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a terrifying story. I "liked" your contribution because of your compassion; obviously, not because "I like" the facts of what you wrote. But no one had any idea at the time that it wasn't really the case that there was "better living through chemistry." The man who ordered the spraying of Agent Orange paid a terrible, terrible personal price for it:I'm an oncology nurse. A few years ago while working night shift I was caring for a man who had been an infantryman in Vietnam during the years when the military was using Agent Orange. He was receiving treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a disease he and his oncologist believed was caused by his exposure to Agent Orange during the war. There was no definitive proof of causation in his case but, under the Agent Orange Act, non-HL is one of the cancers with a presumptive link to Agent Orange for Vietnam veterans.
One night at about 2 AM he puts his call light on and I check on him. He's sitting up in bed crying, asking me why his government would do that to him. I had no words, I just listened. He was discharged a few days later and I never saw him again. This week I thought about him and that night.
Elmo R. Zumwalt 3d, 42, Is Dead; Father Ordered Agent Orange Use
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., Aug. 13— Elmo R. Zumwalt 3d, son of the admiral who ordered the spraying of Agent Orange in Vietnam, and who was exposed to the defoliant himself, died of cancer today at his home. He was 42 years old.
The younger Mr. Zumwalt, a lawyer, said he never blamed his father for his disease. The two co-wrote a book titled ''My Father, My Son,'' published by Macmillan Publishing Company in 1986. It was made into a television movie with the same title.
Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. commanded naval forces in Vietnam from 1968-70, then served as Chief of Naval Operations until 1974, when he retired from active duty. His son served in Vietnam from June 1969 to August 1970 as a lieutenant junior grade commanding a patrol boat. Cancers and Child's Dysfunction
The younger Mr. Zumwalt was diagnosed in January 1983 as having lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. In February 1985, during his ninth biopsy, physicians discovered he also had Hodgkin's disease, another form of lymphoma marked by the inflammation of lymphoid tissues, especially the spleen.
Agent Orange contains highly toxic dioxin. Vietnam veterans contend that exposure to the defoliant causes cancer and other illnesses. They said it caused miscarriages by wives of servicemen and birth defects in their children.
The younger Mr. Zumwalt's son, Elmo Russell Zumwalt 4th, who is 11 years old, suffers from a congenital dysfunction that confuses his physical senses. 'Love and Admiration for Dad'