By Gary Dickson — Record-Bee columnist
Last May I wrote about the involvement of Congressman Mike Thompson in getting the General Accounting Office to fully investigate the Department of Defense for the secret chemical and biological testing performed on shipboard U.S. soldiers from 1962 to 1974. The program was called Shipboard Hazard and Defense (SHAD). In that column I mentioned several other well documented programs in which our soldiers were used as “human guinea pigs.” Unfortunately, the list is quite long.
Since I wrote that column, I read a book about an old case of exposing soldiers to bad stuff and just last week, I read a piece about a recent situation that has been under investigation. The book I read was written by Michael Harris. As a 22-year-old Army private in 1955, he was shipped to Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. It was ground zero for the U.S. Joint Task Force Seven”s Pacific Proving Ground. The first H-bombs were being tested. One of Harris” duties was to prepare a newspaper for the soldiers on the island, thus the title of his book, “The Atomic Times ? My H-Bomb Year at the Pacific Proving Ground.
Harris turned out to be quite fortunate. One of the early stories he told in the book was how, on his day of arrival to the beautiful tiny island, he decided to go for a swim in the warm water of the bay. After being in the water for a few minutes, a strange fish swam close to him. Upon close examination he saw that the fish had three eyes. Right away, he got out of the water and never swam again during his entire year of duty. He quickly realized that if the bomb testing wasn”t good for the fish, it probably wasn”t going to be good for him, either.
He went on to describe situations that, if they had not had such a negative impact on the soldiers stationed there, would actually have been funny. One such anecdote was how the base commander nixed the order for protective goggles for all of the men to wear during the bomb tests because it would have meant there would have been no space on the plane for his comfortable furniture to be shipped to him.
In another account, Harris discussed how, after they were lined up, and made to stand at attention for the bomb explosions, they were then allowed to go inside the Quonset hut work buildings to avoid the “fallout”, which they were informed was not harmful. The only problem was that in the hot and humid environment, the windows were rusted open and so there was no escaping the radioactive debris that inundated the island after each test.
Harris went on to have a good life. He became a public relations executive and worked for the Ed Sullivan Show. He was the man who met the Beatles at the airport in New York for their first U.S. appearance. Sadly, many of his comrades didn”t fare as well. Many died from cancers at a very young age. Some even died before the end of their one-year tour of duty.
Now, there is a leaked military document that indicates that the Pentagon has, with full knowledge, once again exposed our soldiers to toxic chemicals that can cause cancer and other ailments. There is a huge garbage burning site at Balad Airbase, located about 40 miles north of Baghdad. Air Force Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight Commander Darrin Curtis was shocked that personnel had been “knowingly exposed to such risks.” He said, “In my professional opinion, there is an acute health hazard for individuals.” It has been learned that the burn pit”s hazardous chemicals include arsenic, benzene, hydrogen cyanide, sulfuric acid and formaldehyde.
More than 100 soldiers have already talked to The Military Times and Disabled American Veterans about issues such as “chronic bronchitis, asthma, sleep apnea, chronic coughs and allergy-like symptoms” they feel are connected to being exposed to the burning pit.
While it may be true that American soldiers, G.I.s (Government Issue), may be classified as nothing more than government property, you would think that the government would want to take better care of its investments.
Gary Dickson is the editor and publisher of the Record-Bee. Contact him at gdickson@record-bee.com or call 263-5636 ext. 24. He served in the U.S. Air Force 1971-1975.
