<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br clear="all"></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">This photo essay was forwarded by journalist Don North, a friend of many in these lists. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Depictions of the wastelands still in Europe that remain a threat so many years after World War I do not offer a lot of encouragement about the challenges we face in Vietnam. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">However, in Vietnam the Ministry of Defense and NGOs have begun to make progress in <i>reducing </i>the threat level, <i>managing </i>the problem on a daily response basis, and moving toward the goal of <i>making Vietnam safe</i>. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">In Quang Tri Province, where most mine action work has been focused, the result is a significant and measurable reduction in the number of UXO accidents, injuries, and deaths compared to the first two or three decades after the war ended. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Efforts are also underway to mitigate the toxic danger of Agent Orange / dioxin found in soil and sediment samples in more than two dozen "hot spots" in southern Vietnam.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">The photos of Olivier Saint Hilaire are found in this link: <i><a href="http://www.messynessychic.com/2015/05/26/the-real-no-go-zone-of-france-a-forbidden-no-mans-land-poisoned-by-war/">“No-Go Zone” in France: A Forbidden No Man’s Land Poisoned by War</a>.</i></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">CHUCK</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><font color="#990000" face="Tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>=========================================</b></span></font></div><font color="#990000" face="Tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>CHUCK SEARCY</b></span></font><div><font color="#990000" face="Tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>International Advisor, Project RENEW</b></span></font></div><div><b style="font-size:10px;color:rgb(153,0,0);font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif">Vice President, Veterans For Peace Chapter 160</b><br></div><div><b style="font-size:10px;color:rgb(153,0,0);font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif">Co-Chair, NGO Agent Orange Working Group</b><br></div><div><b style="font-size:10px;color:rgb(153,0,0);font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif">M +849 0342 0769</b><br></div><div><font color="#990000" face="Tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10px"><b>E <a href="mailto:chuckusvn@gmail.com" target="_blank">chuckusvn@gmail.com</a></b></span></font></div><div><b style="font-size:10px;color:rgb(153,0,0);font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif">Sk chucksearcy</b><br></div><div><b style="color:rgb(153,0,0);font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:10px">=========================================</b><font color="#990000" face="Tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10px"><b><br></b></span></font></div></div></div></div>
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