LETTER: Doctor's work countered effects of Agent Orange

A year ago in May, I had a four-valve replacement on my heart. This is the maximum valve replacement. One theory is that my heart valves were damaged by two years of exposure to Agent Orange while I served in South Vietnam. At that time, Agent Orange was the most toxic man-made chemical on earth. Medical scientists told the government not to use it, and they told our government what medical problems it would cause. The chemical producers used it anyway because of the vast amounts of money our government paid them for the chemical.

During the course of that war, they sprayed almost 21 million gallons of Agent Orange on a country the size of Minnesota. I was very lucky to have my heart valves replaced by one of the finest heart surgeons in America. He is still saving lives in our local hospital. —Sinowa Cruz, Kalispell