Agent Orange Collection
Manuscript Collection 313

Collection Description: legal records, research materials, and correspondence pertaining to the litigation initiated by U.S. Military Veterans against the U.S. Government, contractors, and chemical manufacturers for its usage of the defoliant and herbicide Agent Orange/Dioxin during the Vietnam War.
Date coverage: 1979-1987
Size: 33 cubic ft.

Organization: Chronological.

Processing Information: container list and processing by Joseph Cocanower (intern, spring semester 2009) with the assistance of Jason Torre, University Archivist.
Finding aid edited by and website by Kristen J. Nyitray, Head, Special Collections and University Archives, August 2009.

Introduction
Access and Citation Information
Historical Note
Scope and Content Note
Series Descriptions
Container Listing
Glossary

Introduction

The Agent Orange Collection was donated by Irving Like, Esq., of the law firm of Reilly, Like and Schneider of Babylon, New York, in 1989. In a letter dated  June 5, 1989, Mr. Like commented on his donation:

"[The] State University at Stony Brook is a preferred repository, because the suit was initiated and carried for several years by a group of Long Island attorneys and many of the judicial proceedings took place in federal court houses on Long Island.

As Chairman of the Law Committee, which worked with class counsel representing the veterans, I can assure you that the documents should be of interest and value to the users of your Library for a number of reasons:

First, the case is viewed by the Courts, the bar and legal scholars as the most complex mass toxic class action suit from both substantive and procedural law standpoints, yet handled by our judicial system. At least 64 major legal briefs were filed. The landmark Court decisions issued during the course of the case went to the frontiers of tort law and many other legal concepts.

Second, the case represents in many ways, the final political and judicial chapter of the Vietnam War. The case was covered like no other by the national and international media, and forcefully dramatized the mistreatment of the Vietnam Veterans by their own government and the war contractors, who supplied the herbicides which defoliated large areas of South Asia.

Third, the case is a classic example of the interplay of politics, economics, law, science, national security and medicine. The records of the case should provide valuable sources of instruction and research for student and professor alike" (source: letter from Irving Like to Evert Volkersz, June 5, 1989).

Access and Citation Information

The collection is open for research without restrictions. Please contact department faculty for assistance.

The department suggests the following citation: Agent Orange Collection (MC 313), [title of document], [box and folder number], Special Collections, Stony Brook University Libraries.

Historical Note

From 1961 through 1975, the United States of America fought in one the most charged and polarizing armed conflicts that it has ever been involved – The Vietnam War.  The United States Military conducted a war with a fierce adversary in the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and their guerilla fighters, the 'Viet Cong'or 'VC.' One of the many strategies used against the combat adversaries was the use of herbicides or chemical defoliants that were produced by American companies. The defoliants were used to kill and clear the large, leafy vegetation indigenous to the Southeast Asian countries of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. The main herbicide used was comprised of a 50/50 mixture of two chemicals: dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and trichlorophenoxyacetic acid, the combination of which was nicknamed "Agent Orange" for the orange colored markings used to identify the 55 gallon drums in which the chemical was shipped (source: Wikipedia – Agent Orange).

Several American companies produced Agent Orange, including Dow Chemical Company, Monsanto Chemicals, Diamond Shamrock Corp. and Hercules (see Docket, D-3). During the course of the war, an estimated 20 million gallons of herbicides were dropped on the jungles, indigenous peoples of Vietnam, and American troops (source: United States Department of Veterans Affairs). Caustic to vegetation, the defoliant was later declared to be a contributing cause of medical conditions that affected a portion of the returning American military veterans.  The effects of Agent Orange became the basis for a class action suit against both the United States of America and several chemical manufacturers; the case was given the title "MDL-381", for Multi-District Litigation, or Agent Orange Litigation Case. The case lasted from 1979 through to 1984 and resulted in the establishment of a master settlement fund ($180 million dollars) and the founding of a number of health and social programs designed to assist affected veterans and their families.

The class action case marked one of the first times in American jurisprudence that U.S companies were held accountable for contributing to the harming of American service people through work done for the United States of America during a time of war. 

Scope and Content Note

The Agent Orange Collection consists of three series:

Series 1: Docket Sheets and Docket Memorandums
Series 2: Administrative Files
Series 3: Legal Research

Files include: court documents, exhibits, newspaper articles, correspondence, and legal research notes, circa 1979 to 1987. Of particular interest to researchers may be Series 1, which contains the original docket sheets and memorandum. This extensive series provides an evidentiary timeline of the legal case in an inclusive and chronological manner.

The original order of the collection has been maintained where applicable and re-created in others to assist researchers. Items housed in acidic and/or metal housings have been removed from these housings for preservation reasons and have been placed in acid-free folders and containers.

Series Descriptions

Series 1: Docket Sheets and Docket Memorandums, 1979 to 1987; 26.8 cubic feet. The series consists of docket sheets, docket memorandums and all court documents leading up to, during, and post trial. Documents pertaining to the court’s decision and appeals process are also included. This series contains all files pertaining to the final settlement and its final distribution.
Arrangement: chronological by date and docket number.

Series 2: Administrative Files, 1983 to 1987; 1.6 cubic foot. The series consists of internal and external memoranda and correspondences.  Subject matter includes: communications between the law firms and the courts; settlement information; appendices; and related subject materials.
Arrangement: alphabetical.

Series 3: Legal Research, 1964 to 1987 inclusive date; bulk dates 1979-1987;  4.3 cubic feet. The series consists of: newspaper articles, correspondences, military documents; and separate judicial documents.  The items concern the formulation of the law suit brought against the parties involved.  The series also includes a variety of items added throughout the trial. 
Arrangement: original order as maintained by the creators.

Glossary

DJ: Department of Justice
FECA: Federal Employees Compensation Act
FTCA: Federal Tort Claims Act
PSAC: President's Science Advisory Council
TCDD: a chemical compound
VVA: Vietnam Veterans of America

Container List

Series 1: Docket Sheets and Docket Memorandums

Series 2: Administrative Files

Series 3: Legal Research