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A U.S. Huey helicopter sprays Agent Orange over Vietnam.

News in Brief

The VA Is Finally Being Forced to Pay for Navy Veterans’ Exposure to Agent Orange

A federal court has ruled against the VA and granted aid to Navy veterans suffering from cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses linked to toxic exposure while stationed in Vietnam.

Christopher Jones

Viewfinder: Remembering Fallen Soldiers in D.C.

A Vietnam War veteran points to names of fallen soldiers on the wall of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., on November 12th, 2018.

Pacific Standard Staff

The second wave of combat helicopters of the 1st Air Cavalry Division fly over an RTO and his commander on an isolated landing zone during Operation Pershing, a search and destroy mission on the Bong Son Plain and An Lao Valley of South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War.

News in Brief

From Conservative Patriot to Communist Vanguard: An Interview With H. Bruce Franklin

Franklin's new memoir, Crash Course, blends the story of his political awakening with the history of the Vietnam War.

Arvind Dilawar

Social Justice

Aretha Franklin Wasn’t Just the Queen Of Soul—She Was Also the Godmother of the Protest Song

Franklin didn't set out to make a mark on the anti-war movement, but she did so anyway.

Jared Keller

Robert Kennedy gives a speech at the Democratic National Convention in New York on September 2nd, 1964.

Social Justice

How Bobby Kennedy Became a Progressive

An interview with Dawn Porter, director of the new Netflix docu-series about RFK.

Isaac Butler

Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) leaves after a procedural vote on health care on Capitol Hill on July 25th, 2017, in Washington, D.C.

News in Brief

What McCain’s Brain Cancer Tells Us About Vietnam Vets’ Exposure to Agent Orange

The Republican senator never has sought to connect any of his health troubles, including prior bouts with skin cancer, with Agent Orange exposure and has a mixed record when it comes to compensating fellow veterans for wartime exposures.

Charles Ornstein & Mike Hixenbaugh

Touring the Vietnam War Memorial Wall with Dang Thi Hong Nhut during an event bringing together victims of the use of Agent Orange, a defoliant widely used by the U.S military in the war in Vietnam.

News in Brief

Key Veterans Affairs Official Downplays the Risks of Agent Orange

At a meeting in March, a lead analyst in the VA's compensation service was critical of the media, scientists, and the VA's own administrative tribunal for taking positions that differ from his.

Charles Ornstein

Social Justice

The Vietnam Veterans Proving They Should Receive Agent Orange Benefits

Neither the Navy nor the Department of Veterans Affairs has a comprehensive list of which ships went where during the Vietnam War. As a result, veterans themselves often have to prove their ships served in areas where Agent Orange was sprayed.

Charles Ornstein & Terry Parris Jr.

News in Brief

The Department of Veterans Affairs Continues to Deny Agent Orange Benefits

A federal court had ordered the VA to re-assess its policy denying Agent Orange benefits to Navy sailors who served in the Vietnam War. The VA's conclusion: They still don't qualify.

Charles Ornstein & Terry Parris Jr.

News in Brief

Blue Water Veterans Share Their Agent Orange Stories

U.S. Navy veterans describe their Vietnam tours, their Agent Orange concerns, and their fight for VA benefits.

Terry Parris Jr.