Climate Change is not the only thing Politicians and Leaders are denying

As a member of the military, the last thing you wish to think about is how your government is mistreating you or ignoring the fact that by signing that enlistment contract, you made a promise to be willing to give up your life for this country and its way of life.  Sad to say that the toxic contamination of the drinking water on bases like Fort McClellan and Camp LeJeune may end up killing more veterans than any war, campaign or skirmish that they may have been involved in.  All because those we hired to carry out our desires in this government gets taken over by greed and the lack of a spine causing them to totally disregard our willingness to die so that could continue to survive and thrive.

According to an article titled “EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTS: DOD Keeping Toxic Exposure to Veterans Hidden from Public”  written by Beth Baumann for Politichicks, those in charge have known about this contamination at Fort McClellan for quite some time but made a conscientious choice to keep it all hidden for one reason or another.  It is even more frustrating that Monsanto has already settled with the citizens of Anniston, Alabama where Fort McClellan is housed but those serving and working on the base were left high and dry.  The agreement appeared to be that Monsanto would take care of the civilians while the military too care of the veterans but long Monsanto may have satisfied them, the military still resolves to play games with us. 

The article reports that “Veterans and civilian workers who worked at Ft. McClellan, Alabama between 1935 and 1999 were exposed to a number of toxic chemicals. Ft. McClellan was used for a multitude of purposes, including Military Police Corps, Women’s Army Corps, Chemical Corps and Vietnam Training. At any given time, Ft. McClellan had a population of 10,000 people. 5,000 were permanently assigned and 1,500 civilians were employed.  The base closed in 1999 and the Military Police School and Army Chemical School were relocated to Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. Currently, the Alabama National Guard operates Ft. McClellan, where the National Guard Officer Candidate School takes place. The Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Domestic Preparedness is also housed on base.  Those who were at Ft. McClellan from 1935-1999 experienced toxic exposure from: Agent Orange, Agent Blue, Sarlin, VX, Uranium, Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) and Trichloroethylene (TCE).  What does this mean for our veterans? It means they have been exposed to toxic chemicals without knowing it. They are beginning to have serious health issues without knowing the root cause of the problem.  Cancer, Tumors, Leukemia, Kidney failure, Malignant Melanoma, Fetal death and miscarriage, and Problems with short-term memory. These are just a very few of the side effects. A website dedicated to helping Ft. McClellan Veterans has a page dedicated to the symptoms caused by each of the known toxins.  There have been multiple bills that have been introduced into the House of Representatives, the most recent one being H.R. 411. As of now, there is bipartisan support for the bill, with 78 cosponsors from 30 states and Guam. What the Feds don’t want you to know? The Department of Defense’s Elizabeth King, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, doesn’t want Congress to uphold H.R. 411 because it would “generate a significant financial and resource burden upon the Army.”


What is not truthfully known is even though the Army looks at this as a potential hardship on them, how does that equate to the hardship that it places on those who trained and worked there, let alone their families?  The other question that needs to be answered is why so many politicians claim to care so much about the military but this bill is still sitting in the House of Representatives?  Someone pushed through a bill similar to this involving Camp LeJeune and it was quickly signed into law so why the delay of this one and why does it take multiple bills to get to the point of what the right thing is?  Do congress and especially the House of Representatives need to wait on Monsanto to give them the okay to serve and protect those who done so much to serve and protect them?

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