51 seconds of silence and 51 seconds of action TODAY for the Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange

[Minh Nguyen]

Dear VAYLA friends,

Could you kindly share this with your listervs? Thank you.

 

Sister Alison McCrary, CSJ

 

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Hanoi, Vietnam to meet with other lawyers from numerous countries

and to learn about, interview victims, and write about the ongoing effects of our country's use of Agent Orange on the Vietnamese People during the U.S. war in Vietnam.  The experience for me was powerful beyond words. Physicians in Vietnam are seeing more severe and more frequent cases of birth defects from our use of the chemical as a defoliant in babies being born each day there.  These long-term effects are horrifying and very sad.
 

For many years, the National Lawyers Guild, a group of progressive lawyers working for social change that I served on the board of and work actively with,  along with other groups most notably Veterans for Peace, and Vietnam Veterans Against the War, has been part of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign. (http://www.vn-agentorange.org/index.html).  You are invited to join and become a

The National Lawyers Guild, supported and brought a lawsuit on behalf of Vietnamese
victims of Agent Orange against the chemical companies that manufactured
Agent Orange during the mid- 2000’s.  Unfortunately that case was not
successful.   Now we are part of a national and international campaign to mark the 51st anniversary,
(August 10, 1961) of the beginning of the spraying .  *This campaign is called:  51 seconds of
silence and at least 51 seconds of action campaign. *

As you know, the United States used Agent Orange and other toxic herbicides
to defoliate much of the South of Vietnam during the US War against Vietnam
from 1961 to 1971.  The US  sprayed millions of gallons of these dioxin
laden chemicals over vast land areas of the South making no distinction
between military and civilian objects.  The result is that millions of
Vietnamese, (and US veterans)  have already died  of injuries and diseases
acknowledged by the United States government to be associated Agent Orange
exposure for purposes of the Agent Orange disability program.  There are
currently hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese victims who are suffering
without relief.  Most heartbreaking are the victims born with severe birth
defects and the fact that there are many areas where the dioxin levels of
the land are very high and people are still being exposed.  Second and
third generations of exposed Vietnamese are being born with horrific birth
defects and diseases which the government of Vietnam is not able to fully
address given its resources. 

Representative Robert Filner, ranking member of the Veterans’ Affairs
Committee in the House of Representatives has introduced HR 2634 known as
the Victims of Agent Orange Relief Act of 2011.
http://www.vn-agentorange.org/Agent
Orange Legislation HR 2634.pdf.   There are currently 12 co-sponsors of
this bill.  It provides support for Vietnamese victims, remediation of the
contaminated land as well as support for children and grandchildren of US
Veterans and US Vietnamese who are affected by Agent Orange.

Two of my lawyer friends/colleagues have written an Op-Ed which is posted on
line in various  websites which we hope you will read to understand the
critical nature of this issue.
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/10729-the-toxic-effects-of-agent-orange-persist-51-years-after-the-vietnam-war.

Today, on August 10, at 12 noon we request you and your friends take
51 seconds of silence and think about the victims of war and what we need
to do to prevent future war.  And after that we request you sign the
postcard either in hard copy  or on line supporting the legislation.  The
link to the postcard is http://www.vn-agentorange.org/postcard_sign.php*

Please take the time to sign the postcard and please send this email to
all of your lists.  

 

This is one small act we can do. Thank you.

 

Peace,

Sr. Alison