Agent Orange

An Unfinished War Legacy

Wednesday, November 13  8 - 9:30 p.m. ET

Register by clicking here
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vj28SDp8Q5-iKZ30dhHoLQ


The U.S. military used more than 12 million gallons of Agent Orange and 8 million gallons of Agents White, Blue, Purple, Pink and Green in Indochina between 1961 and 1971, an act of ecocide with devastating medical consequences for local populations, American veterans and their children.  After years of unconscionable denial, the US government has taken major steps to redress contamination in Viet Nam and to provide assistance to victims there and here.  Less is known about and less help provided to affected areas and people in Laos and Cambodia 

VPCC offers a front line account by longtime activists and an overview by an acclaimed journalist plus recognition for the essential role of retired Senator Patrick Leahy and committee staff member Tim Rieser.

Agent Orange victim  in Quang Ngai assisted by the Mennonite Central Committee

Photo by Doug Hostetter

George Black is a British-born author and journalist. His most recent book, The Long Reckoning: A Story of War, Peace, and Redemption in Vietnam (2023) was a New York Times Book Review editors’ choice and was selected by Kirkus Reviews as one of the best books of the year. His previous seven books are on a wide range of international, environmental, and historical topics, including U.S. policy in Central America and the Caribbean, the Chinese democracy movement, the 19^th century exploration of the American West and the wars against the Plains Indians, and a travel memoir of a journey down the River Ganges in India and Bangladesh. His award-winning journalism has been published in the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, and many other newspapers and magazines, and has taken him to more than two dozen countries in Asia, Latin America, and Europe. He has a master’s degree from Oxford University. He lives in New York City and is married to author and Columbia University scholar Anne Nelson  https://george-black.net

Heather Bowser, MSEd, is the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran. Her activism has focused on helping others affected by their parent’s exposure to Agent Orange. Heather was born with multiple birth defects associated with her father’s service in Vietnam. 

Jacquelyn (Jacqui) Chagnon  Representative for the War Legacies Project, Lao PDR, and Chair of the Board, focused on Lao Agent Orange Survey and Victim Support (2014-current).   South East Asia Quaker International Affairs Representative, American Friends Service Committee in S.E. Asia (2005 - 2013).  Senior Consultant on Participatory Development, and Strategic Planning in  the Lao PDR (1990 - 2005) working with World Bank, European Union, United Nations Development Program, and many non-profit organizations.  Field Representative on Post-War Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Viet Nam, Lao and Cambodia for the American Friends Service Committee (1978-1981, 1986-1990).

Clergy and Laity Concerned, Washington DC Foreign Policy Office, serving as Senior Congressional Liaison and Co-chair of Coalition for a New Foreign and Military Policy. Keynote US Speaker - Indochina Mobile Education Project “Tell Them We Are People” (1971-1975)

Congressional Liaison, Coalition to Stop Funding the War, Washington DC (1974 - 1975) supported by major religious institutions.

Susan Hammond, the daughter of a U.S. Vietnam veteran, became interested in post-war Southeast Asia after traveling to Viet Nam, and Cambodia in 1991. In 1996, after earning her MA in International Education from NYU, Susan returned to Viet Nam to study Vietnamese. She became involved in fostering mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia and addressing the long-term impacts of war while working as the Deputy Director of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development from 1996 to 2007. During this time, she lived in New York, Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos. In 2007, Susan returned to her home state of Vermont and founded the War Legacies Project to continue addressing the long-term health and environmental impacts of war.   https://www.warlegacies.org/about-us

Resources

The Long Reckoning: A Story of War, Peace, and Redemption in Vietnam by George Black  (Knopf, 2023) - a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice