"ROUNDUP" GOT NOTHING ON THIS

One of my security enhancements on Nui Ba Den was to get the western perimeter defoliated. It was the weak point. Boulder fields all the way to the wire. A sapper team could work through there and never be seen. I’d pictured it more than once.

The weeds never stopped. Humidity, rain, heat — the growing season never ended. Barbed wire and tanglefoot made hand-clearing impossible. Sergeant Meyers and his men fought the weeds anyway. Lost every time.

I asked through channels. Channels said no. So we ordered weed killer and hand sprayers and did it ourselves. Diesel fuel and concentrate, six to one. Sprayed the bunker line.

Good timing. The herbicide went down days before the sapper attack. It worked fast — leaves falling within hours. No cover meant the Viet Cong had to change their approach at the last minute. That changed the outcome of the attack.

None of us thought herbicides were dangerous to humans. That’s what we believed in the ’60s. But I watched how fast it killed a plant. Something in me didn’t buy the official line. I just didn’t know what to do about it.

Sergeant Meyers volunteered to run the spraying detail. Picked his men from across the platoons. I had to leave the mountain that day. Came back that afternoon and they were just finishing up.

I couldn’t believe what I saw. All three men soaked through with herbicide. Hair, nostrils, eyebrows — drenched. I made them shower until it hurt and scrub down with brown soap. Burned their uniforms and boots on the spot.

Next morning, the medic checked them out. Clean bill of health.

We believed our government. When they told us the herbicide wouldn’t hurt us, we believed that too.

Knowing what I know now about Agent Orange, I can only hope those three men lived long, healthy lives.