For me – two months at Ft. Ord in 1966 then off to Germany for 2 years – then on to ‘Nam for twenty one months – volunteering to fly in a Huey picking up wounded human beings – from both sides of the war – and do you think that I was not affected? And yet – throughout life – Orange had always been my favorite color… ~ J. Bennett, Editor
A chemical in Agent Orange is a known carcinogen linked to several cancers, chronic conditions and birth defects.
A soldier participates in the Norwegian Foot March at Fort Ord National Monument, in Monterey County, California, Oct. 28, 2022. Mounting evidence shows that to kill pervasive poison oak and other weeds at Fort Ord — a former Army base, which closed in 1994 — the military sprayed and experimented with the powerful herbicide combination Agent Orange as far back as the 1950s. (WINIFRED BROWN/U.S. ARMY)
As a young GI at Fort Ord in Monterey County, California, Dean Osborn spent much of his time in the oceanside woodlands, training on soil and guzzling water from streams and aquifers now known to be contaminated with cancer-causing pollutants.
“They were marching the snot out of us,” he said, recalling his year and a half stationed on the base, from 1979 to 1980. He also remembers, not so fondly, the poison oak pervasive across the 28,000-acre installation that closed in 1994. He went on sick call at least three times because of the overwhelmingly itchy rash.
Mounting evidence shows that as far back as the 1950s, in an effort to kill the ubiquitous poison oak and other weeds at the Army base, the military experimented with and sprayed the powerful herbicide combination known colloquially as Agent Orange. Continue reading →