Frank,+Vanessa,+Laura

**AGENT ORANGE**


This woman is one of many Vietnamese born with deformities due to their parents’ exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

The Vietcong itself rarely fought direct battles with the Americans because if they thought in this manner, their small army would quickly loose against the large American one. Instead, the Vietcong made use of guerrilla warfare by hiding in the vast Vietnamese jungles and making hit and run attacks on the American armies. (Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides, Institute of Medicine [page 1])

Fighting an enemy you cannot see or find is extremely difficult, so during the war the United States made use of various herbicides to remove the jungle and smoke out the Vietcong; one such herbicide that the Americans made use of was Agent Orange. (Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides, Institute of Medicine [page 1])

Because the United States was in a rush to fight the Vietcong, we did not fully test the possible effects of the herbicides we were using. It was only after twenty-one million gallons of Agent Orange were dropped on the vast rain forests of Vietnam did the disastrous effects of the chemical become clear. (Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides, Institute of Medicine [page 1])

Those who were directly exposed to Agent Orange started developing skin diseases and a vast variety of cancers of the lungs, larynx, and prostate. Even worse, the children of these poisoned people were born with deformities such as extra appendages and cleft palettes, disabilities, and hernias. The effects of this herbicide are present even today in the effected population and their still poisoned food chain. (Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides, Institute of Medicine [page 1])

Of the four million, eight hundred thousand people exposed to this deadly chemical, four hundred thousand have died and another five hundred thousand children have been born since with disabilities. Agent Orange serves a clear reminder of what can happen when we fail to properly test what we create. This incident and others like it have since led to an era of heightened safety precautions so hopefully in the future accidents like Agent Orange are never recreated. (Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides, Institute of Medicine [page 1])

Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides, Institute of Medicine. //Veterans and Agent Orange//. N. pag. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2009. 

**MY LAI MASSACRE**
The photo above is the aftermath of the My Lai massacre. This massacre took place on March 16th, 1968, when three hundred forty seven to five hundred four civilians mostly made up women, children, and the elderly were slaughtered by American troops. ("American Experience l PBS l Vietnam")

The Charlie Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division arrived in Vietnam in December 1967. The company had no direct contact with the enemy, but still suffered 28 separate incidents involving mines and booby traps set by the Vietcong. ("American Experience l PBS l Vietnam")

By March of 1968, the troops were already tired and weary from the war and the guerrilla warfare tactics of the Vietcong. When the orders were received to search the village of My Lai for the Vietcong, the soldiers were ready to actually be able to fight the people killing them off. However, when the soldiers arrived at My Lai, they found no Vietcong or even any men of draft age. The village was completely composed of innocent women, children, and the elderly. The American troops, angry and frustrated that the enemy again avoided them, murdered everything in sight. ("American Experience l PBS l Vietnam")

When the soldiers who participated in the My Lai massacre came under fire for their actions, all claimed that the innocents they murdered were possible Vietcong supporters or that the villagers were actually trying to attack them although they had no weaponry. Though twenty-six soldiers in total took criminal actions, only one was ever convicted, and he only served three years. This massacre served the purpose of reducing American support for the war at home, and caused an international outcry. ("American Experience l PBS l Vietnam")

Since this massacre, however, some of the soldiers have made contact with the survivors of My Lai, and the soldiers who refused to kill and tried to convince others to cease killing were awarded medals of Honor. The mass slaughtering at My Lai symbolizes the violence and cruelty of war, and though this killing occurred so many years ago it still screams the message today that this type of killing need not occur again. ("American Experience l PBS l Vietnam")

American Experience l PBS l Vietnam Online." //American Experience l PBS//. N.p., 29 Mar. 2005. Web. 2 Oct. 2009. 

General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon


Combat photographer Eddie Adams took this Pulitzer Prize winning photograph during the Vietnam War. He was covering the war for the Associated Press when he captured this photo of police chief General Ngyen Ngoc Loan executing a Vietcong prisoner on a street in Saigon. Adams was awarded the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and a World Press Photo award for this photograph, but he would later grieve over its notoriety. Adams later commented on his photograph in Time Magazine: (Wikipedia)

“The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapons in the world. People believe them; but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths. ...What the photograph didn’t say was, ‘What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American people?’ ” (Wikipedia)

It was later noted that Adams apologized in person to General Nguyen and his family for the permanent damage it did to Loan’s honor while he was alive. (Wikipedia)

Eddie Adams (Photographer)." //Wikipedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2009. 

Laura Gotthardt, Vanessa Sabatini, Frank Rosalia