What is Vietnam Syndrome? Oddly enough, there are three interpretations of this term at once. You will learn about them by reading this article.

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was the longest modern war, lasting more than two decades. More than 2.5 million American servicemen took part in the hostilities. Vietnam veterans make up about 10% of the young people of their generation. At the same time, about 60 thousand soldiers died there, another 300 thousand were injured, and 2 thousand are missing. The Vietnamese also killed more than one million military people and more than 4 million civilians.

The reason for the war was rather strange. The Americans feared that the communist contagion would "spread" from Vietnam throughout Asia. And it was decided to launch a preemptive strike.

Horror before the war: post-traumatic stress disorder

The Americans were not ready for war in the jungle, which the locals knew like the back of their hand. Despite the fact that the Vietnamese were much worse equipped than the US military, they compensated for this with ingenuity and cunning. Numerous traps filled with gunpowder from American shells and partisan ambushes - all this frightened the Americans, who expected an easy victory and a quick return home.

However, after the military came back to the United States, their torment did not end. Americans began to be tormented by vivid memories of the horrors of war, fear of loud sounds resembling explosions... conditions cannot but harm the psyche. The so-called Vietnamese syndrome has been described. This is a complex of experiences experienced by the military returning from hot spots.

Vietnamese syndrome as a mental disorder

This syndrome is also called "Afghan", or "Chechen". Many psychiatrists have studied Vietnamese and the treatments are well documented these days. Many US military have been rehabilitated and were able to forget about the nightmare experienced. Well, the experience gained by psychiatrists made it possible to learn a lot about how the human psyche reacts to transcendental experiences.

What is Vietnamese is rather unpleasant: it is obsessive memories of the war, nightmares, constant thoughts about the experience. Because of such manifestations, a person loses the ability to live normally in society: he wants to forget himself and get rid of painful experiences. As a result, there is antisocial behavior, increased aggressiveness, craving for alcohol and drugs.

The nation is scared of war

The Vietnam War not only broke the personalities of individual participants, but also led to the fact that America as a whole changed. This war was one of the few where American citizens were directly involved, where they died ... And where they lost. As a result, ordinary US citizens have developed a fear of new wars in which their country can take a direct part. That is, the Vietnamese syndrome is the fear of ordinary Americans to be drawn into a bloody war on foreign territory.

It can be said that since the end of the Vietnam War, America has never been at war. The state's tactics have changed so as not to cause indignation among ordinary taxpayers. Now the US prefers to either arrange or send a limited contingent to where they want to establish their influence.

Because of the national Vietnamese syndrome, Americans will simply refuse to go to defend incomprehensible national interests and risk their own lives. And some politicians argue that the American nation simply fears another military defeat.

"Orange Agent"

There is another interpretation of the term "Vietnamese syndrome" - no less sad than the previous two. The Vietnamese waged a real guerrilla war against the invaders, setting up numerous shelters in the jungles of Indochina. Therefore, in order to protect themselves, the Americans decided to destroy the jungle, to deprive the partisans of reliable shelter. To do this, specially designed herbicides were used, the most effective of which was Agent Orange, which got its name because of the bright marking of the barrels.

The herbicide worked extremely effectively: literally in a matter of hours, all the leaves fell from the trees, and the partisans were in full view of the Americans. The mangrove forests were almost completely destroyed, only 18 species of birds out of 150 remained ... However, the “Orange Agent” killed not only trees and birds ... The herbicide contained dioskin, a powerful poison that causes genetic mutations and cancer in people.

Echoes of war

Agent Orange turned out to be the strongest mutagen. Until now, children with genetic diseases unknown to science are born in Vietnam. Lack of eyes and hands, profound mental retardation, all sorts of deformities... In areas where "Agent Orange" was sprayed, people get sick with oncological diseases much more often. All this, some researchers have given the name - the Vietnamese syndrome.

What is this strange phenomenon, will it be possible to find justice? Americans still deny their involvement in the ongoing horror. Rare public organizations are trying to restore justice, but the official government does not want to listen to them.

