Toxic War: The Story of Agent Orange

Notes

Notes Sources of Class Action Documents C Uniroyal document Depo. Ex. Depositions DOW Dow document DS Diamond Shamrock document Gov. Ex. Government document H Hercules document J Uniroyal document JUS Government document MON Monsanto document P Document selected by plaintiffs to be exhibited at trial TH Thompson-Hayward document W Government document Introduction 1. An LST is an amphibious vessel. The letters stand for Landing Ship, Tank. 2. More than a few Vietnam veteran cancer survivors remember their chemotherapy with disgust and horror. Some of them refused to finish their treatments, preferring to risk death. Chapter 1 1. Michael Gough, Dioxin, Agent Orange: The Facts (New York: Plenum Press, 1986), 49. 2. Deposition of Fred I. Edwards, Jan. 13, 1983, 22. Unless otherwise stated, all references to depositions in this book are to those taken during the Agent Orange class action litigation. 3. 2,4-D’s full name is 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. 2,4,5-T’s is 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid. 4. Donald Davis, “Herbicides in Peace and War” (Auburn University), undated, DOW 450405; J. B. Neilands et al., Harvest of Death: Chemical Warfare in Vietnam and Cambodia (New York: The Free Press, 1972), 121–22. 5. Neilands et al., Harvest of Death, 121–22; Vesta Mattie, History of Crops Division—Plant Sciences Laboratories, Nov. 1970, H 03615; Theodor Sterling, “Man against Himself: Biological Dangers from the Use of Herbicides,” Humanist in Canada 4, no. 3 (1976): 2–7, DOW 1,150696. 6. Leonard Cole, Clouds of Secrecy: The Army’s Germ Warfare Tests Over Populated Areas (Savage, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1990), 20. 7. Various studies printed in the Botanical Gazette, June 1946, Lt. Carl P. Swanson, USNR, “Bioassay Method for Determining Presence of 2,4-D,” Gov. Ex. W-5,611; M. N. Dvornikoff, internal Monsanto memo, Jan. 4, 1946, summarizing study presented by John Harris to the North Central States Weed Control Conference on Nov. 26, 1945, MON 30511; Mattie, History of Crops Division—Plant Sciences Laboratories, Nov. 1970, H 03615. 8. Henri Bonnet, the future French ambassador to the United States, quoted by Philip NoelBaker , who later won the Nobel Peace Prize, in a letter to the editor of the New York Times, Dec. 9, 1969, reprinted in Hearings Before the Subcommittee on National Security Policy and 235 Scientific Developments, of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, 91st Congress, 346 (November 20, 1969). 9. Col. Archibald King, Chief, War Plans Division, JAGB, memo to files on a telephone conversation with Capt. William Hodge, Pentagon, Jan. 11, 1943, W 4220. 10. William Buckingham, Operation Ranch Hand: The Air Force and Herbicides in Southeast Asia, 1961–1971 (Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, 1982), 82. Gov. Ex. W-15,502. 11. W. B. House et al., Assessment of Ecological Effects of Extensive or Repeated Uses of Herbicides, Final Report August 15–December 1, 1967 (Kansas City, MO: Midwest Research Institute, 1967). Gov. Ex. W-15,582, Gov. Ex. W-15,700, Depo. Ex. Westmoreland 4, Aug. 15–Dec. 1, 1967. 12. Buckingham, Operation Ranch Hand, 4. 13. Colonel Robert A. Shade, “Management of the Department of Defense Vietnam Herbicide Program,” paper for the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, W-15,244, Oct. 1969, 11; House et al., Assessment of Ecological Effects. Gov. Ex. W-15,582, Gov. Ex. W-15,700, Depo. Ex. Westmoreland 4, Aug. 15–Dec. 1, 1967; Charles Minarik, Proceedings of the First Defoliation Conference, July 29–30, 1963, Gov. Ex. W-15-721. 14. Various studies printed in the Botanical Gazette, June 1946, Gov. Ex. W-15,611 Gov. p. 1; Howard Sanders and Ralph Prescott, “2,4-D Weed Killer and Derivatives,” Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 51, no. 9 (1959): 974–80, DOW 725747. 15. The butyl ester is produced by mixing 2,4-D or 2,4,5-T acid with butyl alcohol. It is effective at a relatively wide range of temperatures, although its freezing point is too high for winter use. 16. Deposition of Charles Minarik, July 28, 1982, 280. 17. Deposition of Dr. Robert A. Darrow, July 13, 1982, 35; Mattie, History of Crops Division— Plant Sciences Laboratories, Nov. 1970, H 03615. 18. Defense Technical Information Center Technical Report, July 1959, Gov. Ex. W-15,559; Armed Services Technical Report, Gov. Ex. W-15,435 (undated). 19. Mattie, History of Crops Division—Plant Sciences Laboratories, Nov. 1970, H 03615. 20. Deposition of Charles Minarik, July 29, 1982, 439...