Environmental News Service, November 1, 2002

Veterans Sue Over Secret Biological, Chemical Tests

WASHINGTON, DC, November 1, 2002 (ENS) - Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) has joined a class action lawsuit in federal court that seeks redress for the consequences of exposure to hazardous agents during the government's secret weapons testing programs.

Project SHAD (Shipboard Hazard and Defense), part of a much larger weapons testing program called "Project 112," involved the intentional exposure of military personnel to biological and chemical, and perhaps radioactive, agents to determine the vulnerability of naval vessels to such attacks. Similar tests were conducted on land.

These tests, which took place during the 1960s and 1970s, have resulted in illness and disability to which the government is only beginning to respond, the lawsuit charges.

The class action is based upon government officials' alleged attempts to conceal relevant records, many of which are the veterans' personal medical records that would allow them to seek health care and compensation for the adverse health effects of being test subjects.

The complaint seeks monetary damages for the violation of the affected veterans' constitutional rights, and court ordered disclosure of information that will assist them in obtaining Veterans Administration (VA) health care and benefits for the consequences of exposure to hazardous agents during their participation in the SHAD and Project 112 testing programs.

While the class action is not designed to seek individual VA compensation benefits, the proceedings should help to facilitate access to records that would allow these veterans and their service representatives to do so.

"America's veterans deserve proper health care for illnesses that may be due to exposure to harmful agents as a result of their military service," said VVA national president Thomas Corey. "Veterans deserve to be told the truth about their military service, as well as accountability from senior bureaucrats and other government officials. Justice for our nation's veterans is at the heart of VVA's mission. This class action will help veterans obtain the justice to which they have long been entitled."

The class of veterans that are eligible to join the lawsuit might number in the thousands. The named defendants include former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, who first ordered the testing program in the early 1960s under President John F. Kennedy, as well as current and former employees of the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

"The problem has been that certain individuals have been acting in their own interests, rather than serving the military personnel and veterans to whom this country owes so much," Corey said. "VVA will continue to work with appointed officials, leaders in Congress and through the courts until justice is accorded these veterans."

VVA hopes that by holding these officials accountable for their actions, the situation will not repeat itself as troops prepare for possible biological and chemical exposure on the battlefield.