Agent Orange: The Cleanup Begins

by William John Stapleton

Thirty seven years after the end of the Vietnam War an historic event occurred at busy Da Nang Airport, an Agent Orange hot spot where tonnes of the infamous herbicide were decanted and reloaded on to cargo planes for spraying across the country's lush fields and forests. Dioxin, the accidental contaminant in Agent Orange responsible for many tens of thousands of birth defects and early deaths, is regarded as probably the most poisonous of all the compounds ever devised by man. This 10,000 word page primer records the events which lead up to the year when the wrongs of the past were finally addressed in joint efforts by the American and Vietnamese governments. This short book is the perfect way to bring yourself up to date on this vexed and long running issue.

51 pages, ebook

First published April 8, 2013

About the author

The first money William John Stapleton ever made out of writing was in 1972 when he was co-winner of a short story competition held by what was then Australia’s leading cultural celebration, the Adelaide Arts Festival. He graduated from Macquarie University in Sydney in 1975 with a double major in philosophy and anthropology and did post- graduate work with the Sociology Department at Flinders University. His articles and fiction have appeared in a range of magazines, newspapers and anthologies. Stapleton joined the staff of The Sydney Morning Herald in 1986. In 1994 he moved to The Australian, leaving after 15 years. As a general news reporter in Sydney John Stapleton, or “Stapo” as he was widely known, covered literally thousands of stories: from the funerals of bikies, children and dignitaries to fires, floods, droughts and demonstrations of all kinds. In 2000 he helped found the world’s longest running father’s show, Dads On The Air. After leaving The Australian in 2009 he travelled through S.E. Asia. In 2013 he wrote a meditation on journalism called Hunting the Famous and the final in The Twilight Soi Series, Not For Publication. He also launched A Sense of Place Publishing.