Fred A. Wilcox
Fred A. Wilcox is a retired associate professor in the writing department at Ithaca College. He is the author of five books on issues including the Vietnam War, nuclear power, and the Plowshares Movement.[1] He teaches classes on the Vietnam war and its aftermath, and two of his books discuss the effects of Agent Orange, a defoliant used extensively during the war.
Life and career
Wilcox was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He graduated from the University of Iowa where he studied Sociology and English. He earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a doctorate in English and Expository Writing from the SUNY Albany.[1]
Books on Agent Orange
His first book, Waiting for an Army to Die (ISBN 978-0932020680), recounts the effects of the chemical defoliant Agent Orange on US troops during and after the Vietnam War. The chemical was used to eliminate the dense foliage of the forests in Vietnam, which the US military believed provided cover to enemy fighters. Wilcox follows the lives of US veterans who argue that the chemical was toxic, citing health conditions including cancer and fetal deformations. The book helped bring to light the issue of Agent Orange in the United States when it was first published in 1983.[2]
In 2011, Wilcox published Scorched Earth (ISBN 978-1609801380), a continuation of the issues he addressed in Waiting for an Army to Die. In the book, he discusses the effects of Agent Orange on Vietnamese veterans of the Vietnam War, as well as their families and other survivors. Wilcox travels with his son to Vietnam to meet individuals and families suffering from a number of health issues believed to be related to Agent Orange exposure. The conditions include Hodgkins lymphoma, chloracne, severe birth-defects and various types of cancer, among others.[2]
Books
Written by Wilcox
Waiting for an Army to Die: The Tragedy of Agent Orange (Random House 1983, Seven Stories Press 2011)
Chasing Shadows: Memoirs of a Sixties Survivor (The Permanent Press 1996)
Uncommon Martyrs (Addison-Wesley 1991)
Fighting the Lamb's War: Skirmishes with the American Empire (the autobiography of Philip Berrigan) (Common Courage Press 1996)
Scorched Earth: Legacies of Chemical Warfare in Vietnam (Seven Stories Press 2011)
Edited by Wilcox
Grass Roots: An Anti-Nuke Source Book (Crossing Press 1982)
Disciples & Dissidents (Haleys 2000)
References
- ^ a b Ithaca College: Faculty
- ^ a b Rebekah Wilce "Through the Toxic Mirror: Vietnamese and Americans Continue to Suffer Effects of Agent Orange" PRWatch. September 12, 2012