"Don't worry, it only hurts plants."

Spraying Agent Orange from a Polecat slick in 1969

One of the many missions of the 192nd AHC was "crop destruction" by spraying Agent Orange. Many rice paddies in jungle areas had been abandoned by the farmers. The rice continued to grow wild, allowing Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army men to harvest the rice at night. Denying the VC and NVA of a local food source forced them to transport food or leave an area.

Standard crop dusting equipment, consisting of a large fiberglass tank and aluminum spray booms were put into the Huey and then the Agent Orange chemical was pumped in.

Agent Orange itself wasn't bad for humans, but sometimes contained a very small amount of dioxin, a by-product of manufacturing. Dioxin is one of the most dangerous toxins known to man, causing long-term health problems, including cancer, birth defects, and death.

Photo by Jim Schueckler

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