home learning 2 task1

I am working on the poem 'Rainbow Death', so here is the background information I am supposed to find. I actually went to Vietnam last week for an exchange program, and I visited a Vietnam War Site. The tour guide there told us that Agent Orange, the main theme in the poem, was a chemical defoliant used to clear trees. Why did they need to clear trees? This is because the Viet Cong guerrilla used jungle warfare to attack the Americans. Their fighting spirit was so strong that their tactics were very effective against the Americans although they were seriously outnumbered. To prevent this from happening further, the Americans decided to use this Agent Orange to clear trees so that the Viet Cong had no place to hide. However, in the process of spraying this chemical defoliant, it also affected the villagers there. The chemical substance caused serious disabilities in children and many people died because of this.

Below is a diary entry written by the poet, Hubert Wilson

Rumors persist of still another more toxic color coded herbicide at the end of this deadly rainbow!

I am a Vietnam War veteran (as are my four brothers) who served in the USAF Security Service. I, along with a dozen or so intelligence school grads, prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, before anticipating being sent to Vietnam or elsewhere in southeat Asia in 1970. About half ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of us were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron, and what eventually was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang!
My health problems started approximately 15 years ago with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Four years ago my central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. No physician has ever diagnosed the specific illness. NO VA physician has ever rendered ANY medical assistance! My number one educated guess is the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during my year there as an intelligence analyst. Organo-phosphate toxins may not run their toxic course until 20 to 30 years after initial exposure.

Since my brain still functions moderately well (and I have mobility issues), I have turned to writing just like my late Father and the late singer (and writer) Johnny Cash.

Okay, this is all for the background information.

References:

1. "War Poetry 2010." THE WAR POETRY WEB SITE - The First World War and Contemporary War Poetry. Web. 26 May 2010. .
2. "Agent Orange." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 25 May 2010. .