Film Screening and Panel: "Vietnam: The Secret Agent"
Film Screening and Panel: "Vietnam: The Secret Agent"
"Soldiers returned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan plagued by illness, disabilities, and PTSD. Veterans continue to struggle for proper health care. Congress recently approved the PACT act promising to increase health care and benefits for veterans exposed to “burn pits and other toxic exposures,” yet it remains critical to illuminate struggles and lessons from past conflicts. Every issue raised in this film about the war in Vietnam continues to resonate in today’s political climate.
Vietnam: The Secret Agent, was the first comprehensive look at dioxin, the contaminant of Agent Orange, a chemical sprayed over the crops, jungles, and villages of South Vietnam during the Vietnam war. When U.S. veterans were trying to gain recognition and help for a host of illnesses that they believed resulted from their exposure to the Agent Orange defoliant, this film’s release ushered in the largest mass tort class action settlement of its time, between the veterans and chemical companies responsible for manufacture of Agent Orange.
Using rare archival and striking war footage supporting interviews with veterans, scientists, attorneys, the Air Force, the VA and Dow Chemical, Vietnam:The Secret Agent documents the extraordinary history of chemical warfare and agricultural herbicides, damage to our environment, and the plight of veterans from the war in Vietnam.
One-night only sneak preview of new 4K restoration by IndieCollect."
Location: Amherst Cinema
- Date:
- Monday, November 13, 2023
- Time:
- 7:00pm - 10:00pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Audience:
- Alumni Faculty General Public Graduate Students Library Donors Staff Undergraduates
- Categories:
- Lectures Special Collections and University Archives
