Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Direct contact with Vietnamese Agent Orange (AO) victims during their one-month tour of ten cities of the US and pictures of Vietnamese people suffering from the toxic chemical have moved many Americans.

The delegation to the US included Prof. Nguyen Trong Nhan, Vice President of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA), and two AO victims, namely Ho Sy Hai from northern Thai Binh province and Dang Thi Hong Nhut from Ho Chi Minh City.

The Americans, included scientists, those veterans who suffered from AO during the war in Vietnam, and representatives of mass organisations in the US, were asked for support of a lawsuit filed by the VAVA against a number of US chemical companies.

The US audience and mass organisations warmly responded the Vietnamese AO victims' call, voluntarily raising funds for AO victims to continue with their suit in the US Court of Appeals.

They also agreed with the victims' demand that the chemical companies and the authorities of the US take responsibility for compensation for the aftermaths of AO in Vietnam.

A series of activities in support of Vietnamese AO victims were held during the delegation's US tour, including an exhibition of photos on AO victims taken by Phillip Jones Griffiths in Connecticut; lectures on AO/dioxin by Prof. Arthur W. Galston at Housatonic College in Connecticut, ABC-Television's report of AO harmful effects on humans, and mass media's covering of the delegation's activities in the US and stories about AO's aftermath in Vietnam.

Talking with a VNA correspondent in San Francisco, Ngo Thanh Nhan, member of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign (VAORRC) leadership, said the US tour by the Vietnamese AO victims was fruitful, persuading many US people to support the lawsuit.

The VAORRC joined with the US Veterans for Peace (VFP) organisation to finance the delegation's tour.

The delegation left San Francisco for Vietnam on December 12.

(Source:VNA)
Last updated: 16:7 - December 14, 2005