The Lasting Effects of Agent Orange on Laos

On June 10, 2021, the Pulitzer Center hosted a conversation with journalist George Black and War Legacies Project founder Susan Hammond centered around Black’s Pulitzer Center-supported project, Agent Orange in Laos.

Black’s reporting for The New York Times Magazine reveals the long-ignored legacy of Agent Orange in the country of Laos, which borders Vietnam. The United States sprayed the herbicide on both sides of the border during the Vietnam War but has yet to acknowledge the Lao victims or the consequences endured by generations of ethnic minorities in the country.

Hammond, the daughter of a U.S. Vietnam veteran, became involved in addressing the long-term impacts of war and fostering understanding between the U.S. and Southeast Asia during her time at the Fund for Reconciliation and Development. In 2008, Hammond founded the War Legacies Project.

Black and Hammond spoke to the current situation in Laos and where we go from here.