Military Families in the Philippine Islands
Clark Air Force Base and Subic Bay in the Philippines were two of the largest, most active American military bases in the world. Both were strategic locations long before, during, and after the Vietnam War.
For decades, thousands of American military families exposed to the tragedies of war lived on both bases, supporting their loved ones as they weathered everyday difficulties that come with life near active war zones. Many family members served in what can be considered support roles, including teaching. Spouses volunteered when entire families, widowed women, and orphaned children from Vietnam were flown to the Philippines for care.
School gymnasiums on base were often set up as shelters, including during Operation Baby Lift. My mother was one of those volunteers and she took me with her during one time of need. I was too young to recall much of that experience today, but the impact of the cries of injured children is burned into my memory.
Given the location, it is surprising to see these locations are still missing from the list of bases with toxic exposure in the PACT Act. Historical data and independent reports confirm military personnel at these bases were exposed to toxins, including the rainbow of herbicides containing dioxin, one of which is commonly known as Agent Orange.
Why Now?
It is a documented fact veterans of the Vietnam War were exposed to dangerous substances and disabled. Many died later on from service-connected illnesses, including cancer directly linked to exposure to a wide variety of toxicants, pollutants, aviation fuels and solvents, heavy metals, BCP’s, and herbicides, including Agent Orange. My father was one of them and he died from illnesses tied directly to toxic exposure. There are not yet words for the significant impact his many illnesses and cancers had on his life, health, career and that of our family.
Why would collecting data on toxic exposure matter now? Because such information can change the way we measure the true cost of war. In particular, the cost of the Vietnam War is certainly much higher than reported. The truth in research and data that we do have reveals the environment is still contaminated. The health of veterans subjected to exposure to toxicants during the Vietnam War and beyond continue to have significantly more health problems than comparable civilian populations.
Dioxin
Dioxin, one of the most persist toxins of them all, did not just magically dissipate into the ether with the Fall of Saigon in April 1975.
Equipment including planes, ships, vehicles, and clothing was contaminated during the spraying of Agent Orange. In Operation Ranch Hand, C-123s were retrofitted to spray chemical warfare, err herbicides, on large swaths of land in Vietnam. After the war, the same contaminated planes were put into civilian service, sickening pilots long after the spraying ceased.
To this day, third and fourth generation children in Vietnam continue to be born with deformities tied directly to toxic exposure to dioxin. Also, simply stated, true, honest, thorough research has not been conducted on the health of the descendants of Vietnam veterans who lived on these bases.
Drafting the Unborn
Soldiers choose to serve. Some could even argue, so do their spouses and families by proxy. Their children, however, do not. Children born during and after the Vietnam War did not consent to being exposed to toxic substances and yet many continue to suffer the consequences of being born and living on a military base. To this day, descendants are relentlessly gaslit by the medical industrial complex.
There is evidence of reproductive and developmental harm done to the direct descendants of Vietnam veterans. When descendants are harmed by war, it amounts to children being drafted before birth. No one has the right to draft the unborn. No one has the right to damage the biological right of bodily autonomy and the fertility of the unborn.
Delay Deny Until They Die
The omission of the Philippines and its two major bases, Clark Air Force Base and Subic Bay, from the PACT Act should raise an eyebrow. Why are they excluded? This glaring absence looks suspicious. The realities of the lived experiences of military families including the children who lived on these bases.
What’s happening with the Molly R Loomis Act? Supposedly put into place to finally get the VA to look into the health of the descendants of Vietnam veterans, nothing has been done. The response looks like a whole lotta word salad!
All those with toxic exposure linked health complications, deformities, babies with birth defects, and cancer deserve justice. The fact that there’s no mention of these two bases in the Pact Act has been a huge red flag. Do you want to know what the pattern of continued bureaucratic delay and denial looks like to military families? It looks like another cover up with deadly consequences.
References
Clark AFB & Subic Bay – Historical Significance
“United States bases in the Philippines,” Wikipedia. Covers the size, strategic role, and operational history of Clark and Subic.
en.wikipedia.orgOperation Babylift Role of Philippine Bases
Operation Babylift: Evacuating Children Orphaned by the Vietnam War, HistoryNet. Details the evacuation, tragic plane crash, and Clark’s critical staging role.
historynet.comPersonal Recollections of Operation Babylift at Clark
‘Forever Burned Into My Memory’: One Airman’s Recollections of Operation Babylift, HistoryNet. Firsthand account of C-5A missions through Clark AFB.
historynet.comOperation Babylift VA Benefits Recognition
Operation Babylift Veterans Receive Retroactive Benefits, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs News. Documents VA actions toward evacuees.
news.va.govPhilippine Exclusion from PACT Act
VA’s Agent Orange Exposure Locations, VA Public Health. Shows the Philippines (Clark/Subic) is not among PACT Act presumptive locations.
publichealth.va.govEvidence of Agent Orange Exposure at Subic
Two Marine Veterans Unite Decades Later to Win VA Appeals for Exposure to Agent Orange in Subic Bay, Philippines, Globe Newswire. Details two case victories using buddy statements and new evidence.
globenewswire.comAircraft Contamination with Dioxin
Aircraft From Vietnam Identified With Agent Orange Contamination, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Documents C-123 aircraft contamination post-war.
publichealth.columbia.eduC-123 & C-5 Aircraft Residue Study
Agent Orange (Wikipedia)—“Use outside of Vietnam.” Covers testing, reassignment of spray aircraft, and findings of persistent dioxin residue.
en.wikipedia.orgEnvironmental Legacy at Former Bases
Toxic bases in the Pacific, Nautilus Institute. Outlines persistent contamination—PCBs, fuels, solvents at Clark and Subic sites.
nautilus.orgVeteran Case Precedents for Subic Exposure
VA Board decisions have awarded service connection based on exposure at Subic Bay (renal cancer link, etc.)—as found in Board appeals documents.
Various adjudications hosted on VA.gov (e.g., vetapp files)
Veterans Affairs+1Molly R. Loomis Act – Descendants Research
Proposed legislation: Molly R. Loomis Act (S.2061, 119th Congress)—would establish federal research on descendants’ health effects. Introduced June 12, 2025, pending in Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.
congress.gov
veterans.senate.gov
legion.org
NOTE: this is a draft