October Is Agent Orange Awareness Month

October is Agent Orange Month and a town hall meeting is scheduled to help educate veterans, their families and the public on the lasting legacy of the toxic defoliant.

The New Jersey State Council of the Vietnam Veterans of America will hold the meeting at VFW Post #2290 located at 600 Washington Avenue in Manville starting at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 27.

"Today, more than five decades after the spraying began in the war, birth defects, cancer and other illnesses are still appearing in the descendants of veteran," said Dennis Beauregard, New Jersey State Council President. "These are innocent victims. Veterans, their families and the public need to know the Agent Orange facts so that we can get vicims the help they deserve."

The Manville town meeting will provide the latest information on Agent Orange and how it was used in Vietnam, the health problems that have followed and the ways veterans, their children and their families can cope and get aid.

Call 201-803-2943 for additional information or click vva.org.

Agent Orange, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs,  is a blend of tactical herbicides the U.S. military sprayed from 1962 to 1971 during Operation Ranch Hand in the Vietnam War to remove trees and dense tropical foliage that provided enemy cover.

More than 19 million gallons of various “rainbow” herbicide combinations were sprayed, but Agent Orange was the combination the U.S. military used most often. The name “Agent Orange” came from the orange identifying stripe used on the 55-gallon drums in which it was stored.