Sunset will serve as the home to a planned memorial meant to honor the many unintended victims of Agent Orange, a defoliant used by U.S. forces in the Vietnam War.
A Syracuse Vietnam War veteran, Larry Kerr, has been searching for a home for the memorial for a year and a half and got the green light last week from Sunset leaders to place it at Sunset City Veterans Memorial Park. “It will be a big addition to the park, and we’re excited,” Sunset Mayor Scott Wiggill said Monday.
Agent Orange, used to defoliate vegetation to hamper the ability of U.S. enemies in the war to find cover, took a heavy toll on many Americans involved in the war who were exposed to it, including Kerr, which spurred his efforts. The planned 8-foot by 10-foot memorial will be the biggest of the handful of memorials around the country dedicated to those who suffered the ill effects of the chemical.
“It’ll be a draw nationwide,” Kerr said, complementing other area draws to military buffs, including Hill Aerospace Museum and the Vietnam Memorial Wall replica at Layton Commons Park. Moreover, it will serve to recognize and honor those in the Vietnam War who suffered debilitating illness stemming from Agent Orange exposure, which also took a toll on many Vietnamese people.
Kerr has raised some $40,000 to $45,000 through a foundation he helped create, the bulk of the funds that will be needed for the memorial, but was having a struggle to find a home for it. The Layton park was his initial preference, but the possibility never materialized, so he took Sunset officials up on their offer to host it. “They welcomed us with open arms,” he said.
He has already ordered some of the varied materials needed for the memorial, and both he and Wiggill hope to have it in place by Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11.
Kerr, who served in the U.S. Air Force, says he was exposed to Agent Orange at some of the places during the war where he handled munitions, one of his duties as a weapons specialist. He suffered a heart attack in 1980, when he was 32, and other ailments, including head and neck cancer, which he links to the chemical.
U.S. forces sprayed more than 19 million gallons of herbicides in Vietnam from 1962 to 1971, according to the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine, including 11 million gallons of Agent Orange. The total number of U.S. servicemen and women exposed is not known, according to the agency, but the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs subsequently linked several diseases and health conditions to the chemical, providing compensation benefits to those who are eligible.
Aside from honoring those impacted by Agent Orange, Kerr said the memorial will also honor Gulf War veterans who suffered the effects of exposure to burn pits and other toxic substances.