Independent LivingBrightmore University hosted “The Vietnam War and Agent Orange: Lasting Effects”
July 29, 2016
Brightmore University at Brightmore of Wilmington retirement community presented, “The Vietnam War and Agent Orange”: Lasting Effects for Generations to Come, presented by Rossi Nance, President, NC Vietnam Veterans Association Tuesday, July 26th. It was the War that will not end. It is the War that continues to stalk and claim its victims for decades after the last shots were fired. It was a war of rainbow herbicides….Agent Orange, Blue, White, Purple, Green and Pink leaving our veterans to come home and fight yet another war due to disabilities like Parkinson’s disease as a result of exposure. It doesn’t stop there! Veteran’s children, grandchildren, and generations to come will also fight diseases and disabilities during their lifetimes. As with every university event, we always learn pieces of information that make us “really think.” Agent Orange was a decision made by our government during the Korean and Vietnam Wars that should never have been made. Eleven million servicemen were sprayed with this chemical as it was used to torch crops and forestry areas. This chemical compound was made in 1952, but not used until later wars. It was even made right in our backyard at the Dow Chemical Company in Carolina Beach. Even though over 22 different disabilities have been reported as direct impacts of this chemical, there is only one birth defect, Spinabifida, that is recognized by the government where insurance will help. In 2009, a video was made to help educate families, children of Veterans, doctors and mankind called, “Faces of Agent Orange”. These are first-hand accounts that will really make you start thinking.