ID :
185699
Wed, 06/01/2011 - 03:10
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/185699
The shortlink copeid
Suspicions arise over timing of U.S. use of Agent Orange in Korea
WASHINGTON, May 31 (Yonhap) -- A controversy over the alleged burial of Agent Orange by U.S. troops at a base in South Korea took a new twist Tuesday, as fresh suspicions surfaced over the actual timing of the use of the toxic material.
The U.S. and South Korean governments officially said Agent Orange and other herbicides were sprayed in the Demilitarized Zone and nearby areas from 1968-69. Some retired soldiers have raised claims that the U.S. military clandestinely jettisoned a large amount of leftover Agent Orange in Camp Carroll, a base 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in the late 1970s.
The Agent Orange issue is highly sensitive because it is associated with compensation for veterans who suffered health problems from its use.
The allegations also apparently unnerve government officials of the two allies, who remember the massive wave of anti-American protests following the 2002 deaths of two South Korean schoolgirls crushed by a U.S. armored vehicle and Seoul's decision to resume American beef imports in 2008.
The U.S. administration remains guarded about the Agent Orange claims, waiting for the results of a joint probe with South Korean authorities.
Adding to the setback for the U.S. government, a former U.S. soldier argued that American troops sprayed toxic chemicals starting far earlier than Washington formally claims.
Robert Vivona, who served with the 2nd Military Police Company in South Korea, said he was tasked with spraying Agent Orange in the DMZ in December 1965.
"This spraying to my knowledge continued three or four times a week with my escort section until I rotated back to the U.S. in late April 1966," he told Yonhap News Agency.
Lending credence to his claim, a letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs sent to a group of former soldiers in 2009 said Agent Orange was used on the peninsula starting in 1962.
"A copy of the Unit history for the 335th Maintenance Battalion notes that herbicides, orange, blue and monuron were used in Korea from 1962 to 1970," read the letter, which was obtained by Yonhap.
The U.S. and South Korean governments officially said Agent Orange and other herbicides were sprayed in the Demilitarized Zone and nearby areas from 1968-69. Some retired soldiers have raised claims that the U.S. military clandestinely jettisoned a large amount of leftover Agent Orange in Camp Carroll, a base 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in the late 1970s.
The Agent Orange issue is highly sensitive because it is associated with compensation for veterans who suffered health problems from its use.
The allegations also apparently unnerve government officials of the two allies, who remember the massive wave of anti-American protests following the 2002 deaths of two South Korean schoolgirls crushed by a U.S. armored vehicle and Seoul's decision to resume American beef imports in 2008.
The U.S. administration remains guarded about the Agent Orange claims, waiting for the results of a joint probe with South Korean authorities.
Adding to the setback for the U.S. government, a former U.S. soldier argued that American troops sprayed toxic chemicals starting far earlier than Washington formally claims.
Robert Vivona, who served with the 2nd Military Police Company in South Korea, said he was tasked with spraying Agent Orange in the DMZ in December 1965.
"This spraying to my knowledge continued three or four times a week with my escort section until I rotated back to the U.S. in late April 1966," he told Yonhap News Agency.
Lending credence to his claim, a letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs sent to a group of former soldiers in 2009 said Agent Orange was used on the peninsula starting in 1962.
"A copy of the Unit history for the 335th Maintenance Battalion notes that herbicides, orange, blue and monuron were used in Korea from 1962 to 1970," read the letter, which was obtained by Yonhap.
