Posted on 06/24/2015 6:43:19 AM PDT by cyborg
As a young U.S. Army soldier during World War II, Rollins Edwards knew better than to refuse an assignment.
When officers led him and a dozen others into a wooden gas chamber and locked the door, he didn't complain. None of them did. Then, a mixture of mustard gas and a similar agent called lewisite was piped inside.
"It felt like you were on fire," recalls Edwards, now 93 years old. "Guys started screaming and hollering and trying to break out. And then some of the guys fainted. And finally they opened the door and let us out, and the guys were just, they were in bad shape." -snip-
Actually it makes sense despite the hyperbole.
If you want to know if the gas has different effects on people with darker skin, you don’t do tests on Albinos.
True. I question the motivation, times being whatb they were. The recording is good because you hear actual testimony.
Great article thanks for posting it.
What the DOD did was wrong but the men’s reaction proves what great patriots they are/were. Again the program was wrong on every level, no justification for it what so ever but these men and their attitudes, especially Beesho (sp?) should serve to shame us all who continue to complain but never do anything.
These men should be recognized. There should be a national monument to their sacrifice, something to keep their story alive.
Excellent. Yes I agree. It’s quite a contrast to today environment.
The article sort of glosses over that white soldiers were also subjected to the same experiments. IOW, the soldiers of color weren’t tested on because they were considered expendable but because they wanted to find out whether there was a differential effect.
It would be interesting to see if they found any. Though I doubt it.
Obviously the studies were unethical, but based on the descriptions they weren’t particularly racist.
So he is 93 years old. And the problem is?
Yes I noticed that too how they glossed over thay
Wish I had more info.
No problem with him being 93. I take care of WW2 living treasures for a living. I’m a nurse.
Importantly, the Australians conducted a similar test, with their soldiers wearing gas masks and doing calisthenics in light mustard gas. And they made a film of it, and gave a copy to the US Army.
Then in the 1970s or ‘80s, when their scandal blew up, they demanded the US copy of the film back. The US Army said “we have lost it”, but the truth was it was too valuable to be lost or returned to be destroyed.
Geez...thank you. Glad I posted this article. I didn’t know that.
He’s 93? Can I be used in one of those experiments?
LOL good grief. I know times are tough under Obama.
Lol, you really don’t get the point do you?
I see a whole lot of white people in that nuke photo!
It’s even possible that every single person there was Caucasian.
It was a different world, back then ...
For some real fun, look up the Red Chinese equivalent to that test. Nothing quite like dudes in gas-masks riding horses with gas-masks charging INTO the cloud.
No. What am I supposed to get?
How bad could it be for his health, when he is telling you the story, at age 93?
I get your point. But skin flaking off and chronic pain and debilitation. Perhaps he’s still alive because he has a elevated spirit of charity.
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