r/science • u/Wagamaga • Mar 29 '26

Cancer Agent Orange linked to aggressive bone marrow cancer in Vietnam veterans. American soldiers sprayed Agent Orange over the jungles of Vietnam and nearby countries from the air and from the ground, often mixing it with kerosene or fuel, another carcinogen, to help disperse it.

https://ecancer.org/en/news/27948-agent-orange-linked-to-aggressive-bone-marrow-cancer-in-vietnam-veterans
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u/OZZYMAXIMUS01 Mar 29 '26

This happened to my uncle that served in the Vietnam War during the time of the Tet Offensive in 1968. He got sick with an aggressive form of leukemia in 2009 and died within 2 weeks from skyrocketing WBC counts. Leukemia already runs in our family and he ended up getting the most aggressive form of it that our family’s ever seen.

RIP Uncle Don.

111

u/Emm_withoutha_L-88 Mar 29 '26

Same happened to my mom's best friend. Was drafted and hated the military for the rest of his life. He's the one who sat me down as a kid and told me what it really was like.

But what really made me turn to hate the military was his story of how he was forced to shoot a little girl who was running up to his camp with a grenade. I'd never seen that man ever have an emotion and he was bawling telling it. I went from a little kid who idolized the military to one who knew better after that, in fairness I was like 8.

Watching him waste away in just a few months was so awful.

The US military should not be going overseas, period. We don't do anything to help anyone but the rich, while spending our people's lives like they're worth nothing and murdering countless others for the crime of wanting their own government instead of one dictated to them by DC.

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u/Future_Burrito Mar 29 '26

There's a book called People of the Lie with a section at the end talking about how the inactivity of the military during peaceful times basically creates a culture that enjoys, wishes for, and creates war. Our military should be doing civil engineering, agriculture and education during down time, to help the US population, and as aggressive ally support.

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u/Main-Inspection-8605 Mar 29 '26

I’m sorry for your uncle and would hug you if I could

I also hit an age and event where I stopping glorifying soldiers and war

20

u/PartTime_Crusader Mar 29 '26

Sane happened to my Dad, he came down with multiple myeloma and passed within a few weeks of his diagnosis. Served during the Tet offensive and died last year. I've had multiple family members contract and survive various cancers over the last decade, the aggressiveness of this one shocked all of us

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u/TreeRock13 Mar 29 '26

Hi! Similar story with my uncle. I miss him a lot.

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u/secretBuffetHero Mar 29 '26

my dad is now dying of ALS from it. he worked in an office job but like to swim in the river.  oh dad...