THE National Veterans Legal Services Program and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School recently released an update to a white paper they published last year on veterans who served on Guam from 1962 to 1975 being exposed to Agent Orange and other dioxin-containing herbicides.
Agent Orange was the most widely used herbicide by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War to eliminate forest cover and crops for Vietnamese troops.
It contained active ingredients and significant amounts of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, or TCDD, the most dangerous of all dioxins.
TCDD has immediate and long-term effects, including darkening of the skin, liver problems, type 2 diabetes, immune system dysfunction, nerve disorders, muscular dysfunction, hormone disruption, and heart disease.
It can also be linked to miscarriages, spina bifida, and fetal brain and nervous system development issues.
Numerous returning Vietnam veterans and their families began reporting these effects, and later found it to be linked to Agent Orange.
In 1978, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of 2.4 million veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange during their service in Vietnam.
Seven large chemical companies that manufactured the herbicide later agreed to pay $180 million in compensation to the veterans or their next of kin.
In 1991, President George H.W. Bush signed the Agent Orange Act into law, mandating that some diseases associated with Agent Orange and other herbicides be treated as the result of wartime service.
This helped codify the Veterans Affairs’ response to veterans with conditions related to their exposure to Agent Orange.
The recent update to the white paper expands the timeline to include veterans who served on Guam from 1958 to 1980, citing evidence derived from government, private, archival, and oral history of herbicide use on Guam during the Vietnam War era.
Moreover, it includes recent developments and information on herbicide usage, an Environmental Protection Agency soil sampling report published in July of last year, as well as recently-issued decisions of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.
The white paper is designed to aid veterans, veterans advocates, and lawmakers in their efforts to support claims of service connected to herbicide exposure, as well as to address unresolved health risks and military pollution on Guam.
During the Vietnam War, Guam was the base of about 75% of all aircraft available for operations in Southeast Asia.
Researchers conclude that there is existing evidence that veterans who served on Guam from 1958 to 1980 were exposed to Agent Orange and other dioxin-containing herbicides.
Exhaustive research found evidence supporting this conclusion, including official government documents describing widespread practices of herbicide spraying, mishandling, and improper disposal prior to enactment of federal hazardous waste regulations in 1976.
In addition, EPA soil sampling reports from 2018 and 2019 show traces of TCDD on Guam.
Furthermore, evidence also includes official accounts, empirical studies, and numerous individual affidavits confirming in detail, the storage, spraying, and disposal of Agent Orange and other toxic dioxin-containing herbicides on Guam.
Sites with significant exposure to these herbicides include the Guam cross-island fuel pipeline and road; certain areas linked to the Andersen Air Force Base; the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy fuel storage facilities and power stations; areas near Urunao Beach and Ritidian Point; military landfills, waste piles, and over-the-cliff dumpsites; firefighter training areas; and Polaris Point and submarine tender support facilities.
The report states that incomplete or destroyed Department of Defense records do not disprove the use of Agent Orange on Guam.
Both scientific and lay evidence, researchers said, establishes the exposure of these veterans to tactical and commercial herbicides.
