Agent Orange
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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As a young man in the late Sixties, Greg Davis served for three years in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. The area where he was stationed was one of many throughout the country sprayed by the military, as part of its counterinsurgency strategy, with millions of gallons of defoliants, including Agent Orange, which contains dioxin, the most toxic chemical known to man.
After his military service, Davis married and worked for decades as a photojournalist for Time and other publications worldwide. In 2003, at the age of 54, he died from liver cancer, believed to be the result of his exposure to Agent Orange. Produced by Davis's widow, AGENT ORANGE chronicles the history of this lethally toxic herbicide, tracing its effects not only on her husband and other U.S. servicemen but also on the environment and continuing generations of Vietnamese.
Davis's personal experiences - recounted through photos and audio recordings, archival footage, reminiscences by his widow and a fellow photographer - are complemented by U.S. Army films declaring the defoliants to be 'harmless to man.' AGENT ORANGE also documents the broader human tragedy, featuring interviews with Vietnamese doctors, a U.S. Army veteran who has returned to do humanitarian work in Vietnam, and heartrending scenes of generations of Vietnamese children with congenital disabilities or physical deformities.
More than three decades after the spraying of Agent Orange was discontinued, dioxin still contaminates the Vietnamese environment and its traces can now be found in the body of everyone living in the country. AGENT ORANGE concludes by discussing a 2005 lawsuit on behalf of Vietnamese victims, naming Dow Chemical and Monsanto among 37 other firms, brought before a Federal Court in New York City.
'This moving video, lovingly crafted by Sakata from recent and historic footage and photographs, is both a fitting memorial to Davis and a thoughtful exploration of the legacy of dioxin contamination... Highly recommended for adult collections in history, Asian studies, and the environment.' -Library Journal
'A remarkable film... Sakata's moving film brought back to me memories of the Vietnam War, the war of my generation, with great poignancy and power.' -Roger Pulvers, The Japan Times
'A visual poem... beautifully shot, well-composed... The film features heroes and heroines possessing wisdom, courage and fortitude beyond imagination.' -Joan Widdifield, KUSF, San Francisco
Citation
Main credits
Sakata, Masako (Producer)
Sakata, Masako (Film editor)
Sakata, Masako (Cinematographer)
Megalos, Bill (Producer)
Other credits
Camera, editing by Masako Sakata; composer, Tadashi Namba; translation, Vu Ngoc Anh, Vu Cuong.
Distributor subjects
Asia; Environment; Ethics; Health Issues; Southeast Asia; Vietnam; Vietnam EraKeywords
WEBVTT
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.650 align:middle line:90%
00:00:12.650 --> 00:00:16.129 align:middle line:84%
The gentlest
protest song I know.
00:00:16.129 --> 00:00:19.770 align:middle line:84%
It doesn\'t protest gently,
but it sounds gentle.
00:00:19.770 --> 00:00:22.590 align:middle line:84%
It\'s called \"What Have
They Done to the Rain.\"
00:00:22.590 --> 00:00:26.055 align:middle line:84%
[MUSIC - JOAN BAEZ, \"WHAT HAVE
THEY DONE TO THE RAIN\"]
00:00:26.055 --> 00:00:30.015 align:middle line:90%
00:00:30.015 --> 00:00:36.945 align:middle line:84%
Just a little rain
falling all around.
00:00:36.945 --> 00:00:44.370 align:middle line:84%
The grass lifts its head
to the heavenly sound.
00:00:44.370 --> 00:00:51.300 align:middle line:84%
Just a little rain,
just a little rain.
00:00:51.300 --> 00:00:55.755 align:middle line:90%
What have they done to the rain?
00:00:55.755 --> 00:00:58.725 align:middle line:90%
00:00:58.725 --> 00:01:07.204 align:middle line:84%
Just a little boy standing
in the rain, the gentle rain
00:01:07.204 --> 00:01:12.164 align:middle line:90%
that falls for years.
00:01:12.164 --> 00:01:16.132 align:middle line:90%
And the grass is gone.
00:01:16.132 --> 00:01:22.084 align:middle line:84%
The boy disappears,
and rain keeps
00:01:22.084 --> 00:01:27.044 align:middle line:90%
falling like helpless tears.
00:01:27.044 --> 00:01:32.004 align:middle line:84%
And what have they
done to the rain?
00:01:32.004 --> 00:01:35.000 align:middle line:90%
00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:36.730 align:middle line:90%
Just a little breeze.
00:01:36.730 --> 00:02:13.172 align:middle line:90%
00:02:13.172 --> 00:02:20.552 align:middle line:84%
And what have they
done to the rain?
00:02:20.552 --> 00:02:25.472 align:middle line:84%
And what have they
done to the rain?
00:02:25.472 --> 00:02:35.312 align:middle line:90%
00:02:35.312 --> 00:02:40.820 align:middle line:84%
It is late April, the most
beautiful season in Japan.
00:02:40.820 --> 00:02:43.040 align:middle line:84%
The cherry trees at our
home in the mountains
00:02:43.040 --> 00:02:45.600 align:middle line:90%
must be in full bloom.
00:02:45.600 --> 00:02:48.485 align:middle line:84%
But instead, Greg lies
in a hospital in Tokyo.
00:02:48.485 --> 00:02:51.140 align:middle line:90%
00:02:51.140 --> 00:02:53.720 align:middle line:84%
He was admitted 10 days
earlier complaining
00:02:53.720 --> 00:02:56.256 align:middle line:90%
of persistent stomach pain.
00:02:56.256 --> 00:03:01.515 align:middle line:90%
Everything, everything is OK.
00:03:01.515 --> 00:03:03.655 align:middle line:84%
I\'d like to see you,
have a couple of beers.
00:03:03.655 --> 00:03:06.740 align:middle line:90%
00:03:06.740 --> 00:03:09.468 align:middle line:90%
Have a long chat.
00:03:09.468 --> 00:03:12.270 align:middle line:90%
Yeah.
00:03:12.270 --> 00:03:14.970 align:middle line:84%
His condition
deteriorated quickly,
00:03:14.970 --> 00:03:19.200 align:middle line:84%
and the doctor\'s prognosis was
that he had less than a week.
00:03:19.200 --> 00:03:23.220 align:middle line:84%
I could not tell him that he
had only a short time to live.
00:03:23.220 --> 00:03:25.920 align:middle line:84%
I did not want him to live
without hope for the remaining
00:03:25.920 --> 00:03:26.610 align:middle line:90%
few days.
00:03:26.610 --> 00:03:31.040 align:middle line:90%
00:03:31.040 --> 00:03:33.620 align:middle line:90%
He passed away on May 4.
00:03:33.620 --> 00:03:35.690 align:middle line:90%
The diagnosis was liver cancer.
00:03:35.690 --> 00:03:39.980 align:middle line:90%
00:03:39.980 --> 00:03:42.650 align:middle line:84%
It all happened so
quickly I could not
00:03:42.650 --> 00:03:44.540 align:middle line:90%
figure out what was going on.
00:03:44.540 --> 00:03:48.340 align:middle line:90%
00:03:48.340 --> 00:03:53.170 align:middle line:84%
Greg had always been
strong, healthy, and active.
00:03:53.170 --> 00:03:56.640 align:middle line:90%
His sudden death left me lost.
00:03:56.640 --> 00:04:00.090 align:middle line:84%
My life ahead alone seemed
so long and meaningless.
00:04:00.090 --> 00:04:10.030 align:middle line:90%
00:04:10.030 --> 00:04:14.200 align:middle line:90%
Greg and I met in Kyoto in 1970.
00:04:14.200 --> 00:04:20.188 align:middle line:84%
It was a time of student unrest,
and change was in the air.
00:04:20.188 --> 00:04:22.570 align:middle line:84%
I was a student at
Kyoto University,
00:04:22.570 --> 00:04:25.270 align:middle line:84%
and Greg had come to
Japan after serving
00:04:25.270 --> 00:04:27.365 align:middle line:90%
in Vietnam for three years.
00:04:27.365 --> 00:04:29.590 align:middle line:84%
At 18, I\'d left
suburbia, tripping
00:04:29.590 --> 00:04:31.730 align:middle line:84%
into the dusty,
corrupting enlightenment
00:04:31.730 --> 00:04:35.027 align:middle line:84%
of the bloody Vietnam
War, never to return.
00:04:35.027 --> 00:04:39.850 align:middle line:84%
Liberated, I enthusiastically
abandoned my previous lives.
00:04:39.850 --> 00:04:42.300 align:middle line:84%
I have, metaphorically,
ever since,
00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:46.702 align:middle line:84%
floated through time--
present, past, and future.
00:04:46.702 --> 00:04:49.186 align:middle line:90%
I became an exile.
00:04:49.186 --> 00:04:54.980 align:middle line:84%
I was working all over
Vietnam, from Danang to Saigon.
00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:58.785 align:middle line:90%
Everywhere, Pleiku, Nha Trang.
00:04:58.785 --> 00:05:03.250 align:middle line:84%
During Tet of \'68, I
was in Danang, Hue area.
00:05:03.250 --> 00:05:07.870 align:middle line:84%
We were overrun by the North
Vietnamese and the Vietcong.
00:05:07.870 --> 00:05:10.356 align:middle line:90%
For three days.
00:05:10.356 --> 00:05:13.637 align:middle line:84%
And that was the most
dangerous situation.
00:05:13.637 --> 00:05:16.379 align:middle line:90%
00:05:16.379 --> 00:05:17.716 align:middle line:90%
A lot of people were killed.
00:05:17.716 --> 00:05:28.640 align:middle line:90%
00:05:28.640 --> 00:05:31.000 align:middle line:84%
Greg had gone back
to America briefly
00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:34.330 align:middle line:84%
after his duty ended, but
he was deeply disappointed
00:05:34.330 --> 00:05:38.110 align:middle line:84%
and hurt by how he was received
by the American people,
00:05:38.110 --> 00:05:40.840 align:middle line:84%
and decided that he
did not belong there.
00:05:40.840 --> 00:05:42.850 align:middle line:84%
The first thing
that happened was I
00:05:42.850 --> 00:05:44.860 align:middle line:90%
went to San Francisco Airport.
00:05:44.860 --> 00:05:47.740 align:middle line:84%
That\'s where you got out,
the military sent us.
00:05:47.740 --> 00:05:50.800 align:middle line:84%
We were in San Francisco,
not the airport.
00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:52.980 align:middle line:84%
And then somebody yelled
something like baby killer
00:05:52.980 --> 00:05:55.396 align:middle line:84%
and threw a Coke at me, which
is interesting, because they
00:05:55.396 --> 00:05:56.830 align:middle line:90%
threw a Coke at me.
00:05:56.830 --> 00:06:00.044 align:middle line:84%
Because that is the
symbol of capitalism.
