Veterans Fight for Benefits After Toxic Burn Pit Exposures

[pinboy3niner]

Veterans Fight for Benefits After Toxic Burn Pit Exposures
by Brie Cadman October 05, 2010 03:49 PM (PT)

Before Tim Wymore left for his tour of duty in Iraq in 2004, he was in great health. He played softball and golf, and rode a Harley. He was so active, says his wife Shanna, she struggled to keep up with him.

But now, at the age of 44, he's fighting for his life. He has lesions in his brain and one in his eye. He can't walk without a cane and help from his wife. He has a damaged esophagus, and has had to have three-quarters of his colon removed. Patches and sores dot his body.

Wymore is one of the approximately 350,000 troops that were exposed to fumes from open-air burn pits, makeshift landfills present at almost every military installation in Iraq and Afghanistan. The football field-sized holes were filled with medical and human waste, batteries, plastics, humvee doors, body parts -- you name it -- and then doused with fuel and set afire. The billowing black fumes constantly wafted over bases and infiltrated lungs.
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A statement on the Pentagon's Force Health Protection and Readiness Program states that, "While exposure to burn pit smoke may cause temporary coughing and redness or stinging of the eyes, extensive environmental monitoring indicates that smoke exposures not interfering with breathing or requiring medical treatment at the time of exposure usually do not cause any lasting health effects or medical follow-up."


http://health.change.org/blog/view/veterans_fight_for_benefits_after_toxic_burn_pit_exposures?me=nl

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Several hundred victims and families have a class action lawsuit pending against KBR and Halliburton, the military contractors that operated the burn pits.

What you can do right now to help

Sign this petition urging your Representative to support burn pit legislation:
http://health.change.org/petitions/view/tell_congress_support_veterans_by_taking_action_against_toxic_burn_pits

[MattBaggins]

1. I never did ones that bad but in dessert storm

we used to pull out the cut down 50 gallon drums from the shitters and pour them into bigger ones. We would douse the empty containers with some jet fuel and light them to "sterilize" them. The fun part was taking the filled ones out in the hot ass sun and sand. We would pour jet fuel in them, light them on fire and then stand there with 8 foot metal paddles and stir them while they burnt down.

We did help with a crap load of blowing up covered pits filled with unused munitions. But not much exposure.

My worst exposure was this mess in 1991.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqDhGH_TqKc
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabi.htm

We cleaned up DU penetrators by hand and swept all the ash and debris with brooms while wearing no PPE at all.

[w8liftinglady]

3. Matt-incidents like yours are why I fight so hard for Gulf War 1 vets

they have been virtually ignored by the VA

[w8liftinglady]

2. sigh-editorial I wrote in 2008

http://thedailylight.com/articles/2008/11/10/opinion/doc4918b00b2cd16899735788.txt

Letter: ‘On our troops’
Published: Monday, November 10, 2008 4:09 PM CST
To the Editor,

Recently, The Military Times ran an article on the Burn pit at Balad Air Base in Balad, Iraq. Tens of thousands of troops, contractors and Iraqis have been exposed to the toxic fumes emitted by the daily burning of 147 tons of styrofoam, unexploded ordnance, petroleum products, plastics, rubber, dining facility trash, paint and solvents and medical waste, including amputated limbs. This has exposed these individuals to known carcinogens,such as arsenic, dioxin, and benzene. Numerous reports of new-onset asthma and other respiratory diseases are being reported by those who have worked in this area. Troops who tend to the burn pit wear simple dust masks, which are ineffective at filtering any of these harmful chemicals. Air Force officials deny any long-term effects from this long-term 24/7 exposure. The military operates several burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, with relatively little oversight or protocol.

In honor of veterans present and future, I chose to write about these pits because they are yet another example of the disregard the Pentagon has for the soldier (or airman, in this case). Adhere to the doctrine of plausible deniability, and hope the symptoms present themselves after discharge, when the VA has to absorb these troops as they sicken. This is reminiscent of Agent Orange, depleted uranium, and the anthrax vaccine ... all of which sickened and killed our troops, and all of which the government denied any correlation.

In order to support our troops, we must insist on a true investigation of the toxic exposure our troops face, as well as the effect on the environment. Contact Congressman Barton and Senators Cornyn and Hutchison and demand an investigation into this blatant disregard for our troops’ welfare.

Elizabeth Dawson,

Red Oak

[mdmc]

4. ..