It was an herbicide used to kill plants over a short period of time. The name, “Agent Orange”, was brought up by the researchers at Eglin Air Force Base. The mixture of chemicals took its name from the orange hue of the stripe found on the gallon drums it was commonly stored in” (Sukha 1). It was stored in a gallon tank with an orange stripe on it, leading to the name, “Agent Orange”. The developments of “Agent Orange” lead to its deadly use during the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War “Agent Orange” was used in many dangerous ways. One primary objective was to “reduce dense jungle foliage so that communist forces might not use it for cover and to deny them the use of crops needed for subsistence”.

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The Viet Cong would find cover in the jungle, giving the U. S. marines a disadvantage. “Agent Orange” would even out the terrain on which they were fighting on. The secondary objective was to clear sensitive areas used for support, such as around base camps and supply areas. “Agent Orange and White were also used on about 50,000 acres of mangrove forest near the city of “Sai Gon” to discourage the use of these areas to interrupt supplies coming to the city (Gaspar 1).

The supply areas would be defoliated to prevent further transportation of goods into the city. “Agent Orange” was dangerous towards everything in its path, including the lives of others. “Agent Orange” also had side effects toward Vietnam’s people and the soldiers that were in Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, soldiers were also affected by “Agent Orange”. “Exposure to the defoliant has been linked with chemical acne, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, soft-tissue sarcoma, and hairy-cell leukemia”.

The soldiers in Vietnam would have just as many casualties from diseases to people getting killed by the Viet Cong. The use of “Agent Orange” also affected the people of Vietnam. The dumping of toxic, produced by “Agent Orange”, into the ocean and water supplies, would bring illness to the people drinking water in Vietnam (“Vietnam: Environment” 1). “The herbicide has also been blamed for a significantly higher than normal rate of birth defects in areas of Vietnam that were sprayed (“Agent Orange” 1).

With the use of “Agent Orange” brought danger to Vietnam’s people. Agent Orange” has proved to be deadly in the past years during the Vietnam War, and brought downsides with it. It brought many deaths and illness to the soldiers and people in Vietnam. The United States gained less than what they lost as a result of using “Agent Orange”. The use of the deadly herbicide would need years of treatment. “Since 2006 the United States and Vietnam have worked together on problems in Vietnam resulting from the herbicide’s use.

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