Sunset memorial coming together to honor Vietnam War victims of Agent Orange

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Installation of a memorial in Sunset to honor the victims of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War is partially complete.
Larry Kerr is helping spearhead the effort and hopes it's complete in a matter of weeks with an unveiling thereafter, possibly on Veteran's Day.
Agent Orange exposure is linked to the deaths of 750,000 U.S. military veterans.

SUNSET — Forgive Larry Kerr if the planned memorial to Vietnam War victims of Agent Orange is taking time to complete.

"We're just a bunch of old guys trying to get this done," he said.

The plans are advancing, though, with part of the memorial at Sunset City Veterans Memorial Park already installed. Kerr, himself battling the effects of Agent Orange from his stint in Vietnam with the U.S. Air Force, hopes it's complete within a matter of weeks and foresees a possible ceremonial unveiling thereafter, by Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, he hopes.

Sunset Mayor Scott Wiggill, for his part, already likes what he sees and is laudatory of Kerr, 78, and the others involved. A large orange slab that's to hold black granite informational panels is in place, with two text displays about the Vietnam War and Agent Orange also installed on either side of it.

"As a community we're just super excited," Wiggill said. "I just think it's a great thing that he's doing."

According to the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine, the U.S. Air Force sprayed at least 11 million gallons of Agent Orange in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971 as part of what the U.S. government dubbed Operation Ranch Hand. The aim, as the war with Vietnam intensified, was to defoliate trees and plants in Vietnam, thus reducing enemy cover, and to destroy enemy crops.

A memorial at Sunset Veterans Memorial Park to victims of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War is partially complete and should be done in a matter of weeks. The July 8, 2025, photo shows Larry Kerr, who's pushed the initiative, with a model of the memorial at his home in Syracuse. (Photo: Tim Vandenack, KSL.com)

Kerr and many other veterans, though, started reporting cancer and a range of other ailments in the late 1970s, which they connected to Agent Orange.

Ultimately, U.S. officials recognized a link between exposure to the herbicide and a long list of diseases and health conditions, creating a means of compensation for those impacted by the chemical.

Many are still dealing with the effects of Agent Orange, though, and Kerr, who lives in Syracuse, launched the memorial effort with the Utah Agent Orange Veterans Foundation as a means of remembering and honoring them. The memorial states that around 750,000 U.S. veterans have died due to exposure to Agent Orange.

"In honor of the warriors who bore the invisible wounds of Agent Orange and in steadfast recognition of all veterans exposed to toxic battlefields, from the jungles of Vietnam to the burn pits of the modern era," reads one of the granite slabs that's already been installed at the Sunset park. "This memorial stands as a promise: That their sacrifice will never be forgotten, their voices will never be silenced and those who follow will be protected."

The memorial also notes the impacts to U.S. service members of exposure to burn pits and other toxic substances in military operations after 1990 connected to the Persian Gulf War and the Afghanistan War.

With Hill Air Force Base, the Hill Aerospace Museum, the Layton Vietnam Memorial Wall Replica and, soon, the Agent Orange memorial, Wiggill envisions the area becoming a destination for those interested in military history.

Either way, the Agent Orange memorial, he said, will be among the biggest in the country, if not the largest.

"This one is just marvelous. It's humongous," he said.

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