Blog #2 about the allegations of Panama veterans and Dr. Alvin Young’s 2012 report.
Detrick employee Mr. Charles Bartlett states Agent Orange and other military herbicides were shipped, stored and used in Panama as well as other areas including CONUS. The Detrick employee also testified several hundred barrels of Agent Orange were shipped to Fort Clayton for testing in the late 1960’s and that barrels leftover from testing were left for use by anyone who needed it. The consultant wrote that there is no record of shipment and testing in Panama and that only commercially available herbicides compliant with Armed Forces Pest Control Board directives were used in Panama.
However, as you have seen in my other blogs, there was never any difference between the so-called “tactical herbicide” and the commercial herbicide which was used tactically in war. Dr. Young wrote in a report in 1970 in which he lists the rainbow herbicides for vegetation control on Air Force Bases. The money to pay for these herbicides was requested through Congress for the purchase of herbicides and pesticides.
Not only is it true that the sworn testimony of the Detrick employee stated that Agent Orange was shipped to Panama in 1968, but we also got Agent Purple for years before 1968, which had much more dioxin than Agent Orange. It was a standard agricultural product used on every base as outlined by the Federal Pesticide Reviews throughout the years and Dr. Alvin Young’s own reports of 1970 and 1978, as well as the testimony of the Assistant Surgeon General Dittinger in the 1978 hearing where Dr. Alvin Young was present in which General Dittinger tells congress there was never anything special made for Agent Orange.
When I filed my IG Request, I expected an answer as to what these chemicals are if not the same as used in Vietnam and shown on the same documents as going to both Vietnam and Panama. I was told nothing to worry about. Then why in the heck are so many of our Panama veterans dead already and so many are still suffering waiting for answers?