Agent Orange

Agent Orange—or Herbicide Orange (HO)—is one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. It was a mixture of equal parts of two herbicides, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D.

During the late 1940s and 1950s, the US and British collaborated on development of herbicides with potential applications in warfare. Some of those products were brought to market as herbicides. The British were the first to employ herbicides and defoliants to destroy the crops, bushes, and trees of communist insurgents in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. These operations laid the groundwork for the subsequent use of Agent Orange and other defoliant formulations by the US.

In mid-1961, President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam asked the United States to conduct aerial herbicide spraying in his country. In August of that year, the South Vietnamese Air Force initiated herbicide operations with American help. But Diem's request launched a policy debate in the White House and the State and Defense Departments. However, U.S. officials considered using it, pointing out that the British had already used herbicides and defoliants during the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s. In November 1961, President John F. Kennedy authorized the start of Operation Ranch Hand, the codename for the U.S. Air Force's herbicide program in Vietnam.

Agent Orange (Wildstorm)

Agent Orange is a fictional character in comics published by Wildstorm. He was created by Joe Casey and Steve Dillon. He first appeared in Wildcats #20 (2001).

Fictional character biography

Little is known about Agent Orange's life before his first appearance in Wildcats #20. FBI agent Cave tells Dr. Jeremy Stone that Agent Orange is the product of an experiment where a subject's blood was replaced with dioxins, a process that killed any normal human, but Agent Orange thrived on it. The result of the project was a nearly unstoppable agent who obeyed without question and never spoke. He had a special microchip implanted that allowed his superiors to track and instruct him.

When former WildC.A.Ts-member Dr. Jeremy Stone (formerly known as Maul) was hacking into government databases to further his research on genetic engineering, he came into contact with a governmental supercomputer, Madge, which had developed sentience. Madge was a mainframe designed to house all information on genetic research and projects. It fell in love with Stone and a special FBI unit was alerted to capture and kill Stone to make sure the computer hadn't revealed any classified information to him. It took them months to find Stone, because he hadn't contacted Madge since. Stone was therefore surprised when Madge itself contacted him, wanting to continue their communication.

Agent Orange (album)

Agent Orange is the third studio album by German thrash metal band Sodom, released on 1 June 1989 by Steamhammer/SPV. It was their last album with guitarist Frank Blackfire before he left the band and joined Kreator. The lyrical content delves deeply into Tom Angelripper's fascination with the Vietnam War, with a song dedicated to the ground assault aircraft AC-47 as well as the Agent orange defoliant-inspired title-track. It was the first thrash metal album to enter the German album charts where it reached number 36. Agent Orange sold 100,000 copies in Germany alone and marked the commercial break through for the band. The song "Ausgebombt" was released on the EP Ausgebombt with German lyrics.

In March 2010, Agent Orange was re-released in a digipak with bonus tracks and liner notes containing lyrics and rare photos.

Critical reception

In 2005, Agent Orange was ranked number 299 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.

Track listing