Rainbow Death by Hubert Wilson
America did not foreseeGreen, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!Expecting others to pay a high price.Now thinking twice?Toll on the innocent and unborn.Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.All the deceit continues to spread.Nefariously America led astray -Generations untold WILL pay -Execrable effects of agent orange spray!Hubert Wilson
Task 1:
Information: Hubert Wilson is a Vietnam War veteran who served in the USAF security service. Together with a dozen or so intelligence school graduates, they prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas. They were sent to Vietnam or other places in Southeast Asia in 1970. About half of them ended up in the 6924th Security Squadron, Da Nang, which is an Agent Orange hotspot. The rest of them were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska along with the 6984th Security Squadron, which was a far more contaminated environment than Da Nang. After staying there for about 18 years, he started to have unexplained headaches and limb pains. His central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progessive limb pains etc. No doctors have been able to diagnose the illness. Since his brain is still functioning moderately well although he has mobility issues, he has decided to turn to writing. - Rainbow Death
This poem speaks of a modern day ingredient of warfare that has caused appalling death and suffering, not only to the Vietnamese, but even the USA themselves, which means both sides are affected. Agent Orange is contaminated with TCDD, which is very dangerous. During the war, about 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, with 500,000 children born with birth defects.
From 1962 to 1971, Agent Orange was the most widely used in the herbicidal warfare program. During the production, dioxins were produced as contaminant, which caused numerous health problems to millions of people exposed to it.
The poem, Rainbow Death, is written by Hubert Wilson, to remind everyone in the world that "wars aren't over when the wars are over". Although this sentence may seem contradictory, but it basically means that even though wars have ended, but the effects of the war still remains, which shows the danger of modern warfare. It will not only affect the generation at that time, but also affects the younger generation --> Newborn babies are either dead or born with defects. This also shows the danger of starting a war and tells people to think twice before starting a war.
Source: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Rainbow
