OBJECTIVES The aim was to observe the patterns of mortality and cancer incidence in New Zealand Vietnam veterans. The objectives were to assess whether the patterns of disease observed were consistent with those associated with military service in Vietnam, and similar to the patterns identified in other groups of Vietnam veterans. DESIGN A historical cohort study. SETTING Veterans, identifi...

2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) is an herbicide that was one of the two active ingredients in Agent Orange, the Vietnam War defoliant. Although the main health effects of Agent Orange were blamed on the other component of the mixture (2,4,5-T) and dioxin contamination, the data indicate that 2,4-D has significant health risks of its own. It remains unclear whether continuing low-level di...

Forty-two years ago Lyndon B. Johnson was US President, a first class postage stamp cost 5cents, the first ‘Star Trek’ episode was broadcast and England defeated West Germany in the Soccer World Cup. Major changes were in the wind. The Beatles recorded ‘Eleanor Rigby’, ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘Good Day Sunshine’, marking the beginning of their metamorphosis. The War in Indochina intensified, wit...

Medical research and science in the 20th century have transformed the gruesome realities of war: Whereas before, a battlefield injury was associated with a high likelihood of death, most injured combatants now survive their injuries. However, even as advances in orthopaedic surgery have improved the lives of those injured in war, it is fair to say that the necessities of war have advanced the s...

ible in the period between the Korean and Vietnam wars. Academic and popular writings drew attention to those who were not benefitting from that prosperity and evoked a strong public and political response. Within a few years, new legislative and administrative initiatives, linked under the rubric of the “War on Poverty,” dramatically transformed the federal budget and the scope of the nation’s...

While 30 April 1975 represented the end of hostilities between North and South Vietnam, it was not internecine conflicts. The victorious communists treated Southerners with contempt subjected them to humiliation violence, including incarceration in so-called re-education camps. Dương Thu Hương served Women’s Youth Brigade during war hoped that victory would lead establishment a more egalitarian...