One of the biggest military events of the twentieth century was the Vietnam War. It was accompanied by numerous victims and many countries of the world took part in it, which led to the manifestation of the Vietnamese syndrome in people.

The Vietnam War began as a civil war in 1957 of the last century. However, its scale grew at an incredible speed and as a result, many significant countries of the world took part in it: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United States of America, the People's Republic of China, Australia and many others. Everyone knew about the Vietnam War. For 18 years, Vietnam has been a battleground. In 1975, hostilities were stopped, and the result of a bloody war was the victory and reunification of Vietnam, which already speaks of the defeat of the United States, both politically and militarily. There is an opinion that if the United States had not interfered in the military strife in Vietnam, hostilities would have ended much earlier, and there would have been much fewer human casualties. The United States decided to intervene in the war in 1965 and they supported the South Vietnamese militias. And since air battles played a big role during the war, the high command of North Vietnam asked for support in the Soviet Union and the Soyuz decided to provide calculations of anti-aircraft missile systems for fire support in the air.

The essence of the "Vietnam Syndrome" is that that citizens in the United States began active rallies demanding "stop the supply of military" to the territory of Vietnam, which went against the decision of the US Congress. The panic started out of nowhere. After all, 64% of American servicemen had an age category of 20-25 years, and, accordingly, the same number of mothers and wives lost their sons and husbands. If we take, in general, then in the Vietnam War there are the following number of affected citizens of the United States: 58 thousand people died, 303 thousand were wounded. But the guys died it is not clear where, why, and why. In turn, Vietnam in 1975 had 83,000 amputees, 30,000 blind people, and 10,000 deaf people. It should be noted that the losses of South Vietnam amounted to about 250 thousand military personnel, and the losses of the civilian population are not even known. And the losses of the North Vietnamese army amounted to 1.1 million military personnel and 2 million civilians.

However, researchers give us another equally important figure - in the post-war period case rate serviceman suicide in Vietnam reaches the mark of one hundred thousand victims. You can imagine how big the percentage was. But (PTSD) is a huge problem of the post-war period. Almost every soldier needs specialist psychiatric help. All the terrible pictures of the combat situation are simply impossible to erase from memory. In such cases, specialists carry out a number of procedures designed to restore the mental state of the patient. The main objective of these procedures is to return the soldier to a civilized society and help him overcome all the tragic moments that pop up. With post-traumatic disorder, a person becomes uncontrollable and unable to control his own consciousness, the consequences can be the most deplorable - one of them we have already described above is suicide, and the next is the patient's possible danger to society. Indeed, cases have been repeatedly observed when a person, returning from the war, at the time of an attack, could pounce on an ordinary passerby, seeing him as an alleged enemy. often remembered in modern times, especially when the people of the country do not agree with this or that decision of the government and express their will through mass rallies and protests. The will of the people must always be taken into account by any government in order to avoid casualties and military conflicts. "Vietnam Syndrome" is an example for many years for all countries of the world.

Wars and the wrong actions of politicians sometimes have strange and unpredictable consequences. For example, they can cause a new type of mental disorder to emerge. This is how the Vietnamese Syndrome was born. However, this term has several meanings.

What does the term "Vietnamese Syndrome" mean?

The researchers note that there are several definitions for the Vietnamese syndrome, depending on the point of view from which this phenomenon is considered. First, in the realm of US politics, the Vietnam Syndrome is the refusal of citizens to speak out for the continuation of the war in Vietnam, the sharp criticism by voters of politicians who initiated hostilities, the demand of ordinary Americans to stop senseless bloodshed. Secondly, in the social sphere, the Vietnamese syndrome is an expression of hostility, open or silent, towards the participants in the hostilities in Vietnam. Veterans were often called killers, considered monsters in human form, they were treated with prejudice in ordinary civilian life and often deliberately prevented from adapting to it. Thirdly, social hostility and their own psychological problems caused the soldiers who returned from Vietnam to develop a special type of PTSD, which was also called the Vietnamese syndrome. Later, the same problem began to be diagnosed in those who took part in the hostilities in Afghanistan, calling it the Afghan syndrome. But it is, in fact, the same mental disorder.

Vietnam syndrome as a type of PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a particularly severe psychopathic condition in which a person experiences bouts of uncontrollable, thirst for destruction and even murder. The reasons for its appearance may be different, for example, experienced sexual violence, received a physical injury that resulted in disability, the threat of death. If the cause was participation in military operations in Vietnam, then PTSD is classified as a Vietnamese syndrome.

A person suffering from this type of disorder constantly repeats terrible pictures of what he had experienced in the war in his mind. And he sees all this also in nightmares. Visions are accompanied by strong negative experiences, fear, depression and thoughts of suicide. But at the same time, a person does not want to share with others, does not want to talk about it, tries to suppress memories. Therefore, the negative splashes out involuntarily and the patient simply breaks down. He is often compared to a cocked cock, who himself does not know what and when to expect from himself. Plus, he is often diagnosed with somatic disorders, for example, diseases of the heart and digestive system on a nervous basis.

What is the Vietnam Syndrome in history?

In the United States, the Vietnamese syndrome is most often mentioned in connection with historical events. And this is not surprising, given the wide public outcry caused by the Vietnam War, not only among Americans, but throughout the world. Due to the miscalculation of American politicians, the internecine war that began in 1957 dragged on for a long 18 years and many states were drawn into it. The United States in this conflict allegedly acted as peacekeepers supporting the South Vietnamese opposition. But, in fact, American politicians wanted to finally split the country. However, they did not succeed, and after the end of hostilities, Vietnam again became a whole state. Thus, a war that claimed millions of lives turned out to be absolutely meaningless.

After the end of hostilities in Vietnam for several years, many people had a mental disorder such as Vietnam syndrome - a type of post-traumatic stress disorder that is often diagnosed in those who were in war conditions. In fact, the same mental disorder is now called the Afghan, Chechen syndrome - depending on what kind of military actions influenced the appearance of the violation.

ICD-10 code

F43.1 Post-traumatic stress disorder

Epidemiology

According to some reports, at least 12% of former participants in local armed conflicts suffer from the Vietnamese syndrome to one degree or another (according to other sources, from 25 to 80%). A similar stress disorder is diagnosed in 1% of the world's population, and 15% have some of its individual signs.

Over the past decades, this syndrome has been replenished with the Afghan, Karabakh, Transnistrian, Abkhazian, Chechen, and now the Donbass syndrome - and the types of such pathology are becoming more and more complicated each time.

Vietnamese syndrome can last for weeks, but can persist for decades.

Unfortunately, exact statistics of such cases are not kept. However, experts suggest that the incidence rate only increases over the years.

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Causes of the Vietnamese Syndrome

A type of post-traumatic stress disorder - Vietnamese syndrome - is considered a particularly complex psychopathic disorder, which is characterized by bouts of irritability and aggression, with a craving for destruction and even murder.

The reasons for the development of such a syndrome can be different: these are experienced episodes of violence, the contemplation of physical injuries, one's own disability and the proximity of death. You don't have to be a Vietnam War veteran to qualify for the Vietnam syndrome: in most cases, the syndrome can be applied to people who have also served in other combat operations in other countries.

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Pathogenesis

As a rule, the Vietnamese syndrome develops as a result of a severe psychological traumatic effect. As a rule, these are events related to the war, which are difficult to accept and understand. In most cases, the appearance of the syndrome is provoked by cruelty, loss of life, violence and pain. Visual pictures are associated with a feeling of fear and horror, with a sense of inevitability and helplessness.

War has an extremely negative impact on the mental state of a person. A constant feeling of fear and worries, incessant nervous tension, contemplation of murders and other people's grief make their negative contribution - this cannot pass without a trace for the psyche.

At the same time, the Vietnamese syndrome can be detected not only among the direct participants in hostilities, but also among their family members, volunteers, journalists, doctors, rescuers, as well as people living in the territory of a military conflict.

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Forms

Patients with Vietnamese syndrome can go through several stages of increasing symptoms:

1. There is a loss of life's joys, insomnia, loss of appetite and sexual desire, a change in self-esteem.
2. There is a desire to take revenge, there are thoughts of suicide, which is often explained by the loss of the meaning of life.
3. The patient's conclusions become persistent, he does not make contact and is not amenable to persuasion.
4. Delusional states develop, the patient blames himself for almost all troubles.

At a severe stage, the patient's body is depleted, cardiac disorders are observed, and blood pressure changes.

In addition, there are several phases of the human stress response:

• phase of initial emotional response;
• phase of "denials" (emotional limitation, suppression of thoughts about traumatic events);
• an intermittent phase with the periodic appearance of "denials" and "intrusions" (in addition to the will, erupting thoughts, dreams);
• the phase of gradual processing of information, which usually ends with the assimilation or adaptation of a person.

Vietnamese syndrome can have the following types of pathology:

• Acute syndrome (the first signs of the disease appear within six months after the injury and disappear within 5-6 months).
• Chronic syndrome (symptoms continue for more than six months).
• Delayed syndrome (symptoms appear after a certain latent period - six months or more after a traumatic situation, and last more than six months).

In people who have gone through the war, the following stages of the Vietnamese syndrome are also distinguished:

• stage of primary impact;
• stage of denial (suppression) of events;
• stage of decompensation;
• recovery stage.

According to the general opinion of many experts, recovery may not occur in all patients, and much more slowly than it should.

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Complications and consequences

Of course, increased mental activity cannot go unnoticed by human health, manifesting itself in the future with serious consequences. Very often, unwanted memories and terrible visions visit the patient in a dream, which ultimately leads to insomnia. Often a person is simply afraid to go to bed, and if he falls asleep, then with intermittent and uneven sleep, often waking up in a cold sweat. Since such a dream cannot be called a complete rest, the patient's psyche experiences additional colossal overloads, which only aggravates the situation.

Pathology makes itself felt not only at night. In the daytime, hallucinations can occur - a person sees tragic pictures, and in real time, identifying them with reality. This can play a negative role and lead to isolation from society.

Another complication is the growing guilt that is inherent in people if, under certain circumstances, they survived, and their friends or relatives died. Such people undergo a radical reassessment of values: they lose the ability to enjoy life and even just live in the modern world.

At the same time, the most severe consequence of the Vietnamese syndrome is the thought of suicide, which many manage to realize.

Among the former military who took part in the hostilities in Vietnam, over the 20 years after the end of the war, more soldiers committed suicide than they died during the years of military conflict. Among those who survived, about 90% of families broke up - mostly due to constant depression, the development of alcohol and drug addiction, etc.

Diagnosis of the Vietnamese syndrome

Such a diagnosis as "Vietnamese syndrome" is made when there are appropriate criteria for this disease:

1. The fact of being in a war zone, the fact of a threat to life or health, stressful situations associated with the war (anxiety, emotional concern for the lives of other people, moral trauma from contemplating other people's suffering).
2. Obsessive "scrolling" of experienced moments, nightmares during sleep, autonomic reactions at the mention of the war (tachycardia, sweating, shortness of breath, etc.).
3. The desire to "forget" about the period of the war, which is analyzed at the subconscious level.
4. The presence of signs of stressful lesions of the central nervous system (insomnia, bouts of irritability and irascibility, weakening of attention, distorted reactions to external stimuli).
5. Prolonged presence of signs of the syndrome (more than a month).
6. Change in attitude to society (loss of interest in previously existing hobbies, in professional activities, isolation, alienation).

Over time, the patient may develop various kinds of addictions (including alcohol or drugs), which must also be taken into account when making a diagnosis.

Instrumental and laboratory diagnostics do not give results to confirm the Vietnamese syndrome.

Differential Diagnosis

When diagnosing the Vietnamese syndrome, one must be careful, since the disease can be easily confused with other pathologies that develop in response to psychological trauma. It is very important to be able to identify diseases of a somatic or neurological nature that respond well to treatment if it is started in a timely manner.

For example, the use of certain drugs, withdrawal symptoms and head trauma can also lead to the development of "delayed" symptoms that are not detected until a few weeks later. In order to detect and recognize somatic and neurological disorders, it is necessary to collect as detailed an anamnesis as possible, as well as to examine the patient not only physically, but also using neuropsychological techniques.

During the Vietnamese syndrome, there are no disturbances in the consciousness and orientation of the patient. If such signs are detected, then it is necessary to conduct additional diagnostics to exclude organic pathology of the brain.

The clinical picture of Vietnamese syndrome often coincides with that of panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder. In this case, anxiety and autonomic overreaction can become common symptoms.

For the correct diagnosis, it is important to establish a temporal relationship between the appearance of the first signs and the time when the traumatic events occurred. In addition, with the Vietnamese syndrome, the patient constantly “scrolls” traumatic episodes in his head, and at the same time seeks to protect himself from any reminders of them - this behavior is not considered typical for panic and generalized anxiety disorders.

Medical professionals often have to distinguish Vietnamese syndrome from major depressive disorder, from borderline personality disorder, from dissociative disorder, and from deliberate imitation of neuropsychiatric pathology.

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Treatment of the Vietnamese syndrome

Drug treatment of the Vietnamese syndrome is prescribed in such cases:

• if the patient is in a state of constant nervous hypertension;
• if a person has hypertrophied responses;
• with frequent paroxysmal obsessive thoughts, accompanied by autonomic disorders;
• with recurring illusions and hallucinations.

Treatment with medicines is prescribed in combination with methods such as psychotherapy and psychocorrection - and without fail.

If the clinical picture in the Vietnamese syndrome in a patient is slightly expressed, then sedative preparations based on valerian root, motherwort, peony, hop cones can be used.

If the symptoms are severe enough, then the use of only sedatives will not bring a therapeutic effect. In difficult cases, you will need to take antidepressants from a number of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - for example, Prozac (Fluoxetine), Fevarin (Fluvoxamine), Zoloft (Sertraline).

These drugs improve the quality of life mood, eliminate anxiety, normalize the state of the autonomic system, relieve obsessive thoughts, reduce aggressiveness and irritability, reduce cravings for various kinds of addictions.

When taking antidepressants at the initial stage of treatment, there may be an aggravation of anxiety symptoms. To smooth out this effect, treatment begins with minimal amounts of the drug, gradually increasing the dosage. If the patient complains of constant nervous tension, then during the first 20 days of therapy, Seduxen or Phenazepam are prescribed as auxiliary drugs.

Among the main drugs that are often used for Vietnamese syndrome, there are also β-blockers that help to improve the functioning of the autonomic nervous system. These are drugs such as Anaprilin, Atenolol, etc.

If the patient suffers from drug dependence against the background of attacks of aggression, drugs based on lithium salts, as well as Carbamazepine, will be needed.

If a patient has illusory-hallucinogenic seizures in combination with ongoing anxiety, then a good effect can be achieved by taking the neuroleptics Thioridazine, Chlorprothixene, Levomenromazine in small amounts.

In complicated cases, with nocturnal hallucinations and insomnia, they often resort to prescribing benzodiazepine drugs, as well as Halcyon or Dormicum.

The general stimulating effect on the nervous system is provided by nootropic drugs (Piracetam) - they are used to treat the asthenic variant of the syndrome. Such funds are taken in the first half of the day.

However, timely psychological support often helps in early self-healing of the disorder. That is why it is very important to provide such assistance to all, without exception, people involved in a traumatic situation - in this case, military operations.

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Forecast

Vietnamese syndrome cannot be cured overnight: treatment is usually long-term, and its outcome depends on many circumstances, for example:

• from the timeliness of seeking help from specialists;
• from the support of family and close people;
• from the mood of the patient for a successful outcome;
• from the absence of further psychological trauma.

