IT Home Learning T2W10 Task 1

The poem I chose is Rainbow Death by Hubert Wilson.

Rainbow Death
America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

About Hubert Wilson
Hubert Wilson was a Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force (USAF). He was a Vietnam War veteran who served in the USAF Security Service. He was prepped for about 14 months, before he was sent to Vietnam in 1970. About half of those who accompanied him ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of them were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron which was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang. Being involved in the Vietnam War, he was particularly familiar with chemical warfare, as well as the effect of it.

He started to have health problems, with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Around 10 years later, his central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. He deduced that it was the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during his year there as an intelligence analyst that caused the problems. Because of this, he have turned to writing just like his late Father.

About Chemical Warfare
The poem is about Agent Orange and chemical warfare, so I researched more about it. The title of the poem, "Rainbow Death" actually means the deaths and diseases caused by this type of warfare, particularly the Agent Orange. Agent Orange was the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the chemical warfare program. The term "Rainbow Herbicides" explains the use of the word "Rainbow" in the title.

During the production of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) dioxins were produced as a contaminant, which have caused numerous health problems for the millions of people who have been exposed. According to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects. This implies that the effect of the Agent Orange and the war still continue even if the war ended. "This poem remind us that wars aren’t over when the wars are over."