No NZ Vietnam Veterans Compensated
Government Denies Vietnam Servicemen Exposed to Chemical Defoliants
Oct 21, 2009
Charles Pewhairangi and Ross Niwa, spoke with this author in 2004. It was the day before the New Zealand government was due to officially "acknowledge" for the first time that its Vietnam servicemen had been subjected to harmful chemical defoliants, such as Agent Orange, while on duty more than 30 years earlier.
Servicemen of allied governments had long since been compensated for their exposure to chemical defoliants during the Vietnam war.
Mr Pewhairangi and Mr Niwa said they, like other NZ Vietnam servicemen, could not understand how a succession of governments could have continually denied their plight. The pair said they well remembered choppers arriving almost routinely overhead of where they were stationed and spraying liquid down on them.
Mr Niwa said he remembered being sprayed at least five times.
"We never stopped to think whether it might be bad for us — we were young.
"There was never any warning.
"We thought maybe they were spraying for mosquitos.
"I always knew when they were spraying because I could smell diesel, which must have been part of the mix.
"We used to bed down at nights in all the fallen leaves," Mr Niwa said.
Vietnam Servicemen Wore Uniforms Saturated in Harmful Chemical Defoliants for Weeks
Mr Pewhairangi said he could still envision the Hercules C130 Helicopters flying overhead and discharging spray down on the troops.
"After several days the trees were reduced to nothing but bare branches.
"It was OK in the rainy season, but worse in the wind when dust full of spray residue would come through our camp," he said.
Troops wore the same wet uniform for days at a time, Mr Pewhairangi said. On one occasion he wore his for 38 days, only changing into his dry uniform at night.
"So we were continually in contact with the spray residue," he said.
Vietnam servicemen often drank water from streams and, unaware of the dangers of Agent Orange and other chemical defoliants, were only filtering water for diseases such as leptospirosis, the pair said.
NZ Veterans Not Compensated Despite Suffering a Host of Illnesses Linked to Chemical Defoliants
Since returning from the war, Mr Niwa and Mr Pewhairangi had both suffered illnesses recognised by other allied governments as related to harmful chemical defoliant exposure. But while their allied comrades were receiving compensation, New Zealand’s Vietnam servicemen were being forced to soldier on facing their sickness alone and feeling abandoned by their country, the pair said. The New Zealand Governments’ denials over the issue had added to their post-war trauma, they said.
 |
