VETERANS PRESS: Faces of Agent Orange Episode 6 2025
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“I am a 57-year-old Vietnam vet who was exposed to Agent Orange. At age 41, I had to have an emergency heart bypass. I have had six heart attacks since my surgery. Our youngest daughter suffered with learning disabilities through grade school and high school. Her first child was born in 2002 with complex congenital heart disease and fetal hydrops. He only lived five hours. I feel that I passed on something to our daughter because I was exposed to Agent Orange.”
Since 1991, Birth Defect Research for Children has recorded thousands of cases like these reported by Vietnam veterans in our National Birth Defect Registry. Approximately 2.6 million veterans served in Vietnam. Statistically 3-6% of all children are born with some kind of birth defect. Are these just unfortunate coincidences or has Agent Orange exposure left a legacy of disabilities in Vietnam veterans’ children that may possibly extend into future generations? There is now an impressive body of scientific evidence showing increases in birth defects and developmental problems in the children of Vietnam veterans and others exposed to dioxin-like chemicals. Agent Orange was a combination of two defoliants, 2-45T and 2-4D contaminated by dioxin (TCDD), a toxic byproduct of the chemical production process.
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