Chemical Warfare during the Vietnam War: Riot Control Agents in Combat

217 Pages·2011·0.95 MB·English

by  D. Hank Ellison

CHEMICAL WARFARE DURING
THE VIETNAM WAR
Chemical Warfare during the Vietnam War documents the use of antipersonnel
chemical weapons throughout the Vietnam War, and explores their effective-
ness under the wide variety of circumstances in which they were employed.
The short, readable account follows the US program as it progressed from a
focus on the humanitarian aspects of non- lethal weapons to their use as a means
of augmenting and enhancing the lethality of traditional munitions. It also
presents the efforts of the North Vietnamese to both counter US chemical
operations and to develop a chemical capability of their own.
This largely overlooked facet of the Vietnam War provides an opportunity for
students and scholars to examine many of the potential issues surrounding the
use of non-l ethal chemical agents in modern military operations, and serves as a
backdrop to discussion of broader issues associated with chemical warfare,
including the power of public perception. Chemical Warfare During the Vietnam
War is a comprehensive and thoroughly fascinating examination of riot control
agents during the Vietnam War.
D. Hank Ellison has served in the US Army as an enlisted infantry soldier and
a commissioned officer in the Chemical Corps, responsible for nuclear, biologi-
cal, and chemical defense for infantry and artillery battalions. He is a hazardous
materials instructor for Michigan State University’s School of Criminal Justice.

CHEMICAL WARFARE
DURING THE
VIETNAM WAR
Riot Control Agents in Combat
D. Hank Ellison
First published 2011
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2011 Taylor & Francis
The right of D. Hank Ellison to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him/her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Typeset in Bembo by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
Printed and bound in the United States of America on acid-f ree paper by
Walsworth Publishing Company, Marceline, MO
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN13: 978-0-415-87644-5 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-87645-2 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-83113-7 (ebk)
I would like to dedicate this book to my father, MGySgt
Vernon Lee Ellison, who retired from the Marine Corps
after serving his country faithfully through both the
Korean and Vietnam Wars. He is gone but not forgotten.
Semper Fi Dad!

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments viii
1 Introduction 1
2 Prelude 6
3 Operation Stomp 29
4 Tunnels 41
5 Escalation 58
6 Niches 73
7 Urban Combat 88
8 Communist Chemical Operations 111
9 Conclusion 130
Appendix A: Technical Agent Data 137
Appendix B: US Munitions and Weapon Systems 141
Appendix C: Viet Cong Improvised Munitions 158
Appendix D: Protective Masks 161
Notes 165
Selected Bibliography 191
Index 198
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank Arnie Bernstein and Brendan Boyle for their encourage-
ment and insightful comments on the manuscript.
I would also like to thank my family, Rose, Sean and Sarah, for their
patience, understanding and encouragement as I worked on this.
1
INTRODUCTION
Since the end of the war, the Vietnam-e ra chemical warfare program has been
in and out of the news. Initially, concern focused on the potential long- term
environmental damage from spraying herbicides on large sections of virgin
jungle. It soon shifted to the toxic legacy left behind by dioxin, a minor but
potent impurity in one of the herbicides. Because the principal ingredients in
Agent Orange – a mixture of the butyl esters of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T – were
commercially available and considered non-t oxic, there was little effort to
prevent or even limit exposure during the war. As the world began to compre-
hend the extent of the damage, the impact to soldiers, civilians and now the
next generation of Vietnamese children has been the topic of numerous medical
studies, litigations and books. Dioxin’s notoriety has in turn raised public aware-
ness of military defoliant operations during the war.
There was another facet of the chemical program that remains unconnected
to any toxic legacy and has largely been overlooked by the general public. Riot-
control agents were used routinely during combat operations for a variety of
tactical reasons and the lessons learned from these operations are still having an
impact on US Military planning and policy today. An examination of this aspect
of the program can provide insight into the development of current US military
doctrine and the drive to make these weapons available to soldiers. As recently
as the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Pentagon pushed for authorization
to use non-l ethal chemicals. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told Con-
gress on February 5, 2003 that, in his opinion, it would be “perfectly appropri-
ate” to use riot- control agents in some situations that soldiers would likely face.
He used examples of enemy forces hiding in caves, barricaded in buildings, or
intermixed with non-c ombatants. “You would prefer to get at [the soldiers]
without also getting at women and children, or non- combatants,” he explained.