LAREDO, Tex.

(KGNS) - A memorial installed last month at Vietnam Veterans Plaza now honors local veterans killed by Agent Orange, the herbicide the U.S. military used in Vietnam to clear jungle vegetation and later linked to cancer and other serious illnesses.

Daniel Donovan, spokesperson for the Inner City Development and Educational Foundation, said the idea grew out of stories shared at the foundation's annual veterans Christmas event."I've had close friends of mine that have gone through, or that went through Agent Orange, who are no longer with us," Donovan said.