During times of war, it is rare to find a government willing and able to require the military to fund and support environmental impact studies. In the 1960s, many United States scientists expressed concerns about the use of herbicides during the Vietnam War. This protest was led by Dr. Arthur Galston and eventually included scientists with the National Academy of Science. By 1970, the Department of Defense (DoD) was ordered to permit the scientists to visit South Vietnam during the war to document these impacts. In all 1500 scientist days were spent in South Vietnam. In addition, the US government and military funded research studies on the impact of herbicides on animals. The goal of military use of herbicides, as chemical weapons, was to defoliate jungle forests and destroy food crops as a strategy to win battles and the war. The primary objective of this research study is to describe how it is possible for a country to fund and carry out scientific studies during the conduct of a war rather than decades later. The environmental impact study findings often lack boots on the ground validation and can be inaccurate or misleading in some situations. The United States (US) and other countries, including Russia and Ukraine, need to learn the historical lessons from the US use of herbicides, containing dioxin TCDD and/or arsenic (As), as chemical weapons during the Vietnam War.
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