John Siegfried

The New Agent Orange

RELEASED July 1, 2023 - Click here to order

FOREWORD

John Siegfried’s work is based in research both scientific and journalistic. It highlights the danger from scientific advances particularly those issues with long term health hazards arising from technologies we don’t (or didn’t) completely understand. I became an Army Chemical Officer because the subject of its origins scared the heck out of me in a junior ROTC class in 1958. From 1965 to 1995, I wore an Army uniform, half that time on active duty, the other as a Reserve Officer, retiring as Colonel. During those years I had personal experience with Agent Orange and developed some of the procedures used to defend against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons, and the toxic industrial materials used that causes similar affects, which are still being used by our military. The heart of this book is not the facts, but the emotions that he uncovers from discussions with the Veterans who have contributed their experiences and memories. These stories caused me to revisit memories I had long suppressed. I believe this book will help clarify why America’s Military deserves better.
Colonel Roy Williams USA Vietnam Veteran and Army Chemical Corps. 1965-1995.

There were quite a few spraying agents used in Southeast Asia. They were called “rainbow herbicides,” and named after the stripe that was painted on the outside of the fifty-five gallon drums. Thus, Agent Orange derived its name by the orange stripe on the barrel. Some of these rainbow herbicides were more toxic than others. Of the half-dozen manufacturers of these agents that included Dioxin in Vietnam, Monsanto and Dow Chemical made the deadliest concoctions.

Dioxin may be the most potent carcinogen known to man. Some may be generated by burning certain plastics or any substance with chlorine. It may be formed as an unintentional by-product of incomplete combustion.

 

Dioxin exposure changes the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) molecules in the body. There are no barometers established as of this writing, but the known impact to date is at least three generations. We will know if its four, when the ‘Nam Vets grandchildren have kids.

Executed 2 August 1990 by the U.S. was Operation Desert Shield (ODS), followed by ODS (Operation Desert Storm) in January 1991, OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom), OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom) and OND (Operation New Dawn): These are the military actions during which our servicemen and women served (National Guard, Reserves, and Regular Armed Forces), and have been exposed to, various harmful substances, following Vietnam to current day. The experiences of the ‘Nam Veterans’ versus recent war participants differ. Ordnance, tactics, combat operations all changed. Weapons make-up/substance changed. Delivery systems were modified through technology.

According to Dr. Rosalie Bertell, (DU) depleted uranium entered center stage, used in place of tungsten for ordnance by both the U.S. and the United Kingdom in the first Gulf War. Burn Pits, and the impact thereof from all theatres from Southwest Asia, have finally garnered Congressional support with Legislation in 2022 to increase VA funding for the symptoms, syndromes, sicknesses and diseases they have caused.

So, where TCDD wreaked havoc on our Vietnam Armed Forces, with no known affects from small arms usage, DU (depleted uranium) and DP (depleted plutonium), along with dozens of other causal agents, surfaced with a vengeance.

 Although tungsten is considered toxic, no chronic health effects have been determined. Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) exists with loss of brain matter. According to Dr. Robert Haley, an epidemiologist, fully 30% of the troops serving during Desert Storm (both Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations) were exposed to entities that implicate the Central Nervous System (CNS).  However, the list does not end here.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jesse Brown, in 1994, stated “The Persian Gulf War was a dirty war-environmentally speaking. Our Veterans were exposed to smoke from oil fires; a terribly hot, dusty climate; sand flies carrying parasitic diseases; oil fumes from various sources; depleted uranium; Chemical Agent Resistant Coating [CARC]; and some even have been exposed to chemical and biological agents.”

6 March 1995, President Bill Clinton avowed his support: “Caring for Veterans’ is not a national option or a partisan program. It is a national tradition and a national duty. There are thousands of Veterans who served their country in the Gulf War and came home ill. Just as we relied on these men and women to fight for our country, they must now be able to rely on us to try to determine what happened to them in the Gulf and to help restore them to full health. We will leave no stone unturned.”

This book will provide in-depth analysis from professionals (of all specialties) in health care and science, studies conducted at various laboratories, facilities and hospitals throughout the country, actual discussions with combat Veterans, field personnel including behind the line soldiers who experienced the “debris of battle,” and family members of those who suffer, or have passed on, due to their service maladies. The children, and children’s children of the Vietnam Era Vets, along with those from our recent wars, who suffer from earlier generations passing on formidable, presumptive, diseases. It will delve into our government’s promise to those who take the Oath of Enlistment, how Jurassic our VA can be, and how the Legislative and Executive Branches betray, or fall short, to fulfill their ‘Oath’ to our Armed Forces. Finally, it will enlist civilians to pay attention, to garner support in whatever fashion necessary, and to help buttress our military and their families in time of need. The non-military populace on our home-front need to understand that we do not have to support a conflict, or military action, but we certainly are obligated to advocate our troops who are sent into battle by politicians’ edicts and military orders. Stated countless times by numerous people, and engraved in granite at The Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C.  --“Freedom is not free.”

We can be (are) a self-promoting society. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, reality shows. The civilian population, which I am a member, is way too immersed in dreck. We can be absorbed in self-absorption.

Yet still we live in an exceptional country.

Let’s transfer from me-me mentality to you-you. Wearing the uniform, and taking the Oath of Enlistment, promotes Duty, Honor, Country.

 We are a clash of cultures within a culture. Let’s not wrestle with our conscience, knowing what the right path is. Our military take the Oath to protect the Constitution, have the back of their buddies in combat, including fellow Armed Forces members. The military may be one of the least understood industries. Our servicemen and women possess clarity of thought: It is just so different from being a civilian. “The whistle blows, and you go.” The inalienable rights that we possess are written in the blood, and sewn into the fabric, of our Veterans’, and all those who choose to wear the uniform. And they are always faithful to us and their fellow mates.

According to Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal; “There is a growing disconnect between the American people and their government.  A freshened resentment.

The “disconnect” between our government in toto and our Veterans exists as well. We can help: There are many worthy foundations that people may donate to, to help our servicemen, women, and families. Offering your time to some of these 501 c (3) organizations is another great way to give-back. A pertinent quote from Sir John Templeton regarding philanthropy: “If you’re giving while you’re living, then you’re knowing [sic] where it’s going.”
- John Siegfried

Interview Rich Zeoli WPHT 1210 below

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