The Vietnam War was a long war that was devastating to the United States as well as Vietnam. The war was a total disaster for the South Vietnamese and was also a political and social disaster for the United States. During this time, chemicals were used during times of war and were detrimental to the people on the receiving end. One instance of this was the United States’ use of Agent Orange in Vietnam. Agent Orange’s use by the United States affected Vietnam in a negative way economically, demographically, and ecologically. Agent Orange had many negative effects, especially with the contamination of water sources and the disruption to the balance of the ecosystem. Even today, the Vietnamese population is still feeling the effects of the outrageous …show more content…
The defoliation in South Vietnam did not usher any critical quantifiable effect on the moisture in the atmosphere and therefore precipitation, yet because of the broad defoliation there was a change of the temperatures presented in the woods because of the lost shield from sunlight-based radiations and high gusts of wind. This influenced the lives of the lower life forms which are subject to the microclimatic specialties for development, survival and multiplication. Aside from this, the mangrove group in South Vietnam endured a great deal because of the herbicide shower by the United States. Between 1962 and 1971, U.S. military forces sprayed nearly 19 million gallons of herbicides over approximately 3.6 million acres in Vietnam. The preparation known as Agent Orange accounted for approximately 11.2 million gallons of the total amount sprayed. Also, when such thick woodlands were subjected to the harsh chemicals of Agent Orange, the leaves would begin dropping 2 after 3 weeks with the uncovered trees staying for quite a long time, steadily prompting complete defoliation. A while later when refoliation happens, it would be understood that 8 out of 10 trees have really kicked the bucket by the rehashed herbicide assaults which would thus bring about the annihilation of vegetation of more than 1.5 million acres. One prompt and extreme effect of the herbicidal assault on the biological …show more content…
The harsh chemicals completely destroyed everything in its path which made the lives of the Vietnamese very difficult. Even though the United States was using the chemical to help them in the war, it created a lasting impression on the Vietnamese population. Still today, people wake up feeling the effects of actions that took place over 40 years ago. From the veterans of the battlefield to the children being born now, the effects are still a shadow cast over the lives of this country. Nothing can really be done about the actions of the past, and it is just a part of history that the world will have to live with. Unfortunately, the people on the receiving end of this terrible action had and still must endure the pain of this chemical. The use of chemicals by any country on another is a terrible deed that causes many problems which can be seen from the actions of the United States against
Agent Orange was a various mixture of many chemicals combined together to expose the hidings of the Northern and Viet Cong Troops throughout the forest, also to exterminate those plants and herbs that they may use that are consumable and of use to the Vietnamese army. From the years of 1961 to 1972 many acres of Vietnam land were sprayed with Agent Orange, approximately over 19 millions gallons were used across 4.5 million acres. Alongside Agent Orange it was a war of attrition, back and forth trying to make one another weaker with simple plans as weakening them would strengthen and conquer the other. They waited one another out, the U.S. had plans of destroying their hidings spots and plants they’d use as a food source so they would be hungry and less prepared for combat. They were only invading troops, not knowing many strategies for engaging and weakening their biggest opportunity was with the agent orange to atleast get rid of some of their food supplies so they’ll be hungry and not be able to fight much or even perform
The Vietnam War was one of the longest, and the most costly war in America 's history. Vietnam War was primarily fought in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975 and never reaches United States shores. This disastrous war was fought between North Vietnamese and it allies Viet Cong against the United States of America and the South Vietnamese army. As most war are known to me bloody and cruel, The Vietnam War was especially cruel and devastating, it took the lives of millions of Vietnamese civilians. Civilians who will never get to see their country united under one banner, and unfortunately thousands of Americans solider lives were regrettably taken because of the war, names of those solider are forever written on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall, a permanent
The Tet Offensive was one of the largest military campaigns in the Vietnam War launched by the Viet Cong and North Vietnam People’s Army which killed over five thousand American soldiers. How did the Tet Offensive influence American politics, society, and the overall development of the war in Vietnam? This question plagues many historians, politicians, soldiers, and veterans. The Tet Offensive influenced American politics by forcing politicians to take a stand one way or another on the viewpoint of the war, influencing American society by causing people to see the reality of war itself, and influencing the overall development of the war by showing that the enemy was not, in fact, about to collapse in defeat as the government had told the public for years.
