Author Hogan describes his experiences serving in Vietnam, and although he describes his personal memories, it’s clear that he speaks for many returned veterans of that era. He, along with many other American servicemen, lived in the jungles and was constantly exposed to dangers -- not just from enemy raids, but also from disease, jungle predators, and the harmful chemicals constantly sprayed by our own government.

He explains that after he returned from combat, he had a series of health problems, all fairly rare issues, with no genetic or lifestyle component. Although returned veterans should get medical assistance from the VA, especially for conditions created or exacerbated by their time serving in the military, he had difficulty getting help from the VA. He also talks about a close friend and others who had similar issues. These personal experiences serve to humanize this tragedy, and also to show the difficulties of one individual trying to take on the massive VA.

These difficulties weren’t all that shocking for me, I know from friends and family that the VA can be inefficient and ineffectual in caring for veterans after combat. While the health of returned vets should be the first priority, it often takes years for veterans to get diagnoses and then to get coverage for their problems.

But author Hogan looks past the typical bureaucratic delays and sees a cover up.
Because so much of the damage was long-term, with a variety of symptoms presenting in a variety of people, at first it seems difficult to identify chemical pesticides from the Vietnam War as the cause. Hogan shows that some of this difficulty is feigned and intentional. He shows that it’s not so much a failure to understand how these chemical combinations could affect the human body, but a choice not to research this and to question any external research into this.


Most of us are already familiar with Agent Orange, a strong pesticide sprayed over American troops, camps and general wildlife in the jungles of Vietnam. I didn’t realize that Agent Orange was only one of many chemical pesticides and chemical attacks, and that there has been little to no testing of their effects. One of the more heartbreaking moments in this book is a researcher explaining that they thought these would be used only on the enemy, and therefore didn’t need to continue testing the health effects, as if the effects on human life (Yes, the opposition are human lives too.) and the natural environment were unnecessary side effects to winning in combat.

So Hogan investigated, and compiled all of his findings here. His chemical and medical research is shared in informal, first-person style, with occasional asides where the author reminds readers of information in a previous chapter or tries to anticipate a question readers might have. The effect is a bit like attending an informative college lecture, although there is the constant underlying awareness that the author (and many others) have been directly, negatively impacted because this research wasn’t done and reveal earlier. .

All in all, a moving and educational book, but very much not a memoir.
( )