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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 3

Publication Date: March 25, 2023

DOI:10.14738/assrj.103.14230.

Young, A. L. (2023). Historical Records Fail to Support Agent Orange Exposure of Veterans Stationed in Thailand. Advances in

Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(3). 172-177.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Historical Records Fail to Support Agent Orange Exposure of

Veterans Stationed in Thailand

Alvin Lee Young

A.L. Young Consulting, Inc., Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States.

Abstract

In the case of Thailand and its many airbases, the Compensation Service of

the United States Department of Veterans Affairs has not conducted a

comprehensive search of the historical records that were retrieved from

Vietnam and are now a continuing source of research. Thailand veterans

were previously eligible for health care for any injuries they incurred during

their service in Thailand. However, they were not eligible for health care for

diseases and compensation as provided to Vietnam veterans under the Agent

Orange Act of 1991. Recently, the “Promise to Address Comprehensive

Toxics Act” (PACT Act) was passed by the United States Congress that permits

veterans who served in Thailand and Guam during the Vietnam War to be

eligible for health care and compensation for their exposure to Agent

Orange, despite the absence of any evidence from historical records. Too

often the pressure from members of Congress, as in the case of Thailand and

Guam, the enactment of the PACT Act dictated a course of action. This action

and others involving Agent Orange are examples where “political” forces

make a mockery of the science and historical records.

Keywords: Agent Orange; Thailand veterans; military records; Vietnam War;

PACT Act

INTRODUCTION

March 2023 is the “50th Anniversary of the Vietnam Withdrawal”, the time when all Allied

Forces left Vietnam in accordance with the January 1973 Paris Peace Accords. During those 50

years, the issue has continued over the use of Agent Orange, a tactical herbicide used in Vietnam

to control vegetation and thereby prevent ambush of Allied ground troops. In November 2008,

I presented a Colloquium Lecture to the faculty and students at the Institute for Environmental

Science at the Landau Campus of the University of Koblenz, Landau, Germany [1]. The title of

my lecture was “Agent Orange: a Conflict Between Science and Social Concerns.” I suggested to

the students that public discussion and governmental actions have proceeded largely on an

assumption, rather than a determination, of wide-spread substantial exposure to Agent Orange

by veterans of the Vietnam War. Moreover, the extensive medical and scientific studies of Agent

Orange and its associated dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, TCDD) have provided

ample evidence that most veterans (and Vietnamese) were not exposed. I concluded my lecture

by noting that Vietnam and Agent Orange are social and public policy issues as much as medical

and scientific. As scientists, we cannot ignore the social and political policy context, because in

our world, social and public policies shape the research agenda, and if we are not careful, may

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 3, March-2023

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

procedure required the DVA to contract with the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of

Medicine (IOM) to conduct reviews of the scientific literature on the health effects of exposure

to TCDD, Agent Orange, and the other military herbicides [8]. By 2009, the IOM had provided

DVA with additional findings so that the Department could prepare a list of conditions for

disabilities that were “presumed” to be associated (not cause and effect) with herbicide

exposure. In 2009, the list consisted of 11 diseases including prostate cancer and type II

diabetes [7,8]. Thailand veterans were not eligible for health care or compensation for the

presumptive diseases under the 1991 Agent Orange Act.

With each review by IOM, additional diseases were added to DVA list of presumptive diseases.

By 2018, DVA had 17 diseases on their list [7]. To receive health care and disability

compensation, the veteran must undergo the Agent Orange Registry Examination [9]. The

intent of the Registry was to identify all Vietnam veterans expressing a concern about possible

adverse effects of their exposure to Agent Orange, and to obtain some preliminary information

on the current health status of the veterans who have participated in the Registry [9]. As

previously noted, by 31 October 1985, 205,500 Vietnam veterans were in the Agent Orange

Registry. By 2018, more than 772,300 veterans were listed in the Registry. However, in 2015,

DVA opened the Registry to any Vietnam-era veterans who alleged exposure to Agent Orange

[9]. No additional data were provided by DVA on the present number of Vietnam-era veterans

listed in the registry as of 31 December 2022, but media reports suggested it now exceeds one

million veterans. On 10 August 2023, the “Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act”

(PACT Act) was enacted. The Act now provides health care and disability compensation to US

veterans who served in Thailand and Guam between 9 January 1962 and 30 January 1976. In

addition, it expanded the list of presumptive diseases to 20, to include hypertension.

HISTORICAL RECORDS OF VETERANS STATIONED IN THAILAND, 1962-1976

The allegations and claims of exposure to Agent Orange in Thailand can be summarized in the

following four areas:

1. RANCH HAND aircraft were staged out of many Thailand bases for defoliation and crop

denial missions in Laos. To accommodate these missions’ massive quantities of Agent

Orange and Agent Blue were stored (pre-positioned) at Ubon and Udorn airbases in

Thailand, thus exposure occurred during the handling of this inventory and loading of

the UC-123K aircraft;

2. Vegetation control was a major factor in airbase defense in Thailand. Thailand veterans

witnessed or participated in the spraying of Agent Orange and Agent Blue procured from

Vietnam, to include their use in military operations;

3. Airbase perimeters were repeatedly treated with tactical herbicides, and Army and Air

Force personnel as well as military working dogs assigned to provide perimeter security

were exposed to the toxic herbicides and associated dioxin contaminant on these

perimeters; and,

4. Airbase personnel trained in maintaining aircraft were frequently tasked with repairing

the aerial spray systems associated with RANCH HAND aircraft returning from hostile

action over Laos.

All available documents, reports, and correspondence were obtained from the National

Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and other document repositories that related to

the use of “tactical herbicides” including Agent Orange and Agent Blue in Thailand. This