Last month it was announced that the United States, which has not manufactured antipersonnel land mines since 1997, will decide in December whether to begin production of a new antipersonnel mine called Spider.
All weapons of war are evil, but landmines are particularly so. They stay buried for years, wreaking carnage long after hostilities have ended.
In 1968 as an 18-year-old training to be a Navy medic, I cared for a 20-year-old Marine whose left leg had been amputated below the knee as a result of a landmine in Vietnam; I assisted with changing his bloody dressing, helped cleaned the wound and gave him his medications to fight the pain and infection.
The next year I was sent to Vietnam to be a medic with a Marine infantry unit. I replaced a medic who was killed by an antipersonnel land mine on Dec. 23, 1969.
As a medic with the First Marine Division in Vietnam, I administered first aid treatment to Americans and Vietnamese wounded by land mines. Most of these casualties were injured by pressure-release type mines nicknamed "toepoppers." Such a booby trap was buried in the dirt, usually on or near a path, with a trigger device to set it off. With land mines there is no warning, just an explosion and destruction.
This sort of land mine destroys a person's foot, and depending on the magnitude of the explosive, part of the leg -- tissue, bones and muscles are destroyed, nerves severed. With horrific force the concussion thrusts fragments of the weapon, debris, dirt and bone splinters into the stump and other parts of the body.
One-third of all American casualties in Vietnam were caused by mines. Retired U.S. military officers have decried the use of land mines, noting that they have minimal military utility and often maim or kill friendly forces.
Yet the devastation caused by landmines continues. Land mines also are indiscriminate weapons; they do not distinguish between a soldier's or a child's footstep. Men, women and children step on landmines, usually when trying to farm, herd livestock or gather firewood. Children are particularly vulnerable because they are smaller and their body mass is closer to the impact of a mine. In many developing countries there is little treatment or care available for land mine victims.
These deadly weapons cost as little as $3 to produce, but the damage they cause is much more expensive. Transportation to medical aid and treatment in countries where they are located is very slow and limited, and wound infections take a high toll.
Rehabilitation capabilities and the availability of prosthetics fall far short of the demand. It costs between $100 and $3,000 to provide an artificial limb for land mine survivors, a purchase out of reach for many of those affected. A child who loses an arm or leg to a booby trap needs a new prosthetic every six months to adjust to his or her growing body.
And removing those $3 weapons carries a much steeper price tag. It costs between $300 and $1,000 to locate and destroy a single mine; the work is very dangerous, complex and time-consuming. It is costing billions of dollars to remove land mines already in place.
I feel it is imperative that the U.S. not resume producing landmines as may happen in December. We must join the more than 150 countries which support the International Mine Ban Treaty, which prohibits the use and production of land mines.
The Philadelphia chapters of the United Nations Association and Veterans for Peace and the United Nations have been raising money to support the United Nations' Adopt-A-Minefield Program, which removes land mines from mined areas and provides victim support. We speak to educational, faith-based and community groups about the horror of land mines.
When we use our resources to remove land mines, we are working to remove suffering, fear and impoverishment. We are working against the horrors of war and toward building a safer world for all citizens.
Mike Felker is a member of Veterans for Peace & United Nations Association of Greater Philadelphia and is graduate coordinator of Penn's department of Computer & Information Science
