**HONORING THOSE WHO SERVED**. On August 10, the town will dedicate a memorial stone at Monument Square to recognize those veterans affected by the chemical used during the Vietnam War.

By John J. Galluzzo

As long as any military veteran group lives, they will share common bonds. Civil War veterans shared stories in Grand Army Halls, knowing that only the people in the room truly knew what each man had gone through. First World War vets had their American Legion Halls, and World War II vets their VFW posts.

Americans had never experienced anything like the Vietnam War before, either in combat or at home. Previous wars had been sanitized through newspapers and radio broadcasts. Vietnam could be seen live on television. The ugliness of war could no longer be hidden.

Even so, it was much uglier than the average American knew.

In the late 1940s, American chemical companies responded to disparate large-scale domestic herbicidal and defoliation needs – on railroad beds and roadsides, in forest understories, and for industrial agriculture, etc. – by producing a mixture of two herbicides that did the job exceedingly well but had unintended effects on humans. Placed in military hands, the mixture of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D became known as Agent Orange.

From 1961 to 1971 under Operation Ranch Hand, the U.S. procured more than 20 million gallons of Agent Orange. The goal made sense. By defoliating areas used by the enemy, the United States would deprive them of food and tactical cover. In fact, the U.S. had picked up the idea from the British, who had done the same during the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s. U.S. military planes flew nearly 20,000 sorties over rural areas of South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the decade.

The toxic dioxin, 2,3,7,8-tetreachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, or TCDD, that is within the greater Agent Orange mixture, is a human carcinogen. The military told U.S. soldiers that Agent Orange was harmless. Veterans from the U.S. and all of the Free World Military Assistance Forces came home to find they were ill, their wives miscarried, and their children were being born with birth defects. By 1977, the first claims were filed pointing to Agent Orange and TCDD as the cause. Decades later, Agent Orange exposed Vietnam veterans are still dying of leukemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and various forms of cancer. To date, approximately 400,000 vets have died from exposure to Agent Orange.

It happened in every state in America. It happened in Massachusetts.

It happened in Hull.

“There were at least eight in Hull,” says Ed Burke, Hull War Memorial Commission member and a Vietnam veteran. “I knew all eight. Some were close friends of mine.”

The number may be as high as 11, as several veterans died without full medical explanations, but with symptoms that pointed toward Agent Orange exposure.

Inspired by a similar recognition in Weymouth, Burke became interested in creating an Agent Orange Awareness Memorial in Hull, with a dedication on August 10, nationally recognized as Agent Orange Awareness Day. The date is symbolic, marking the day in 1961 when the United States started spraying Agent Orange over Vietnam.

“I worked with the wives of some of the men,” said Burke, “and planned the ceremony with the veterans agent, the town manager and the police and fire departments.” The ceremony is set for 7 p.m. at the Hull War Memorial, to allow beach traffic to flow out of town. “We ordered a stone and added some appropriate words.” Perhaps most appropriately, among those words will be no names. The silent killer may have taken more lives than we know.

Veterans Agent Paul Sordillo sees the memorial as more than fitting.

“It’s been a long time coming. As we all know the Vietnam veterans were not welcomed back like the soldiers who fought the global war on terrorism. They weren’t treated well by the public on their return,” he said. “This is a small gesture, but with a lot behind it. It’s well-deserved. It’s the very least we can do. But most importantly it shows the appreciation of the community for veterans who had a pretty raw deal when they got back.”

The Hull War Memorial Commission will host an Agent Orange Awareness Ceremony with the dedication of an Agent Orange Awareness Memorial Stone on August 10 at 7 p.m. at the war memorial at Monument Square. For more information or questions, contact Ed Burke, eburke137@gmail.com, 617-966-1896.

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