In the late 1960s, James Spencer was a United States Navy longshoreman on Okinawa's military docks. "During this time, we handled all kinds of cargo, including these barrels with orange stripes on them. When we unloaded them, they'd leak and the Agent Orange would get all over us. It was as if it were raining."
Between 1965 and 1967, Lamar Threet was a medic at the island's Camp Kue. "Agent Orange was stored at Kadena (Air Force Base) and it was used on Okinawa for vegetation control. I personally observed the spray crews around the hospital grounds, and was present when they brought a guy into the ER that had his clothes soaked in herbicide."
In 1970, Joe Sipala was stationed at the Awase Communication Site in central Okinawa. "The antennas were classified as 'mission critical,' so that meant no vegetation was allowed to grow around them. Every few weeks, a truck would come and refill our barrel of Agent Orange. It was my responsibility to mix it and spray the weeds around the perimeter fence."