Vietnamese Americans who suffer from exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War may be the only group not receiving government benefits to deal with their condition, reports the Mercury News.
Vietnam War veterans in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea all receive financial assistance as do those from Canada.
But Vietnamese Americans do not. A bill in congress to compensate Vietnamese Americans and other victims of wartime defoliants faces an uphill battle, according to its sponsors.
Many Vietnamese , especially former South Vietnamese veterans, have not demanded compensation out of fear of seeming to turn against military action in Vietnam by the United States, the country that helped them battle the Vietnamese communist.
Information from Veterans Affairs indicates U.S. forces dumped more than 19 million gallons of herbicides on South Vietnam and border areas between Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
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An analysis of data by New American Media indicated that Vietnamese Americans may have a higher incidence of cancer than other Asian American groups.
You can read about that and the possible connection to Agent Orange in the Mercury News.
