The “ghost” of war (II):

II. A timeless pain

The US war in Vietnam lasted nearly 15 years. Despite mobilizing advanced and modern military might, the US still lost. The largest, longest and most catastrophic war in human history has ended.

Millions of liberators and civilians fell down. Several lucky liberators returning from the war and also innocent civilians surviving do not know that their bodies have been contaminated with a destructive poison. The grimness clings to them and their descendants until now when the war has ended for 46 years...

* The soldier and a grim return…

After the war ended, many of his comrades fell down on the battlefield; Mr. Pham Van Tao (Phu Ly commune, Vinh Cuu district, Dong Nai province) luckily survived and returned home. A few years later, he got married but had no children. He didn\'t know that the toxic chemicals sprayed by the US army in the battlefield have destroyed his seeds of life. Not only suffering from infertility, he passed away due to blood cancer at the age of just 50.

His wife, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Xuyen, showed us his diary written 26 years ago. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked up at his portrait on the altar. “…After that fierce battle, many of my comrades forever stayed on the battlefield. The rest continued to move forward. But I never knew that from that day on, I and my teammates would never be able to have children as we had exposed to that deadly chemical poison...\"

“…During the years on the battlefield, death always lurked, but we were not afraid. But now I feel afraid of the post-war \"ghost\" that has followed me and my comrades for many years...\", \"...I was shaken when I read a letter from an old comrade, which read: “… I was extremely painful and scared when my wife gave birth to a baby with no eyes, no arms but 3 legs. That\'s it, Tao; the war has passed for many years. On the lands of bombs and shells now have become green ... But for us, the sadness of war still persists...\"

Tao was one of the 13,000 victims of Agent Orange of Dong Nai who had to live the days in pain and sorrow before their life ended with a serious illness. Mr. Nguyen Van Truong (Xuan Truong commune, Xuan Loc district, Dong Nai province), one of his comrades in K8 (8^th Battalion, 3^rd Regiment, 324B Division), returned home with a 40% injury. Truong, then, got married and also dreamed of a happy family life. But then he had to face the harsh reality when 3 generations of his family were all affected by the Agent Orange which he exposed since his wartime.

The day when his first child was born, Truong was very happy. But that feeling didn’t last long as his son carried many deformities. A few years later, his wife gave birth to another son, then a daughter, but both were deformed, with hunched back, scoliosis, and twisted legs and had to lie in bed. More sadly, his two grandchildren were born with congenital paralysis on one leg. In 2007, Dong Nai Provincial Medical Examination Council determined that he was infected with Agent Orange at 69% scale; his three children were infected with 40-72% scale. Truong was sad: \"Seeing my children and grandchildren in deformed bodies, I feel very sad. I don\'t know how long that poison will pursue us ...\"

In a small house in Bien Hoa City, Mr. Nguyen Van Bat, an old liberation soldier, is also facing illness and a difficult life when his family has 7 people suffering from sequelae of Agent Orange. He was infected from the battlefield, 3 out of his 4 children were born with serious diseases. Only his eldest daughter was slightly affected, got married, and gave birth to 2 children. Ironically, his 2 grandchildren suffered from neurological sequelae – the destructive consequences of the American chemical war.

\"The war has ended, but many liberation soldiers have had to bear the \"wounds\" of war that will never heal - through the image of deformed children, writhing in bed,\" said Bat with a sad voice. .

* Obsessed by incomplete bodies

Some liberation soldiers who exposed to toxic chemicals on the battlefield have been living in pain because of Agent Orange. But there are still people who have never gone to war but still infected with this destructive poison. Whatever the case, they share the same pain for years...

Just nearly 60 years old, but Mrs. Dao Thi Kieu (living in Binh Hoa commune, Vinh Cuu district, Dong Nai province) looks as old as someone over 70. Every day, she is still working hard to support her deformed children. Kieu said, in 1975, she was about 10 years old. Her family lived near Bien Hoa airport, so every day she followed her mother to Bien Hoa airport to collect scrap for a living. She and her mother, like many others, did not know that Bien Hoa airport is the \"hottest spot\" of residues of Agent Orange/dioxin in the country.

In the days of digging, hooking up scrap and American military equipment left behind after the war, the scrap pickers, like she and her mother, accidentally entered the chemical storages that had been broken after the raids of 113^th Commando Regiment. Then on, Kieu and many others did not know that the destructive poison had penetrated into their body. Growing up, Kieu got married and had children. But then, 7 of her 8 children were deformed, living in vegetative status in distorted, twisted forms on the bed. Perhaps no words can describe the pain that she and her husband have to suffer from the consequences of Agent Orange/dioxin.

Talking about the difficult and humiliating days, Kieu said that she had dreamed of a peaceful and happy life with her husband and children. But then the grim took away everything when her first child was born. Unable to laugh or cry, the child just lay in one place with inanimate eyes. Her next four children shared the same fate. The couple had 2 more sons. And, once again, fate teased, these two children were born soft with no backbone. Only their 8^th child was born lucky with normal body and mind.

For nearly 46 years, such a long time in a person\'s life, they have struggled for daily necessities and taking care of their innocent and weak children. Then her two sons passed away, and followed by her husband with much concern for the innocent children. Kieu cried a lot for her children, her husband and herself...

No words can tell the tragedy of the families with Agent Orange victims. Everyone wants to have healthy, beautiful, and intelligent children. However, Agent Orange with its destructive power has stolen all the joy, happiness and hope of many families.

After 1975, Mr. Pham Van Dien (Long Binh ward, Bien Hoa city, Dong Nai province) returned home in the joy of his family because he had survived the fierce battle of Quang Tri. After peace was restored in the country, he married to a girl from the same hometown of Hung Yen. His wife gave birth to two twin girls, but both of them carried many defects, and died just a few days after birth. They felt very painful even though they know that with their defects, they would live a life in pain. A year later, he was compensated by a cute, healthy son. He burst into tears as he picked up his healthy son from the nurse. The son grew up healthy, and they had two more daughters. All are healthy and beautiful. His house was resounded with the laughter of the children, relieving Dien’s pain of his dead children before.

Dien’s happiness didn’t last long as his three children kept developing strange phenomena, such as: scoliosis, eccentricity, and crossed eyes. His children lost their minds quickly, and gradually became disable children. Their laughter gradually disappeared until one day they became polio and cerebral palsy children who were no longer aware of anything.

The pain seemed to double when their neighbors rumored that Mr. Dien and his wife were punished by God because of their evil acts. Only later, when the information about the sequelae of Agent Orange was published, people understood more about the consequences of Agent Orange that he experienced when he fought in the battlefield of Quang Tri Citadel. In 2000, he and his 3 children were recognized as victims of Agent Orange. Currently, his health has been deteriorated significantly due to the destruction of the evil poison.