Family of Fallen Leaves

Family of Fallen Leaves
Author: Charles Waugh
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2010-10
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0820337498

This collection of twelve short stories and one essay by Vietnamese writers reveals the tragic legacy of Agent Orange and raises troubling moral questions about the physical, spiritual, and environmental consequences of war. Between 1962 and 1971, the U.S. military sprayed approximately twenty million gallons of Agent Orange and other chemical defoliants on Vietnam and Laos, exposing combatants and civilians from both sides to the deadly contaminant dioxin. Many of the exposed, and later their children, suffered from ailments including diabetes, cancer, and birth defects. This remarkably diverse collection represents a body of work published after the early 1980s that stirred sympathy and indignation in Vietnam, pressuring the Vietnamese government for support. "Thirteen Harbors" intertwines a woman's love for a dioxin victim with ancient Cham legend and Vietnamese folk wisdom. "A Child, a Man" explores how our fates are bound with those of our neighbors. In "The Goat Horn Bell" and "Grace," families are devastated to find the damage from Agent Orange passed to their newborn children. Eleven of the pieces appear in English for the first time, including an essay by Minh Chuyen, whose journalism helped publicize the Agent Orange victims' plight. The stories in Family of Fallen Leaves are harrowing yet transformative in their ability to make us identify with the other.

Toxic War

Toxic War
Author: Peter Sills
Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2014-02-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0826519644

The war in Vietnam, spanning more than twenty years, was one of the most divisive conflicts ever to envelop the United States, and its complexity and consequences did not end with the fall of Saigon in 1975. As Peter Sills demonstrates in Toxic War, veterans faced a new enemy beyond post-traumatic stress disorder or debilitating battle injuries. Many of them faced a new, more pernicious, slow-killing enemy: the cancerous effects of Agent Orange. Originally introduced by Dow and other chemical companies as a herbicide in the United States and adopted by the military as a method of deforesting the war zone of Vietnam, in order to deny the enemy cover, Agent Orange also found its way into the systems of numerous active-duty soldiers. Sills argues that manufacturers understood the dangers of this compound and did nothing to protect American soldiers. Toxic War takes the reader behind the scenes into the halls of political power and industry, where the debates about the use of Agent Orange and its potential side effects raged. In the end, the only way these veterans could seek justice was in the court of law and public opinion. Unprecedented in its access to legal, medical, and government documentation, as well as to the personal testimonies of veterans, Toxic War endeavors to explore all sides of this epic battle.

Environmental Medicine

Environmental Medicine
Author: Committee on Curriculum Development in Environmental Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 988
Release: 1995-05-12
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309568722

People are increasingly concerned about potential environmental health hazards and often ask their physicians questions such as: "Is the tap water safe to drink?" "Is it safe to live near power lines?" Unfortunately, physicians often lack the information and training related to environmental health risks needed to answer such questions. This book discusses six competency based learning objectives for all medical school students, discusses the relevance of environmental health to specific courses and clerkships, and demonstrates how to integrate environmental health into the curriculum through published case studies, some of which are included in one of the book's three appendices. Also included is a guide on where to obtain additional information for treatment, referral, and follow-up for diseases with possible environmental and/or occupational origins.

Dying from Dioxin

Dying from Dioxin
Author: Lois Marie Gibbs
Publisher: South End Press
Total Pages: 400
Release: 1995
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780896085251

'Now everyone has an opportunity to learn about dioxin and the issues surrounding it, in this well-presented, multifaceted book.' Theo Colborn, Senior Program Scientist, World Wildlife Fund (USA)In Dying From Dioxin, Lois Marie Gibbs and other scientists and activists describe the alarming details of the public health crisis surrounding dioxin, and explain how citizens can organize against this toxic threat.

Veterans and Agent Orange

Veterans and Agent Orange
Author: Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 791
Release: 1994-01-15
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780309075299

Have U.S. military personnel experienced health problems from being exposed to Agent Orange, its dioxin contaminants, and other herbicides used in Vietnam? This definitive volume summarizes the strength of the evidence associating exposure during Vietnam service with cancer and other health effects and presents conclusions from an expert panel. Veterans and Agent Orange provides a historical review of the issue, examines studies of populations, in addition to Vietnam veterans, environmentally and occupationally exposed to herbicides and dioxin, and discusses problems in study methodology. The core of the book presents What is known about the toxicology of the herbicides used in greatest quantities in Vietnam. What is known about assessing exposure to herbicides and dioxin. What can be determined from the wide range of epidemiological studies conducted by different authorities. What is known about the relationship between exposure to herbicides and dioxin, and cancer, reproductive effects, neurobehavioral disorders, and other health effects. The book describes research areas of continuing concern and offers recommendations for further research on the health effects of Agent Orange exposure among Vietnam veterans. This volume will be critically important to both policymakers and physicians in the federal government, Vietnam veterans and their families, veterans organizations, researchers, and health professionals.

Agent Orange

Agent Orange
Author: Edwin A. Martini
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012
Genre: Agent Orange
ISBN: 9781558499744

5. "All Those Others So Unfortunate": Vietnam and the Global Legacies of the Chemical War -- Conclusion: Agent Orange and the Limits of Science and History -- Notes -- Index -- Back Cover

The Chemical Scythe

The Chemical Scythe
Author: Alastair Hay
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2013-11-11
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1489903399

The Chemical Scythe is the first book in a projected series to be published by Plenum Press in association with the International Disaster Institute. The aim of the series, Disaster Research in Practice, is to provide scientific and readable accounts on the most urgent areas of disaster research. It is fitting, therefore, that Dr. Hay's investigation into the nature and effects of dioxins heralds the new series. The problem of chemical hazards is one that we will have to learn to live with in future decades. Dr. Hay's book is an authoritative account of the chemistry and proven and potential effects of dioxins, and of the impli cations for safety planning. He concludes with a cautious, yet optimistic note-that indeed we can learn to live with such hazards, providing that we are prepared to understand and plan for the unexpected. The accident at Seveso in 1976 alerted the world to an imperfectly un derstood but immensely alarming environmental hazard. Public debate and argument as to the implications of dioxins and, indeed, the use of herbicides as aggressive weapons in Vietnam, rage on. And yet it is only through the painstaking research exemplified in this book that it will eventually be pos sible to promote the vital accountability on the part of industrialists and governments.

Mill Town

Mill Town
Author: Kerri Arsenault
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2020-09-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1250155959

Winner of the 2021 Rachel Carson Environmental Book Award Winner of the 2021 Maine Literary Award for Nonfiction Finalist for the 2020 National Book Critics John Leonard Prize for Best First Book Finalist for the 2021 New England Society Book Award Finalist for the 2021 New England Independent Booksellers Association Award A New York Times Editors’ Choice and Chicago Tribune top book for 2020 “Mill Town is the book of a lifetime; a deep-drilling, quick-moving, heartbreaking story. Scathing and tender, it lifts often into poetry, but comes down hard when it must. Through it all runs the river: sluggish, ancient, dangerous, freighted with America’s sins.” —Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland Kerri Arsenault grew up in the small, rural town of Mexico, Maine, where for over 100 years the community orbited around a paper mill that provided jobs for nearly everyone in town, including three generations of her family. Kerri had a happy childhood, but years after she moved away, she realized the price she paid for that childhood. The price everyone paid. The mill, while providing the social and economic cohesion for the community, also contributed to its demise. Mill Town is a book of narrative nonfiction, investigative memoir, and cultural criticism that illuminates the rise and collapse of the working-class, the hazards of loving and leaving home, and the ambiguous nature of toxics and disease with the central question; Who or what are we willing to sacrifice for our own survival?