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spraying herbicides
Episode 2504 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a look at a report about the Historical Record that reveals substantial herbicide use in Thailand. The information shared in this episode is a portion of the report created by the Merry Band of Retirees titled, Use of Agent Purple, Agent Orange and Agent Blue on Royal Thai Air Force Base Perimeters in Thailand during the Vietnam War
The paper was submitted by Kenneth R. Olson and Larry Cihacek. Olson was a professor in the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois [krolson@illinois.edu]. He is a US Army Vietnam Era Veteran and professor emeritus of soil science. Cihacek is a professor at the School of Natural Resource Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota. He is US Army veteran and professor of soil science.
In this episode, the following portion of the paper that is titled, 2.2 The Historical Record Reveals Substantial Herbicide Use on Air Force Bases in Thailand will be featured. According to Olson and Cihacek, due to the density and high growth rate of tropical vegetation in Thailand, mowing was seen as labor intensive and ineffective, so US military personal used herbicides. Furthermore, there are several reference reports admitting herbicide use throughout bases (on the grass yards next to barracks)in Thailand to control vegetation in Thailand’s tropical environment.
Five bases in Thailand, including Nakhon Phanom (NKP), Ubon, Korat, U-Tapao and Udorn endured sniper fire interdiction, perimeter penetration, and sapper (combat engineer) attacks.Nam Phong an eighth Royal Thai Air Force base was used by the United States Marine Corps air operations starting in 1972. The Rules of Engagement (ROE) provided authorization and limits for the employment of herbicides throughout the Southeast Asian conflict.
Listen to episode 2504 and discover more about the Historical Record that reveals substantial herbicide use in Thailand.