00:06:00.044 --> 00:06:01.960 align:middle line:84%
I suppose they were right
to a certain degree,
00:06:01.960 --> 00:06:04.126 align:middle line:84%
because obviously in the
Vietnam War babies did die,
00:06:04.126 --> 00:06:06.454 align:middle line:84%
and you were there, you
were part and parcel of it.
00:06:06.454 --> 00:06:09.070 align:middle line:84%
But, nevertheless, I never
personally did anything
00:06:09.070 --> 00:06:10.960 align:middle line:90%
like that.
00:06:10.960 --> 00:06:15.840 align:middle line:84%
Then I was assaulted, not
physically, but intellectually
00:06:15.840 --> 00:06:20.210 align:middle line:84%
by various people, such
as people who would say,
00:06:20.210 --> 00:06:21.210 align:middle line:90%
I was in the Korean War.
00:06:21.210 --> 00:06:22.300 align:middle line:90%
You guys didn\'t do enough.
00:06:22.300 --> 00:06:24.488 align:middle line:84%
You should\'ve killed
those commie bastards,
00:06:24.488 --> 00:06:28.385 align:middle line:84%
you hippie yippie
commie pinko bastards.
00:06:28.385 --> 00:06:30.530 align:middle line:84%
And when you sit there
and try to explain to them
00:06:30.530 --> 00:06:35.930 align:middle line:84%
the realities, they wouldn\'t
listen, because I was only 21.
00:06:35.930 --> 00:06:38.576 align:middle line:84%
I still had to show an
ID to drink the beer,
00:06:38.576 --> 00:06:41.414 align:middle line:84%
\'cause I looked
young for my age.
00:06:41.414 --> 00:06:43.830 align:middle line:84%
And then I would have the other
side say that I was a baby
00:06:43.830 --> 00:06:45.985 align:middle line:84%
killer, and nobody
would listen to you,
00:06:45.985 --> 00:06:49.280 align:middle line:84%
because you had no
credentials other than having
00:06:49.280 --> 00:06:51.974 align:middle line:84%
had the experience, and
nobody will listen to somebody
00:06:51.974 --> 00:06:54.246 align:middle line:90%
without the experience.
00:06:54.246 --> 00:06:55.370 align:middle line:90%
So it was very frustrating.
00:06:55.370 --> 00:06:58.737 align:middle line:90%
[GENTLE MUSIC]
00:06:58.737 --> 00:07:03.550 align:middle line:90%
00:07:03.550 --> 00:07:06.670 align:middle line:84%
Soon after we met, Greg
told me that we could not
00:07:06.670 --> 00:07:09.040 align:middle line:84%
have children, because
he had been exposed
00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:11.200 align:middle line:90%
to defoliants in Vietnam.
00:07:11.200 --> 00:07:13.660 align:middle line:84%
But I did not give
it much thought.
00:07:13.660 --> 00:07:16.750 align:middle line:84%
After all, having a family
was not foremost in our minds
00:07:16.750 --> 00:07:20.140 align:middle line:84%
at the time, and the notion
of exposure to defoliants
00:07:20.140 --> 00:07:22.870 align:middle line:84%
was not real to me, a
young student living
00:07:22.870 --> 00:07:25.120 align:middle line:90%
in peaceful post-war Japan.
00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:27.910 align:middle line:84%
It was nothing more than
headlines in the newspapers.
00:07:27.910 --> 00:07:39.130 align:middle line:90%
00:07:39.130 --> 00:07:42.790 align:middle line:84%
Aside from that first time,
his exposure to defoliants
00:07:42.790 --> 00:07:45.035 align:middle line:90%
never came up again between us.
00:07:45.035 --> 00:07:48.670 align:middle line:84%
In fact, he was very reluctant
to talk about his experiences
00:07:48.670 --> 00:07:50.890 align:middle line:90%
in Vietnam.
00:07:50.890 --> 00:07:54.760 align:middle line:84%
As time passed, I became
more aware of the deep scars
00:07:54.760 --> 00:07:58.220 align:middle line:84%
the Vietnam War
had left on Greg.
00:07:58.220 --> 00:08:02.150 align:middle line:84%
This made him strongly
anti-war and anti-authority,
00:08:02.150 --> 00:08:04.790 align:middle line:84%
convictions that guided
him throughout his career
00:08:04.790 --> 00:08:06.452 align:middle line:90%
as a photojournalist.
00:08:06.452 --> 00:08:12.850 align:middle line:90%
00:08:12.850 --> 00:08:16.900 align:middle line:84%
He covered Asia primarily for
many international magazines,
00:08:16.900 --> 00:08:19.900 align:middle line:84%
including Time, for
which he was a contract
00:08:19.900 --> 00:08:24.390 align:middle line:90%
photographer for over 10 years.
00:08:24.390 --> 00:08:27.750 align:middle line:84%
In the early \'80s, he was one
of the first photographers
00:08:27.750 --> 00:08:29.415 align:middle line:90%
to return to post-war Vietnam.
00:08:29.415 --> 00:08:31.930 align:middle line:90%
00:08:31.930 --> 00:08:35.250 align:middle line:84%
He went back to Vietnam
at every opportunity,
00:08:35.250 --> 00:08:38.490 align:middle line:84%
as if he was trying to get
something out of his system
00:08:38.490 --> 00:08:41.580 align:middle line:84%
by immersing himself in the
country that had transformed
00:08:41.580 --> 00:08:46.260 align:middle line:84%
him from a naive and innocent
middle-class American teenager
00:08:46.260 --> 00:08:49.520 align:middle line:84%
into a man,
introspective and free
00:08:49.520 --> 00:08:53.150 align:middle line:84%
of the confines of his
native country, its culture,
00:08:53.150 --> 00:08:54.200 align:middle line:90%
and prejudices.
00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:57.670 align:middle line:90%
00:08:57.670 --> 00:08:59.340 align:middle line:90%
He truly loved Vietnam.
00:08:59.340 --> 00:09:02.805 align:middle line:90%
[SOFT MUSIC]
00:09:02.805 --> 00:09:14.690 align:middle line:90%
00:09:14.690 --> 00:09:17.420 align:middle line:84%
Philip Jones Griffiths
is a photographer
00:09:17.420 --> 00:09:19.670 align:middle line:84%
whose book \"Vietnam
Inc,\" published
00:09:19.670 --> 00:09:23.960 align:middle line:84%
in 1971, exerted a
profound influence
00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:27.030 align:middle line:84%
on the anti-Vietnam
War movement.
00:09:27.030 --> 00:09:30.530 align:middle line:84%
He was a colleague of
Greg\'s for 25 years.
00:09:30.530 --> 00:09:33.200 align:middle line:84%
They traveled together
on many photo assignments
00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:34.996 align:middle line:90%
in Southeast Asia.
00:09:34.996 --> 00:09:36.830 align:middle line:84%
He was the first
one to point out
00:09:36.830 --> 00:09:40.190 align:middle line:84%
to me that Greg\'s illness
was likely related
00:09:40.190 --> 00:09:43.040 align:middle line:90%
to his exposure to Agent Orange.
00:09:43.040 --> 00:09:48.680 align:middle line:84%
I first met Greg Davis
in the late \'70s,
00:09:48.680 --> 00:09:52.160 align:middle line:84%
probably \'77, I
think, in South Korea.
00:09:52.160 --> 00:09:56.930 align:middle line:84%
And I remember
thinking, wow, what
00:09:56.930 --> 00:09:59.360 align:middle line:84%
an amazingly different
sort of American,
00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:03.805 align:middle line:84%
because, unlike most
photojournalists who
00:10:03.805 --> 00:10:06.770 align:middle line:84%
would stay in the
best hotel, he was
00:10:06.770 --> 00:10:09.230 align:middle line:84%
very happy to be staying
in a little Korean hotel,
00:10:09.230 --> 00:10:10.986 align:middle line:90%
sleeping on the floor.
00:10:10.986 --> 00:10:13.010 align:middle line:84%
And as I got to
know him I realized
00:10:13.010 --> 00:10:18.350 align:middle line:84%
he was a born anarchist, in
the best possible meaning
00:10:18.350 --> 00:10:20.500 align:middle line:90%
of that word, anarchist.
00:10:20.500 --> 00:10:23.870 align:middle line:90%
He believed nothing he was told.
00:10:23.870 --> 00:10:26.900 align:middle line:84%
He automatically looked
behind the facade.
00:10:26.900 --> 00:10:29.200 align:middle line:84%
He automatically
questioned everything.
00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:33.149 align:middle line:84%
And I thought, wow, this
chap is really interesting.
00:10:33.149 --> 00:10:40.980 align:middle line:90%
00:10:40.980 --> 00:10:43.590 align:middle line:84%
You know, when I think
everybody-- when we said on,
00:10:43.590 --> 00:10:45.220 align:middle line:90%
when was it, September 14?
00:10:45.220 --> 00:10:47.070 align:middle line:90%
We said democracy is dead.
00:10:47.070 --> 00:10:50.230 align:middle line:84%
It is dead, because
information is a lie.
00:10:50.230 --> 00:10:51.460 align:middle line:90%
Like burkas.
00:10:51.460 --> 00:10:53.604 align:middle line:84%
They never wore burkas
except during Taliban time.
00:10:53.604 --> 00:10:54.270 align:middle line:90%
That\'s bullshit.
00:10:54.270 --> 00:10:55.290 align:middle line:90%
They never flew kites.
00:10:55.290 --> 00:10:56.270 align:middle line:90%
They never wore makeup.
00:10:56.270 --> 00:10:57.430 align:middle line:90%
That\'s all I\'m saying.
00:10:57.430 --> 00:10:59.590 align:middle line:84%
And today our driver,
our interpreter
00:10:59.590 --> 00:11:02.427 align:middle line:84%
is saying he had a TV
during the Taliban time.
00:11:02.427 --> 00:11:04.760 align:middle line:84%
You see, the thing is it\'s
not what the politicians say,
00:11:04.760 --> 00:11:06.410 align:middle line:84%
and the military commanders
say, or Bush says.
00:11:06.410 --> 00:11:07.368 align:middle line:90%
That\'s about it for me.
00:11:07.368 --> 00:11:09.010 align:middle line:90%
It\'s what our driver says.
00:11:09.010 --> 00:11:10.950 align:middle line:90%
It\'s what the guards say.
00:11:10.950 --> 00:11:12.410 align:middle line:90%
It\'s what our interpreter says.
00:11:12.410 --> 00:11:14.560 align:middle line:84%
And it\'s what people
in the streets say.
00:11:14.560 --> 00:11:17.220 align:middle line:84%
And they will tell you
what it is happening.
00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:18.970 align:middle line:84%
And you just go through
border checkpoints
00:11:18.970 --> 00:11:22.120 align:middle line:90%
and you discover it yourself.
