Bill seeks review of chemical, biological testing on servicemen in '60s

Kansas City Star ^ | Fri, Jun. 28, 2002 | DAVID GOLDSTEIN

[WakeUpChristian]

Bill seeks review of chemical, biological testing on servicemen in '60s

By DAVID GOLDSTEIN

The Kansas City Star

WASHINGTON - Two members of Congress on Thursday introduced legislation seeking a review of a former military chemical and biological testing program to determine whether U.S. servicemen were exposed to nerve gas and other dangerous toxins.

Called the Veterans Right-to-Know Act of 2002, the legislation calls on the General Accounting Office to oversee the Defense Department's efforts to investigate its testing program from the 1960s.

The program has come under fire from veterans concerned about their health.

The legislation requires a report within six months that describes all the tests, including their objectives, the types of chemical, biological or other agents that were used, and the number of military personnel and civilians who might have been exposed.

The bill also orders the Department of Veterans Affairs to find the former servicemen who the military says participated in the tests and to provide them with medical care and benefits if needed.

It asks the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine to determine the health effects of the tests.

"We're here to try to rectify a real disservice to possibly 3,000 service members who were exposed to chemicals during the 1960s," Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson of California, who sponsored the bill in the House, said at a news conference.

Along with Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill, Thompson said they were trying "to right this wrong."

So far 622 former servicemen who participated in a dozen Cold War-era tests have been identified, but the number might actually be closer to 4,000 or more, according to the Pentagon. It has stated it has been able to identify 34 tests, but other documents indicate there may have been more than 100.

A Pentagon spokesman could not be reached for comment.

The Vietnam Veterans of America, which has been pushing for exposure of the program, hailed the legislation. It estimates the number of affected veterans may be in the tens of thousands.

"This is landmark legislation for veterans," said Thomas H. Corey, the organization's president. "For the first time ever, Congress is establishing a mechanism to investigate all chemical and biological testing activities conducted by the Pentagon that may have harmed the health of veterans."

The bills are specifically aimed at the program called SHAD, which stands for shipboard hazard and defense. SHAD was a series of tests from 1963 to 1969 in which various toxic agents and "simulants" -- allegedly harmless stand-ins whose characteristics mimicked those of actual poisons -- were sprayed on ships in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Thompson said that when he first asked Pentagon officials about SHAD three years after speaking to a veteran, they denied that it ever occurred.

"I was told there was no such thing as Project SHAD. It just didn't happen," Thompson said. "Later on I was told: `Well, it actually happened, but there was nothing to be worried about. No service members were exposed to anything that would be a problem."'

But Defense Department officials recently did another about-face. Under pressure from veterans organizations and members of Congress, the Pentagon admitted last month that the tests had involved lethal nerve gases sarin and VX, and several dangerous germ agents, such as E. coli and rabbit fever.

In addition, some of the simulants are now thought to be potentially dangerous, as well as some of the decontaminants used to clean up the ships after the spraying.

The Pentagon has stated that servicemen received protective equipment during the tests. But several veterans have said recently that they were never told the true nature of the tests or told to take any precautions.

"I think it is unconscionable that our country was using veterans as guinea pigs," said Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore of Kansas, one of the 28 members of Congress from both parties supporting the House bill.

Some veterans who participated in the tests appear to share similar ailments, including respiratory and cardiac problems, and cancer. To be eligible for veterans medical benefits, they have to show that their problems were related to their military service.

"The tragedy of this issue is, you don't know what you don't know," said Democratic Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, the chairman of a Senate Armed Services Committee subcommittee that will hold hearings on SHAD in the fall. "I think that makes it even more horrific."

Cleland said the "terrible irony" was that even as they were pushing legislation to find out whether the government tested chemical and biological weapons on its own troops, the Senate was considering a bill to spend millions of dollars to protect the country from a chemical or biological attack by terrorists.

"This is a sad commentary," he said.

[TiaS]

If you think this is disturbing, attend the hearings sponsored by the EPA and the DOE. Listen to testimony of some of the atomic veterans.