Photographer Brian Driscoll’s “Will it Ever End” photo series tells the stories of those still affected by Agent Orange. Used by the U.S. during the Vietnam War with the aim of defoliating the dense jungle and removing the Vietcong’s cover, Driscoll’s images are a powerful testament to how it devastated lives during the war and has continued to do so since the wars end in 1975.
Agent Orange is a dioxin compound and highly toxic – described as one of the most harmful chemicals in the world. It is estimated that the U.S. sprayed 21,135,000 gallons of Agent Orange into Vietnams dense jungle vegetation, eastern Laos and parts of Cambodia.
To begin with the U.S. deliberately targeted food crops. Destroying any possibility of peasants supporting themselves in the countryside meant that they were forced to move towards U.S. held towns and cities, thus leaving the guerillas without rural support and food supplies. This ultimately led to a mass famine and exodus from the country side, leading to an estimated 1.5 million Vietnamese living in slums around Saigon. A quarter of a million people are still living in the slums to date.
Agent Orange Barrels at Johnston Atoll circa 1976. Image credit: US Government
The Vietnam Red Cross estimates that 3 million people across three generations have been affected by Agent Orange, at least 150,000 of these are children born with defects since the end of the war. Three generations later children are still being born with birth defects as a result of contaminated food and water resources. Shot in 2008 Driscoll’s photographs show a generation of children deformed, blind, death and with learning disabilities, trapped inside their homes without education and recreational activities.
U.S. Huey helicopter spraying Agent Orange over Vietnam. Image Credit: Originally from U.S. Army Operations in Vietnam R.W. Trewyn
U.S. Accountability
An embarrassing war for the U.S and unpopular back home many were opposed to the cause and the use of Agent Orange. U.S. figures show that during their military intervention (1965-1973) 200-250,000 South Vietnamese were killed and 58,200 U.S. soldiers died, deaths that the government has struggled to justify. Many soldiers were exposed to the chemical and have since filed law suits against the government with little success.
Washington has continued to state that there is no internationally-accepted evidence that links Agent Orange with the continued birth defects. Last year America started its first Agent Orange clean up project at Danang’s airport, where the chemical was once stored before being used. The U.S. government is providing £26 million for the clean-up project, although it has taken along time for this step to be made it is still a move in the right direction.
It is important that imagery like Driscoll’s continues to be published and a continued effort is made to generate awareness of the continued affects of Agent orange. It should not be forgotten and more can be done and should be done to clean-up the hotspots and prevent further contamination.
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