New Zealand Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange
The Government Finally Acknowledges its Troops Exposed to Defoliants
During that time, veterans like Charles Pewhairangi and Ross Niwa felt increasingly left out in the cold by a succession of New Zealand Governments that refused to acknowledge their units had served in defoliant drop zones.Resentment grew each time another allied Government awarded its servicemen compensation for complications due to chemical exposure during the war.
In an interview on the eve of a long-awaited official announcement in 2004, Mr Pewhairangi and Mr Niwa, both of Gisborne, spoke about the heartache that followed their return from Vietnam.
The pair said the parliamentary health select committee's finding that servicemen had been exposed to harmful defoliants, was an enormous relief. Years of successive Governments' denials had caused New Zealand veterans additional trauma on top of the serious health issues they already suffered as a result of the war.
Mr Pewhairangi and Mr Niwa both believed theirs and their families health issues were attributable to Agent Orange. Allied troops with similar illnesses had been looked after by their Governments while New Zealand's servicemen had been abandoned, they said. The time had come for a fair deal. New Zealand needed to follow the example set by its allies with an official apology and compensation, they said.
Mr Pewhairangi said he believed the Government should not only officially acknowledge their plight but apologise for it..
Government Support for Vietnam Veterans was Absent
There had never been any Government support shown to Vietnam veterans, he said.
A machine gunner in Victor 2, Mr. Pewhairangi said his contingent was never officially welcomed back by the Government of the day.
"There was no debriefing like they give to troops nowadays. When we arrived back from Vietnam we were picked up by our families at the airport and left to deal with matters," he said.
For at least the first six weeks back at home, he suffered from the aftermath of continued exposure to defoliants. Dogged by a dry mouth, he took to drinking alcohol excessively — which he said was a way to numb the painful memories of war.
It was bewildering that the New Zealand Government could continually deny that troops had been exposed, Mr Pewhairangi said.
It was understood that some 1200 of the 3500 Kiwi personnel stationed in Vietnam had died prematurely, many from cancer, he said.
Agent Orange Sprayed on Troops from Hercules C130 Planes
He recalled Hercules C130s flying overhead spraying liquid down on troops.
"After several days the trees were reduced to nothing but bare branches.
"It was OK in the rainy season, but worse in the wind when dust full of spray residue would come through our camp."
Troops wore the same wet uniform for days at a time. On one occasion he wore his for 38 days, only changing into his dry uniform at night, Mr Pewhairangi said.
"So we were continually in contact with the spray residue."
They often drank water from streams and, unaware of the dangers of Agent Orange, only filtered water for diseases such as leptospirosis.
Health Problems Resulting from Exposure to Agent Orange
Mr Pewhairangi suffers from a variety of illnesses including ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome and seasonal rashes. Many of those same illnesses are recognised in the Unted States as a consequence of exposure to Agent Orange.
The USA and Australian governments had long since paid compensation to their armed forces but for so long New Zealand troops had been fighting just for an acknowledgement, Mr Pewhairangi said.
Mr Niwa said his Vietnam experience had been two wars — one against the communists and one back home against the Government over Agent Orange.
He wanted to see compensation paid to veterans' children.
His brother Ross also fought in Vietnam. They are both now in their 60s and each now have cancer.
Several of their veteran friends had children who were affected by a variety of handicaps.
Not Mosquito Repellent
Mr Niwa remembered being sprayed with Agent Orange at least five times.
"There was never any warning," he said.
"We thought maybe they were spraying for mosquitos.
"I always knew when they were spraying because I could smell diesel, which must have been part of the mix.
"We used to bed down at nights in all the fallen leaves.
"We never stopped to think whether it might be bad for us — we were young."
A Government Cover-up?
Mr Niwa said New Zealand Governments' denials had made him angry and he had felt they were attempting a "cover-up", trying to protect the companies that manufactured the spray, or that Governments were afraid of having to pay compensation.
"They never seemed to care about us as servicemen," he said.
The Government should follow suit of its allies and give veterans a fair deal, he said.
"We're sick of raw deals. We don't want that for the rest of our lives,” Mr Niwa said.
Footnote: In December 2006, the New Zealand Government finally agreed to a $30 million package of services and benefits for veterans and their families as well as a formal apology and a welcome home parade for its Vietnam veterans.
Though much publicised, it seemed veterans were still waiting to see the full force of the announced package.
Speaking again in May, 2009, Mr Niwa said it was not until last year that the veterans finally received a welcome home ceremony in the capital city of Wellington. While that was a wonderful occasion, servicemen were still waiting to see the promised compensation. He understood the process had been stalled by a review of the War Veterans' Act.
"So we're still at war," he said.
"I think they're just waiting for us all to die so they don't have to pay us anything," he said.
Sadly, Mr Pewhairangi had already passed away before the official ceremony. His nephew Tuwhakiairiora Pewhairangi said Charles died only months after his family had celebrated his 60th birthday. Their was no doubt in the family's mind that his illnesses and ultimately his death were related to his exposure to Agent Orange. Despite that, compensation for Mr Pewhairangi or his remaining family was unlikely, Tu' Pewhairangi said.
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