Agent Orange victims fly to US - Story taken from Viet Nam News
I spotted this article in the Viet Nam News today and thought it was worthy of a post given what I've seen on my travels and casual comments made by me in previous posts.
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=02SOC260908
Agent Orange victims fly to US
(26-09-2008)
HCM CITY — Representatives of the Viet Nam Agent Orange group will travel to the US on Saturday to speak in various cities about their lawsuit against American chemical companies that used the toxic chemical dioxin during the war.
Speaking at a press meeting on Wednesday, Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, vice chairwoman of the Viet Nam Agent Orange/Dioxin Victims’ Association (VAVA), said two AO victims, Dang Hong Nhut, 72, director of the HCM City Vocational Training School for Orphans and the Disabled, and Tran Thi Hoan, 22, a student at HCM City Huflit University, would be joining the group.
VAVA’s first lawsuit filed in January 2004 was dismissed by the US District Court and the US Court of Appeals turned down the group’s appeal in 2007.
VAVA seeks compensation from 37 chemical companies that supplied US troops with Agent Orange 30 years ago.
The group will visit 11 cities in the US to hold talks with various organisations and concerned citizens.
According to VAVA, there are more than 3 million Vietnamese AO victims nationwide, including 150,000 children. — VNS
My thoughts:
The figures alone in this article should speak for themselves. I know I was completely ignorant of the true damage done until taking this trip and my sympathies grow as I read more and more in the daily papers and in books about the war.
I hope their trip succeeds in getting the attention and appropriate response it deserves. This is not an anti-America post, but accountability must be taken when war crimes are committed. How can a country honestly excuse their use of chemical weapons and so blatantly deny those affected the compensation they deserve.
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=02SOC260908
Agent Orange victims fly to US
(26-09-2008)
HCM CITY — Representatives of the Viet Nam Agent Orange group will travel to the US on Saturday to speak in various cities about their lawsuit against American chemical companies that used the toxic chemical dioxin during the war.
Speaking at a press meeting on Wednesday, Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, vice chairwoman of the Viet Nam Agent Orange/Dioxin Victims’ Association (VAVA), said two AO victims, Dang Hong Nhut, 72, director of the HCM City Vocational Training School for Orphans and the Disabled, and Tran Thi Hoan, 22, a student at HCM City Huflit University, would be joining the group.
VAVA’s first lawsuit filed in January 2004 was dismissed by the US District Court and the US Court of Appeals turned down the group’s appeal in 2007.
VAVA seeks compensation from 37 chemical companies that supplied US troops with Agent Orange 30 years ago.
The group will visit 11 cities in the US to hold talks with various organisations and concerned citizens.
According to VAVA, there are more than 3 million Vietnamese AO victims nationwide, including 150,000 children. — VNS
My thoughts:
The figures alone in this article should speak for themselves. I know I was completely ignorant of the true damage done until taking this trip and my sympathies grow as I read more and more in the daily papers and in books about the war.
I hope their trip succeeds in getting the attention and appropriate response it deserves. This is not an anti-America post, but accountability must be taken when war crimes are committed. How can a country honestly excuse their use of chemical weapons and so blatantly deny those affected the compensation they deserve.
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