Agent Orange

[Leo99]

My daughter (30) was telling me about the horrible poison ivy problem she has at the house that she just bought. I was kidding around that she needs some agent orange. And she replied what's that, never heard of it.

She's working as a chemist. At what age do people not learn about agent orange? Is this something that is not taught? She dropped out of high school in 10th grade, got her GED, and studied chemistry for her BS degree.

 

[ctechbob]

I still have a report kicking around the house somewhere that I did in 9th or 10th grade on Agent Orange for a history class. Printed on a dot matrix printer on tractor feed paper. That would have been in the very early 90's.

 

[chainblu]

I suppose it's possible if she never really learned much about Viet Nam; books, movies, documentaries, etc. But a little surprising that she never heard about it (from any source) in her studies.

 

[tbm5690]

I'm 32 and remember learning about it in high school history class.

 

[Andrew1972]

I only know of it as my grandfather designed chemical plants that made it at Monsonto.

 

[Kira]

Burying the catchy name of a defoliant used during an unpopular war comes as no surprise.

Only news reports and companies offering to represent those injured by it used the name.

The big boys (Monsanto et al) would prefer to duck the association.
Why do you think the drugs used in lethal injection are not made?
There, the market is so small, no chem/pharma company wants the association.

Now, when a contemporary asked, "Pearl Harbor, that was WWII, right?", a roomful of people was shocked.

 

[RooflessVW]

I'm 32 and remember learning about it in high school history class.

I'm 34 and didn't.

 

[MotorFan]

Back in the day I had a lawn business, one of our customers was a railroad engineer and mentioned they used some super potent weedkillers to help keep train tracks clear of weeds and other growth. Probably not legal for use in the 'civilian' market though.

 

[chemman]

It was never taught in any of the chemistry classes I took which was a boatload! I knew about it because of news broadcasts back in the day and then all the veteran's groups talking about it.

 

[Freischneider]

2,4-D and 2,4,5,-T

 

[Freischneider]

2,4-D and 2,4,5,-T

I actually prefer Triclopyr for woody brush. It will absolutely devastate poison ivy and poison oak.

 

[wwillson]

Back in the day I had a lawn business, one of our customers was a railroad engineer and mentioned they used some super potent weedkillers to help keep train tracks clear of weeds and other growth. Probably not legal for use in the 'civilian' market though.

Probably Tordon, it kills woody plants.

 

[Oro_O]

I've got my spine, I've got my...

 

[wwillson]

I know about agent orange because my Dad was exposed to it in Vietnam when he was there from '67-
'68 on his twelve month tour. He was in the 554th Engineering Battalion and spent lots of time out in the field repairing roads, bridges, and runways and getting shot at. For many years he would have a seizure about once a year, not serious, just weird to see. He would get quiet a the dinner table and his hands would start shaking for a couple minutes, then it would quit. The Doctors he saw told him it was probably because of his agent orange exposure.

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

My parents' generation fought in Vietnam, so I learned about it somehow as I was growing up.

I didn't know much about the cotton business when I had a job picking cotton for a few weeks in the mid-nineties. When I heard the word "defoliant," I thought "Hmm...Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah. Agent Orange." Cotton defoliant probably isn't the same formula, but there were DANGER! PELIGRO! signs posted all along the fields.

 

[Mazomopar]

It's hard believe but this was occurring 50 to 60 years ago. So for us who grew up in the early 60's, this would be like things happening around the turn of the century, which seemed like ancient history to us too. It is unfortunate this is being overlooked. I'm a vascular sonographer at a VA hospital and I have the privilege of caring for these affected guys and gals on a daily basis. Since I'm a clinical site instructor for an affiliated university hospital, i work students in their early 20's on a daily basis. When they hear agent orange as a cause of the Vets symptoms, the patient and I have give them the short course. One of Uncle Sam's poorer decisions. As an aside, I had a Vet tell me he was exposed, but not in Vietnam. He said it was also used quietly in the Korean DMZ. Johnny Cash got it right, like he usually did, in "Drive on" "I'm a walkin talkin miracle from Viet Nam Drive on.."

 

[Dave Hess]

I’m not surprised she didn’t know what agent orange was.

 

[doitmyself]

It's very much a generational thing. It happens with me (66) all the time with college students aged 21 to 30 +/-. As one gets farther away from the occurrence date, there is a higher likelihood of a younger person not learning about things an older generation thinks is important. Just the way it is. What's a slide rule? Who was Tiny Tim (Tiptoe thru the tulips). The Vietnam war ending is almost 50 years ago.

 

[Jackson_Slugger]

Since she's a chemist, mention the dioxin and see if she knows what that is.

LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You

For all those people who find it more convenient to bother you with their question rather than to Google it for themselves.

lmgtfy.app

 

[CR94]

While my father was recuperating from a heart attack, he persuaded my mother (who normally avoided outdoor farm work) to help me apply 2,4,-D + 2,4, 5,-T mixture (aka, Agent Orange) on trees that were encroaching into fields. Many years later, she developed chronic lymphocytic leukemia---as did too many road workers and soldiers who were exposed.