Posted on 12/04/2005 9:00:45 AM PST by Roy Wilson
Guest opinion: U.S. vets deserve answers on biochemical tests
By J.B. STONE
The U.S. Army's Project 112 and its Navy component, Project SHAD, started in 1961 when Robert McNamara and President Kennedy allotted $4 billion and 10 years to create a biochemical juggernaut. Decades of unanswered questions had just begun.
In Judith Miller's 1999 book, "Germs", William Capers Patrick III, the head of Bio-Chemical Weapons development programs at Fort Detrick, Md., for more than 30 years, states: "We didn't sit around talking about the moral implications of what we were doing. We were problem-solving ... you never connected it to people."
Nonetheless, Dr. J. Clifton Spendlove did indeed connect it to people via the Army's Deseret Test Center, Utah, command post. Deposed for a class action suit brought by on behalf of some Project SHAD participants, Spendlove revealed sailors were purposely used as "human samplers." Mind you, these "human samplers" were never trained nor warned nor given any "informed consent" opportunity to opt out. The callous disregard continues to this day as the Pentagon Institute of Medicine and others ignore all attempts at congressional oversight intended to reveal the true impact of the events.
Flathead Valley sailors
At least five Flathead Valley sailors served in the Granville Hall. One died by age 36 from "cancer of unknown origin." Some were there from 1963-70 as they transported Smithsonian Institution scientists to numerous locations during their "Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program,", the purpose of which was to determine whether migratory birds could be used as effective "avian vectors" to deliver biological weapons. They could.
Prior to Project SHAD, the Granville Hall and its sister ship, the USS George Eastman, collected radioactive fallout during a decadelong period encompassing dozens of aboveground nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. Another Flathead veteran sailed on the Granville Hall shortly after Project SHAD and has been awarded a VA 100 percent service-connected disability.
No one has produced any documentation indicating that these two ships had ever had their interiors effectively decontaminated. The Granville Hall was the main lab ship for the programs. The George Eastman had deadly VX gas pumped directly into its ventilation system. The disturbing truth is that although SHAD veteran Frank Tetro has located over 350 "Granny Boys" since 1985, fewer than 10 have surfaced from the George Eastman.
No protective gear
Contrary to the title "Shipboard Hazard and Decontamination," which insinuates the concept of defending U.S. servicemen, there's not one page of the 28,444 listed in the official disclosure of information on Project 112 mandated by Public Law 107-314 containing any data on protective gear created by these programs. Please see: http://deploymentlink.osd.mil/current_issues/shad/final_report/review.htm.
Of the more than 150 Project 112 and Project SHAD participants who have contacted me since the programs began being declassified in early 2000, none are seeking a red badge of courage. They want answers. Early on, one unforgettable caller told me, "Last week I received notification that I was involved in Project SHAD. Two weeks ago I was diagnosed with liver, spleen and pancreatic cancer. Can you help me?" He'd been deserted by his country and died in shameful ignominy.
Please help us find the survivors. It's crucial to support Rep. Dennis Rehberg, currently the only Republican co-sponsor out of 16 for House Resolution 4259 (Veterans Right to Know Act).
If you know anyone who might have been involved, direct them to www1.va.gov/SHAD where there is contact information and lists of ships, land locations and dates utilized. They can also receive information and assistance by calling the VA at (800) 749-8387 or the Department of Defense at (800) 497-6261.
J.B. Stone of Whitefish served during Project SHAD on the Granville Hall in 1969. He was honorably discharged from the Navy less than 10 months afterward for unnamed "physical disabilities." He's still waiting for approval of his VA disability claim.
I found this article very interesting and I thank you for sharing it.
I was involvd with Whistle Down, a 112 project. Appreciate the info....Bob
I thinks it's also very important that today's Gulf War vets demand the same accountability from the fedgov on the amounts of depleted uranium they've been subjected to while in Iraq during the first Gulf War and the current one. For more info do a keyword on "Doug Rokke" and read some of the interviews he's done regarding the almost unexplainable stupidity of allowing our troops to come in contact with DU without proper training and equipment.
Call me unsympathetic, I guess.
They used to have something called “ground drills.” We did them in high school, but I’ve heard people from the Army, Air Force and Navy say they did them too.
Our high school coach had been in the Army during Korea and I suspect that’s where he saw them.
Anyway, you’d all be lined up and when the whistle blew one toot you’d hit the ground belly down, legs crossed at the ankles and arms crossed with your eye-area resting on your forearms. Two toots and you’d stand at attention. Three toots and you’d do the same as one toot except you’d be on your back with legs crossed at the ankles and arms crossed with forearms over the eye area.
Everyone at attention – one blast, two blasts, three blasts, two blasts, three blasts, two blasts, three blasts, two, three, two, one, two, three, two, one, two, one – on and on.
Ground drills were primarily designed to get sand and crap into every orifice from what I could tell.
Oh – I bring it up because my dad (and one of his brothers) were in the AF in the Marshall Islands and got to participate in at least three of their nuclear tests.
As far as my dad was concerned one of them was conducted with them lying in the “one toot” position like in the ground drills. The other was with them standing at parade rest (eyes closed) facing the ocean.
Test one was a detonation underwater. Test two was above ground.
He claimed that during the first test you could “see” your forearm bones through your closed eyes and that during the second you could “see” funny sparkles even though your eyes were closed.
He was ultimately diagnosed with ALS at 58. Was there a connection? Who the F knows. As a kid he had worked in a print shop where they handled lead all the time. Worked as a mechanic where they routinely used gasoline as both a solvent and hand cleaner, and also in a plating shop where they used every other toxic substance around.
Any, all, or none could have contributed I guess. Bad news was being diagnosed with ALS. Good news was digging in about eight months after being diagnosed. I say that because ALS is nasty and can drag out for decades, I’m told.
Anyhoo, you’re going to die of something – just like everyone else is. Complaining about it is an “American birthright” I guess. Grow some grapes and get ‘er done would be my suggestion. That’s just me though.
For more info on DU and how it's devastating our soldiers and our families Doug Rokke was interviewed recently by John Stadtmiller of the National Intel Report. If you want to hear an interview that'll get your blood boiling check out by doing this: go to www.rbnlive.com / on the left menu go to "show archives" / go to National Intel Report - 2005 / go to Nov. 15 interview with Doug Rokke.
If you get time listen to the interview I posted on #7. I've listened to this guy twice and it's enough to bring anyone to tears. He's outlined how he's briefed military and poltical officials about DU has affected our vets and has received minimal assistance in getting the word out on this problem.
Thanks for your response.........BTW, if you have any good links or articles to share on this let me know. I remember from GW1 seeing stories about deformed babies and such but thought that perhaps it was linked to the vaccines given to soldiers however the DU story might be the real culprit because as Mr. Rokke explained it can get mixed into the celular level and be tranismitted through fluid exchanges.
I'll take some time and look at it. Thank you.
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