Kristen Vetter, a nurse and daughter of U.S. war veteran Larry Vetter, conducts physical therapy with La Thanh Toan, 21, in Da Nang, Vietnam. Toan and his brother Nghia, 18, are third generation victims of dioxin exposure, the result of the U.S. military's use of Agent Orange and other herbicides during the Vietnam War more than 40 years ago. The brothers were born healthy, but began to suffer from muscular dystrophy and other problems as they grew older. Now they are confined at home as their bodies and lives waste away. The Vietnam Red Cross estimates that 3 million Vietnamese suffer from illnesses related to dioxin exposure, including at least 150,000 people born with severe birth defects since the end of the war. The U.S. government is paying to clean up dioxin-contaminated soil at the Da Nang airport, which served as a major U.S. base during the conflict. But the U.S. government still denies that dioxin is to blame for widespread health problems in Vietnam and has never provided any money specifically to help the country's Agent Orange victims. Jan. 5, 2013.
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