The War ended more than 40 years ago, but to the people of Quang Tri, Vietnam, it still remains a part of their lives. They do not know why the War took place nor do they understand why they have to bear the sufferings. During the Vietnam War, the region of Quang Tri, were heavily targeted for defoliant called as Agent Orange. Its main component, Dioxin, builds up inside one’s body and has so far passed onto the third generation, and leads to physical deformation. Because of this, the war brought destruction on generations after generations for mankind.
The War, as we know it, ended more than 40 years ago, but to the people of Quang Tri, Vietnam, it still remains a part of their lives. They do not know why the War took place nor do they understand why they have to bear the sufferings – they are the neglected victims of the War. During the Vietnam War, the Central parts of the country, especially in the region of Quang Tri, were heavily targeted for defoliant spraying. Defoliants are often stored safely in drums with orange lines marked around them, hence are also called as Agent Orange. Its main component, Dioxin, builds up inside one’s body and has so far passed onto the third generation, and leads to physical deformation. Because of this, the war brought destruction on generations after generations for mankind. From December 1st to 13th of 2012, I visited and interviewed families in the region who to this day suffer from the horror of the War. There was a child that cannot neither hear nor see, or control his body because of a face-sized tumor in his head, therr also was four siblings who were born mute and unable to walk erect, the brother who suffer from cerebral palsy and full paralysis, respectively, a girl who looked like a torso sculpture that moves, was born with six fingers that were bunched up like grapes, the children who are suffering from microcephalia, which causes their mental capabilities to fall far short from that of a normal person, and triggers monkey like behaviors. They all live in the same area, and have a grandfather who was a Vietnam War Veteran. So The Agent Orange gets its alias, Slow Bullet, for its gradual surfacing of effects, unlike the explosives with immediate results. In other words, it’s seriously a Weapon That Kills the Future.