Win for Vietnam vets with Agent Orange war history to be rewritten

Vietnam veterans have won a significant breakthrough in their battle for acknowledgment of the health impacts of war-time exposure to chemicals, including Agent Orange, with the Australian War Memorial agreeing the official history must be rewritten.

Australian troops fighting in Vietnam were exposed to a cocktail of chemicals, including herbicides, especially the popularly known Agent Orange used to defoliate jungle, which was seen as providing tactical advantages for their enemy. Pesticides, including highly toxic dieldrin, were also apparently misused in aerial spraying of Australian bases.

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HAUNTING LEGACY OF AGENT ORANGE

"I can remember the sensation very clearly - that stuff had a sticky substance and had this sweet smell," Mr Bermingham said.

"I've seen flowers die in hours after being hit with that stuff - that's how quick it worked."

Forty-five years on, and Mr Bermingham is in a rapidly deteriorating condition - he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, septicemia, and is riddled with bone cancer - conditions he attributes to Agent Orange.
His pelvic bone has all but collapsed, and relies on leg irons to walk.

While the cancerous link to Agent Orange remains unproven, Mr Bermingham's story is just one account among thousands of American and Australian Vietnam veteran's experiencing higher incidents of cancer.

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