A truce is negotiated in the Battle of Agent Orange
Private First Class Michael Ryan had just arrived in Viet Nam with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in 1966 when he and his squad were sent into an area that had been sprayed with the herbicide known as Agent Orange. Soon thereafter he lost almost 50 lbs. and developed mysterious lumps on his groin and rashes all over his body. Army doctors dosed him with penicillin and sent him back to duty. Five years later, while serving as a policeman on Long Island, N.Y., Ryan fathered a daughter. Born with multiple birth defects including deformed limbs and organs and a hole in her heart, she will be confined to a wheelchair and need constant care as long as she lives.
Ryan, last week, was among those who won, or at least reached a negotiated settlement of, their longest battle of the Viet Nam War. His family and four others acted as plaintiffs representing thousands of Viet Nam veterans and their families in a massive class action against manufacturers of the herbicide. They charged that Agent Orange caused, among other things, cancer and liver damage in many of the soldiers, miscarriages in some of their wives and birth defects in some of their children. The five-year legal struggle, which came to symbolize the bitter suffering and frustration of the veterans of America's most unpopular war, culminated in a $180 million out-of-court settlement, the largest mass-damage award ever negotiated.
Judge Jack Weinstein hammered out the settlement at federal district court in Brooklyn, N.Y., shortly before dawn of the day that jury selection was scheduled to begin. The seven corporate defendants—Dow Chemical, Monsanto, Uniroyal. Diamond Shamrock, Hercules, T.H. Agriculture and Nutrition and the now defunct Thompson Chemical—denied any liability for the veterans' illnesses: their position was that Agent Orange had not caused the health problems and that they had merely manufactured the defoliant according to the military's instructions. Nonetheless, the companies agreed to place $180 million into a fund that will be used to compensate victims and their families. The fund is expected to last for 25 years. With interest, currently accruing at $61,000 a day, the initial deposit could result in payments totaling as much as $750 million. Judge Weinstein plans to hold hearings to allow comments from others before approving the negotiated agreement. If, as expected, the settlement is upheld, the judge will design and oversee a system that will award payments to veterans and their families on a case-by-case basis.