August 27, 2015
Veterans reveal Agent Orange impact
A Vietnam veteran says a Waitangi Tribunal hearing has been a great way for ordinary soldiers to tell their stories.
The tribunal has been hearing evidence on the WAI 2500 claim at Muriwai south of Gisborne.
Rulan Kahuroa served in Victor Company in Vietnam and stayed on in the army for 20 years, reaching the rank of sergeant major.
He says the after years of having others talk for them, it is good for the soldiers to share the impact of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange on themselves and their families.
"We came back with all these rashes and things we thought must have happened as a result of us being in the tropics only to find later on that these rashes and all the problems we had came from the spraying of the Agent Orange. The saddest thing about it, it has now spread on to our children. And what hurt us is the government kept denying that we were sprayed with the toxin Agent Orange," he says.
Rulan Kahuroa says it took 40 years for the government to accept New Zealand soldiers were exposed to Agent Orange, and even now many of them are being denied the entitlements they were promised by the previous Labour government.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH RULAN KAHUROA CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MzE4NjU=
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