As the soldiers were carrying out their orders they would inevitably breathe in the toxic fumes. The chemical would be sprayed over huge areas sometimes in a 10-mile radius destroying everything in its path. Through out the Vietnam War soldiers were beginning to complain of severe medical problems. The army was not certain of the causes but believed them to be from the people of Vietnam or the surrounding areas. By 1968, the United States army had received an estimated 4,000 reports of unexplainable illnesses. Many scientists became suspicious and began to conduct experiments to find out the causes of these illnesses. They came up with many different explanations for the sicknesses but the most important one was Agent Orange. The United States Military heard the conclusions of the tests and in 1971 decided to discontinue the use of Agent Orange forever. Between the spring of 1962 and 1971, 19 million gallons of defoliant chemicals had been dropped all over Vietnam destroying millions upon millions of acres of forest and contaminating thousands of soldiers and civilians. (Isserman, America at War 89) The period between 1971 and 1974 was a disaster. Some 15,000 veterans filed reports of Agent Orange related illnesses. Some of the illnesses are as followed: chloracne, soft-tissue sarcoma, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's disease, acute peripheral neuropathy, subacute peripheral neuropathy, porohyria cutanea tarda (PCT), respiratory cancers (lung, larynx, trachea, broncus) and prostate cancer. (Bender + Dudley, The Vietnam War 157) The most common illnesses were the different types of cancer. More soldiers were diagnosed with the many types of cancers then any other illnesses. Vietnam Veterans are not required to prove exposure to Agent Orange. The VA just presumes that all military personnel who served within Vietnam were exposed to Agent Orange. (Online, Mar 29. 1999) Even though military personal were exposed to Agent Orange that does not mean they all contracted a disease at all.
