Research Catalog

Title

Herbicidal warfare : the Ranch Hand Project in Vietnam / by Paul Frederick Cecil.

Author

Cecil, Paul Frederick.

Publication

New York : Praeger, 1986.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xiii, 289 p. : ill., maps; 25 cm.

Summary

In 1961, the United States Air Force began using chemical herbicides as a weapon in South-east Asia. The tactic lasted only ten years, but the controversy it provoked continues to this day. Criticisms range from the charge that the herbicides did irreparable damage to the Asian environment to the recent "Agent Orange" lawsuits claiming that the chemicals have caused U.S. servicemen and their children physical and mental impairments. While much attention has been given to these claims, little light has been cast on the actual history of the herbicidal operation, code-named RANCH HAND. This book is the history of this unique aviation mission, from its conception to its termination. It describes how the operation dispensed over 11 million gallons of chemicals over Southeast Asian jungles and croplands while flying unarmed, obsolescent aircraft at tree-top level. Based on the author's own experiences, hundreds of interviews with RANCH HAND veterans, and careful research of declassified primary sources, this book provides a comprehensive and in-depth view of the men who flew the missions and their role in the events in Southeast Asia. It also reviews the scientific reaction to herbicidal warfare and hoe the controversy that ensued eventually caused the cancellation of the operation. -- from Book Jacket.

Subject

• Operation Ranch Hand
• 1961-1975
• Herbicides > adverse effects
• Environmental Pollution
• Chemical Warfare
• Chemical Warfare Agents
• Operation Ranch Hand, 1962-1971
• Vietnam War, 1961-1975 > Chemical warfare
• Herbicides > War use
• Vietnam

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p.235-270) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

An introduction to indirect warfare -- Mosquito sprays and weedkillers: another kind of chemical war -- Defoliation comes to Vietnam -- Development of the herbicide program -- The developing war -- Boi Loi Woods to Ho Chi Minh Trail -- From flight to squadron: more planes, more hits, more problems -- RANCH HAND comes of age: bureaucracy and a new task -- The year of glory ... and death -- New planes and old tasks: K Models and airlift duty -- The final years -- Critics of herbicidal warfare: propaganda, protest, and investigations -- Agent Orange: the controversy reborn -- Epilogue.

ISBN

• 0275920070 (alk. paper)
• 0030017548 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

^^^85030779^//r89

OCLC

• 13095930
• SCSB-12350015

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library