This is not exactly yesterdays news, but it makes you wonder how many Veterans went to early graves after serving their country, trusting their government to look out for our soldiers interests, rather than hide from the dark truth that Vietnam served as a chemical testing ground both for the soldiers that fought through the dense enemy jungles, that were saturated with these defoiliants, never given a thought to what harm it would do to our soldiers, or the innocent civilians that would be exposed to these chemicals. Sadly the government has waited for enough Vietnam Vets to wither away, before coming up with more illness's that are a direct connect to Agent Orange and other defoiliants that were used. As one of many combat Vets that drugged through the jungle canopy, in the northern ( I Corp area) Dense Jungle was reduced to nothing, that is how powerful these chemicals were. And of course because this area was indiginous to rugged mountain areas, the chemicals could only wash down the streams and into the valleys effecting water supplies, food supplies, and of course civilians, that called that area home. I remember I was 18 yrs old watching the C 130's going by in formation, laying out a wide band of chemicals like a crop duster. There was no way to escape these chemicals, during the monsoon season the wet jungle would rieke of the smell of what smelled simular to diesel fuel. We would run low on water ration, and were waiting on re-supply's that would sometimes not come because of weather or hostile condition would not allow us to finish LZs, for CH 46 heli's to drop in. We were told not to fill our canteens from any stream water that would ooze its way down the hills, but it didn't really matter the chemicals were in the wet jungle and we were wet all the time. As the years past the Government would only connect a handful of medical conditions with Agent Orange, every few years release maybe one or two new findings to the mix. But after almost 45 years later they are putting many more ailments, medical conditions to be a direct result of exposure to Agent Orange. Sadly many of my brothers would suffer and die without knowing what was killing them. Because I believe that the Government, and the Chemical Companies were more worried about the financial responsiblity of having to treat and care for and compensate the soldiers that were put directly in a chemical bath, for future uses of these chemicals as a gift that keeps on giving sort of Warfare. We as Americans, believe that no one in government would put us in harms way without a way of defending ourselves, They gave us Weapons to fight the enemy, ammo to keep it going, food to norious us to keep our strength up for battle, But they never gave a thought to how deadly Agent Orange was to human life, that did not matter. As long as we were in the dark, we had not cause to question the government we were fighting for. I would like to see those in the chemical industry, and the those in the government who betrayed the combat soldiers held accountable.