The Vietnam war took a major death toll in Vietnam, United States, South Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. Just in the U.S., “more than 58,000 American soldiers were killed while more than 150,000 others wounded”. On both sides, there were almost 2 million civilians dead and 1.1 simply on the Vietnamese side. The My Lai Massacre, where soldiers brutally killed Vietnamese children and mothers, presents an example where the war mentally changed the soldiers in the war in a very horrendous way. On the other hand, the United States took brutal losses in the Tet Offensive, where the Vietcong slaughtered over 100 towns and twelve United States air bases.
A country changed forever, with a beginning but possibly no foreseen end. Agent Orange worked its way into the very roots of nature and mankind. “ ...war not just on vegetation but also on the roots and essences of life itself,” as stated by Hitchens in his essay, “The Vietnam Syndrome.” Honestly, I don’t believe that those who decided to spread this chemical ever knew what the immense cost to human life would be, or just how long its effects would last. Generation after generation have felt and seen it’s maliciousness and destruction.
During the early 1960s, the U.S. military presence in Vietnam escalated as corruption, religious differences, communism, and escalating successes by the Viet-Cong guerrillas threatened the weak government of South Vietnam. On January 12, 1962, the U.S. Air Force launched Operation Ranch Hand, a “modern technological area-denial technique” that used herbicidal warfare. The Rainbow Herbicides were used to destroy the forest cover and food crops, but the one used in bulk was Agent Orange, the most potent of them all. Agent Orange did not just get rid of foliage and crops, it was toxic to humans even in minute doses. Exposure to Agent Orange still haunts the veterans of the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese environment, and the children born after
Agent Orange and it’s Affects on Society Did you know that Britain was the first to use defoliants in combat against Southwest Asia according to nytimes.com? At this point a person might ask themselves what is a defoliant? A defoliant is a pesticide used to remove leaves from plants and it was also used as a war tactic in different wars. During the Vietnam war, a defoliant was used called agent orange. They called it Agent Orange because of the color.
This supports the Authors statement that there are four them that occur in society as consequences of the Vietnam War. Trapper symbolizes the Vietnam combat soldier. Two there are repression effects from the Vietnam War. Three men view themselves victims of war, government. Lastly number four, men have fear and/or hatred of women and loss of individual liberties.
The mission was to drop chemicals like herbicides on the forests. American efforts to hurt the Vietnamese caused a serious environmental damage in Vietnam which even to this day is not resolved. Agent Orange was one of these herbicides. Some facilities in America had the job of creating this chemical. During the production of this chemical, Agent Orange started
The Vietnam War was a war the United States should have never been involved in. The “Domino Theory” was a direct cause of the war. The war resulted in much death; innocent civilians and young Americans were killed. The Vietnam war also resulted in rioting, distrust for the United States government, and the loss of many lives. 58,000 Americans were killed and 300,000 were wounded.
During the 1960’s Vietnam War, the United States sprayed toxic herbicides in Southern Vietnam. Doing such action was considered effective in meeting some of the important US and allied military objectives in Vietnam. Agent Orange or also known as Herbicide Orange is one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the US military as part of its herbicidal warfare program. It was a mixture of equal parts of two herbicides namely: (1) 2,4,5-T; and (2) 2,4-D. From one of the 1969 reports, Courtney et.
These planes in the Vietnam war let off chemicals. They put an enormous amount of pollution into the air. The nullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullpollution was very harmful to both the people in Vietnam and the land. There were very large nullbombing campaigns during the war and these destroyed most industrial cities and transportation nullnullsystems. Due to all these major issues of Vietnams land after the war, the economy majorly nulldropped and became very poor.
It is stated that three million people have died throughout the entire war. Throughout the war, the Viet Cong started to decrease in numbers due
He talks of brutal rule that followed the takeover, the taxes and degradation of the of the vietnamese economy. As well as
This further reduced morale for US troops. The tactics of search and destroy and defoliation were very ineffective in the Vietnam War. There was some element of success to the US tactics, but not enough for them to win the war overall. They were the wrong tactics to use against a guerrilla force, which is what caused them to be ineffective. Search and Destroy was a tactic used by the USA during the Vietnam War.