OT: The Vietnam War on PBS

[bags27]

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.

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:

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'

 

[oldude]

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.

I have a business colleague who became a good friend. He served as an Army sniper in Vietnam. He was repeatedly exposed to Agent Orange, which everyone was told at the time was safe for humans.

Years later, after he was married he and his wife had a daughter that was born with a severe physical handicap. Subsequent research determined a direct connection between exposure to Agent Orange and subsequent birth defects for an exposed individual's children. It's one hell of a price to pay.

 

[Zorro]

"The Fog of War", Errol Morris' documentary on the career of and interviews with the then-85 year old Robert McNamara is a very good accompaniment to the Burns series, as is another documentary called "The Winter Soldier", which consists of interviews with a number of soldiers and marines just back from Nam. I believe that both of these are available on line. The Vietnam chapter in Barbara Tuchman's fascinating book, "The March of Folly" is a good short analysis of the whole disastrous event.

One comment; as far as "the North invading the South", it is important, I think, to keep in mind that there was not such entity as "South Viet Nam", until it was artificially created by the U.S. Although the U.S. was not a signee of the Geneva Accords, we did sign a protocol pledging to honor them. However, first under Eisenhower and increasingly under Kennedy, the U.S. undertook to sabotage the accords and finally refused to allow the country-wide election that was to have taken place on 1956, (and which all agree that Ho would have won in a landslide) instead holding an ersatz election in the South in which Diem, the erstwhile seminary student, was set up as the "elected President" of "South VietNam".

 

[CocoHusky]

I had a chance to meet General Hal Moore at a reunion at West Point in 2010. What a tremendous man and leader. "We Were Soldier" is also a great read. General Moore actually had a congressional appointment to the Naval Academy and good sense to find a different congressman willing to trade his Naval Academy appointment for one to West Point. Sadly General Moore passed away in February.

 

[bags27]

I had a chance to meet General Hal Moore at a reunion at West Point in 2010. What a tremendous man and leader. "We Were Soldier" is also a great read. General Moore actually had a congressional appointment to the Naval Academy and good sense to find a different congressman willing to trade his Naval Academy appointment for one to West Point. Sadly General Moore passed away in February.

Thanks so much, Coco: just bought and downloaded the book onto my Kindle.

 

[Hongster]

The whole Vietnam war really pisses me off.
The betrayal and clueless of US's leadership on Vietnam history and culture.
The atrocity that some US and S. Korean soldiers inflicted on innocent babies just beyond my comprehension as a human being.

 

[CocoHusky]

The whole Vietnam war really pisses me off.
The betrayal and clueless of US's leadership on Vietnam history and culture.
The atrocity that some US and S. Korean soldiers inflicted on innocent babies just beyond my compression as a human being.

The documentary does a great job of covering much of what frustrated you and many other about the war. Everything is covered from the duplicity of every administration involved, the atmosphere that changed some wholesome young men into baby killers, the division among families, and even highly decorated combat soldiers being changed into war protesters. This was America at it best & worst. America survived and many institutions like our Press and the professional Non-Commissioned officer corps in the Marines and the Army actually grew stronger out of the process.