HA NOI — The US Court of Appeals will begin consideration in June of the appeal of Vietnamese Agent Orange victims, said lawyer Luu Van Dat on Wednesday.

Dat, who is also a permanent member of the Viet Nam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) Central Committee, said that a panel of judges of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals will begin considering the plaintiffs’ appeal of Federal District Judge Jack Weintein’s recent dismissal of the case.

Dat reasserted that Weinstein’s decision was unfounded and subjective. The appeal may take time and face numerous difficulties, but justice will win out, Dat said confidently. VAVA deputy general secretary Nguyen Trong Nhan quoted the American magazine Nature as saying that between 2.2 and 4.8 million Vietnamese live in areas affected by the toxic chemical.

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Agent Orange Dioxin Raises Cancer Risk in Vietnam Veterans
Apr 17, 2005, David Liu, Food Consumer.org

A study found that the Vietnam Air Force veterans who did not spray Agent Orange were still at an elevated risk of cancer, which was associated with the serum levels of TCDD – a dioxin from Agent Orange.

The study analyzed 1,500 Air Force veterans who served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, but did not spray Agent Orange or other herbicides. The study was to examine the effect of a low dose exposure of TCDD on the cancer risk. TCDD is the highly toxic dioxin contaminant of Agent Orange. TCDD may promote the development of cancer even at very low levels of exposure.

The study found that those who did not spray Agent Orange still had significant blood levels of TCDD. Veterans with blood TCDD higher than the median raised their cancer risk by 60 percent. The risk was mostly linked to digestive and respiratory cancers and melanoma – the deadly skin cancer. The cancer risk of other cancers can not be excluded.

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Agent Orange victims call for justice
June 28, 2004, Voice of Vietnam

The US Federal Court based in New York will work on a complaint lodged by first three Vietnamese Agent Orange victims this September, according to Prof. Nguyen Trong Nhan, President of the Vietnam Agent Orange/Dioxin Association.

On January 30, Mr Nguyen Van Quy, Ms Pham Thi Phi Phi and Ms Duong Quynh Hoa, representing Vietnamese Agent Orange victims, lodged a complaint against 20 US chemical firms that had supplied defoliants for the US army to spray over the Vietnamese jungles during the war. They asked for compensation for the damage caused by the defoliants to their health.

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Keeping up with Agent Orange, Three area veterans receiving disability for side effects linked to herbicide
Ledger Enquirer, June 27, 2004, Larry Gierer, Staff Writer

His toes are numb. "Same feeling you have in your mouth when you go to the dentist," he says. He takes eight different medications daily to help control high blood pressure and high blood sugar. "That's what having type 2 diabetes is all about," says Gary DeMars, a 64-year-old retired lieutenant colonel.

Though diagnosed in 1998, the Vietnam War veteran didn't get aid from the Department of Veterans Affairs for the disease until a couple of years ago. That's because it wasn't until late 2001 that the illness was added to a list of those with a link to Agent Orange for which those military personnel who served in Vietnam from Jan. 9, 1962, through May 7, 1975, may receive disability compensation.

Other illnesses on that list include Hodgkin's disease, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

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Legal action launched against developers of Agent Orange
Tuesday, 15 June , 2004, Anne Maria Nicholson

TONY EASTLEY: Nearly 30 years since the official end of the Vietnam war, a group of Vietnamese has started legal action in New York against the American chemical companies which manufactured the herbicide Agent Orange which was used extensively throughout the conflict.

The Vietnamese accuse the Americans of using a weapon of mass destruction against them, one which contained a lethal, persistent poison, dioxin. They claim there are three million victims with cancers and birth defects, and large chunks of land that are still contaminated.

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Still caught in the cross hairs, Hartselle vet faces exposure to Agent Orange with dignity
June 3, 2004 , Decatur Daily, Alabama, Ronnie Thomas, rthomas@decaturdaily.com

HARTSELLE Ñ The Army assigned Special Forces commanding officer Jim Atanasoff to Fort Benning, Ga., after his first tour of duty in Vietnam. At about the same time, a Hollywood production company wrapped the 1968 film "The Green Berets," starring John Wayne, shot primarily at Fort Benning training sites.

Atanasoff and other officers, appreciative of The Duke's portrayal of one of their own, gave a farewell party for the cast and crew. After he and his wife met the actor, Atanasoff, who stands 6 feet 4 inches, prepared to excuse himself so Wayne, who was the same height, could meet and talk with others. " 'No, Jim,' " he said, " 'you're the only one here I can look in the eye. Stay and introduce them to me.' "

The Vietnam War would last another five years. With 57,000 Americans killed before a pullout, it would not have the triumphant ending of "The Green Berets."

And the war still claims victims. Atanasoff himself is in its cross hairs. His doctor told the retired major that he might not live to celebrate his 68th birthday, which is Dec. 3.

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