Agent Orange: Environmental and Health Effects   by Marisa de la Villa Picture this: It’s 1962 [1] . Deep in the jungles of Vietnam, the United States military introduced a powerful weapon unlike any other. Rather than machine guns and tanks, the Americans brought in something completely new– a tactical herbicide was used for control of vegetation during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange swept through Vietnam like a tidal wave. It was used to destroy and reduce the value of crops, improve visibility, and eliminate any possible enemy cover in war [2] .  Agent Orange did more than just clear out trees, though– this highly destructive chemical has left behind a toxic legacy that is still present today, provoking irreversible damage to the environment and severely hurting both civilians and the military. Scary, isn’t it? That’s only a small glimpse of the destruction brought about by the use of chemicals in the Vietnam War.   The U.S. had initially planned to weak...