To ease the pain of Agent Orange

Persistent pain

In 1967, like many other young people of the same era, young man Nguyen Xuan Thanh (born in 1948 in hamlet 3, Hung Thinh commune, Hung Nguyen district) volunteered to join the army and fight in the Tri - Thien battlefield.

After peace was restored, in early 1976, Mr. Thanh was discharged from the army, returned to his hometown and married a woman from the same hometown. Having gone through years of hard fighting, facing the enemy, and death always lurking, the happiness of a family home was multiplied when the first daughter was born at the end of 1976 and grew up completely healthy.

But that short-lived happiness only lasted nearly 4 years, when Mr. Thanh's 3 children, Nguyen Thi Le (born in 1980), Nguyen Thi Hoa (born in 1982) and Nguyen Van Hao (born in 1985), were born one after another and all showed signs of cerebral palsy after 1-3 years. Remembering the years of fighting in the Khe Sanh battlefield, under the canopy of the forest with unusually falling leaves, beside the streams with red water, Mr. Thanh went for an examination and was devastated when he learned that he was infected.Agent OrangeThe poison was not only absorbed into his body, but also spread to his poor children, causing them to not only be stunted but also often lose control of their behavior. He and his wife took their children everywhere for treatment but were helpless.

Not only that, more than 10 years ago, Mr. Thanh was diagnosed with heart disease and had to undergo surgery to install a pacemaker and 2 coronary stents. He now has to go to the hospital twice a month for treatment. Despite the difficulties, all of the family's living expenses depend on the Agent Orange victim benefits for Mr. Thanh and his 3 children.

In addition, Mr. Thanh has 6 grandchildren, 4 of whom were born to his 2 daughters who were infected with Agent Orange. They have not yet been diagnosed with the disease but are stunted compared to their peers.

In addition to Mr. Thanh’s family situation, there are many other unfortunate situations in the province, facing suffering when having children who are not healthy due to the consequences of Agent Orange. That is veteran Phan Van Minh (69 years old, living in hamlet 2, Dien Kim commune, Dien Chau district), who was infected with Agent Orange/dioxin while fighting in the southern battlefields, gave birth to 4 children, 2 of whom suffered from cerebral palsy and died one after another; his two grandchildren are also living a difficult life due to the influence of their father and grandfather.

According to statistics from the Provincial Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin, Nghe An is one of the three provinces in the country (along with Thai Binh and Bac Giang) with the largest number of people exposed to Agent Orange/Dioxin in the country with more than 30 thousand people. Of these, there are currently 13,690 people receiving monthly subsidies according to State regulations (of which 8,911 are directly affected and 4,779 are indirectly affected), concentrated in Thanh Chuong, Dien Chau, Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc districts, Vinh city...

Join hands to ease the pain of Agent Orange

To ease the pain of Agent Orange, over the years, Nghe An province has paid attention to both material and spiritual care, helping families of victims infected with Agent Orange/dioxin overcome the difficulties of life.

The Provincial Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin, established in 2008, has truly become a common home for its members. Up to now, 21/21 districts, cities and towns have established district-level associations and 391/460 communes, wards and towns have established grassroots associations, with a total of more than 14,000 members.

In 2022, the Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin at all levels in the province mobilized over 4.1 billion VND from agencies, businesses and benefactors at home and abroad to support the construction of 19 houses, donate dozens of wheelchairs and thousands of gifts to families of Agent Orange victims.

In the first 7 months of 2023, the Provincial Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin mobilized units and individuals in the area to support 4,142 gifts worth nearly 2 billion VND for the families of the victims. In addition to the support and visits to give gifts to the victims from the Central Association and the province, the district and commune-level associations proposed that their leaders and authorities allocate local budgets to mobilize businesses and philanthropists to support and give gifts to the victims during the holidays and Tet with a total amount of more than 1.4 billion VND; typically in Dien Chau, Nghi Loc, Quynh Luu districts, Vinh city, Do Luong, Tan Ky, Thanh Chuong, etc.

Thanks to the concern of society, many victims of Agent Orange/dioxin are still trying to rise up, overcome poverty, inferiority complex, and have faith in life, typically Mr. Nguyen Van Duc (born in 1954) in Hamlet 6, Dien Loi Commune (Dien Chau). Joining the army in 1971 to the Central Highlands battlefield, discharged in 1976, the consequences of Agent Orange left Mr. Duc with crippled legs and arms, and his only son was also deformed. However, thanks to the support of loans for production development from the District Association of Victims of Agent Orange, he has developed a livestock farm with several hundred chickens and dozens of livestock of all kinds, becoming a well-off household in the locality.

There is also the case of veteran Pham Ba Canh (born in 1953) in Hung Yen Bac commune (Hung Nguyen), who had to raise 3 children with paralysis but made efforts to develop his family's carpentry workshop, creating jobs for 4-5 local workers.

62 years since the first day the US sprayed this deadly poison on Vietnam (August 10, 1961), “Agent Orange Victims Day” is an occasion to call on the whole society to join hands for the lives of Agent Orange victims. The whole society’s joining hands will help them ease their pain, gain more faith and motivation in life.