What does a retired 4-Star general and a former South Vietnamese soldier have in common? They fought together in the midst of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War and share the same diagnosis for prostate cancer. However, they find themselves in unequal paths today.
When former South Vietnamese soldier Luc Nguyen was diagnosed with prostate cancer and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, he was divorced and living in a rented bedroom in the US. He did not have money for medical bills. Both his sons have died. And although he fought side by side with his American counterparts, Luc does not qualify for compensation or medical care from the US Veterans Administration as a former South Vietnamese soldier.
Louis Wagner, a retired 4-Star general and Luc’s former American commander, is diagnosed with the same prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is one of the illnesses recognized by the Veteran’s Administration as Agent Orange-related. However, unlike Luc, Wagner receives the full benefits of a Vietnam-era veteran.
Both men fought in the same war, both are now US Citizens, and both diagnosed with the same cancer linked to the dangerous chemicals they were exposed to in their service. Now, both fight for equal treatment and rights for their former brothers in arm.
Oanh Ha’s story on the men’s situation from California Report is re-posted below.
Oanh Ha is a reporter for KQED / California Report. Her stories have also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Newsday, The Orange County Register and several college English textbooks. She has received awards from the Associated Press News Executives Council, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Peninsula Press Club, and was chosen for numerous fellowships related to Asia. She covers Agent Orange as part of the Vietnam Reporting Project.
The Forgotten Ones: A Legacy of Agent Orange
Reporter: K. Oanh Ha
California is home to many Vietnamese-Americans who fought alongside the U.S. during the Vietnam war. Over time, these soldiers developed cancers because of their exposure to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange. But while American-born vets can get medical care and disability compensation for their Agent Orange-related illnesses, America’s former allies get no such benefits.
Luc Nguyen is now a naturalized citizen, but in the 1960s he was a South Vietnamese soldier, working as a translator for the U.S. military. South Vietnamese soldiers frequently got Agent Orange on their skin and clothing when patrolling jungles that had been sprayed. Others were exposed when they sprayed agent orange by hand or helped transport and mix the chemicals.
Luc’s former American commander, retired 4-star general Louis Wagner, says there’s no question he and Luc were frequently exposed to Agent Orange. “We sprayed it with hand sprayers around our own compound, Wagner said. “Obviously when it was being sprayed, you’d breathe it, unless you had a respirator, which we didn’t.”
Both Wagner and Luc have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, one of the illnesses recognized by the Veteran’s Administration as Agent Orange-related. Seven years ago, when Luc’s doctors diagnosed him with both prostate cancer and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, they gave him only months to live.
“The doctor said it was too late,” Luc said. “He said the cancer was at the last stage and had spread.”
Luc says he hadn’t seen a doctor earlier because he couldn’t afford it. When Luc got the diagnosis he was divorced, and living alone in a rented bedroom. His two sons had died when they tried to escape Vietnam by boat. Luc says he had nothing left in life.
“I just wanted to die,” Luc said. “I come here and I don’t have a home, my kids have died at sea. I’m very sad in my old age.”
It was a phone call from Wagner that motivated Luc to get treatment. “He just thought he’d give up.” Wagner said. “I spoke to him quite a while to convince him that he should undergo the treatments and that he could survive because I had .
The two men’s battles with cancer reveal the inequities between South Vietnamese and U.S. soldiers who often fought side-by-side. American vets who served on the ground in Vietnam are presumed to have been exposed to dioxin–a toxic chemical associated with cancers and found in Agent Orange.
Vets who have one of 15 diseases can qualify for disability compensation and medical care from the Veterans Administration. That’s not the case for South Vietnamese soldiers, said Ed Martini, a history professor at Western Michigan University, who’s writing a book about the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam.
“If you’re a South Vietnamese soldier, you’re a man without a country,” Martini said. “There’s no benefits system available to you. You can’t get the Vietnamese benefits, and you can’t get the American benefits.”
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