THE BATTALION Page !
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1980
? Ranch Hand’ history to tell
of Agent Orange spraying
>as toldafeL „
Mexico’sij GLENN KRAMPOTA
; world's J . , J Battalion Reoorter
‘ IjA lead ship called a forward air
l,,,,. I controller marked the target with
rc^td L* en t ^ ie f ormation °f three un-
1 " et ®ined ships, sometimes more,
I , coasting at tree-top level dropped a
. '| Ml ! fire mist of spray over the selected
, 1 a, ] a W«ction of the lush Vietnamese land-
’ 1 11111 crt(i -pape, Ground fire that sounded like
, B baseball bat on a tin building”
ll ! : when it hit the plane’s fuselage
Js ( ' e ‘ eil( l®Wupted while fighter support for the
' | ] ,u ards °fsB r ayers roared overhead,
ate otT e sas«lj e uC-123s droped herbicides that
pthin days would strip the green
canopy and undergrowth of its
;e, leaving it bare to expose
ms la
xican
firm, Petti
979 spill, I
lawyers said I
ring the MeJ
ct Judgi
contend Sei
ites in its ft
it filed suit
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GGIE8:
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RENT
notoriety today comes not from the
success of its program or the punish
ment it bore, but instead the chemic
al it dropped.
Agent Orange, as one of the herbi
cides used is known now, has been
charged by some veteran’s groups of
causing cancer and birth defects
among children, according to an arti
cle in the August 9, 1980 issue of
Science News.
The article said studies have not
been conclusive one way or the other
that Agent Orange’s toxic ingre
dient, dioxin, leads to these things.
Cecil himself doubts that Agent
Orange caused health problems.
But he and other Ranch Hands are
due to take part in a government
Paul Cecil
?AGE
CK-I1
0 - $25
2339
iemy troop movement or war in-
lations.
|n other cases the herbicides would
isroy papayas or turn rice black,
[using the enemy to carry food in on
dr backs instead of more ammuni-
n.
his highly effective defoliation
chnique went on for 12 years and
k 1,200 men who were involved
|ith such missions were known as
\TE l anc h Hands.
Now, a Texas A&M University in-
TICAl s fr uctor an d doctoral student in his-
Iry, himself a pilot in the operation,
lions Filled ! writing the Ranch Hands’ history
Repaired ^ ^‘ s ^ octora ^ thesis.
study next summer that hopefully
will determine once and for all the
effect of the herbicide.
By charting air flow patterns, the
government knows exactly how
much exposure to the chemical the
crews received and when they were
exposed to it, Cecil said.
“The air crews received a minimum
of 1,000 times as much as anyone on
the ground,” Cecil said.
When Cecil finishes his thesis, he
will have covered the important
medical questions, he said, but he is
chiefly interested in writing a milit
ary history, not a medical one.
1 ’8
It will be “an interwoven story of
Paul Cecil, 46, said, “The Ranch official things and people things ...
ands were the most fired-on the missions and the orders, and
nch unit in Vietnam. In fact, the what happened to the people in-
'StU.S. airplane shot down in Viet- volved,” Cecil explained,
m was a Ranch Hand craft.” Cecil has already talked to 60 or 70
owever, the Ranch Hands chief different Ranch Hands, some of
WE BUY BOOKS
EVERY DAY!
And remember we give 20% more in trade for used
books.
LOUPOrS BOOKSTORE
Northgate - Across from the Post Office
A'i
Seniors
UlAKEUfi
15-19
.OCulpep’
eet
ly-Fridaf
WANTED!
INTRAMURAL BASKETBALL
OFFICIALS
Flexible
Hours
Evenings &
Sundays
Training
Provided
No Experience
Necessary
Interested?
Then Contact
DAVE KERR
or
LYNETTE GINN
In The
Intramural
Office,
159 East Kyle
Before
December 1,1980
them key personnel. He is bulk
mailing questionnaires for letter re
sponse, he said.
One aspect of research that is nearly
complete, he said, is his utilization of
official documents. Interestingly
enough, Cecil said he cannot get ac
cess to some documents he wrote
while in the Air Force, because they
are classified as top secret.
There is a Ranch Hand Association,
he said. At a recent reunion he got a
lot of fine interviews. “There are a
million war stories, some wild ...
funny... sad. I lost 12 good friends in
one instance whan a plane crashed
into a mountain. Other people have
the same stories.”
Cecil has hig hopes of finishing up
within the year. He said the Univer
sity Archives has shown a willingess
to take his finished document for
scholarly research.
01 BURGER
S FREE
U FRENCH
H FRIES!!
With order of Burger
and drink.
Southside Center
330 lersey
696-0915
10,000hamburgers
a reminder of home
United Press International
FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. — What a day to be in the ketchup,
lettuce or tomato business.
The “world’s largest take-out order” was served up in Fountain Hills
residents Saturday — 10,000 White Castle hamburgers flown to the
Phoenix-area community from the Ohio-based hamburger chain.
“The order represents over 555 pounds of hamburger and breaks the
Guinness Book of World Records entry for the world’s largest take-out
order,” saidTammi Gates of the Fountain Hill Chamber of Commerce.
The burger-fest was ordered up to celebrate the community’s 10th
anniversary this weekend by city officials conscious of the suburb’s
large segment of transplanted Midwesterners.
“With 5,000 hamburgers already pre-sold, we’re sure to sell out, ” said
Gates.
The shipment was met at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Friday night by a band of “armed guards” sporting cowboy garb and
fake rifles, who stood watch on the shipment overnight.
The burgers were then distributed for sale Sunday in five Fountain
Hills restaurants.
An extension phone is so inexpensive,
you con afford as many as you need.
For$1.10 o month, you con put on oxtension phono whorovor its colIsd for. Whothor
you re colling from the upstairs bedroom or the downstairs bothroom. Just drop by the
GTE Phone Mort ond pick out o phone or two. ihen toke them home and put them
wherever you like. With this low price, weve put extension phones within eosy reoch.
PHane
maRT
•iristrurciBnt leose charge only.