Guest opinion: U.S. vets deserve answers on biochemical tests
By J.B. STONE
The U.S. Army's Project 112 and its Navy component, Project SHAD, started in 1961 when Robert McNamara and President Kennedy allotted $4 billion and 10 years to create a biochemical juggernaut. Decades of unanswered questions had just begun.
In Judith Miller's 1999 book, "Germs", William Capers Patrick III, the head of Bio-Chemical Weapons development programs at Fort Detrick, Md., for more than 30 years, states: "We didn't sit around talking about the moral implications of what we were doing. We were problem-solving ... you never connected it to people."
Nonetheless, Dr. J. Clifton Spendlove did indeed connect it to people via the Army's Deseret Test Center, Utah, command post. Deposed for a class action suit brought by on behalf of some Project SHAD participants, Spendlove revealed sailors were purposely used as "human samplers." Mind you, these "human samplers" were never trained nor warned nor given any "informed consent" opportunity to opt out. The callous disregard continues to this day as the Pentagon Institute of Medicine and others ignore all attempts at congressional oversight intended to reveal the true impact of the events.
Flathead Valley sailors
At least five Flathead Valley sailors served in the Granville Hall. One died by age 36 from "cancer of unknown origin." Some were there from 1963-70 as they transported Smithsonian Institution scientists to numerous locations during their "Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program,", the purpose of which was to determine whether migratory birds could be used as effective "avian vectors" to deliver biological weapons. They could.
Prior to Project SHAD, the Granville Hall and its sister ship, the USS George Eastman, collected radioactive fallout during a decadelong period encompassing dozens of aboveground nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. Another Flathead veteran sailed on the Granville Hall shortly after Project SHAD and has been awarded a VA 100 percent service-connected disability.
No one has produced any documentation indicating that these two ships had ever had their interiors effectively decontaminated. The Granville Hall was the main lab ship for the programs. The George Eastman had deadly VX gas pumped directly into its ventilation system. The disturbing truth is that although SHAD veteran Frank Tetro has located over 350 "Granny Boys" since 1985, fewer than 10 have surfaced from the George Eastman.
No protective gear
Contrary to the title "Shipboard Hazard and Decontamination," which insinuates the concept of defending U.S. servicemen, there's not one page of the 28,444 listed in the official disclosure of information on Project 112 mandated by Public Law 107-314 containing any data on protective gear created by these programs. Please see: http://deploymentlink.osd.mil/current_issu...port/review.htm.
Of the more than 150 Project 112 and Project SHAD participants who have contacted me since the programs began being declassified in early 2000, none are seeking a red badge of courage. They want answers. Early on, one unforgettable caller told me, "Last week I received notification that I was involved in Project SHAD. Two weeks ago I was diagnosed with liver, spleen and pancreatic cancer. Can you help me?" He'd been deserted by his country and died in shameful ignominy.
Please help us find the survivors. It's crucial to support Rep. Dennis Rehberg, currently the only Republican co-sponsor out of 16 for House Resolution 4259 (Veterans Right to Know Act).
If you know anyone who might have been involved, direct them to www1.va.gov/SHAD where there is contact information and lists of ships, land locations and dates utilized. They can also receive information and assistance by calling the VA at (800) 749-8387 or the Department of Defense at (800) 497-6261.
J.B. Stone of Whitefish served during Project SHAD on the Granville Hall in 1969. He was honorably discharged from the Navy less than 10 months afterward for unnamed "physical disabilities." He's still waiting for approval of his VA disability claim.
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Pete53
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Guest opinion: U.S. vets deserve answers on biochemical tests
By J.B. STONE
The U.S. Army's Project 112 and its Navy component, Project SHAD, started in 1961 when Robert McNamara and President Kennedy allotted $4 billion and 10 years to create a biochemical juggernaut. Decades of unanswered questions had just begun.
In Judith Miller's 1999 book, "Germs", William Capers Patrick III, the head of Bio-Chemical Weapons development programs at Fort Detrick, Md., for more than 30 years, states: "We didn't sit around talking about the moral implications of what we were doing. We were problem-solving ... you never connected it to people."
Nonetheless, Dr. J. Clifton Spendlove did indeed connect it to people via the Army's Deseret Test Center, Utah, command post. Deposed for a class action suit brought by on behalf of some Project SHAD participants, Spendlove revealed sailors were purposely used as "human samplers." Mind you, these "human samplers" were never trained nor warned nor given any "informed consent" opportunity to opt out. The callous disregard continues to this day as the Pentagon Institute of Medicine and others ignore all attempts at congressional oversight intended to reveal the true impact of the events.
Flathead Valley sailors
At least five Flathead Valley sailors served in the Granville Hall. One died by age 36 from "cancer of unknown origin." Some were there from 1963-70 as they transported Smithsonian Institution scientists to numerous locations during their "Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program,", the purpose of which was to determine whether migratory birds could be used as effective "avian vectors" to deliver biological weapons. They could.
Prior to Project SHAD, the Granville Hall and its sister ship, the USS George Eastman, collected radioactive fallout during a decadelong period encompassing dozens of aboveground nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. Another Flathead veteran sailed on the Granville Hall shortly after Project SHAD and has been awarded a VA 100 percent service-connected disability.
No one has produced any documentation indicating that these two ships had ever had their interiors effectively decontaminated. The Granville Hall was the main lab ship for the programs. The George Eastman had deadly VX gas pumped directly into its ventilation system. The disturbing truth is that although SHAD veteran Frank Tetro has located over 350 "Granny Boys" since 1985, fewer than 10 have surfaced from the George Eastman.
No protective gear
Contrary to the title "Shipboard Hazard and Decontamination," which insinuates the concept of defending U.S. servicemen, there's not one page of the 28,444 listed in the official disclosure of information on Project 112 mandated by Public Law 107-314 containing any data on protective gear created by these programs. Please see: http://deploymentlink.osd.mil/current_issu...port/review.htm.
Of the more than 150 Project 112 and Project SHAD participants who have contacted me since the programs began being declassified in early 2000, none are seeking a red badge of courage. They want answers. Early on, one unforgettable caller told me, "Last week I received notification that I was involved in Project SHAD. Two weeks ago I was diagnosed with liver, spleen and pancreatic cancer. Can you help me?" He'd been deserted by his country and died in shameful ignominy.
Please help us find the survivors. It's crucial to support Rep. Dennis Rehberg, currently the only Republican co-sponsor out of 16 for House Resolution 4259 (Veterans Right to Know Act).
If you know anyone who might have been involved, direct them to www1.va.gov/SHAD where there is contact information and lists of ships, land locations and dates utilized. They can also receive information and assistance by calling the VA at (800) 749-8387 or the Department of Defense at (800) 497-6261.
J.B. Stone of Whitefish served during Project SHAD on the Granville Hall in 1969. He was honorably discharged from the Navy less than 10 months afterward for unnamed "physical disabilities." He's still waiting for approval of his VA disability claim.
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