Len Aldis, Secretary of the Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society, has described the day the US began spraying Agent Orange/dioxin on Vietnam as “A day of infamy”.

In his recent open letter to all employees of Monsato, one of companies to produce herbicide Agent Orange (AO), Len said August 10 , 1961, when the first use of the noxious chemicals began, is a day of infamy.

“So too friends, will August 10, 1961 [be remembered], for on that day began the spraying of 80 million litres of Agent Orange – manufactured by your company along with others. The spraying was to continue for ten years,” he wrote, calling on the employees to consider the loss of life over the decade and the millions born years after the war ended in 1975, many crippled in mind and body due to Agent Orange.

“Today in Vietnam there are over three million victims suffering from the effects of Agent Orange, and the company you work for, Monsanto, is one of those responsible,” he continued.

Shamefully, Monsanto’s public relations office to this very day continues to deny any responsibility for the illnesses and deformities that Agent Orange has caused to the people of Vietnam , he said.

In the letter, he wrote, “Friends, next year, 2011, will see the 50th anniversary of the spraying of Agent Orange on Vietnam . Remember the date August 10. It will be a day when millions in Vietnam and its friends in many countries around the world will commemorate as a day of infamy.”

Len Aldis, 80, is a close friend of the Vietnamese people and a special friend for AO/dioxin victims.

He visited Vietnam in 1989 for the first time and then returned to the Southeast Asian nation every year to meet and help AO/dioxin victims.

He donated 50,000 GBP (about 75,000 USD) via Vietnam Red Cross and raised funds for humanitarian activities.

Last year, he launched a website to collect signatures of those who support justice for Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims in order to send to US President Barack Obama and parliamentarians. The petition has to date collected more than 3,380 signatures.

He is usually invited to talk to students about the issue at universities in the UK . He also raised the issues at meetings with the public in Sweden , Denmark , Germany and France./.