The thing that had the greatest impact on me in these chapters was the way the government treated soldiers who had been exposed to Agent Orange. The VA and other groups were supposed to protect and help the soldiers. Instead, they ignored them, called them liars, and refused to give them any sort of payment or health benefit except in rare cases. This is simply unacceptable. Vietnam veterans had to suffer from criticism by the public, they had to fight in a war that really had no purpose, they were among the first Americans to lose a war, and on top of all that their government poisoned them and then refused to acknowledge that it do so or help them in any way. This is simply unacceptable and it shows how much these people had to suffer and go through before they could get any recognition or respect from the public or from the government that sent them to fight in the first place.
Categories: