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I dedicate this column to the memory of Steve Mason and Sarge Schaefer, whose widow, Fara, asked me in Reno "never to give up the fight on Agent Orange." The premature loss of these two gifted men spurs me on in my work and should spur all of us on in our commitment to justice for those of us whose health has been compromised because of exposure to dioxin.

Those who have read Robert Allen's excellent book, The Dioxin War, know that the health effects of dioxin are hardly unique to Americans. Most recently, the contamination with dioxin of an area of the Canadian Forces Base at Gagetown, New Brunswick, has come to light.

The granting of a pension to the widow of Gordon Seller, who died from leukemia attributed to exposure to Agent Orange, helped focus attention on the health issues associated with dioxin. Gordon Seller was no ordinary soldier. Before his death, he had been Director General of Canadian Land Forces.

In the wake of General Seller's death, almost 700 applications for monthly disability pensions have been filed with Canadian Veterans Affairs. To date, four applications have been approved. Two of these are related to exposure to the defoliant at Gagetown; two others have been granted to Canadians who served in Vietnam.

According to an account reported by the Associated Press, the son of a deceased soldier believes that exposure to dioxin is responsible for the death of his father. "We're seeing entire families wiped out by cancers, brain disorders, and bowel disorders," Kenneth Dobbie of Ottawa said. "They all have the same common thread. They were all at Gagetown in the 1960s and 70s."