GUAM – A Vietnam War veteran, who says he used Agent Orange on Guam during the war, says the people of Guam deserve to know the truth.

Guam’s governor has ordered comprehensive tests on drinking water and soil after LeRoy Foster told media he personally sprayed thousands of litres of the toxic chemical on the island during the war.

The US military, however, has said it has no record of Agent Orange being used on Guam.

The retired US airforce sergeant, LeRoy Foster, who was stationed on Guam during the 1960s and ‘70s, said he was told to use the chemical to control vegetation at Andersen Air Force base.

Agent Orange was used extensively by the US military as a so-called defoliant during the Vietnam War on the jungles of Vietnam and the perimeters of army and airforce bases in Thailand.

It has since been found to be highly toxic, and is linked to cancers, deformities and numerous other illnesses.

The US Department of Defence insists it did not use Agent Orange in Guam. But a 2004 report to investors of Dow Chemical, the company that manufactured Agent Orange, contradicts government claims.

It state: “Soldiers stationed on Guam who handled Agent Orange have become ill and symptoms of TCDD (dioxins) are apparent in the general population of the island as well.”

Foster, now 68 and living in Florida, said he bears enormous guilt for exposing other veterans and their families to the herbicide.

“I was a young airman. I was 18 years old and three days after arriving in Guam they put me on this 750-gallon trailer that I pulled with a five-tonne airforce-blue bobtail truck. And I pulled that trailer around spraying Agent Orange herbicides on-base and off-base at Andersen Air Base.

He said the time he did not know it was Agent Orange, nor did he know anything about how toxic it could be.

“No, I didn’t know. They told me it wouldn’t hurt anybody but the guy that I relieved, he had testicular cancer and he was being flown back to Hickam Airforce Base to have his testicles removed. And I don’t believe he lived.”

According to Foster, he sprayed Agent Orange along the flight line, sidewalks, fences, fuel tank farms and barracks, exposing Air Force personnel and their families to it.

“I was spraying two and three trailers full a day,” he said.

He thought nothing of it. “They told me that I could brush my teeth in it, wouldn’t hurt anybody,” he said.

“Now I have 33 autoimmune diseases and heart disease and several cancers and they had to cut out my rectum and colon.

“I know that was from sitting on that trailer being soaked in Agent Orange because the wind would blow it right back in my face. My own granddaughter – she was born with 24 fingers and toes.

“The airforce, they have me rated with combat-related special compensation for my diseases that were caused by Agent Orange. So they’re telling the public that there wasn’t any Agent Orange but they’re treating me totally different.

“They put it in my documents – ‘handling vegetation control duties’ – they admitted all of that on paper but they tell the public differently. They lie to the public.”

The message Leroy Foster wants to convey to the government, just tell the truth. Until they do he is refusing further medical treatment.

“I don’t think I have long to live. They just took blood work from me about two months ago and my cancer cells doubled. They told my wife that the colon rectal cancer has returned. But I haven’t had any more tests because I’m refusing any more treatment until they tell the truth.

“I was spraying the most deadliest substance on earth and I am responsible for it,” Foster said.

“I feel terrible guilt, there’s all these children I’ve hurt, and all the unborn children that died and didn’t have a chance to live,” he said.

“Our veterans, they gave their lives to our country, they don’t deserve to be lied to. If you don’t want to pay for compensation don’t. But don’t lie to us, did we lie to you?”

Foster’s story has been supported by Ralph Stanton, who was stationed at Andersen from March 2, 1969, to March 31, 1970.

In testimony submitted to the US Veterans Administration, Stanton described his job with the 43rd Civil Engineering Squadron as liquid fuel systems maintenance and repair.

Stanton and Foster regularly crossed paths at the base, as Stanton performed maintenance on fuel and delivery systems, including the cross-island pipeline Foster was assigned to spray.

Stanton remembered Foster because, he said, “the spray he used made me sick to my stomach, so I hated to see him coming our way.”

Stanton would often try to leave the area if he saw Foster coming, but would sometimes just step out of the way, cursing, as Foster pulled through with his five-ton truck and 750-gallon tank spray rig.”

Stanton remembers that Foster regularly wore rubber boots to his knees, rubber gloves to his elbows, a rubber apron to his ankles, a clear face shield, and no breathing protection.

The two men reunited online decades later. They have since petitioned their congressional representatives and formed groups to assist other veterans refused benefits based on exposure on Guam.

Guam’s Governor Eddie Calvo has instructed the Guam Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to test for traces of the chemical, according to the governor’s office.

The EPA announced in January that investigations were already actively underway. Calvo said he is watching the federal government’s response.

“In consideration of the statements made by veterans regarding the spraying of this chemical on Guam, I have justifiable concern about the residual effects this chemical may have on our environment, particularly our aquifer and drinking water sources,” Calvo stated in a letter to the EPA.

- PNC sources