For example, if a patient turns to specialists at the stage of a preliminary exacerbation of the syndrome, then the duration of treatment and recovery of the body can be from six months to a year. The chronic variant of the syndrome is treated for one or two years. A more protracted course has a delayed syndrome - its treatment lasts at least two years.

If the Vietnamese syndrome is complicated by any pathological disorders, then often there is a need for lifelong rehabilitation and psychotherapeutic treatment.

1968, the height of the Vietnam War. The border between North and South Vietnam, "communist" and "free". An English humanitarian mission under the auspices of the Red Cross, consisting of five doctors, disappeared here. They were flying by helicopter from Saigon to Kon Quong to help set up an additional hospital for US troops.

The mission was headed by Professor John Kincaid. According to the official version, they were carrying medicines, vaccines... Medics did not reach Konkwong. Communication with the helicopter was cut off north of the spurs of Mount Liang Biang. Formally, it was the territory of the South. In fact, the Americans controlled hardly five percent of it. But the helicopter of the British mission flew along the route covered by anti-aircraft points and considered quite safe. However, 12 minutes before the termination of communication, he suddenly turned west. The crew of the F-8 escort aircraft sent a request to the pilot and received a response that the flight was continuing in accordance with the instructions from the Huonghe station control room. Soon the F-8 lost the helicopter. And during the check it turned out that the Huonghe dispatchers did not transmit any non-standard commands.

Operation Colonel Walsh

Colonel Thomas Walsh. the commander of the Lightning task force, was instructed to find the missing British. He received aerial photography of the site of the alleged crash from the Intrader A6-A low-flying aircraft, the most advanced reconnaissance vehicle that the US Air Force possessed at that time. The quality of the images taken with high-resolution optics ", was excellent, but no wreckage of the helicopter was observed. However, no one claimed that the helicopter crashed here and that it crashed at all. Here the F-8 only lost visual contact. And this could happen in two cases: either the helicopter fell with a stone - but the consequences would have been visible in the photographs, or sharply changed course and evaded observation, maneuvering between mountain spurs. Even if the car had been smashed into fragments by a rocket, it would have been noticed from a fighter. Although the speeds of a helicopter and F-8 are incomparable. F-8 then left forward, then returned.But whatever happened to the British, it was clear: either they were not alive, or they had their own mysterious goal.

Tragedy in the village of Kor

The Lightning special group managed to find a British helicopter on the outskirts of the village of Kor. The car is safe and sound, there is no one inside. Like not a single living person in the entire village, the corpses of the Vietnamese lay around. Apparently, they died from some sudden epidemic. Blood flowed from the nose, ears and, worst of all, from the eyes that bulged like red hemispheres. In a bamboo building located closer to the eastern border of the village. Walsh stumbled upon incomprehensible metal cylinders resembling gas cylinders. The earthen floor, covered with mats, was strewn with small glass fragments, as if many thin-walled vessels like thermos flasks had been broken here. The bodies of British doctors dressed in white overalls, high boots and surgical gloves. were soon discovered nearby, with the same symptoms.

Only two of Walsh's group returned to the base - Walsh himself and his Vietnamese guide. The rest died within a few hours from the same mysterious transient disease.

Lloyd's commission investigation

In 1972, "Professor Kincaid" was identified from a photograph by a former prisoner of the concentration camp, the German anti-fascist Heinz Kinge. According to him, it was Dr. Sherk. conducted experiments on prisoners. The investigation was assigned to a commission led by Richard Lloyd, a CIA officer. He raised the archives of the period of the Second World War. There were no Sherks on the lists of wanted war criminals. However, in the archives of the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessors of the CIA, he found this.

On August 10, 1944, a secret meeting was held in Strasbourg, at the Maison Rouge Hotel. SS Gruppenführer Scheid, high-ranking representatives of the Wehrmacht, the Ministry of Armaments, as well as the Krupp, Messerschmitt, Büssing, Rechling, Volkswagen NAG concerns were present. Among others, there was also a very mysterious Herr Sherk - he did not hold any posts. and all attempts to find him subsequently ended in nothing.

