vietnam, the loss of the 58,000 plus, the daily deaths as a result of the collateral damage known as Agent Orange, even now, 40 years later - but unless we remind each other, continue to educate people, we as humanity are destined to make the same mistakes, the same war crimes, and the same money making schemes we did back then. Yes, perhaps we have learned some lessons, but Monsanto continues to be a multi-billion dollar company and the US refuses to admit its war crimes.

Look at our sons and daughters, our friends, our allies, who are dying daily in Iraq and Afghanistan? Who knows how many years, how many generations, how many innocents as well as warriors will be affected - and for how long? We havent learned a thing as a nation, brother. My opinion - and perhaps many others as well.

I do appreciate your feedback, and thanks.

Semper Peace!

Chuck

The fact that light is still being shed on this topic is extremely important. The story has to keep on being told, and while war is war - how can the U.S. government decry human rights violations as it fails to stand up and take responsibility for the lives that have been torn apart because of a war that should never have been waged in the first place - along with the chemicals used to fight it?

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Chuck Palazzo is a Marine Corps Vietnam Veteran, the Interim Editor for Agent Orange, and a longtime Vietnam Veterans Against the War Member. Chuck Palazzo has spent years since the war studying the impacts and effects of Agent Orange, a defoliant chemical sprayed by the U.S. govt. on the jungles of Vietnam. He says Dioxins have been re-discovered to cause all sorts of damage to humans. These include Heart Disease, Parkinsonism, Diabetes etcetera. Dioxins are already known to produce serious birth defects and a variety of cancers. The chemical is still sold in Third World Countries and causing the same problems.

We at Salem-News.com welcome Chuck aboard and look forward to sharing more of his stories with our readers in the future.