TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Paul DeVane of Tampa was only 22 years old when the military sent him to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand.
His first week there, he remembers being on a ramp where planes were parked when a truck drove along the perimeter of the base spraying something.
Paul, now 72, recalls where he worked was only about 100 to 150 feet from the perimeter.
“It just floats onto you and you can feel it when it hits your skin, because it’s an oily substance, you can’t wipe it off,” Paul explained. “You spent the rest of the day with it on your clothes.”
Just a few years ago, the Department of Defense admitted it sprayed the toxic defoliant Agent Orange along the perimeter of the bases in Thailand, including Korat.
Exposure to Agent Orange is linked to several diseases, including ischemic heart disease and lung cancer.
Paul Devane has had both.
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