Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Sec 2 Home-learning 2010 Term 2
Task 1: I will be doing my web research and report based on the conflict represented in Hubert Wilson’s Rainbow Death. Below is the poem:
Rainbow Death
America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.
Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!
By: Hubert Wilson
But before we embark on this poem, let me introduce the author of this poem to you. Hubert Wilson is a Vietnam War veteran (as are his four brothers) who served in the USAF Security Service. Him, along with a dozen or so intelligence school grads, prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, before anticipating being sent to Vietnam or elsewhere in southeast Asia in 1970. About half ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of them were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron, and what eventually was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang!
Sadly, his health problems started approximately 15 years ago with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Four years ago his central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian(Parkinson's Disease) type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. No physician has ever diagnosed the specific illness. NO VA physician has ever rendered ANY medical assistance! My number one educated guess is the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during my year there as an intelligence analyst. Organo-phosphate( Agent Orange) toxins may not run their toxic course until 20 to 30 years after initial exposure. Luckily, apart from some movement problems, he is still well and has been writing in his spare time.
You might be wondering what Agent Orange is, so let me give you a brief outlook of it. Agent Orange is the code name for an herbicide and defoliant—contaminated with TCDD—used by the U.S. military in its herbicidal warfare program during the Vietnam War.During the Vietnam war, between 1962 and 1971, the United States military sprayed 12,000,000 US gallons (45,000,000 l; 10,000,000 imp gal) of chemical defoliants in South Vietnam as part of the aerial defoliation program known as Operation Ranch Hand. 20 percent of South Vietnam's jungles were sprayed over a nine year period. The first objective was to reduce the dense jungle foliage so that Communist forces might not use it for cover and to deny them use of crops needed for sustenance. In 1965, 42 percent of all herbicide spraying was dedicated to food crops. The second objective was spot clearing in sensitive areas such as around base perimeters. It was also used to drive civilians into RVN-controlled areas.
In 1963, the United States (suspecting the negative effects) initiated a study on the health effects of Agent Orange that by 1967 confirmed that the chemical caused cancer, birth defects and other serious health problems. The outcome of the study had no effect whatsoever on the use of Agent Orange. This chemical was horrifyingly strong, resulting in the genetic problems of unborn children, causing them to be mutated.
Now, a quote:
“From 1962 to 1971, Agent Orange was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the herbicidal warfare program. During the production of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) dioxins were produced as a contaminant, which have caused numerous health problems for the millions of people who have been exposed. Agents Blue and White were part of the same program but did not contain dioxins.” -- Wikipedia
Thus, we can see from this quote why Hubert Wilson had written a poem entitled Rainbow Death. This poem, Rainbow Death, may remind us that wars actually are not over when the wars are over.
- 5:15 AM;
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Hope I don't screw up this term, last term was really screwed up. Really hope this term i do not screw up. AHH!!! Anyway, I am really concerned about the current situation in Greece. Even though I am not affected by it, still, it is actually quite worrying to see Greece suffering like that. Can only hope the European situation improves........
- 6:00 AM;