The following letter was sent by Len Aldis, secretary of the Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society and long-time Agent Orange activist, calling on U.S. first lady Michelle Obama to help Agent Orange victims in Vietnam.

The first-ever Orange Day will be held in Vietnam on August 10 to heighten domestic and international support for victims of Agent Orange, the toxic defoliant used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975.

Dear Michelle Obama,

When in January this year your husband entered the White House as president of the United States of America, the hopes of millions around the world rose in anticipation at the new beginning and for a change from the discredited policies of the previous holder and his eight years.

You are a person in your own right and a mother of two young daughters. As a mother you rightly love and care for your children and want to protect them from harm. It is a noble cause and one that all mothers strive for despite many problems they may face. Today I write to you with an appeal for your help. In Vietnam there are mothers of children who are severely handicapped through no fault of their own except for being born in a country on which 48 years ago this coming August 10, military forces of the United States began spraying chemicals including Agent Orange, which was contaminated with Dioxin, the world’s most poisonous substance.

The spraying continued for 10 long years over areas of South Vietnam resulting in the massive destruction of many forests and the animals and flora they contained. The crops and hamlets of the people were also caught in the spraying, this did further damage that has left a horrific legacy for the people. Agent Orange entered the food chain and in turn the bodies of the people themselves.

Michelle, I wish you could see, as I have seen during my visits to Vietnam, the results that Agent Orange has had on the people, in particular the children born many years after the spraying stopped. I know that as a mother you would weep – as I have seen many Vietnamese mothers weep – on seeing a young child with no arms, a child minus a leg or with one leg shorter than the other, a young teenager with a body twisted with spina bifida, a child with no eyes. I could go on describing the horrific damage I and many others have seen done to many innocent children.

These innocents are suffering from the results of a conflict in which used chemicals such as Agent Orange has left nearly 4 million Vietnamese, the majority of whom need 24-hour care and attention, and their families crying out for justice.

When you look at, play with, read or take your daughters out for a walk, I ask you to imagine a Vietnamese mother wanting to do the same for her children, but, due to their disabilities, is unable to do so. I want you to imagine the consequences, as the children grow into their teens, then into young adults, still needing the loving care of a mother.

One of the questions raised with me by the mothers is “what will happen to my children when I am no longer here?” Seeing the tragic victims in hospitals, clinics, and orphanages and in their homes, the question is not easy to answer, assuming there is an answer. Agent Orange has already travelled into the third generation, yet another question is being asked “how many more generations?”

For many thousands the questions no longer apply, they died in the wombs of their mothers; they died in their early years of childhood. Those that survive will have the care and love that mothers give to their children. But care, Michelle, is not enough. The nearly 4 million need justice from those who caused their illness and disabilities and is the reason why I write to you today.

Your husband, the president, can call in the papers of the lawsuit brought by the Vietnamese before the courts in your country, he can speak to the lawyers who presented the case seeking justice. He will learn that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal without giving any reason why. He will learn that two of the justices disgracefully declined to take part and that another before he sat on the Supreme Court, actually worked as a lawyer for Monsanto, one of the companies that made Agent Orange. The president will surely see that justice has been denied to the Vietnamese victims.

Michelle, look at your two children, as I appeal to you to help right the terrible wrong done to the children of Vietnam.

Yours sincerely

Len Aldis

Secretary

Britain -Vietnam Friendship Society

(Source: Tuoitre)