Our weekend national newspaper here in Oz is carrying another story of the tragic on-going effects of Agent Orange, to the Vietnamese children now being born. (A.O. was the 2,4,5-T defoliant used to clear the jungles of Vietnam. From about 1961 to 1971, apparently, around 8800 tonnes were sprayed over 2.9 million hectares!!!)

This brought to mind again, the following powerful song that I do from time to time.
Does anyone know anything about its author, Muriel Hogan?


AGENT ORANGE
(Muriel Hogan) As recorded by Kate Wolf on "Give Yourself to Love" (1983)

1. I was seventeen when I quit school, the year that I enlisted.
I don't recall just why I did; my mom says I insisted.
I had some strange idea then, that Uncle Sam was right.
My mama cried – she signed the card – and I went off to fight.

Refrain:
But I just found out this mornin' – the doctor told me so:
They killed me in Vietnam – and I didn't even know.

2. Got off the plane in Vietnam – it didn't look like war
But all I saw, I started wonderin', what we came there for.
Some Officers got drunk at night and cheated on their wives
While those peasants on the other side – were fighting for their lives.

3. You know the army tried some fancy stuff, to bring them to their knees
Like Agent Orange defoliant, to clear the brush and trees.
We'd fly all day above the trails, through clouds of poison spray
But they never said that chemical would hurt our health today.

Refrain:
But I got the news this mornin' – the doctor told me so:
They killed me in Vietnam – and I didn't even know.

4. Well I tried hard to forget that war like everybody else did.
I settled down, got married and – I even had some kids.
Our children both had birth defects; the doctors had their doubts.
They never said what caused it – but I think I just found out.

Refrain:
But I just found out this mornin' – the doctor told me so
They killed me in Vietnam – and I didn't even know.

5. The Doctor says I have some time – he was trying to be kind
You know, I've never been a radical, but this has changed my mind
I'd be so proud to hear my son say: "Hell no, we won't go!
Because you killed our dad in Vietnam – and he didn't even know."

6. This Agent Orange from Vietnam, we carry with us still.
It stays inside for years and years and does its best to kill.
You might get cancer of the liver; you might get cancer of the skin.
You might get a VA disability; you might not live to win.

Refrain:
Because I got the news this mornin' – the doctor told me so:
They killed me in Vietnam – and I didn't even know.
They killed me in Vietnam – and I didn't even know.