The Vietnam War ended over 35 years ago, but not before some 1 million people died. And the toxic chemical Agent Orange, used by US forces to burn away parts of the jungle, still lingers in the area, poisoning the environment and human bodies.

­Only now, 51 years after the first spraying, is Washington acknowledging the devastation it caused with Agent Orange to Vietnam’s ecosystem and the health of the Vietnamese.

On Thursday, the two countries are launching the first ever joint decontamination program on part of Danang International Airport, located in one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. The deadly defoliant was stored at Danang airbase and sprayed from US military planes to strip trees of their foliage and expose communist troops along the border with Laos.