00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:25.170 align:middle line:84%
Now he didn\'t talk
much about his past.
00:11:25.170 --> 00:11:30.390 align:middle line:84%
He was conscripted into the Army
at a relatively early age, came
00:11:30.390 --> 00:11:36.452 align:middle line:84%
to Vietnam, realized immediately
that it didn\'t make sense,
00:11:36.452 --> 00:11:38.160 align:middle line:84%
there was something
very wrong about what
00:11:38.160 --> 00:11:39.540 align:middle line:90%
America was doing there.
00:11:39.540 --> 00:11:44.010 align:middle line:84%
He told me that, very
often, he was sprayed,
00:11:44.010 --> 00:11:48.300 align:middle line:84%
because the amount of
spraying was very heavy
00:11:48.300 --> 00:11:49.635 align:middle line:90%
in that part of the country.
00:11:49.635 --> 00:11:52.950 align:middle line:90%
00:11:52.950 --> 00:11:55.500 align:middle line:84%
He mentioned this in the
context of why he never
00:11:55.500 --> 00:11:58.020 align:middle line:84%
had any children
with his wife Masako.
00:11:58.020 --> 00:12:01.770 align:middle line:84%
He explained that
he knew he\'d been
00:12:01.770 --> 00:12:07.308 align:middle line:84%
sprayed so often having children
was just too much of a risk.
00:12:07.308 --> 00:12:17.064 align:middle line:84%
And it was tragic that at
an early age, 54 years old,
00:12:17.064 --> 00:12:17.855 align:middle line:90%
his liver explodes.
00:12:17.855 --> 00:12:29.410 align:middle line:90%
00:12:29.410 --> 00:12:31.930 align:middle line:84%
Unable to cope with Greg\'s
sudden disappearance
00:12:31.930 --> 00:12:36.970 align:middle line:84%
from my life, I needed to find
out why he had to die so early.
00:12:36.970 --> 00:12:41.074 align:middle line:90%
00:12:41.074 --> 00:12:46.850 align:middle line:84%
If Indochina goes, several
things happen right away.
00:12:46.850 --> 00:12:49.070 align:middle line:84%
The Kra Peninsula,
the last little bit
00:12:49.070 --> 00:12:53.660 align:middle line:84%
of end hanging on down there
would be scarcely defensible.
00:12:53.660 --> 00:12:58.340 align:middle line:84%
The tin and the tungsten that we
so greatly value from that area
00:12:58.340 --> 00:12:59.630 align:middle line:90%
would cease coming.
00:12:59.630 --> 00:13:04.100 align:middle line:84%
So when the United States votes
$400 million to help that war,
00:13:04.100 --> 00:13:06.440 align:middle line:84%
we\'re not voting for
a giveaway program.
00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:08.480 align:middle line:84%
We are voting for
the cheapest way
00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:11.690 align:middle line:84%
that we can prevent the
occurrence of something that
00:13:11.690 --> 00:13:14.170 align:middle line:84%
would be of the most
terrible significance
00:13:14.170 --> 00:13:17.870 align:middle line:84%
to the United States of
America-- our security.
00:13:17.870 --> 00:13:20.780 align:middle line:84%
In the 1950s, the
American government
00:13:20.780 --> 00:13:25.490 align:middle line:84%
began increasing its involvement
in the war in Indochina.
00:13:25.490 --> 00:13:29.520 align:middle line:84%
As the revolutionary movement
intensified in South Vietnam,
00:13:29.520 --> 00:13:32.180 align:middle line:84%
the American government
started to use defoliants
00:13:32.180 --> 00:13:34.420 align:middle line:90%
in the battle zones.
00:13:34.420 --> 00:13:39.530 align:middle line:84%
The first spraying of chemicals
was carried out in August 1961,
00:13:39.530 --> 00:13:43.700 align:middle line:84%
on the northern side of Kon
Tum, along national highway 14,
00:13:43.700 --> 00:13:48.770 align:middle line:84%
destroying mountain vegetation
and agricultural fields.
00:13:48.770 --> 00:13:53.690 align:middle line:84%
Within two hours, all plants
sprayed withered and died.
00:13:53.690 --> 00:13:57.470 align:middle line:84%
The test was considered
a great success.
00:13:57.470 --> 00:14:03.500 align:middle line:84%
This program, originally called
Operation Hades, had two aims--
00:14:03.500 --> 00:14:06.890 align:middle line:84%
to defoliate the trees to
facilitate surveillance,
00:14:06.890 --> 00:14:10.190 align:middle line:84%
and to destroy crops in order
to cut off the guerrilla\'s food
00:14:10.190 --> 00:14:13.430 align:middle line:90%
supply at the source.
00:14:13.430 --> 00:14:15.500 align:middle line:84%
The spraying of
defoliants continued
00:14:15.500 --> 00:14:19.490 align:middle line:84%
for 10 years, during which
time some 19 million gallons
00:14:19.490 --> 00:14:23.900 align:middle line:84%
of defoliants were dispersed on
12% of the territory of South
00:14:23.900 --> 00:14:24.920 align:middle line:90%
Vietnam.
00:14:24.920 --> 00:14:29.330 align:middle line:84%
Of this total, 12 million
gallons were Agent Orange.
00:14:29.330 --> 00:14:32.360 align:middle line:84%
It was called Agent Orange
because of the orange band
00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:34.890 align:middle line:90%
painted on the drum cans.
00:14:34.890 --> 00:14:39.530 align:middle line:84%
The defoliant contained
dioxin, the most toxic chemical
00:14:39.530 --> 00:14:40.985 align:middle line:90%
ever invented by humans.
00:14:40.985 --> 00:14:44.020 align:middle line:90%
00:14:44.020 --> 00:14:46.920 align:middle line:84%
The idea of making a
documentary on Agent Orange
00:14:46.920 --> 00:14:50.940 align:middle line:84%
came to me a few months
after Greg\'s death.
00:14:50.940 --> 00:14:53.850 align:middle line:84%
I started to read many
books on the subject,
00:14:53.850 --> 00:14:57.240 align:middle line:84%
and was startled to find
out that many American
00:14:57.240 --> 00:15:00.750 align:middle line:84%
and Vietnamese veterans of the
Vietnam War were suffering from
00:15:00.750 --> 00:15:02.420 align:middle line:90%
symptoms similar to Greg\'s.
00:15:02.420 --> 00:15:07.030 align:middle line:90%
00:15:07.030 --> 00:15:09.820 align:middle line:84%
Going through the photos
of our happy times,
00:15:09.820 --> 00:15:14.780 align:middle line:84%
I came across some snapshots
that I had forgotten about.
00:15:14.780 --> 00:15:16.760 align:middle line:84%
These were pictures
Greg took while he
00:15:16.760 --> 00:15:19.470 align:middle line:90%
was in Vietnam as a soldier.
00:15:19.470 --> 00:15:22.070 align:middle line:84%
He had shown them
to me before, but I
00:15:22.070 --> 00:15:25.730 align:middle line:84%
remember wondering why he
thought them important.
00:15:25.730 --> 00:15:28.810 align:middle line:90%
Now they meant more to me.
00:15:28.810 --> 00:15:32.350 align:middle line:84%
But how was I going to find
out anything more about them
00:15:32.350 --> 00:15:36.800 align:middle line:84%
more than 30 years
after they were shot?
00:15:36.800 --> 00:15:40.700 align:middle line:84%
I remembered Greg had told me
recently of a surprise phone
00:15:40.700 --> 00:15:45.230 align:middle line:84%
call from his buddy during the
Vietnam War, Mark Lundgren, who
00:15:45.230 --> 00:15:49.310 align:middle line:84%
had lived near us in Kyoto
for several years in the \'70s,
00:15:49.310 --> 00:15:51.135 align:middle line:84%
and now lived
somewhere in the US.
00:15:51.135 --> 00:15:53.700 align:middle line:90%
00:15:53.700 --> 00:15:58.230 align:middle line:84%
I looked up his phone number
and called an Oregon number.
00:15:58.230 --> 00:16:03.360 align:middle line:84%
I was not sure it would still
be in use, but I reached him.
00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:06.360 align:middle line:84%
When I showed him the
photos, he immediately
00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:09.840 align:middle line:84%
confirmed that they were of
the base in Long Thanh, where
00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:16.041 align:middle line:84%
Greg was stationed from
late 1969 to April of 1970.
00:16:16.041 --> 00:16:18.310 align:middle line:84%
So I was there a
month after he left.
00:16:18.310 --> 00:16:20.280 align:middle line:84%
But when I was there,
I looked around
00:16:20.280 --> 00:16:22.500 align:middle line:90%
and that was enough for me.
00:16:22.500 --> 00:16:23.556 align:middle line:90%
What did it look?
00:16:23.556 --> 00:16:31.770 align:middle line:84%
It was, like if this table was
all a wood, rubber plantations,
00:16:31.770 --> 00:16:36.255 align:middle line:84%
and just trees and jungle, here
was Long Thanh right there.
00:16:36.255 --> 00:16:41.880 align:middle line:84%
And all the way around it,
there was just nothing growing.
00:16:41.880 --> 00:16:46.110 align:middle line:84%
It was just dirt road
in, dirt road out.
00:16:46.110 --> 00:16:48.840 align:middle line:84%
Mark was also sent to
the base, but could not
00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:51.790 align:middle line:84%
bear the sight of it, and
he trekked back to Saigon
00:16:51.790 --> 00:16:53.010 align:middle line:90%
the next day.
00:16:53.010 --> 00:16:58.640 align:middle line:84%
He was sure that the area was
sprayed with Agent Orange.
00:16:58.640 --> 00:17:04.520 align:middle line:84%
I had visited Vietnam with Greg
a number of times in the \'80s.
00:17:04.520 --> 00:17:07.790 align:middle line:84%
Stories he had told me
in passing back then
00:17:07.790 --> 00:17:09.395 align:middle line:90%
now came flooding back to mind.
00:17:09.395 --> 00:17:11.950 align:middle line:90%
00:17:11.950 --> 00:17:14.859 align:middle line:84%
I wanted to see for
myself the places where
00:17:14.859 --> 00:17:18.849 align:middle line:90%
he had experienced the war.
00:17:18.849 --> 00:17:23.050 align:middle line:84%
In July 2004, I asked
Philip to accompany me
00:17:23.050 --> 00:17:25.690 align:middle line:90%
on a trip to Vietnam.
00:17:25.690 --> 00:17:28.980 align:middle line:84%
He had recently published
a book on Agent Orange,
00:17:28.980 --> 00:17:31.440 align:middle line:84%
and he continues to
be deeply concerned
00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:33.750 align:middle line:84%
about the aftereffects
of Agent Orange,
00:17:33.750 --> 00:17:35.590 align:middle line:90%
30 years after the war ended.
