Elmo R. Zumwalt III, son of the admiral who ordered the spraying of Agent Orange in Vietnam, and who was exposed to the defoliant himself, died of cancer today at his home.  He was 42 years old.

The younger Mr. Zumwalt, a lawyer, said he never blamed his father for the disease.  The two co-wrote a book entitled My Father, My Son that was published by Macmillan in 1986.  It was made into a television movie by the same title.

Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. commanded naval forces in Vietnam from 1968-70, then served as Chief of Naval Operations until 1974, when he retired from active duty.  His son served in Vietnam from June 1969 to August 1970 as a Lieutenant Junior Grade commanding a patrol boat.

The younger Mr. Zumwalt was diagnosed in January 1983 with lymphoma, which is a cancer of the lymphatic system.  In February 1985, during his ninth biopsy, doctors discovered that he also had Hodgkin's disease, another form of lymphoma marked by the inflammation of lymphoid tissues, especially the spleen.  

Agent Orange contains highly toxic dioxin.  Vietnam veterans contend that exposure to the defoliant causes cancer and other illnesses.  They say it's caused miscarriages by wives of servicemen and birth defects in children.

The younger Mr. Zumwalt's son, Elmo Russell Zumwalt IV, who is 11, suffers from a congenital dysfunction that confuses his physical senses.

In an article in The New York Times Magazine on August 24, 1986, the younger Zumwalt said...

..."I'm a lawyer and I don't think I could prove in court, by the weight of existing scientific evidence, that Agent Orange is the cause of all the medical problems (the nervous disorders, cancers, and skin problems) reported by Vietnam veterans, or of their children's severe birth defects.  

...But I am convinced that it is."

"I realize that what I'm saying may imply that my father is responsible for my illness and for Russell's disability," he continued.  

..."I have the greatest love and admiration for Dad as a man and the deepest respect for him as a military leader.  I do not doubt for a minute that the saving of American lives was always his first priority.  

...Certainly thousands, perhaps even myself, are alive today because of his decision to use Agent Orange."  

On June 30, the Supreme Court removed the last legal obstacle to a $180 million settlement between Vietnam veterans and the manufacturers of Agent Orange.  The justices let stand rulings that dismissed lawsuits by about 300 veterans who challenged the 1984 settlement.

The $180 million settlement now totals about $240 million with interest.  As many as 250,000 people could receive money from the settlement.

Admiral Zumwalt said he ordered Agent Orange sprayed over the Mekong Delta to kill vegetation and drive "the Viet Cong back 1,000 yards off the water's edge."

In the New York Times Magazine article, the Admiral said: "Knowing what I now know, I still would have ordered the defoliation in order to achieve the objectives it did achieve, the reducing of casualties.  But that does not ease the sorrow I feel for Elmo or the anguish his illness and Russell's disability give me."

In addition to his son, Mr. Zumwalt is survived by his father; his mother, Mouza; his wife, Katherine; and his daughter, Maya, now 13; and his younger brother, LtCol James G. Zumwalt USMC (ret).