Vietnam: The Secret Agent: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A documentary film with the title Vietnam: The Secret Agent. It consists of a single reel of color 16mm polyester film with bilateral variable-area optical sound.

By using archival footage of the Vietnam war, interviews with troops, scientists, doctors and archival footage from NBC and ABC television, the film shows the effects of the chemical herbicide dubbed Agent Orange (2, 4, 5-T) that was used as a defoliant over much of Vietnam's forests, killing enemy food supply, and damaging the domestic agricultural industry. The documentary also shows some of the resultant court proceedings; birth defects believed to be the effect of exposure to Agent Orange; veterans describing suffering from diseases such as chloracne; the psychological distress of the veterans; criticisms of the Veterans Affairs and United States government; as well as the hunger strike veterans engaged in.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1983
• Directed by: Jacki Ochs, American, born 1951
• Produced by: Jacki Ochs, American, born 1951
• Produced by: Daniel Keller
• Narrated by: Max Gail, American, born 1943
• Owned by: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
• Type: sound films
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: polyester film
• Dimensions: Duration: 48 min.
• Dimensions: Physical extent (film): 1725 ft
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Viet Nam, Asia
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Documentary films
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Health
• Topic: Science
• Topic: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
• Topic: Violence
• Object number: 2017.55.41.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.