00:17:35.590 --> 00:17:41.610 align:middle line:90%
00:17:41.610 --> 00:17:45.780 align:middle line:84%
I had no idea what to
expect on our Vietnam trip.
00:17:45.780 --> 00:17:49.170 align:middle line:84%
I thought we would have to
look for Agent Orange victims
00:17:49.170 --> 00:17:53.140 align:middle line:84%
in the corners and nooks of
the countryside in Vietnam.
00:17:53.140 --> 00:17:56.040 align:middle line:84%
Instead, I found
they were everywhere,
00:17:56.040 --> 00:17:59.070 align:middle line:84%
so immediate and present,
in the countryside
00:17:59.070 --> 00:18:00.405 align:middle line:90%
as well as in the cities.
00:18:00.405 --> 00:18:03.490 align:middle line:90%
00:18:03.490 --> 00:18:06.640 align:middle line:84%
In some villages, you
could hear the moans
00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:09.480 align:middle line:90%
just walking down the lanes.
00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:12.990 align:middle line:84%
Elsewhere, victims were
living in households nearly
00:18:12.990 --> 00:18:15.116 align:middle line:90%
side-by-side.
00:18:15.116 --> 00:18:18.560 align:middle line:90%
[MAN BREATHES]
00:18:18.560 --> 00:18:22.510 align:middle line:90%
00:18:22.510 --> 00:18:26.350 align:middle line:84%
One of the goals of our trip
was to find the site of the base
00:18:26.350 --> 00:18:29.900 align:middle line:84%
where Greg was likely
exposed to Agent Orange.
00:18:29.900 --> 00:18:34.230 align:middle line:84%
Long Thanh is located near
Bien Hoa, which was a major US
00:18:34.230 --> 00:18:37.090 align:middle line:90%
base during the war.
00:18:37.090 --> 00:18:40.000 align:middle line:84%
Arriving in the
area, I asked around,
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.590 align:middle line:84%
showing the pictures to older
people who might remember.
00:18:44.590 --> 00:18:47.590 align:middle line:84%
Finally, we came across
[? Phan ?] [? Van ?] [? Hoa, ?]
00:18:47.590 --> 00:18:49.860 align:middle line:90%
who could take us to the spot.
00:18:49.860 --> 00:18:54.730 align:middle line:84%
The area is now used by
the Vietnamese military.
00:18:54.730 --> 00:18:57.990 align:middle line:84%
Trees have been planted, and
the area once so desolate
00:18:57.990 --> 00:18:59.910 align:middle line:90%
is now green.
00:18:59.910 --> 00:19:02.590 align:middle line:84%
But the dioxin-containing
Agent Orange
00:19:02.590 --> 00:19:07.660 align:middle line:84%
penetrated deep into the
soil, cells, and molecules.
00:19:07.660 --> 00:19:09.850 align:middle line:84%
I was suddenly
surrounded by its legacy.
00:19:09.850 --> 00:19:15.740 align:middle line:90%
00:19:15.740 --> 00:19:18.690 align:middle line:84%
The Bien Hoa area remains
one of the hottest spots
00:19:18.690 --> 00:19:21.390 align:middle line:90%
for dioxin contamination today.
00:19:21.390 --> 00:19:23.820 align:middle line:84%
The Long Thanh district
has a population
00:19:23.820 --> 00:19:29.220 align:middle line:84%
of 230,000, of whom some 1,000
children and adults suffer
00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:31.278 align:middle line:90%
the aftereffects of defoliants.
00:19:31.278 --> 00:20:46.630 align:middle line:90%
00:20:46.630 --> 00:20:49.450 align:middle line:84%
The Tu Du Hospital
in Ho Chi Minh city
00:20:49.450 --> 00:20:53.110 align:middle line:84%
is one of Vietnam\'s major
maternity hospitals.
00:20:53.110 --> 00:20:56.410 align:middle line:84%
It is crowded with
happy expectant mothers,
00:20:56.410 --> 00:20:59.422 align:middle line:84%
and families taking their
newborn babies home.
00:20:59.422 --> 00:21:02.620 align:middle line:84%
But the hospital is
also home to a facility
00:21:02.620 --> 00:21:04.610 align:middle line:90%
called the Peace Village.
00:21:04.610 --> 00:21:07.120 align:middle line:84%
Here, there are more
than 100 children
00:21:07.120 --> 00:21:11.270 align:middle line:84%
suffering a range of
dioxin-related disabilities.
00:21:11.270 --> 00:21:15.611 align:middle line:84%
Since \'65 to \'69, I
was still a student
00:21:15.611 --> 00:21:17.595 align:middle line:90%
working in this hospital.
00:21:17.595 --> 00:21:25.410 align:middle line:84%
So that\'s when I was
surprised about the increased
00:21:25.410 --> 00:21:30.675 align:middle line:84%
incidence of those
malformations and diseases.
00:21:30.675 --> 00:21:37.560 align:middle line:84%
But I really didn\'t
know what was the cause.
00:21:37.560 --> 00:21:43.620 align:middle line:84%
But after \'75, when the veterans
group, American veterans group,
00:21:43.620 --> 00:21:46.930 align:middle line:84%
came here, and then
at that time only I
00:21:46.930 --> 00:21:54.030 align:middle line:84%
realized that there were some
problems with the human health
00:21:54.030 --> 00:22:00.310 align:middle line:84%
because of the spraying of
toxic chemical substances
00:22:00.310 --> 00:22:02.852 align:middle line:90%
during war time in Vietnam.
00:22:02.852 --> 00:22:09.130 align:middle line:84%
We sent the samples of
blood and the adipose tissue
00:22:09.130 --> 00:22:15.310 align:middle line:84%
of our patients with cancer, the
patients with deformed babies,
00:22:15.310 --> 00:22:19.230 align:middle line:90%
to Canada, to West Germany.
00:22:19.230 --> 00:22:28.260 align:middle line:84%
Very surprised result that show
that dioxin level in their body
00:22:28.260 --> 00:22:33.500 align:middle line:84%
is much, much higher than
in the North Vietnam,
00:22:33.500 --> 00:22:39.270 align:middle line:84%
or in the other regions
that haven\'t been exposed
00:22:39.270 --> 00:22:42.450 align:middle line:90%
to Agent Orange or dioxin.
00:22:42.450 --> 00:22:48.300 align:middle line:84%
The breast milk dioxin level
in breast milk, up to 1,450
00:22:48.300 --> 00:22:52.030 align:middle line:90%
PPT, parts per trillions.
00:22:52.030 --> 00:23:00.270 align:middle line:84%
It is very high, the highest
level in the human being
00:23:00.270 --> 00:23:07.516 align:middle line:84%
since the beginning
of the dioxin history.
00:23:07.516 --> 00:23:10.960 align:middle line:90%
[BABIES CRY]
00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:14.404 align:middle line:84%
Small children that I\'ve
seen in the Peace Village.
00:23:14.404 --> 00:23:18.056 align:middle line:84%
So they are being born
now, and their mothers,
00:23:18.056 --> 00:23:21.388 align:middle line:84%
although not necessarily
exposed, but maybe
00:23:21.388 --> 00:23:22.816 align:middle line:90%
their grandparents?
00:23:22.816 --> 00:23:26.830 align:middle line:84%
It means that their
mother or their father
00:23:26.830 --> 00:23:32.050 align:middle line:84%
may be exposed to dioxin
through the breastfeeding.
00:23:32.050 --> 00:23:32.927 align:middle line:90%
So third generation.
00:23:32.927 --> 00:23:39.460 align:middle line:84%
Yeah, the third generation in
Vietnam for many years already,
00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:41.362 align:middle line:90%
especially in the south.
00:23:41.362 --> 00:23:44.565 align:middle line:84%
And we teach the young
doctors, and the doctors,
00:23:44.565 --> 00:23:50.350 align:middle line:84%
and the midwives, to
do the ultrasound exam,
00:23:50.350 --> 00:23:54.896 align:middle line:84%
to teach them how
to detect very early
00:23:54.896 --> 00:23:58.940 align:middle line:84%
the congenital
malformations of the fetus,
00:23:58.940 --> 00:24:04.010 align:middle line:84%
so that we can remove them out
of the uterus before birth,
00:24:04.010 --> 00:24:10.390 align:middle line:84%
that we can avoid birth of
many deformed babies, children
00:24:10.390 --> 00:24:15.140 align:middle line:84%
that we have to take
care of, and it\'s really
00:24:15.140 --> 00:24:21.027 align:middle line:84%
a burden for our society as
well as for their family.
00:24:21.027 --> 00:24:24.506 align:middle line:90%
[CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC]
00:24:24.506 --> 00:24:51.344 align:middle line:90%
00:24:51.344 --> 00:24:54.823 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:24:54.823 --> 00:24:56.314 align:middle line:90%
00:24:56.314 --> 00:24:59.793 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:24:59.793 --> 00:25:07.260 align:middle line:90%
00:25:07.260 --> 00:25:11.310 align:middle line:84%
Nguyen Hong Loi
was born in 1987.
00:25:11.310 --> 00:25:13.950 align:middle line:84%
His parents lived
in Tay Ninh, an area
00:25:13.950 --> 00:25:17.190 align:middle line:90%
that was heavily sprayed.
00:25:17.190 --> 00:25:20.550 align:middle line:84%
He was born at Tu Du
Hospital, and has lived here
00:25:20.550 --> 00:25:23.400 align:middle line:90%
since he was six or seven.
00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:26.610 align:middle line:84%
His parents were too poor
to take care of him at home.
00:25:26.610 --> 00:25:30.026 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:25:30.026 --> 00:25:36.860 align:middle line:90%
00:25:36.860 --> 00:25:42.060 align:middle line:84%
Pham Thi Thuy Linh was born
in 1994 in Ho Chi Minh city.
00:25:42.060 --> 00:25:44.400 align:middle line:84%
Her grandfather
was an army officer
00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:46.760 align:middle line:84%
under the former
regime, and worked
00:25:46.760 --> 00:25:49.250 align:middle line:84%
on aircraft that
carried and dispersed
00:25:49.250 --> 00:25:52.960 align:middle line:90%
Agent Orange during the war.
00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:55.650 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:25:55.650 --> 00:25:58.860 align:middle line:84%
Mr. Nishimura, a
volunteer from Kobe,
00:25:58.860 --> 00:26:00.360 align:middle line:90%
teaches the children Japanese.
00:26:00.360 --> 00:26:03.666 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:26:03.666 --> 00:26:15.987 align:middle line:90%
00:26:15.987 --> 00:26:19.466 align:middle line:90%
[CHILDREN SINGING IN JAPANESE]
00:26:19.466 --> 00:26:41.334 align:middle line:90%
00:26:41.334 --> 00:26:44.813 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:26:44.813 --> 00:26:46.304 align:middle line:90%
00:26:46.304 --> 00:26:49.783 align:middle line:90%
[GENTLE MUSIC]
00:26:49.783 --> 00:27:36.650 align:middle line:90%
00:27:36.650 --> 00:27:41.210 align:middle line:84%
It is very difficult, but
they are very cheerful.
