Hanoi - A group of nine Americans, Australians and
Vietnamese who walked the length of Vietnam to raise funds for
victims of Agent Orange were welcomed to Hanoi Monday after having
trudged 1,700 kilometers.
The walkers, who started out April 5 from an orphanage in Ho Chi
Minh City, raised about 10,000 dollars to distribute to Vietnamese
disabled by exposure to Agent Orange, the toxic defoliant the US
military sprayed on Vietnamese jungles during the Vietnam War.
'The walk is to let the world know that there is Agent Orange, and
that it is killing people,' said Bernie Duff, an American artist
living in Ho Chi Minh City who came up with the idea together with
his Vietnamese girlfriend, Bui Thi Bao Anh.
Dressed in orange T-shirts and shorts, the group walked every day
along Vietnam's main Highway 1. As articles were printed on them in
local media, they began to receive greetings and offers of help from
passers-by.
'We got a lot of thumbs-up and lots of smiles and recognition,'
said American Bob Schuessler, 62. 'By the end of the walk, some of
the highest people in the government and the [Communist] Party were
having us out for dinner.'
Duff, 58, served as a US Army medic in Vietnam in 1969 and said he
came into frequent contact with Agent Orange. He attributed a later
bout of skin cancer to exposure to the defoliant.
Scientific studies have indicated that exposure to dioxin, the
toxin in Agent Orange, is associated with higher rates of certain
kinds of cancers, liver and nervous system diseases, and genetic
damage.
Surveys in Vietnam have found that dioxin from Agent Orange has
largely disappeared from the environment but persists in heavily
exposed 'hot spots' and in certain parts of the food chain, such as
the fatty tissue in ducks.
Vietnam's government said millions of Vietnamese suffer
disabilities and disease because of Agent Orange exposure, but the US
government and many experts said those numbers are exaggerated, and
that it is almost impossible to trace any individual case to Agent
Orange.
'A lot of people are unaware that Agent Orange is still a
problem,' Schuessler said. 'They remember it was something bad we did
during the war, but when they learn that it's still going on, most
people are quite surprised.'
The group met with the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent
Orange/Dioxin in Hanoi Monday.
'Our Agent Orange victims not only need material help but also
very much moral help, spiritual help,' association official Nguyen
Minh Y said.
Y said that in some cases, Vietnamese disabled from dioxin
exposure are looked down upon by neighbors who hold the traditional
Buddhist belief that their suffering is punishment for bad deeds in
past lives.
The chemical companies that manufactured Agent Orange have paid
about 195 million dollars in damages to more than 50,000 American
veterans exposed to Agent Orange, but no Vietnamese has ever been
compensated by the companies or the US government. A lawsuit filed by
Vietnamese against the chemical companies was dismissed by a US
appeals court in February.
Schuessler said the walkers plans to repeat their effort on a
larger scale next year.
'At the beginning, we were worried that the police might give us
trouble because we didn't really have all the papers we needed,' he
said. 'I think once they found out our purpose was not something
political, the support grew, and I think for next year's walk, we
have no concern at all.'
USA
Your Talkback on this Story