Agent Orange was one of the most common herbicides and defoliants used by the United States Army during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. "It was a 50/50 mixture of two herbicides: 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T It only remained toxic for days or weeks and then decomposed, but it contained a toxic contaminant, dioxin which did not break down so easily and is still causing health problems in Vietnam." (What is Agent Orange). They used this chemical to try to kill people in Vietnam by spraying it on their fields, vegetation and trees. The reasons for spraying it on the trees were that it would kill the plants so that the Vietnamese would have no cover. This chemical has caused many different effects on too many people. The United States' use of the chemical Agent Orange has affected people's health. This chemical may have only caused a short-term effect, such as making people sick and making them take drugs to help them get better, or it may have caused long-term effects. Agent Orange could have killed someone outright or it could have made them suffer by making them sick for the longest time until they died. Even though this chemical was very dangerous and deadly, it was still used by the United States military forces to help fight the Vietnam War. The United States military forces sprayed over 19 million gallons of herbicide and sprayed it over 4.5 billion acres of land. in Vietnam. Agent Orange was the most commonly used chemical dioxin and was the most effective herbicide. This chemical was used “to remove unwanted plant life and foliage that would otherwise provide cover to enemy forces during the Vietnam conflict.” (Advantages). They wanted to try to get rid of the forest so that ... middle of paper ... Some people died right away or it affected their life until they died and caused many other different effects. It not only affected their lives, but it also affected their families. It affected families badly because they had to go through and see someone who was exposed to it knowing that they are part of the family and may not have a chance to survive, these families may also have been close to this because they were close to the men serving. This chemical is highly toxic, it is very sad to know how many animals, plants, children, adults and families have been affected by the chemical. Even though our military forces thought they were doing something so good, it ultimately backfired on us in a negative way, hurting our military and virtually everyone around them, but they all had to deal with what the chemical of Agent Orange caused everyone..