Official US figures for consumption of anti-plant agents in Vietnam

Second, one of the major issues in the development of chemical weapons is the role of secret weapons research in universities. The development of napalm is a fascinating case study of applied weapons research by a university chemist on his university campus. 

At the time of the outbreak of the Second World War the aid of Professor Louis Fieser of Harvard University, a distinguished organic chemist, was enlisted. The Japanese invasion of the East Indies had cut off supplies of rubber which was crucial to the thickener for napalm. The research programme that followed, conducted at Harvard University, saw the first successful napalm detonations on the games field behind the football stadium - an excellent example of applied weapons research in the universities.55 The new napalm gel proved far superior to the original rubber-based gel, and napalm was used extensively by the United States in incendiary raids on Japan in the Second World War.56 Napalm was also used in Korea where it was called the United States best all round weapon 57 and, of course, it was used extensively in Vietnam. SSg-E6 Tom M. Jackson (Vietnam, 12 September 1970 to 12 September 1971) described watching napalm set off from only 50 yards away  

It lit the night sky like... a volcano, all the hot and molten lava in the sky... like an oil well on fire... nothing but fire above you. It went over a hundred feet in the air above my location, burning the whole time. It lasted not even a minute but it seemed to last forever. Scared the hell out of me 58 

The US government easily discredited much of the CNN/Time story because the Pentagon said they had found no records of sarin use. Interestingly, however, following the Time disclosures and subsequent retractions, CNN set up an Internet bulletin board which was immediately bombarded by over 25,000 Vietnam veterans supporting the allegations concerning the use of sarin. The site was suddenly removed on 16 July 1998. 

Not surprisingly, stories such as these caused a frenzy in the outside world. Popular reaction was immediate and hostile. Newspapers gave 

---

Table 5.2 Official US figures for consumption of anti-plant agents in Vietnam...

---