00:27:41.210 --> 00:27:43.362 align:middle line:90%
They don\'t know.
00:27:43.362 --> 00:27:49.670 align:middle line:84%
And sometimes I feel
very bad for them, pity,
00:27:49.670 --> 00:27:53.420 align:middle line:90%
and sometimes I cry for them.
00:27:53.420 --> 00:27:58.856 align:middle line:84%
They really don\'t know
about their future,
00:27:58.856 --> 00:28:02.279 align:middle line:90%
and they are very cheerful.
00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:05.702 align:middle line:90%
[TRIUMPHANT MUSIC]
00:28:05.702 --> 00:28:16.960 align:middle line:90%
00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:20.250 align:middle line:84%
A variety of tests were also
conducted in several localities
00:28:20.250 --> 00:28:21.470 align:middle line:90%
near Saigon.
00:28:21.470 --> 00:28:24.060 align:middle line:84%
Near Long Thanh, a
roadside was treated
00:28:24.060 --> 00:28:27.000 align:middle line:84%
with Dinoxol sprayed from
a Buffalo Turbine mounted
00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:29.550 align:middle line:90%
on a two and one half ton truck.
00:28:29.550 --> 00:28:32.760 align:middle line:84%
Results were considered
fair to excellent.
00:28:32.760 --> 00:28:35.250 align:middle line:84%
Those chemicals already
proven most effective
00:28:35.250 --> 00:28:37.320 align:middle line:84%
as defoliants will
continue to be
00:28:37.320 --> 00:28:41.220 align:middle line:84%
used until faster-acting
types can be developed.
00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:43.440 align:middle line:84%
It should be noted that
the chemicals, when
00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:46.620 align:middle line:84%
used appropriately,
are harmless to man
00:28:46.620 --> 00:28:49.740 align:middle line:84%
and do not render the
soil unfruitful beyond one
00:28:49.740 --> 00:28:51.840 align:middle line:90%
agricultural season.
00:28:51.840 --> 00:28:55.080 align:middle line:84%
Defoliant operations are
continuing on a daily basis
00:28:55.080 --> 00:28:57.120 align:middle line:90%
in the Republic of Vietnam.
00:28:57.120 --> 00:29:01.500 align:middle line:84%
Targets are vegetation along
lines of communication, roads,
00:29:01.500 --> 00:29:04.410 align:middle line:84%
canals, power lines,
and railroads.
00:29:04.410 --> 00:29:06.450 align:middle line:84%
The number of ambushes
in sprayed areas
00:29:06.450 --> 00:29:09.150 align:middle line:90%
has dropped to practically zero.
00:29:09.150 --> 00:29:11.780 align:middle line:84%
Military work has
thus been established.
00:29:11.780 --> 00:29:15.128 align:middle line:90%
[TRIUMPHANT MUSIC]
00:29:15.128 --> 00:29:24.910 align:middle line:90%
00:29:24.910 --> 00:29:28.420 align:middle line:84%
Professor Jeanne Megar
Stellman at Columbia University
00:29:28.420 --> 00:29:31.660 align:middle line:84%
has produced maps, based
on military flight records,
00:29:31.660 --> 00:29:34.450 align:middle line:84%
of when and where the
defoliants were dispersed
00:29:34.450 --> 00:29:38.110 align:middle line:90%
between 1963 and 1970.
00:29:38.110 --> 00:29:42.160 align:middle line:84%
Dr. Stellman estimates that as
many as four million Vietnamese
00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:44.500 align:middle line:90%
were exposed to the defoliants.
00:29:44.500 --> 00:29:46.720 align:middle line:84%
The central highland
of Vietnam is
00:29:46.720 --> 00:29:51.790 align:middle line:84%
an area where the spraying
was especially intense.
00:29:51.790 --> 00:29:55.780 align:middle line:84%
Quang Tri province is one
of the poorest in Vietnam,
00:29:55.780 --> 00:30:00.160 align:middle line:84%
and Cam Nghia is one of
its poorest villages.
00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:03.220 align:middle line:84%
It lies along route nine,
one of the main supply
00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:07.150 align:middle line:84%
routes during the war, and
the target of spraying.
00:30:07.150 --> 00:30:10.890 align:middle line:84%
Phillip calls it the
village of the damned.
00:30:10.890 --> 00:30:17.560 align:middle line:84%
By \'97 or \'98, a
friend of mine came
00:30:17.560 --> 00:30:21.890 align:middle line:84%
across a village
in central Vietnam
00:30:21.890 --> 00:30:26.710 align:middle line:84%
which had the highest
percentage of deformed children.
00:30:26.710 --> 00:30:31.180 align:middle line:84%
The water that came
down from the mountains
00:30:31.180 --> 00:30:33.430 align:middle line:84%
to the east side of
the A Shau Valley
00:30:33.430 --> 00:30:37.240 align:middle line:84%
ran down streams and
rivers into the Cam Nghia
00:30:37.240 --> 00:30:40.360 align:middle line:84%
area, which is
another reason why
00:30:40.360 --> 00:30:43.150 align:middle line:90%
it was heavily contaminated.
00:30:43.150 --> 00:30:45.790 align:middle line:84%
The actual spraying
maps show the way
00:30:45.790 --> 00:30:49.480 align:middle line:84%
in which Cam Nghia
was sprayed regularly.
00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:54.270 align:middle line:84%
All of those reasons means
that the people in Cam Nghia
00:30:54.270 --> 00:30:57.430 align:middle line:84%
were well and truly doused with
Agent Orange during the war.
00:30:57.430 --> 00:31:00.430 align:middle line:90%
00:31:00.430 --> 00:31:04.360 align:middle line:84%
The poverty of the village
is immediately apparent.
00:31:04.360 --> 00:31:06.820 align:middle line:84%
We visited huts
where, often, children
00:31:06.820 --> 00:31:09.370 align:middle line:84%
with different disabilities
and deformities
00:31:09.370 --> 00:31:10.660 align:middle line:90%
lie on the dirt floor.
00:31:10.660 --> 00:31:55.687 align:middle line:90%
00:31:55.687 --> 00:31:59.096 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:31:59.096 --> 00:35:49.643 align:middle line:90%
00:35:49.643 --> 00:35:53.024 align:middle line:90%
[GENTLE MUSIC]
00:35:53.024 --> 00:35:57.371 align:middle line:90%
00:35:57.371 --> 00:36:00.160 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:36:00.160 --> 00:36:27.044 align:middle line:90%
00:36:27.044 --> 00:36:30.530 align:middle line:90%
[GENTLE MUSIC]
00:36:30.530 --> 00:37:58.889 align:middle line:90%
00:37:58.889 --> 00:38:02.312 align:middle line:90%
[CHILDREN CHATTER]
00:38:02.312 --> 00:38:09.158 align:middle line:90%
00:38:09.158 --> 00:38:12.290 align:middle line:84%
In the towns and
villages of Quang Tri,
00:38:12.290 --> 00:38:15.290 align:middle line:84%
and across the former
demilitarized zone,
00:38:15.290 --> 00:38:18.020 align:middle line:84%
I was to encounter
many more families,
00:38:18.020 --> 00:38:21.290 align:middle line:84%
sometimes with more than
one child with disabilities
00:38:21.290 --> 00:38:24.850 align:middle line:90%
and deformities.
00:38:24.850 --> 00:38:28.322 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:38:28.322 --> 00:38:47.980 align:middle line:90%
00:38:47.980 --> 00:38:51.680 align:middle line:84%
As I witnessed family
after family struggling
00:38:51.680 --> 00:38:54.980 align:middle line:84%
with a burden of caring
for these children,
00:38:54.980 --> 00:38:59.450 align:middle line:84%
I was moved by the love
and compassion that I saw,
00:38:59.450 --> 00:39:01.820 align:middle line:84%
and it was a healing
experience for me.
00:39:01.820 --> 00:40:01.047 align:middle line:90%
00:40:01.047 --> 00:40:05.230 align:middle line:84%
In Vietnam, I witnessed people
with extraordinary deformities
00:40:05.230 --> 00:40:12.750 align:middle line:84%
and handicaps, yet living a full
life, calmly accepting fate.
00:40:12.750 --> 00:40:15.940 align:middle line:84%
What they are asking
for is not revenge,
00:40:15.940 --> 00:40:18.460 align:middle line:90%
but practical and specific help.
00:40:18.460 --> 00:41:13.430 align:middle line:90%
00:41:13.430 --> 00:41:17.060 align:middle line:84%
A father whose son has
been bedridden for 18 years
00:41:17.060 --> 00:41:21.320 align:middle line:84%
asks only for a wheelchair, so
that he can sit in the garden
00:41:21.320 --> 00:41:23.350 align:middle line:90%
and look around.
00:41:23.350 --> 00:41:26.810 align:middle line:84%
It costs $50, which is
beyond the family\'s means.
00:41:26.810 --> 00:41:57.990 align:middle line:90%
00:41:57.990 --> 00:42:01.620 align:middle line:84%
Tran Quang Linh
is four years old.
00:42:01.620 --> 00:42:03.660 align:middle line:84%
Her grandfather
fought in the south
00:42:03.660 --> 00:42:04.935 align:middle line:90%
as a North Vietnamese soldier.
00:42:04.935 --> 00:42:10.490 align:middle line:90%
00:42:10.490 --> 00:42:13.370 align:middle line:84%
She\'s not expected to
live beyond 10 years old.
00:42:13.370 --> 00:42:22.680 align:middle line:90%
00:42:22.680 --> 00:42:25.980 align:middle line:84%
The town of Quang Tri is where
some of the fiercest fighting
00:42:25.980 --> 00:42:30.330 align:middle line:90%
took place in 1974.
00:42:30.330 --> 00:42:32.670 align:middle line:84%
Our guide,
[? Hoang, ?] who helped
00:42:32.670 --> 00:42:36.290 align:middle line:84%
us arrange visits to
the victims\' homes said,
00:42:36.290 --> 00:42:41.110 align:middle line:84%
now we will go to the house
of the boy with two heads.
00:42:41.110 --> 00:42:42.615 align:middle line:90%
I did not know what to expect.
00:42:42.615 --> 00:42:47.150 align:middle line:90%
00:42:47.150 --> 00:42:52.940 align:middle line:84%
10-year-old Hoa is an older
sister of this two-headed boy.
00:42:52.940 --> 00:42:56.210 align:middle line:84%
Her parents say she has
difficulty learning, which
00:42:56.210 --> 00:42:58.505 align:middle line:84%
may also have been
caused by Agent Orange.
