The 80-year-old general, who leaves home from early morning to go towork and only returns late in the evening every day, is a familiarfigure to residents in Mai Dich ward, Cau Giay district, Hanoi.
But few people know that he was the co-founder of the VietnamAssociation for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin (VAVA), which has setitself the mission to help ease the pains of AO victims which theysuffer as consequences of the toxic rain of herbicide sprayed by the USarmy on Vietnam’s southern battlefields.
“Seeingvictims convulsing in pain and desperation, there is only one thing inmy mind, and that is that I have to do something to ease theirsuffering,” said Major General Tran Xuan Thu, VAVA Vice President andSecretary General, in an emotional voice reminiscing about innumerabledifficulties during the first days of the association 10 years ago.
From the beginning of Operation Ranch Hand (or Operation Hades) onAugust 10, 1961 to 1971, US troops sprayed nearly 80 million litres ofherbicides, including Agent Orange which had a dioxin content of up to61 percent, on 3 million hectares of forest in southern Vietnam.
The largest chemical war in the history of humankind conducted by theUS army exposed about 6.8 million Vietnamese people to AgentOrange/dioxin. Hundreds of thousands of them have died, while millionsof other victims and their descendants are day and night strugglingagainst diseases, the after-effects of the toxic chemical.
As one of the VAVA founders, together with former Vice PresidentNguyen Thi Binh and former Deputy Defence Minister Lieut. Gen. Dang VuHiep, Thu understood only too well the prolonged pains the victimssuffered from Agent Orange. He confided: “As retired soldiers, we keepon working not for other reasons, but to complete our unfinished work.”
The General recalls those days when he and hiscomrades went everywhere to raise donations for AO victims, and the timethey prepared for a lawsuit against 37 US chemical companiesdemanding justice for the victims. It was not an easy job, especiallyfor a newly-established association like V AVA.
Thanks to the wholehearted assistance of ministries and agencies,particularly the Ministry of National Defence, as well as the support ofinternational friends, including the International Association ofDemocratic Lawyers, VAVA officially filed the lawsuit at the US DistrictCourt of the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn on January 30,2004, just 10 days after its foundation.
VAVAPresident Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Van Rinh affirmed this is a politicaland humanitarian struggle for justice, and at the same time demandingthe US chemical producers to compensate for what they did during thewar in Vietnam .
Although the lawsuit wasrejected by the US court, it is important that the association wasable to make public the AO case, helping the people of the worldunderstand more about the miserable lives of the victims, theunjustifiable crime of the US army as well as the responsibility ofthe companies producing the chemicals.
US craft sprays toxic chemical on southern Vietnam forest
One of thegreatest friends of Vietnamese AO victims is Len Aldis, Secretary of theBritain-Vietnam Friendship Society. In the past, Aldis sent numerousletters to the US Embassy in London protesting at the use of AO anddemanding the US withdraw from Vietnam . Therefore, he caresdeeply about Vietnamese victims and their fight for justice.
“We set up an ‘online petition’ against Monsanto (one among UScompanies producing AO) and the US Government. We were very pleased thatthe petition gained one million signatures. Copies of the petition weresent to the US President and Embassies in the UK and other countries,”he said.
There are many friends from around theglobe looking towards Vietnamese AO victims with sympathy. They willstand side-by-side with the victims in their fight for justice. TheVietnamese victims of Agent Orange are not alone!
| After nearly 10 years of operations, the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin has mobilised over 600 billion VND (roughly 29 million USD) from domestic and foreign organisations and individuals. With this sum, the association has provided assistance to nearly 500,000 people throughout the nation. As many as 35 international organisations and 25 countries have voiced their support for Vietnamese AO victims and their struggle for justice. |
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