Agent Orange makers told to pay 6,800 South Koreans

[Judi Lynn]

Thursday, Jan 26, 2006
Agent Orange makers told to pay 6,800 South Koreans

(CBC) - Two American companies that made the defoliant Agent Orange have been ordered to pay damages to South Korean soldiers who fought alongside U.S. forces during the Vietnam War.

Dow Chemical and Monsanto Co. must hand over $62 million US to 6,800 South Koreans affected by exposure to the chemical, a South Korean court said Thursday.

The plaintiffs include South Korean soldiers who were stationed in Vietnam from 1965 to 1973, as well as some family members.

They launched two South Korean class-action suits over numerous medical problems they link to the chemical. The Americans sprayed Agent Orange from the air to destroy food sources and remove leaves from trees so they could better track north Vietnamese troops and sympathizers.

Agent Orange contained dioxin, a carcinogen linked to birth defects and nerve disorders
(snip/...)

http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=cbc/world_home&articleID=2152100

[Hestia]

1. What about our guys?

Manufacturers of Agent Orange have in the past compensated troops from Canada, Australia and New Zealand who fought with the United States in Vietnam, reaching an out-of-court settlement on damage payments in 1984.

This is very nice, but what about our guys? And the people who were exposed here in the U.S.? They've been told there are no health problems from Agent Orange. Geez...maybe this can now set a precedent for our guys to be compensated also.

..
Side note: Knew a guy who grew up next door to an Agent Orange mfg. OMG! I cannot even been to describe what he looked like when he died -- it was the most horrible thing I had ever seen.