00:42:58.505 --> 00:43:09.010 align:middle line:90%
00:43:09.010 --> 00:43:13.050 align:middle line:84%
Duyen, an eight-year-old
boy with a heavy deformity,
00:43:13.050 --> 00:43:16.150 align:middle line:90%
is the one we came to meet.
00:43:16.150 --> 00:43:18.870 align:middle line:84%
Though indeed very
heavily handicapped,
00:43:18.870 --> 00:43:21.060 align:middle line:84%
I did not find him
atrocious looking.
00:43:21.060 --> 00:44:28.550 align:middle line:90%
00:44:28.550 --> 00:44:33.180 align:middle line:84%
Duyen\'s father, Do
Duc, 36, is a farmer.
00:44:33.180 --> 00:44:36.120 align:middle line:84%
He makes about $200
a year growing rice
00:44:36.120 --> 00:44:39.570 align:middle line:90%
on his 200-square-meter land.
00:44:39.570 --> 00:44:44.190 align:middle line:84%
He has three children
with his wife Huong.
00:44:44.190 --> 00:44:47.550 align:middle line:84%
The eldest daughter
Hien, 12, helps him
00:44:47.550 --> 00:44:50.850 align:middle line:84%
with his farm work full time,
because her mother takes
00:44:50.850 --> 00:44:53.910 align:middle line:90%
care of Duyen around the clock.
00:44:53.910 --> 00:44:56.340 align:middle line:84%
Now she\'s helping her
father prepare rice
00:44:56.340 --> 00:44:59.130 align:middle line:90%
for sowing the following day.
00:44:59.130 --> 00:45:01.680 align:middle line:84%
Do Duc works as a laborer
between the two rice
00:45:01.680 --> 00:45:05.111 align:middle line:90%
harvests to earn extra money.
00:45:05.111 --> 00:45:08.950 align:middle line:84%
The pigs and ducks he
raises earn him $10 a month,
00:45:08.950 --> 00:45:11.482 align:middle line:90%
but life is never easy.
00:45:11.482 --> 00:45:14.814 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:45:14.814 --> 00:45:18.630 align:middle line:90%
00:45:18.630 --> 00:45:20.580 align:middle line:84%
Especially after
watching the loving care
00:45:20.580 --> 00:45:22.950 align:middle line:84%
the family gives
Duyen, I started
00:45:22.950 --> 00:45:26.580 align:middle line:90%
to feel very close to him, too.
00:45:26.580 --> 00:45:29.430 align:middle line:84%
He smiles, and the way he
responds to his mother\'s
00:45:29.430 --> 00:45:32.640 align:middle line:84%
attention made me think
what a handsome boy he
00:45:32.640 --> 00:45:36.755 align:middle line:84%
would have been had he been
born without deformity.
00:45:36.755 --> 00:45:40.220 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:45:40.220 --> 00:48:36.472 align:middle line:90%
00:48:36.472 --> 00:48:39.256 align:middle line:90%
[GENTLE MUSIC]
00:48:39.256 --> 00:48:42.642 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:48:42.642 --> 00:51:41.760 align:middle line:90%
00:51:41.760 --> 00:51:45.246 align:middle line:90%
[ENGINES ROAR]
00:51:45.246 --> 00:51:56.220 align:middle line:90%
00:51:56.220 --> 00:51:58.560 align:middle line:84%
Friendship Village
outside of Hanoi
00:51:58.560 --> 00:52:02.160 align:middle line:84%
was founded by an American
veteran, George Mizo,
00:52:02.160 --> 00:52:04.230 align:middle line:84%
who himself died
of causes thought
00:52:04.230 --> 00:52:08.920 align:middle line:84%
to be the result of
exposure to Agent Orange.
00:52:08.920 --> 00:52:12.180 align:middle line:84%
Many children with Agent
Orange related disabilities
00:52:12.180 --> 00:52:13.636 align:middle line:90%
are taken care of here.
00:52:13.636 --> 00:52:16.830 align:middle line:90%
00:52:16.830 --> 00:52:21.280 align:middle line:84%
Suel Jones is also an American
veteran of the Vietnam War
00:52:21.280 --> 00:52:23.470 align:middle line:84%
who is now the force
behind this village.
00:52:23.470 --> 00:52:25.990 align:middle line:90%
00:52:25.990 --> 00:52:30.880 align:middle line:84%
I arrived in Vietnam
in May of \'68,
00:52:30.880 --> 00:52:35.660 align:middle line:84%
and stayed here
until June of \'69.
00:52:35.660 --> 00:52:37.330 align:middle line:84%
I was with Third
Marine Division,
00:52:37.330 --> 00:52:40.830 align:middle line:84%
and we spent all of
our time along the DMZ,
00:52:40.830 --> 00:52:43.450 align:middle line:84%
the parallel between
the two countries.
00:52:43.450 --> 00:52:46.450 align:middle line:84%
As luck would have it, I
arrived at a time of probably
00:52:46.450 --> 00:52:48.790 align:middle line:90%
the most intense fighting.
00:52:48.790 --> 00:52:51.544 align:middle line:84%
We stayed in the
bush all the time.
00:52:51.544 --> 00:52:53.460 align:middle line:84%
We\'d go out for two or
three months at a time,
00:52:53.460 --> 00:52:57.070 align:middle line:84%
\'cause I was what they called a
Marine grunt, or infantry unit.
00:52:57.070 --> 00:53:01.480 align:middle line:84%
We were just constantly
out in the bush.
00:53:01.480 --> 00:53:06.190 align:middle line:84%
The DMZ area, the A Shau Valley
area, especially the A Shau,
00:53:06.190 --> 00:53:08.980 align:middle line:84%
because that\'s where part of the
Ho Chi Minh trail went through,
00:53:08.980 --> 00:53:10.330 align:middle line:90%
that was sprayed a great deal.
00:53:10.330 --> 00:53:14.347 align:middle line:84%
Highway nine, which went
across, was sprayed.
00:53:14.347 --> 00:53:15.430 align:middle line:90%
So, yeah, we were sprayed.
00:53:15.430 --> 00:53:16.430 align:middle line:90%
We would see the planes.
00:53:16.430 --> 00:53:18.280 align:middle line:90%
We were sprayed quite often.
00:53:18.280 --> 00:53:21.990 align:middle line:84%
We were always told that
it was mosquito spray.
00:53:21.990 --> 00:53:25.970 align:middle line:84%
And I\'m sure the people who
told us it was mosquito spray
00:53:25.970 --> 00:53:27.620 align:middle line:90%
was told.
00:53:27.620 --> 00:53:29.690 align:middle line:90%
They didn\'t know, either.
00:53:29.690 --> 00:53:33.890 align:middle line:84%
I live in a cabin
in Alaska, very
00:53:33.890 --> 00:53:40.190 align:middle line:84%
small cabin, very isolated, 65
miles from the closest town.
00:53:40.190 --> 00:53:41.780 align:middle line:84%
And I just realized
I was spending
00:53:41.780 --> 00:53:46.490 align:middle line:84%
all my time isolated,
and finally recognized
00:53:46.490 --> 00:53:47.630 align:middle line:90%
being in a depression.
00:53:47.630 --> 00:53:55.100 align:middle line:84%
And here I was, almost,
probably 50, 52, 53 years old.
00:53:55.100 --> 00:53:56.769 align:middle line:84%
And I decided you
have to do something.
00:53:56.769 --> 00:53:59.310 align:middle line:84%
You can\'t just sit out here the
rest of your life in a cabin,
00:53:59.310 --> 00:54:01.586 align:middle line:84%
and I put myself into
this program in Seattle.
00:54:01.586 --> 00:54:03.460 align:middle line:84%
And after that I started
feeling fairly good,
00:54:03.460 --> 00:54:07.010 align:middle line:84%
and I decided that I was
physically and mentally
00:54:07.010 --> 00:54:09.500 align:middle line:84%
strong enough to come
back and see Vietnam.
00:54:09.500 --> 00:54:12.050 align:middle line:90%
And that\'s when I returned.
00:54:12.050 --> 00:54:16.910 align:middle line:84%
During the war period, I
realized I never saw Vietnam.
00:54:16.910 --> 00:54:19.160 align:middle line:90%
I saw jungle trails.
00:54:19.160 --> 00:54:20.990 align:middle line:90%
But I never saw the country.
00:54:20.990 --> 00:54:22.912 align:middle line:90%
I never talked to--
00:54:22.912 --> 00:54:26.240 align:middle line:84%
I don\'t ever remember
talking to a Vietnamese,
00:54:26.240 --> 00:54:29.940 align:middle line:84%
or ever seeing one, really,
except at a distance.
00:54:29.940 --> 00:54:32.030 align:middle line:84%
I realized that I\'d been
living here fighting
00:54:32.030 --> 00:54:35.560 align:middle line:84%
and knew absolutely
nothing about this country,
00:54:35.560 --> 00:54:38.619 align:middle line:84%
and never even talked to
anybody from this country.
00:54:38.619 --> 00:54:40.160 align:middle line:84%
And I finally said
it was time for me
00:54:40.160 --> 00:54:41.880 align:middle line:84%
to come back and
know the country,
00:54:41.880 --> 00:54:44.930 align:middle line:90%
and find out what Vietnam was.
00:54:44.930 --> 00:54:46.130 align:middle line:90%
And what was it like?
00:54:46.130 --> 00:54:48.740 align:middle line:84%
What was your first
reaction to the second time?
00:54:48.740 --> 00:54:53.465 align:middle line:84%
Well, I think any vet who
comes back is fearful.
00:54:53.465 --> 00:54:55.340 align:middle line:84%
We don\'t know how we\'re
going to be received.
00:54:55.340 --> 00:54:58.810 align:middle line:90%
00:54:58.810 --> 00:55:00.810 align:middle line:84%
Personally, I have a lot
of guilt about Vietnam,
00:55:00.810 --> 00:55:02.601 align:middle line:84%
and I have a lot of
guilt about my country,
00:55:02.601 --> 00:55:04.925 align:middle line:84%
so I was really
very concerned about
00:55:04.925 --> 00:55:06.800 align:middle line:84%
if I was going to be
received well over here.
00:55:06.800 --> 00:55:08.320 align:middle line:90%
I had no idea.
00:55:08.320 --> 00:55:11.100 align:middle line:84%
But I just knew I
had to go find out.
00:55:11.100 --> 00:55:14.530 align:middle line:90%
[ENGINES ROAR]
00:55:14.530 --> 00:55:33.150 align:middle line:90%
00:55:33.150 --> 00:55:35.910 align:middle line:84%
We landed in Ho
Chi Minh, Saigon,
00:55:35.910 --> 00:55:37.710 align:middle line:90%
which I had never been to.
