Dr. Orange: The Scientist Who Insists Agent Orange Isn't Hurting America's Veterans [View all]

A few years ago, retired Maj. Wes Carter was picking his way through a stack of internal Air Force memos, searching for clues that might help explain his recent heart attack and prostate cancer diagnosis. His eyes caught on several recommendations spelled out in all capital letters:

"NO ADDITIONAL SAMPLING…"

"DESTROY ALL…"

"IMMEDIATE DESTRUCTION…"

A Pentagon consultant was recommending that Air Force officials quickly and discreetly chop up and melt down a fleet of C-123 aircraft that had once sprayed the toxic herbicide Agent Orange across Vietnam. The consultant also suggested how to downplay the risk if journalists started asking questions: "The longer this issue remains unresolved, the greater the likelihood of outside press reporting on yet another 'Agent Orange Controversy.'"

The Air Force, Carter saw in the records, had followed those suggestions.

>snip

Anyone who set foot in Vietnam during the war is eligible for compensation if they become ill with one of 14 cancers or other ailments linked to Agent Orange. But vets with an array of other illnesses where the connection is less well established continue to push for benefits. And those vets who believe they were exposed while serving elsewhere must prove it—often finding themselves stymied.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/12/vietnam-war-veterans-herbicides-orange-cancer