US sprayed 19 million gallons of herbicide on Vietnam, causing cancers and birth defects
Operation Ranch Hand (1962-1971) sprayed herbicides, chiefly Agent Orange, over large areas of Vietnam to remove forest cover and destroy crops, causing lasting environmental damage and health effects including cancers and birth defects among exposed Vietnamese. US government and independent historical sources commonly cite roughly 19-20 million gallons (about 72-76 million liters) of herbicide sprayed overall. Vietnamese government estimates are higher: about 80 million liters sprayed, 4.8 million people exposed and 400,000 dead. American officials and historians describe the Vietnamese casualty figures as difficult to verify.
Tertiary source citing ~19 million gallons of herbicide, used to cross-check the post's 80-million-liter figure.
Established outlet noting Vietnamese-government-sourced figures of ~400,000 killed and 4.8 million exposed, while flagging these as figures 'American officials deem unreliable.'
Congressionally mandated National Academies review of the herbicide program; the strongest independent source located on volumes sprayed.
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The United States and Vietnam signed agreements adding about $130 million for the Bien Hoa Air Base dioxin cleanup, raising total US grant funding to about $430 million, plus $91 million for people with disabilities in heavily sprayed provinces. Source ↗