00:55:37.710 --> 00:55:42.270 align:middle line:84%
But I was in my hotel
room, and I said, OK.
00:55:42.270 --> 00:55:44.800 align:middle line:84%
You didn\'t come to Vietnam
to sit in your hotel.
00:55:44.800 --> 00:55:48.240 align:middle line:84%
Go walk around the block one
time, and see what it\'s like.
00:55:48.240 --> 00:55:49.685 align:middle line:90%
I was really scared.
00:55:49.685 --> 00:55:50.500 align:middle line:90%
So I did.
00:55:50.500 --> 00:55:53.840 align:middle line:84%
I finally got my courage and
I walked around the block.
00:55:53.840 --> 00:55:58.270 align:middle line:84%
And the very first
day, and this man,
00:55:58.270 --> 00:55:59.860 align:middle line:90%
a little bit younger than me--
00:55:59.860 --> 00:56:01.840 align:middle line:90%
I find now it\'s very typical--
00:56:01.840 --> 00:56:04.480 align:middle line:84%
came up to me and wanted
to know how old I was,
00:56:04.480 --> 00:56:06.994 align:middle line:84%
and if I was married, and
asked me the basic questions.
00:56:06.994 --> 00:56:08.410 align:middle line:84%
And finally, he
asked me, he says,
00:56:08.410 --> 00:56:11.260 align:middle line:84%
have you ever been
to Vietnam before?
00:56:11.260 --> 00:56:15.307 align:middle line:84%
And I said, well, yeah,
I was here in 1968.
00:56:15.307 --> 00:56:16.640 align:middle line:90%
I said I was with Third Marines.
00:56:16.640 --> 00:56:19.210 align:middle line:84%
And he looked at me, and he
pointed his finger at me,
00:56:19.210 --> 00:56:23.080 align:middle line:84%
and he said, well, you\'re
the enemy aren\'t you?
00:56:23.080 --> 00:56:24.990 align:middle line:90%
And my heart kind of dropped.
00:56:24.990 --> 00:56:27.780 align:middle line:84%
I really got scared, and I
said, yeah, I was the enemy.
00:56:27.780 --> 00:56:30.040 align:middle line:84%
And he put his arms around
me and gave me a big hug,
00:56:30.040 --> 00:56:31.373 align:middle line:90%
and he said, welcome to Vietnam.
00:56:31.373 --> 00:56:34.620 align:middle line:90%
00:56:34.620 --> 00:56:36.372 align:middle line:90%
I\'ve always been healthy.
00:56:36.372 --> 00:56:38.830 align:middle line:84%
Of course, you don\'t know what\'s
going on inside your body.
00:56:38.830 --> 00:56:42.570 align:middle line:84%
But I was very angry, but what
I was really angry about was
00:56:42.570 --> 00:56:45.810 align:middle line:84%
I was talking with
vets, American vets, who
00:56:45.810 --> 00:56:50.070 align:middle line:84%
had children in the \'70s being
born without legs and arms,
00:56:50.070 --> 00:56:55.060 align:middle line:84%
and the government was taking
absolutely no responsibility.
00:56:55.060 --> 00:56:56.770 align:middle line:84%
We\'re in the third
generation now.
00:56:56.770 --> 00:56:58.560 align:middle line:84%
These are not
children from the war.
00:56:58.560 --> 00:57:02.372 align:middle line:84%
These are children three
generations after the war,
00:57:02.372 --> 00:57:04.580 align:middle line:84%
and they get no help, because
these governments don\'t
00:57:04.580 --> 00:57:08.880 align:middle line:84%
have any money, and
the US is in denial.
00:57:08.880 --> 00:57:12.960 align:middle line:84%
It makes you realize
that wars don\'t end.
00:57:12.960 --> 00:57:15.502 align:middle line:90%
They just go on and on and on.
00:57:15.502 --> 00:57:19.154 align:middle line:84%
And that\'s why you
don\'t have wars.
00:57:19.154 --> 00:57:20.980 align:middle line:84%
There\'s some children,
for instance,
00:57:20.980 --> 00:57:23.540 align:middle line:90%
who are so mentally disabled.
00:57:23.540 --> 00:57:26.850 align:middle line:84%
If we can teach
him to stay clean,
00:57:26.850 --> 00:57:30.240 align:middle line:84%
or to feed themselves,
or to dress themselves,
00:57:30.240 --> 00:57:33.030 align:middle line:84%
that\'s one thing we can do to
help take some pressure off
00:57:33.030 --> 00:57:33.740 align:middle line:90%
of their mothers.
00:57:33.740 --> 00:57:35.070 align:middle line:90%
There\'s very little we can do.
00:57:35.070 --> 00:57:38.206 align:middle line:90%
00:57:38.206 --> 00:57:39.806 align:middle line:84%
My big goal, and
we\'re working at,
00:57:39.806 --> 00:57:41.805 align:middle line:84%
is trying to make the
Friendship Village as much
00:57:41.805 --> 00:57:45.341 align:middle line:90%
self-running as possible.
00:57:45.341 --> 00:57:45.841 align:middle line:90%
That\'s it.
00:57:45.841 --> 00:57:47.320 align:middle line:90%
Come on.
00:57:47.320 --> 00:57:50.970 align:middle line:84%
Suel has begun a program
to grow organic vegetables
00:57:50.970 --> 00:57:53.160 align:middle line:90%
at the village.
00:57:53.160 --> 00:57:57.090 align:middle line:84%
The children here are victims
of exposure to chemicals,
00:57:57.090 --> 00:58:01.170 align:middle line:84%
so they don\'t want to
use chemical fertilizers.
00:58:01.170 --> 00:58:03.360 align:middle line:84%
They hope in the future
to be able to sell
00:58:03.360 --> 00:58:05.670 align:middle line:84%
their produce to the
people in the area
00:58:05.670 --> 00:58:07.170 align:middle line:84%
and make some money
for the village.
00:58:07.170 --> 00:58:10.410 align:middle line:90%
00:58:10.410 --> 00:58:12.590 align:middle line:84%
Two young people
met at the village.
00:58:12.590 --> 00:58:15.930 align:middle line:84%
Truon Van Hoa had
severe leg problems.
00:58:15.930 --> 00:58:19.430 align:middle line:84%
Nguyen Thi Nhan
is deaf and mute.
00:58:19.430 --> 00:58:22.290 align:middle line:84%
The two fell in
love and married.
00:58:22.290 --> 00:58:26.220 align:middle line:84%
They now have a
perfectly healthy baby.
00:58:26.220 --> 00:58:28.410 align:middle line:84%
They were taught to
make artificial flowers
00:58:28.410 --> 00:58:30.180 align:middle line:90%
at the village.
00:58:30.180 --> 00:58:32.130 align:middle line:84%
Now they are living
with their family,
00:58:32.130 --> 00:58:35.220 align:middle line:84%
and they have taught them to
make artificial flowers, which
00:58:35.220 --> 00:58:38.430 align:middle line:90%
they sell in their village.
00:58:38.430 --> 00:58:40.500 align:middle line:90%
This is a success story.
00:58:40.500 --> 00:58:45.924 align:middle line:84%
Maybe it\'s only one,
Suel says, but it is one.
00:58:45.924 --> 00:58:47.926 align:middle line:90%
Aw, these are so beautiful.
00:58:47.926 --> 00:58:51.894 align:middle line:90%
00:58:51.894 --> 00:58:55.366 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:58:55.366 --> 00:58:57.360 align:middle line:90%
00:58:57.360 --> 00:58:59.850 align:middle line:84%
Everyone touched
by Agent Orange has
00:58:59.850 --> 00:59:04.740 align:middle line:84%
had to learn to heal the wounds
of war in his or her own way.
00:59:04.740 --> 00:59:06.500 align:middle line:84%
Yet the depth of
the trauma often
00:59:06.500 --> 00:59:10.890 align:middle line:84%
requires help beyond what
individuals can provide.
00:59:10.890 --> 00:59:14.190 align:middle line:84%
The Vietnam Association
for Victims of Agent Orange
00:59:14.190 --> 00:59:16.800 align:middle line:84%
began legal action
against the manufacturers
00:59:16.800 --> 00:59:19.410 align:middle line:84%
of the defoliants
used by US forces
00:59:19.410 --> 00:59:23.460 align:middle line:90%
during the war in January 2004.
00:59:23.460 --> 00:59:27.090 align:middle line:84%
Nguyen Van Quy, who lives in
Hai Phong with his wife and two
00:59:27.090 --> 00:59:29.910 align:middle line:84%
children, is one
of the plaintiffs.
00:59:29.910 --> 00:59:31.740 align:middle line:84%
As a North Vietnamese
soldier, he
00:59:31.740 --> 00:59:34.830 align:middle line:84%
was stationed in South Vietnam,
near the Ho Chi Minh trail,
00:59:34.830 --> 00:59:41.150 align:middle line:90%
between 1972 and 1975.
00:59:41.150 --> 00:59:47.750 align:middle line:84%
His son, Quang Tung, was born
in 1988 with spinal, limb,
00:59:47.750 --> 00:59:49.448 align:middle line:90%
and developmental impairments.
00:59:49.448 --> 00:59:53.120 align:middle line:90%
00:59:53.120 --> 00:59:56.060 align:middle line:84%
His daughter, Thi
Thuy Nga, was born
00:59:56.060 --> 01:00:02.280 align:middle line:84%
one year later, developmentally
disabled, deaf and dumb.
01:00:02.280 --> 01:00:06.110 align:middle line:84%
Quy himself was diagnosed
with stomach and liver cancer,
01:00:06.110 --> 01:00:08.051 align:middle line:90%
and recently with lung cancer.
01:00:08.051 --> 01:00:11.660 align:middle line:90%
01:00:11.660 --> 01:00:14.860 align:middle line:84%
Dioxin is an
environmental hormone--
01:00:14.860 --> 01:00:17.140 align:middle line:84%
that\'s how it\'s
classified these days--
01:00:17.140 --> 01:00:24.460 align:middle line:84%
that truly, truly
screws up human beings,
01:00:24.460 --> 01:00:28.100 align:middle line:84%
and animal life in general,
but particularly human beings.
01:00:28.100 --> 01:00:32.440 align:middle line:84%
And it comes-- you don\'t have to
be sprayed by the American Air
01:00:32.440 --> 01:00:35.210 align:middle line:84%
Force-- it comes from
a lot of other sources.
01:00:35.210 --> 01:00:39.430 align:middle line:84%
And in an attempt to
find out more about it,
01:00:39.430 --> 01:00:41.950 align:middle line:84%
and to work out whether there
could be some antidotes that
01:00:41.950 --> 01:00:45.220 align:middle line:84%
could be used, or how
to cut down on it,
01:00:45.220 --> 01:00:48.060 align:middle line:84%
the place to do the
research is Vietnam.