Under the guise of a trusted secretary, an American illegal immigrant James Hornby entered the meeting. The discussion at the gathering was about the export of capital - mainly to Latin American countries - as a basis for the revival of the Reich. After the end of the main meeting, another one took place, in a narrow circle. Hornby did not get there, but the composition of the defendants became known to him: the already mentioned Gruppenführer Scheid, Himmler's personal representative Eberhard Lange, the head of the concentration camps Glucke and the same Sherk. What these four agreed on will most likely forever remain a mystery...

The story seemed so remarkable to the Lloyd Commission that they sought out Hornby and showed him photographs of members of the British mission. And he also categorically identified Sherk as "Professor Kincaid."

Kincaid-Sherk letter

Lloyd turned to the British intelligence agency MI6. As it turned out, they had a letter from Kincaid-Sherk - this man had been followed for a long time. However, MI6 did not attach much importance to the paper, since its content seemed to them a clear hoax, but rather a provocation. Here are excerpts from a recently declassified letter (addressee unknown).

“Perhaps you are disturbed by my long silence. Indeed, I have not written to you for three months, and you have the right to ask what happened? I just had nothing to tell you, but now our business is getting better. I went to Bonn to negotiate the purchase of equipment. Negotiations have already been completed, and soon I will be able to continue my work with greater efficiency. But to your leadership's proposal to concentrate all activity in a single center, I again have to refuse. Here I communicate with scientists involved in research on related topics, I have excellent opportunities for expanding laboratories, equipping them with new instruments and materials. Problems that make you worry (my personal safety and the safety of the object).
still under my control. My official research on the viral nature of cancer provides ideal conditions for this. In addition, it is here that I can carry out other activities that would become very difficult if I lived thousands of miles away - I mean helping our old friends, finding and strengthening new ties. This awareness helps me in my scientific work as well. The virus should cause pathological proliferation of the blood vessels of the iris and an increase in intraocular pressure, accompanied by exophthalmos up to the complete bulging of the eyeball from the orbit, as well as reactive ascending paralysis. The only problem was the antiviral drug. This issue has now been removed. I did not repeat the hackneyed mistake of previous researchers and did not delve into the genetic structure of already existing pathogens. The non-standard approach to the problem guarantees that no one in the world will be able to create such tools, at least in the near future.”

End of the Black Genius

Only in 1988, the former assistant of Kincaid-Sherk. the sole survivor, summed up in an anonymous interview with the English newspaper The Daily Mail.

“The roots of the idea go back to pre-war times, to 1939. The idea of ​​creating a lethal virus that infects enemy armies and is harmless to conquerors is not new, just as bacteriological warfare is not new - even in the Middle Ages, the corpses of people who died from the plague were thrown into besieged cities with catapults. In the XX century, the Japanese, Americans, Russians were engaged in biological weapons. But everything rested on the problem of protection. It did not make sense to design highly effective viruses, from which it is impossible to save one's own army and population. If the effectiveness was reduced, then, as a rule, the means of preventing and treating such artificial diseases were quickly found by the enemy. Now this problem seemed to be solved, and Sherk solved it. It took many years of tireless work... We tested the virus in Vietnam in 1968. But then the failure of the project was revealed. First, the virus did not affect everyone in the same way. Obviously, this was due to metabolic features. Secondly, the antiviral drug also showed similar instability. In those tragic trials, Dr. Sherk himself died.

Reasons for distrust

So why didn't the British and Americans believe Sherk's letter? The fact. that back in 1940, Adolf Hitler banned any work on bacteriological weapons in the Third Reich. And hardly any organization or group of scientists could somehow conduct research on this topic in Germany, bypassing the order of the Fuhrer. Moreover, it was precisely in 1968 that US President Richard Nixon did the same, banning bacteriological weapons and declaring them inhuman and criminal. The British soon followed suit. So who and for what purpose could conduct tests in Vietnam, who is Sherk and what kind of letter came into the possession of MI6 and the Lloyd Commission? It remains a mystery...