Veterans exposed to Agent Orange feel agony, frustration; U.S. soldiers served in Korea also struggle to get recognized as defoliant victims

None of the doctors that Chung Sam-nam consulted over the past 20 years could explain what caused the serious liver and skin diseases that were destroying his life.

Nor could they explain what caused the lung disease that the 55-year-old Army veteran, who served in the Demilitarized Zone north of Inje in 1969-70, suffered from. And the cause of the Kwangju resident's child's unidentifiable skin disease likewise remained a mystery.

But in mid-November, when the Defense Ministry admitted that Agent Orange and two other toxic defoliants, supplied by the U.S. forces, were sprayed along the DMZ in 1968 and 1969, Chung thought he realized what caused all the diseases.

"It is almost 30 years that I last served in the 12th Infantry Division, and my fellow soldiers and I were often mobilized to clear the area of bushes and trees to improve observation," Chung recalled in an interview with The Korea Herald yesterday.

While he said he doesn't recall if he himself was involved in the spraying of defoliants, he said he remembers seeing his fellow soldiers spreading chemicals by hand or with spraying devices.

"We thought it was a simple herbicide. And soon after I was discharged, I forgot all about it," Chung said.

But he said he could not get a decent job due to the illnesses that plagued him for the past few decades.

Like Chung, Kim Ki-soo in Seoul and Kang Jong-hoon in Pusan also complained of unknown skin and nerve diseases. In separate interviews, the said they served in the 25th and 3rd infantry divisions, respectively, during the period the defoliants were spread in the DMZ. They gave similar testimonies on the situation in which the defoliants were sprayed and on the diseases they subsequently suffered from.

The three are among the more than 300 Army veterans and civilians who, during the past two weeks, have called local veterans associations and civic groups claiming they were exposed to Agent Orange and are suffering from diseases caused by defoliants.

In mid-November, the South Korean Defense Ministry and the Pentagon verified a report that the U.S. Forces Korea first suggested use of the defoliants in 1967. It supplied Agent Orange, Agent Blue and Monuron to South Korean Army soldiers, who were mobilized for the spraying mission. More than 59,000 gallons of the defoliants, including 21,000 gallons of the highly toxic Agent Orange, were spread on 20,794 acres of land along a 100-meter strip south of the 155-mile-long DMZ.

Neither the South Korean nor the U.S. forces knew how toxic the defoliants were, and no proper warning was given to the soldiers involved in the spray mission.

Some South Korean officials expressed displeasure after U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen in late November said the Pentagon was not liable for the spray of the toxic defoliants. Cohen said the spray was conducted with the decision of the South Korean government, reversing an earlier Pentagon spokesman's announcement that it was the U.S. forces that suggested use of the defoliants and supplied them.

"Considering the allied relationship with the United States, we will not make an open complaint," a Defense Ministry official said. "But the (Korean) victims could nevertheless sue the U.S. government and chemical companies." A group of South Korean veterans exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War are already suing the U.S. government and chemical manufacturers Dow Chemical and Monsanto for compensation.

The Defense Ministry said last week the government was working to expand a law that offers medical and financial support to Vietnam's Agent Orange victims to cover soldiers and civilians exposed to the defoliant in Korea's DMZ 30 years ago.

Once the law is revised, the Patriots and Veterans Administration will begin to receive complaints from the DMZ's Agent Orange victims, a ministry official said.

Larry Anderson's caseMeanwhile, in the United States, U.S. army veterans are also asking to be compensated for exposure to defoliants while serving in Korea.

So far, the U.S. government has recognized a few cases in which its own soldiers were exposed to Agent Orange here. One of these veterans is Thomas Wolfe, whom the U.S. government recognized in March this year.

But Wolfe, who is suffering from cancer, is an exception to the rule. For example, Larry Anderson, who claims he was too exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Korea in 1969-69 and again in 1976-78, has been denied recognition. He says the defoliants have caused him skin diseases, circulatory problems, nerve damage, and severe and frequent headaches.

Four of his nine children are suffering from multiple handicaps, epilepsy, or skin disorders, he told The Korea Herald.

As the Pentagon and the U.S. Department of the Army believe that no U.S. soldiers were directly involved in the spray mission, the U.S. government has refused to accept his plea that the problems were caused by Agent Orange, saying he was not in Vietnam.

"I have been mocked and laughed at, even in the Veterans Association hospital," said Anderson from Chubbuck, Idaho, in a telephone and a subsequent e-mail interview. Anderson said he served at Camp Red Cloud in Uijongbu and then at the 547th Engineer Battalion south of Kimpo as a combat medic from February 1968 to March 1969. One day he was instructed to use Agent Orange to spray "around all the buildings [in the camp] to kill vegetation." He said he enlisted the help of South Korean soldiers and others to clean up the camp. He also recalled that "a large cloud of an irritant gas" was spread that caused several soldiers to have many complaints, including himself, from the gases on their clothing.

He said he sprayed Agent Orange several times. "There was no warning, no caution, nothing to tell an ignorant 19- or 20-year-old that it was dangerous or hazardous. I did not have gloves, masks or anything to protect skin or clothes. I did also have South Korean KATUSA soldiers assist me in these sprays," he recalled.

After about a year, he became sick with diarrhea, sudden loss of weight, skin rashes, nose irritation. He was sent back to Korea to the 2nd Infantry Division in December 1976. One day, "we received orders to withdraw all remaining supplies of Agent Orange powder from inventory. I did this and turned them in into the supply channels for disposal," he recalled.

After he returned to the United States, he wanted to see about the problems he had from exposure to Agent Orange. But doctors repeatedly denied him access to veterans' hospitals, since he was not a Vietnam War veteran.

In addition to the diseases, of himself and his children, he said he is suffering from the "denials and insults that I have been given for so many years."

Anderson said the U.S. Veterans Association now recognizes the condition but refuses service in connection with it.

He said he has an appeal pending for medical and financial support. "But I expect it again to be denied," Anderson said.

But he said he finds encouragement in Thomas Wolfe's case. "If they recognized him, why not me?" he said.

As Anderson puts it, all Korean and U.S. soldiers exposed to Agent Orange should be recognized and compensated. But it is uncertain now how long it will take and how many more times they'll be denied before they are recognized.

Updated: 12/06/1999, by Lee Sung-yul Staff reporter

Korea Herald