4300
Men killed or disabled! No questions asked.
by TXsharon
Sun
Aug 06, 2006 at 11:13:37 AM EST
I am a
TEST VET.
We took
an oath of secrecy. Honorable men keep their oaths. But
there is no
honor in protecting the predators who used us and then abandoned us.
It
is time for the TEST VETS to speak out.
On
August 25th, I will be 51 years
old. I have had a stroke, 7 heart attacks, a failed triple
bypass, heart
ejection fraction of 25%, COPD, skin abnormalities, foot fungus and
rashes.
This all started in 1992 when I was 36. I am in contact
with 11
other "test vets" and we all have
heart problems and multiple health issues. We are all ignored by the VA
Why /snip/ won't anyone ask Cheney and Rumsfeld about their Chemical
Weapons and drug experiments in 1974 and 1975? While they were
in the
Ford Administration, Cheney and Rumsfeld, violated the Nuremberg Codes
of 1947 by using enlisted men as human test subjects for chemical
warfare. From 1952 thru 1975, they used 7120 enlisted men in
these
experiments.
The health study contacted the participants in 2000 and found that 75%
of them were either dead or disabled
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES wrote the following
report:
During the period from 1955-1975, the U.S. Army conducted a
series
of
experiments at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland in which military volunteers
were exposed to various kinds of substances, including chemical warfare
agents such as sarin and other anticholinesterases. This is the second
survey done to examine the adverse long-term effects of known exposure
in the volunteers from the Edgewood experiments.
In this current study, the Medical Follow-up Agency of the
Institute of
Medicine conducted a telephone survey of 4,022 military volunteers to
compare the current health of those exposed to anticholinesterase
agents with the health of men in two other control groups: those who
had been exposed to other substances and those who had been exposed to
no active agents. The telephone survey asked about general health, but
was mostly focused on neurological and psychological health problems.
This
is because there is some evidence that exposure to pesticides-which
chemically resemble anticholinesterase agents and thus might be
expected to produce similar health effects from exposure-can cause
neurological and psychological health problems.
[snip]
This study was funded by Army grant DAMD17-99-1-9485 and
appears
in
Military Medicine: International Journal of AMSUS, Volume 168(3): 239,
March 2003.
|
All this time the DOD and the VA have been claiming Gulf War Syndrome
is a mental problem when they have known for years that exposure to
sarin and mustard agents causes serious health problems, circulatory
(heart) pulmonary, gastrointestinal and neurological.
The British also experimented on enlisted men and just last
week, they released a report on Porton Down.
Symptoms,
ill-health and quality of life in a support group of Porton Down
veterans
The United States used chemical weapons and DRUGS on their
own
soldiers three decades ago without their full knowledge and consent.
4300 men were either killed or disabled. Some of the
deceased men
left behind widows who are not receiving their husband's veterans
benefits.
Executive Summary
BACKGROUND
By the time the war ended, over 60,000 U.S. servicemen had been used as
human subjects in this chemical defense research program. At least
4,000 of these subjects had participated in tests conducted with high
concentrations of mustard agents or Lewisite in gas chambers or in
field exercises over contaminated ground areas. The human subjects had
experienced a wide range of exposures to mustard agents or Lewisite,
from mild (a drop of agent on the arm in "patch" tests) to quite severe
(repeated gas chamber trials, sometimes without protective clothing).
All of the men in the chamber and field tests, and some of the men in
the patch tests, were told at the time that they should never reveal
the nature of the experiments. Almost to a man, they kept this secret
for the next 40 or more years.
[snip]
The levels of exposure to mustard agents or Lewisite experienced by the
human subjects may have been much higher than inferred in the summaries
of the gas chamber and field tests.
[snip]
- Chronic bronchitis
- Emphysema
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Chronic laryngitis
- Recurrent corneal ulcerative disease (Includes corneal
opacities;
acute severe injuries to eye from Lewisite will also persist.)
- Delayed recurrent keratitis of the eye
- Chronic conjunctivitis
- Bone marrow depression and (resulting) immunosuppression
(An
acute
effect that may result in greater susceptibility to serious infections
with secondary permanent damage to vital organ systems.)
- Psychological disorders
- Mood disorders
- Anxiety disorders (including post-traumatic stress
disorder)
- Other traumatic stress disorder responses (These may
result
from
traumatic or stressful features of the exposure experience, not a toxic
effect of the agents themselves.)
- Sexual dysfunction (Scrotal and penile scarring may prevent
or
inhibit normal sexual performance or activity.)
The evidence found suggested a causal relationship between exposure and
the following health conditions:
- Leukemia (acute nonlymphocytic type, sulfur mustard)
- Reproductive dysfunction (genotoxicity, mutagenicity, etc.;
mustard agents)
There was insufficient evidence found to demonstrate a causal
relationship between exposure and the following health conditions:
- Gastrointestinal diseases
- Hematologic diseases
- Neurological diseases
- Reproductive dysfunction (Lewisite)
- Cardiovascular diseases (Except for those that may result
from
serious infections shortly following exposure--heart disease resulting
from rheumatic fever, for example.)
RECOMMENDATIONS
There are large gaps in all areas of the knowledge base about the
long-term health risks associated with exposure to mustard agents and
Lewisite. For example, very little is known about the long-term effects
on specific organ systems from studies in animals. The data from human
studies lack precise information about the exposure levels in
occupational settings. After consideration of these gaps in light of
the commit-
[snip]
The committee recommends that the VA and DoD publicly announce and
widely advertise that personnel exposed to mustard agents or Lewisite
during their service are released from any oath of secrecy taken at the
time. In addition, professional educational materials should be
prepared by the VA or DoD, or both, and made available for physicians
who may be treating affected individuals. These materials should
incorporate the latest information regarding the long-term health
effects of exposure to mustard agents and Lewisite.
There is no doubt that the long-term health consequences of exposure to
mustard agents or Lewisite can be serious and, in some cases,
devastating. This report has demonstrated that complete knowledge of
these long-term consequences has been and still is sorely lacking,
|
The Edgewood
Arsenal
test
are described on pages 17-20 of the Veterans Administration manual on
the Cold War tests. There are 2 pages in the book that claim
there are
NO KNOWN tests to see if anyone was exposed to either chemical weapons
or pesticides months later, let alone decades later.
This GAO report from FY 2004 shows that DOD told them, they
would not be able to find the 7120 veterans of the Edgewood Chemical
Weapons tests until 2009. They have the names and addresses of
all the
men still alive and probably of the widows because the year before that
the IOM released the Sarin Report paid for by the DOD. Rick Edrtman of
the IOM at 202-734-1925 has said as soon as DOD authorizes him to give
the VA the names and addresses he will. The DOD won't do it. Why?
These two documents show that Congressmen Lane Evans and Ted
Strickland
tried to get the VA to contact us themselves and keep DOD out of it.
They sent VA Secretary James Nicholson the lists of the 2300 men
of
Fort Detricks Biological tests and the 7120 names of the Edgewood
Arsenal test veterans, his reply shows how he buried the lists at DOD
for Rumsfeld and Cheney.
April
28, 2005
Honorable R. James Nicholson
Secretary
Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20420
Dear Mr. Secretary:
In the past, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has
sent
letters
to veterans identified as being previously exposed to hazardous
chemical, biological or radiological environments while on active duty
and who have the potential for presumptive or related,
service-connected conditions. We have previously expressed our
interest in VA providing veterans with notice of such exposure and of
the potential service-connection of conditions related to that
exposure. VA has sometimes been unable to provide veterans with
individual notice because of difficulties collecting lists of
participants exposed to the hazardous condition. We understand
that VA
is generally dependent on the Department of Defense (DoD) for providing
such lists.
Enclosed are sealed sets of lists of names of individuals
who were
exposed to potentially hazardous materials while participating in tests
or programs at Fort Detrick, Maryland, or Edgewood, Maryland, for the
period 1954 through the present. In many cases, the lists provide
specifics regarding the exposure associated with the individual's name
and service number. We ask VA to provide written notice to the
living
veterans named on these lists who may have an illness or injury related
to their participation in the programs or tests managed at the two DoD
facilities listed above.
Mr. Secretary, the limiting factor in VA's due diligence in
this
arena
has been its ability to secure lists of participants from the DoD.
Our
proactive approach to this issue quickly yielded the enclosed lists,
which we understand contain approximately 10,000 names. We expect
that
you should be able to
determine address information on the living veterans through
VA
health
and insurance records and by using VA's authority to cross match data
with the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security
Administration.
We ask that you provide us with a
timetable for sending notice, as
appropriate, to the listed individuals who you are able to determine
are still alive. I am requesting this be done no later than May,
27,
2005, and to complete the mailing of all notices no later than 120 days
after that date. Democratic Committee staff point of contact is
Mr.
Len Sistek, 202-225-9756.
Sincerely,
LANE EVANS
TED
STRICKLAND
Ranking Democratic Member
Subcommittee on Oversight and investigations
Enclosures as stated
|
The only conclusion I can come to
is that to "find" these men and
their
widows now would cause these very "honored and high ranking officials",
a lot of embarrassment and generate a lot of questions about their
their treatment of their own soldiers.
By Lisa Friedman, From our Washington bureau
WASHINGTON -- Thousands of former servicemen who volunteered
for
chemical and biological tests in the 1960s and 70s might have been
exposed to highly toxic substances that could jeopardize their health,
and the U.S. government is scrambling to locate them.
The new list of nearly 7,000 names provided last year to the
Department
of Veterans Affairs servicemen who allowed themselves to be exposed to
a range of agents, from nerve gases to Tularemia significantly
increases the number of veterans who could become eligible for
disability benefits.
[snip]
"When you sign on the dotted line, you sign up for a broad
spectrum of
risks. But just because you were a volunteer does not mean America
doesn't have a duty to you."
|
2098 dead and 2200 disabled
Who is going to help these widows and vets?
Demanding the world hold Saddam accountable for his actions, seems a
tad bit hypocritical now doesn't it?