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Document 167506 ELMO R. ZUMWALT, JR. Twenty years later, the Chief of Naval Operations during the Vietnam War writes: "I regret that we fought the war. I regret we lost the war." TLS: "E.R. Zumwalt Jr.", 1p, 7x8½. Arlington, Va., 1990 August 16. To Earl Collins, Austin, Texas. In full: "I do believe Agent Orange induced the two kinds of lymphomas from which my son died. I regret that we fought the war. I regret we lost the war. I do not regret the many lives we saved using Agent Orange, even though some of those saved are dying later from exposure." Vietnam's heavily jungled river banks left U.S. Navy patrols extremely susceptible to ambush, causing very high casualty rates. Admiral Zumwalt, as the Vietnam Naval commander, ordered the spraying of Agent Orange, a dioxin-laced defoliant to protect his sailors. In 1988, two years before this letter, his son, Elmo Zumwalt III, who had been a Naval officer in the Mekong Delta, died of lymphoma believed to be linked to his exposure to the chemical. Admiral Zumwalt lobbied politicians to appropriate the funds necessary to help treat the thousands of Vietnam vets who were suffering from Agent Orange-related diseases. In 1996, Admiral Zumwalt's perseverance paid off when President Clinton signed an order adding Agent Orange-related diseases to the eligibility list for medical benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Zumwalt died in 2000. Fine condition. SEE IF DOCUMENT 167506 IS FOR SALE RIGHT NOW!!
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