01:00:48.060 --> 01:00:49.630 align:middle line:84%
And, of course,
it\'s the one place
01:00:49.630 --> 01:00:52.900 align:middle line:90%
that America won\'t go near.
01:00:52.900 --> 01:00:55.360 align:middle line:84%
That\'s the place that
holds the answers, because
01:00:55.360 --> 01:00:57.507 align:middle line:84%
of this group that
wasn\'t sprayed,
01:00:57.507 --> 01:00:59.590 align:middle line:84%
and the group that was
sprayed, and the difference
01:00:59.590 --> 01:01:02.450 align:middle line:90%
between them.
01:01:02.450 --> 01:01:04.840 align:middle line:84%
The answers are to
be found in Vietnam.
01:01:04.840 --> 01:01:08.880 align:middle line:84%
But for political reasons,
and only political reasons,
01:01:08.880 --> 01:01:12.940 align:middle line:84%
the Americans won\'t go
there to do that research.
01:01:12.940 --> 01:01:14.320 align:middle line:84%
Because if they
did the research,
01:01:14.320 --> 01:01:16.420 align:middle line:84%
they would have to
pay compensation,
01:01:16.420 --> 01:01:21.970 align:middle line:84%
and that would
anywhere prove guilt.
01:01:21.970 --> 01:01:23.740 align:middle line:84%
When the spraying
of Agent Orange
01:01:23.740 --> 01:01:28.330 align:middle line:84%
was suspended in April
of 1970, the US Air Force
01:01:28.330 --> 01:01:32.920 align:middle line:84%
had an inventory of 1.37
million gallons of the herbicide
01:01:32.920 --> 01:01:35.410 align:middle line:90%
in South Vietnam.
01:01:35.410 --> 01:01:38.650 align:middle line:84%
In an operation named
Pacer Ho, all of it
01:01:38.650 --> 01:01:42.220 align:middle line:84%
was transferred to Johnston
Island in the South Pacific
01:01:42.220 --> 01:01:43.630 align:middle line:90%
in 1972.
01:01:43.630 --> 01:01:46.990 align:middle line:90%
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
01:01:46.990 --> 01:01:51.800 align:middle line:90%
01:01:51.800 --> 01:01:54.500 align:middle line:84%
After sitting in
storage for five years,
01:01:54.500 --> 01:01:58.250 align:middle line:84%
the Agent Orange was transferred
from old corroding drums
01:01:58.250 --> 01:02:01.100 align:middle line:84%
into new ones,
and then destroyed
01:02:01.100 --> 01:02:05.236 align:middle line:84%
aboard the Dutch incinerator
ship Vulcanus in 1977.
01:02:05.236 --> 01:02:08.687 align:middle line:90%
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
01:02:08.687 --> 01:02:10.670 align:middle line:90%
01:02:10.670 --> 01:02:14.360 align:middle line:84%
The United States Air Force was
required by the Environmental
01:02:14.360 --> 01:02:18.320 align:middle line:84%
Protection Agency to research
the environmental impact,
01:02:18.320 --> 01:02:24.075 align:middle line:84%
and impose strict safety
measures on this procedure.
01:02:24.075 --> 01:02:27.470 align:middle line:90%
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
01:02:27.470 --> 01:02:31.350 align:middle line:90%
01:02:31.350 --> 01:02:35.650 align:middle line:84%
Though some of the defoliants
were disposed of in this way,
01:02:35.650 --> 01:02:38.460 align:middle line:84%
the dioxin left in
the soil of Vietnam
01:02:38.460 --> 01:02:41.920 align:middle line:90%
is still very much in existence.
01:02:41.920 --> 01:02:45.000 align:middle line:84%
It is affecting three to four
million people in Vietnam
01:02:45.000 --> 01:02:45.978 align:middle line:90%
even today.
01:02:45.978 --> 01:02:49.401 align:middle line:90%
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
01:02:49.401 --> 01:03:06.030 align:middle line:90%
01:03:06.030 --> 01:03:08.760 align:middle line:84%
Also, we were young at
the time of the 1968,
01:03:08.760 --> 01:03:12.200 align:middle line:84%
\'69, \'70 revolution,
youth revolution,
01:03:12.200 --> 01:03:15.120 align:middle line:84%
where were actually fighting
against the older generation.
01:03:15.120 --> 01:03:17.940 align:middle line:84%
Now you have people
involved with video games
01:03:17.940 --> 01:03:20.574 align:middle line:90%
and fighting imaginary foes.
01:03:20.574 --> 01:03:21.990 align:middle line:84%
But you don\'t have
people actually
01:03:21.990 --> 01:03:25.560 align:middle line:84%
looking at politicians and the
environment and fighting that.
01:03:25.560 --> 01:03:28.680 align:middle line:84%
So they\'ve been diverted into
a whole another virtual reality
01:03:28.680 --> 01:03:30.450 align:middle line:90%
rather than real reality.
01:03:30.450 --> 01:03:34.170 align:middle line:84%
And it\'s very difficult
to get a bunch
01:03:34.170 --> 01:03:37.320 align:middle line:84%
of 20-year-olds or
30-year-olds to say, well, hey,
01:03:37.320 --> 01:03:39.780 align:middle line:84%
you know there are things
going on in our society that
01:03:39.780 --> 01:03:42.450 align:middle line:84%
are really, really
wrong, and why don\'t we
01:03:42.450 --> 01:03:46.620 align:middle line:90%
get them to see it?
01:03:46.620 --> 01:03:50.550 align:middle line:84%
Virtual reality has been
sold as the way to be cool.
01:03:50.550 --> 01:03:53.100 align:middle line:84%
I\'m cool because I have
the best virtual reality
01:03:53.100 --> 01:03:54.280 align:middle line:90%
thing in the world.
01:03:54.280 --> 01:03:56.190 align:middle line:84%
But nobody looks at the
reality around them--
01:03:56.190 --> 01:03:59.910 align:middle line:84%
the rivers, the mountains,
the streams, the air.
01:03:59.910 --> 01:04:03.240 align:middle line:84%
They don\'t consider that
this as being destroyed.
01:04:03.240 --> 01:04:05.550 align:middle line:90%
But you make a little mark.
01:04:05.550 --> 01:04:09.330 align:middle line:84%
Who knows, maybe something
changes, maybe it doesn\'t.
01:04:09.330 --> 01:04:12.795 align:middle line:90%
I don\'t know.
01:04:12.795 --> 01:04:21.100 align:middle line:84%
Where have all the soldiers
gone, long time passing?
01:04:21.100 --> 01:04:29.692 align:middle line:84%
Where have all the soldiers
gone, long time ago?
01:04:29.692 --> 01:04:33.850 align:middle line:84%
Where have all
the soldiers gone?
01:04:33.850 --> 01:04:38.028 align:middle line:90%
Gone to graveyards, every one.
01:04:38.028 --> 01:04:42.004 align:middle line:90%
Oh, when will they ever learn?
01:04:42.004 --> 01:04:46.477 align:middle line:90%
Oh, when will they ever learn?
01:04:46.477 --> 01:04:54.429 align:middle line:84%
Where have all the graveyards
gone, long time passing?
01:04:54.429 --> 01:05:02.878 align:middle line:84%
Where have all the graveyards
gone, long time ago?
01:05:02.878 --> 01:05:06.854 align:middle line:84%
Where have all the
graveyards gone?
01:05:06.854 --> 01:05:10.830 align:middle line:90%
Gone to flowers, every one.
01:05:10.830 --> 01:05:15.303 align:middle line:90%
Oh, when will they ever learn?
01:05:15.303 --> 01:05:19.279 align:middle line:90%
Oh, when will they ever learn?
01:05:19.279 --> 01:05:23.752 align:middle line:90%
01:05:23.752 --> 01:05:32.022 align:middle line:84%
Where have all the flowers
gone, long time passing?
01:05:32.022 --> 01:05:40.284 align:middle line:84%
Where have all the flowers
gone, long time ago?
01:05:40.284 --> 01:05:43.690 align:middle line:90%
Where have all the flowers gone?
01:05:43.690 --> 01:05:47.290 align:middle line:84%
Shortly before Greg
became fatally ill,
01:05:47.290 --> 01:05:50.680 align:middle line:84%
as we were turning off our
reading lights one night,
01:05:50.680 --> 01:05:54.250 align:middle line:84%
he said, you know,
I think the Universe
01:05:54.250 --> 01:05:57.100 align:middle line:90%
is like a whole big organism.
01:05:57.100 --> 01:05:59.590 align:middle line:90%
We are like little molecules--
01:05:59.590 --> 01:06:01.930 align:middle line:90%
we come and go.
01:06:01.930 --> 01:06:03.671 align:middle line:90%
I agreed, and we went to sleep.
01:06:03.671 --> 01:06:09.930 align:middle line:90%
01:06:09.930 --> 01:06:14.130 align:middle line:84%
After he passed away, I
constantly asked myself,
01:06:14.130 --> 01:06:16.770 align:middle line:90%
where did Greg go?
01:06:16.770 --> 01:06:21.230 align:middle line:84%
Then, in time, I came to realize
that he did not go anywhere,
01:06:21.230 --> 01:06:23.080 align:middle line:90%
for where could he have gone?
01:06:23.080 --> 01:06:29.500 align:middle line:90%
01:06:29.500 --> 01:06:33.970 align:middle line:84%
Always connected, we are all
part of one big thing, whatever
01:06:33.970 --> 01:06:36.870 align:middle line:90%
we choose to call it.
01:06:36.870 --> 01:06:38.820 align:middle line:84%
We may be helpless
little creatures
01:06:38.820 --> 01:06:42.160 align:middle line:84%
in the scheme of the
big thing, but we
01:06:42.160 --> 01:06:44.530 align:middle line:84%
are endowed with
immense power once we
01:06:44.530 --> 01:06:47.560 align:middle line:84%
come to recognize
how we human beings
01:06:47.560 --> 01:06:50.422 align:middle line:90%
are all we have for each other.
01:06:50.422 --> 01:06:53.838 align:middle line:90%
[GENTLE MUSIC]
01:06:53.838 --> 01:06:58.230 align:middle line:90%
01:06:58.230 --> 01:07:00.870 align:middle line:84%
Somewhere deep in the
soil, a seed of hope
01:07:00.870 --> 01:07:04.770 align:middle line:84%
is starting to
germinate, a seed that
01:07:04.770 --> 01:07:08.690 align:middle line:84%
has to be nurtured carefully,
for it is ever so frail.
01:07:08.690 --> 01:07:12.040 align:middle line:90%
[GENTLE MUSIC]
01:07:12.040 --> 01:09:59.397 align:middle line:90%
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 66 minutes
Date: 2007
Genre: Expository
Language: English; Vietnamese / English subtitles
Grade: 10-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
Interactive Transcript: Available
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