Soldier Feels Abandoned In His Courtroom Battle

The Washington Post ^ | march 22, 2006 | Amit R. Paley

[RDTF]

Cpl. Kendall D. McKibben was prepared to sacrifice his life for the Army. He says he almost did repeatedly over a year of patrols dodging bullets in Baghdad and dealing with a grape-size brain tumor.

So the 33-year-old says he can't understand why the military is refusing a routine subpoena that he believes could help him avoid a 13-year prison sentence.

-snip-

McKibben feels doubly wronged because he believes the tumor itself was caused by exposure to depleted uranium in Iraq. Depleted uranium is a heavy metal that is slightly radioactive and is used in some armor-piercing munitions.

In Baghdad, McKibben said, his main job was fixing Bradley Fighting Vehicles, although he frequently went on patrols. All the mechanics in his unit lived in a junkyard filled with damaged vehicles from the Iraqi army.

McKibben said he didn't think much of the U.S. ammunition -- filled with depleted uranium -- that had pierced most of those vehicles in the first Gulf War.

But when he was transferred to a base in Germany, he began to have severe headaches and strange memory lapses. Once, he got into his car in the morning to drive to work and forgot where he was going.

Doctors soon diagnosed him with a tumor on the right lobe of his brain and nodules in his right lung. He said he was sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to have the tumor removed on March 8, 2005, the day before his 32nd birthday.

[gondramB]

The consequences if it ever turned out that the depleted uranium we have used all over the place caused cancer would be huge.

[Pukin Dog]

Oh brother. Dont fall for this. The tumor made him do it? The tumor that the Army gave him? Come on! I swear, if I ever get in trouble with the law, I am going to scream that it was because of that day I stood next to an A-10, where the depleted uranium shells must have effected my mind.

Where does it end?

[Sax]

DU: uber-liberal craphole website

or

DU: depleted uranium - a useful tool in the military's arsenal with negligible risks to service personnel's health.

Just run a key word search here - tons a data to support DU's safe status.

[processing please hold]

Many, many stories when you google up 'depleted uranium'.

[GladesGuru]

After reading this Libroid wjine, I understood your tag line. Most of the lame stream media is maggot gagging bad. What'll te Libroids do when they discover what the DU rounds do when they actually HIT something! Those rounds KILLED people! Quick - call the UN ! ! ! !

[processing please hold]

FR has many stories on DU in the archives.

[EBH]

I don't think he is looking to nail the DU issue, although the journalist might be. The soldier had a brain tumor removed which has led to him have epilepsy. Having seizures develop is a real posibility when the brain becomes damaged. The diagnosis came from the Army doctors based on his two episodes. I suspect several kinds of EEGs have been completed to support the diagnosis. Many people get brain tumors for unknown reasons the army wouldn't be admitting the DU issue. If they made the diagnosis...they should support the soldier.

He should also contact the epilepsy foundation.

[antiRepublicrat]

DU the armor-piercing round doesn't hurt you unless you breathe in dust from it. It is a possibility if this guy was repairing DU-hit vehicles without proper protection, like a simple face mask.

OTOH, DU the web site does damage your brain.

[Maximus_Ridiculousness]

I'm sorry, but I think alcohol may have a lot more to do with his behavior than the tumor.

[EBH]

You are correct it is indeed a factor...

alcohol lowers the seizure threshold for many epileptics, it is essentially a trigger and most epileptics avoid it or use it with extreme caution.

[PAR35]

"...on charges of assaulting a police officer."