Veterans’ debate continues over use of Agent Orange in Vietnam

Friday, Nov. 8, 2002 | 3:24 a.m.

Vietnam veteran Ed Gobel, who suffers from several crippling ailments related to his exposure to the jungle defoliant Agent Orange, openly displays a disdain for what happened 35 years ago.

"Our government killed its own troops," he says.

But other Vietnam veterans such as James Thomas, who also has health problems related to the spraying of the herbicide, says that while he is angry the government initially lied about the potential harmful effects of Agent Orange, many veterans are alive today because the chemical destroyed the thick vegetation from which the North Vietnamese hid and cut U.S. troops to ribbons.

Ralph Licon suffers from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma related to Agent Orange, yet he seems unfazed by such debate and is thankful for every day he has to enjoy with his wife, Ursula, a survivor of Nazi Germany. They know adversity and they play the hand they have been dealt with great optimism.

These are the faces of Agent Orange, a term that has become familiar and frightening.

As the United States stands on the verge of war with Iraq, a country that used chemical warfare in a lengthy war with Iran, questions arise as to how our government will protect and later treat a future generation of veterans from health complications they may one day face.

On Veterans Day Monday, at 11 a.m., Agent Orange-exposed veterans will be honored during a ceremony at the Council of Nevada Veterans Organizations Lowden Veterans Museum at Desert Inn Road and Cambridge Street. The ceremony also will recognize 70 widows and orphans of Agent Orange veterans and three local Veterans Affairs Department doctors who treat Agent Orange patients.

"We decided to honor Agent Orange veterans this year while there are still a few of us around to honor," said Gobel, director of CONVO and an Army veteran. "Unlike the veterans of World War II and other wars, we were attacked by our own government. Our government killed its own troops.

The Veterans Affairs Department says about 737,000 Vietnam veterans receive disability payments. Of those only 7,520 receive disability checks for Agent Orange-related causes, the VA says.

Gobel argues that such figures are part of the government's long-running effort to keep the American public in the dark about how Agent Orange is killing off his generation of veterans.

"I've seen so many people die from Agent Orange. We opened our Vietnam War room at the museum two years ago. Twenty-six Vietnam veterans attended and were honored. I can't think of one of them who is alive today."

Agent Orange-spraying missions were flown in Vietnam between January 1965 and April 1970. The chemical gets its name from the orange stripe on the barrels.

Several herbicides were sprayed in Vietnam, but the 19 million gallons of Agent Orange that was dropped from planes accounted for 60 percent of the herbicides. The last batches of Agent Orange -- about 2.5 million gallons -- were destroyed in 1977.

After several years of government denial about the possible harmful effects of Agent Orange, the VA developed the Agent Orange Registry Examination Program in 1978 to identify exposure. In 1981 the VA offered priority medical care to Vietnam veterans with any health problems resulting from exposure.

Several diseases are now linked to Agent Orange, including diabetes, chloracne, Hodgkin's disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, porphyria cutanea tarda, respiratory cancers including lung, bronchus, larynx and trachea, soft-tissue sarcoma, acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy and prostate cancer.

Because Agent Orange was so widely used, the VA presumes that anyone who served in Vietnam and has those diseases was exposed to the defoliant.

Benefits are also provided to children of Vietnam veterans who suffer from spina bifida, a congenital birth defect of the spine. Agent Orange also has been linked to post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other mental ailments suffered by veterans.

Up until this past week, the issue of responsibility had been settled with the Agent Orange Product Liability class action lawsuit settled out-of-court in 1984 for $180 million. About 52,000 Vietnam veterans and survivors each received on average about $3,800.

Just last week, however, the Supreme Court allowed two cancer-stricken Vietnam veterans to reopen a challenge against the chemical companies over exposure to Agent Orange. The companies include chemical giants Dow and Monsanto.

However, things like lawsuits and placing blame no longer are an obsession with a number of veterans. Some just want history to separate the heroes from the villains.

Thomas, 56, a special education teacher, served with Lt. Elmo Zumwalt III, son of Adm. Elmo Zumwalt Jr., aboard the Navy swift boats that patrolled the riverbanks. The younger Zumwalt's death from Agent Orange-related causes brought the controversy to light and resulted in the admiral becoming a national crusader for the rights of Agent Orange victims.

"The admiral was lied to when he asked his superiors if there was any potential danger to the men from the spraying of Agent Orange," Thomas said.

"I believe that if we had been given the choice, we would have said use Agent Orange. The question is, would you rather clear the jungle of the vegetation where the enemy is hiding and killing your troops in large numbers or not do it because of potential harmful effects 30 years from now?

"You'd choose to use it because if you didn't chances were you wouldn't see another 30 years. I know it is the unpopular view among many Vietnam veterans, but Agent Orange saved our lives."

Bernice Kahakua was married to two Vietnam veterans who suffered from ailments related to Agent Orange -- one suffered such depression it destroyed their marriage, the other endured great physical pain and died last year, 11 months into their marriage.

She says that while so much attention is paid to the veterans who have Agent Orange exposure, so little is given to the spouses who also carry a heavy burden. In her case, one of her children has spina bifida and her first husband came home a different man psychologically.

"The depression, mood swings, the flashbacks -- you see such changes in a man who is only in his 20s and there is so little you can do," she said.

Dr. Alan Myers, an internal medicine specialist with the local VA clinic, said exposure to Agent Orange is not necessarily a death sentence.

"It all depends on where you served in Vietnam, how much exposure you got to it and other factors," said Myers, who along with fellow VA doctors Gagandeep Suri and Ramanujam Komanduri will be recognized at Monday's ceremony.

And what about the potential contamination for tomorrow's veterans from today's wars?

"We at the VA will have to rely on the first line of defense -- that is the front-line doctors -- and take our cue from them," Myers said. "Hopefully, Iraq will not use such weapons for fear of retaliation."