Was poison gas used in the Vietnam War?
The U.S. program, codenamed Operation Ranch Hand, sprayed more than 20 million gallons of various herbicides over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos from 1961 to 1971. Agent Orange, which contained the deadly chemical dioxin, was the most commonly used herbicide.
How many tunnel rats died in the Vietnam War?
Imagine been alone down there, a million miles from home during those crazy 10,000 days in Vietnam. That both sets of men had to endure this life is appalling. There were never more than 100 Tunnel Rats in country at any one time and around 700 in total. There were 36 killed and 200 wounded.
What were tunnel rats armed with?
Typically, a tunnel rat was equipped with only a standard issue M1911 pistol or M1917 revolver, a bayonet, a flashlight, and explosives. Many tunnel rats reportedly came to dislike the intense muzzle blast of the relatively large . 38 Special revolver equipped with a sound suppressor and other non-standard weapons.
What was the life expectancy of a tunnel rat in Vietnam?
about two seconds
The life expectancy of a tunnel rat is about two seconds.” Garza described the underground tunnels as treacherous. “You would go into a hole and come out 10 or 15 miles away. There were houses down there and hospitals,” Garza noted.
Is Agent Orange still affecting Vietnam?
After its use in the 1960s, Agent Orange was banned by the U.S. in 1971 and remaining stocks were taken from Vietnam and the U.S. to Johnston Atoll, a U.S. controlled island about 700 miles SE of Hawaii, where it was destroyed in 1978. There is no ‘Agent Orange’ in Vietnam or anywhere else today.
How many soldiers were bitten by snakes in Vietnam?
The United States Archives and other sources suggest that between 25 and 50 American soldiers a year were bitten by snakes during the war in Vietnam. Some 10,786 American soldiers died of non-combat causes, including 9,107 by accidents and 938 due to illness. Snake bites were not specified.
What did Agent Blue do?
The purpose of Agent Blue was narrow-leaf plants and trees (grass, rice, bamboo, banana, etc.) “Operation Ranch Hand”, was military code for spraying of herbicides from U.S. Air Force aircraft in Southeast Asia from 1962 through 1971. Agent Blue affects plants by causing them to dry out.
Why is Agent Orange bad?
The herbicide Agent Orange, which was used widely by US armed forces in the 1960s and early 1970s during the Vietnam War to defoliate large areas of the country, contains dioxin and is carcinogenic. High levels of dioxin have been found in the breast milk, adipose tissue, and blood of the Vietnamese population.