By David Brunnstrom HANOI, (Reuters) - A U.S. veteran exposed to toxic defoliants during the Vietnam War said President Bill Clinton should meet children with birth defects blamed on the chemicals when he visits the communist country next month. Tom Joyce, who served with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam in the mid-1960s, told Reuters that his exposure to Agent Orange had caused the nervous disorder peripheral neuropathy, while his son had spina bifida. He said he wanted to see U.S. help for Vietnamese victims.

In late October, Joyce toured the Peace Village, a German-funded center outside Hanoi home to about 100 physically and mentally handicapped Vietnamese aged from two months to 19 years old. The Pennsylvania native said evidence of Agent Orange was plain to see. "When President Clinton is here, let him come here and look first hand," he said. "It's here, it's in the country, all you have to do is come and have a look."

Hanoi says the children at Peace Village and tens of thousands more citizens were born with inherited disorders caused by Agent Orange, which U.S. forces sprayed in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s to deny cover to communist guerrillas. Agent Orange contained dioxin, a known human carcinogen, and U.S. veterans are now entitled to more or less automatic compensation for a range of ailments associated with it. But Washington still argues that its link to inherited defects in Vietnam has still to be proven.

NO INDICATION CLINTON TO VISIT VICTIMS

In mid-November Clinton is due to become the first serving U.S president to visit Vietnam since Richard Nixon in 1969. While Agent Orange is expected to be a topic during his trip, U.S. officials say there was no indication Clinton planned to visit any victims. Hanoi has this week urged Washington to do more to deal with the consequences of its "aggression" in the Vietnam War, including Agent Orange. It said the United States had a spiritual and moral duty to make a "real" contribution. U.S. authorities have recognized a link between Agent Orange and the birth defect spina bifida, but Hanoi lacks conclusive scientific evidence to back its claim it is responsible for a broad range of other inherited disorders. U.S. ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson -- another Vietnam veteran -- denied the United States was avoiding the Agent Orange issue, saying both countries had agreed "serious" joint research into its effects. The United States proposed a joint research program earlier this year but has made it clear it does not intend to get involved in any clean-up operations. Diplomats believe Hanoi has been highlighting the Agent Orange issue in recent days in part to deflect attention from its human rights record. Last week, five U.S. senators, including Vietnam veterans John McCain and Charles Robb, urged Clinton to press for progress on rights during his visit, a call Hanoi slammed as interference in its internal affairs.