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Episode 2498 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature the summary, recommendations and acknowledgements of the Merry Band of Retirees report titled, United States Secret War in Laos: Long-Term environmental and Human Health Impacts of the Use of Chemical Weapons. The report was authored by Kenneth R. Olson, David R. Speidel and submitted to Scientific Research Publishing.
Portions of the report have been featured on the podcast in recent episodes. It was pointed out that the intricacies of Laotian affairs, and U.S. and North Vietnamese interference in them, led to a mutual policy of ignoring the other, at least in the public eye. This did not prevent the North Vietnamese from violating Lao neutrality by protecting and expanding their supply conduit with the support of their Pathet Lao allies in their war against the central Lao government. U.S. intervention came in increments in the form of a CIA-backed clandestine army in its fight with the communists and constant spraying of herbicide weapons and bombing. The CIA also provided support for the Lao government.
The primary objective of this study was to: 1) determine locations of potential dioxin TCDD and arsenic hotspots as a result the secret chemical spraying missions on the Hồ Chi Minh Trail in Laos and 2) determine environmental and human health effects from the spraying of tactical herbicides containing dioxin (TCDD) and/or arsenic.
According to Professor Olson, One of the last untold stories of the Second Indochina War in Southeast Asia was the United States secret use of the tactical herbicides, rather than ground troops, in the neutral nation of Laos. The United States has never taken full responsibility for spraying the tactical herbicides used on Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos during the Second Indochina War.
And yet, in one of the larger oddities of history, the most painful legacy of the war has become a cornerstone of reconciliation.
Listen to episode 2498 and discover more about the summary, recommendations and acknowledgements of the Merry Band of Retirees report titled, United States Secret War in Laos: Long-Term environmental and Human Health Impacts of the Use of Chemical Weapons. The report was authored by Kenneth R. Olson, David R. Speidel and submitted to Scientific Research Publishing.
