Disarming bombs and mines in the central province of Quang Tri (Photo: VNA)President of the VUS Nguyen Tam Chien welcomedthe US war veteran delegation to visit Vietnam, and recognised their activecontributions to healing the pain of war between the two countries in the past.
He said the Vietnam – US cooperative relationshave changed with significant strides in recent years.
Post-war matters such as AO/Dioxin and bombs andmines have received much attention from the two sides’ governments and peoples,he added.
He called on the two countries to increasemutual understanding, friendship and collaboration via enhancingpeople-to-people exchanges and joining hands to actively address war aftermath.
Vice President of the US Veterans for PeaceChuck Searcy said all members from the visiting war veteran delegation have acommon goal of protesting against war and healing the pain of war in Vietnam aswell as promoting peace and friendship between the two nations.
The US guests want to study the settlement ofAO/Dioxin and bombs and mines in Vietnam, he noted.
Lieutenant General Nguyen The Luc, VicePresident and Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Victims of AgentOrange/dioxin, suggested Vietnam and the US actively seek modern technologiesto deal with contamination caused by the toxic chemical.
He called on the US war veterans to support thefight for justice for AO/dioxin victims in Vietnam.
From 1961-1971, US troops sprayed more than 80million litres of herbicides - 44 million litres of which were AO, containingnearly 370 kilograms of dioxin - over southern Vietnam.
As a result, around 4.8 million Vietnamese wereexposed to the toxic chemical. Many of the victims have died, while millions oftheir descendants are living with deformities and diseases as a direct resultof the chemical’s effects.-VNA
VNA
