The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says it will begin contacting veterans exposed to dangerous levels of chemicals during World War II and will invite them to apply for benefits if they were harmed. The VA will work with the Pentagon to gather current addresses, then use the information to contact the veterans and their families. The announcement follows a Detroit Free Press series of articles last month that showed the VA broke a 1993 promise to Congress to directly contact veterans of secret chemical testing, notify them of the health risks and invite them to file claims. The Free Press reported the VA did not send a single notification letter to any of the thousands of veterans involved in the testing, or their survivors. It is unclear how many of the veterans remain alive, six decades after their chemical exposure. Even the youngest ones are in their 80s. It also remains unclear how long it will take for the VA to begin contacting veterans.

For more information see the following article:

VA To Contact Vets Who Faced Harm
Charlotte Observer
December 17, 2004

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says it will begin contacting veterans exposed to dangerous levels of chemicals during World War II and will invite them to apply for benefits if they were harmed.

The VA will work with the Pentagon to gather current addresses, then use the information to contact the veterans and their families, VA spokeswoman Cynthia Church said Monday.

The announcement follows a Detroit Free Press series of articles last month that showed the VA broke a 1993 promise to Congress to directly contact veterans of secret chemical testing, notify them of the health risks and invite them to file claims. The Free Press reported the VA did not send a single notification letter to any of the thousands of veterans involved in the testing, or their survivors.

It is unclear how many of the veterans remain alive, six decades after their chemical exposure. Even the youngest ones are in their 80s. It also remains unclear how long it will take for the VA to begin contacting veterans.

Church said the speed of the response depends partly on how efficiently it can compare its computer records with those kept by the Department of Defense.

Renee Szybala, director of the VA's compensation and pension service, said the scope of the agency's task will be better known in about a month.

The announcement intrigued 92-year-old Nellie Strauss of Deerfield Beach, Fla. Her husband, Alfred, was diagnosed with emphysema, chronic coughing and congestion, chronic obstructive lung disease and bronchitis -- ailments all linked to chemical testing. The VA nevertheless rejected his 1993 claim. He died in 1999.

Nellie Strauss said she lost her medical coverage one year after Alfred died and pays dearly for health care.

VA Secretary Anthony Principi, who has announced he is leaving the department, declined comment this week, although Church said he personally approved a renewed search for chemical test subjects.

The Free Press series chronicled the experiences of the 1st Chemical Casual Company -- 100 soldiers exposed to mustard gas, lewisite and other poisons in the test chambers of Maryland's Edgewood Arsenal in 1943. Mostly young recruits plucked from boot camp, the men of 1st Chemical were among at least 4,000 soldiers and sailors used in secret wartime experiments to help scientists study ways to protect combat troops from a feared chemical attack.

The military misled volunteers about the danger and threatened the men with court-martial if they revealed the tests to anyone. The government made no effort to monitor the men's health, even though it knew the chemicals could pose a long-term health risk.

Many later developed cancers and lung, eye or respiratory diseases linked to the toxins.

Want More Information?

THE SERIES

The Free Press series on chemical testing is available at www.freep.com/specials.

BENEFITS