Commonality

[Berta]

COMMONALITY

This is solely my opinion on this matter ,which I have brought up before, and I have no better example to support this then the recent determination by the VA that Camp LeJeune Marines and their family members have been exposed to contaminated water at the camp which appears to have caused considerable illnesses in them.

I feel the reason that veterans who have claimed DU exposure (depleted uranium) , jet fuel exposure, and all SHAD /Project 112 veterans could use the example of the Le Jeune situation to somehow determine a commonality factor that would lead to some service connectable illnesses directly due to

their involvement either in the SHAD/112 tests or regarding many other exposure sitations such as the burn pits and DU in Iraq.

I recall vividly when stories broke in early 2009 that the father of a Marine -his son -who had just been diagnosed with breast cancer with no apparent known etiology,he began to attempt to contact other Marines that also had this type of breast cancer- he saw a Red Flag right away-

By September 2009 the number began to grow as to men who had contracted this rare form of cancer (rare as to the statistics in the article for men to get it)and the stage was being set for Commonality.

The Commonality factor is what has brought this matter to light so swiftly as the VA is service connecting Marines for any illness that can be directly associated with the contaminated water at Camp LeJeune.

My point is that the VA will never recognize many illnesses as due to service exposures yet the reality is there could be a common thread among veterans who were exposed to the same hazards and who could.,in fact, have many common disabilities.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/24/marines.breast.cancer/index.html

This above article points out exactly what I mean.

“More Marine veterans are learning about what happened years ago at Camp Lejeune.

Two years ago, a new law required the Defense Department to contact veterans through the Internal Revenue Service and tell them about their exposure. “

http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2010/06/camp_lejeunes_contaminated_wat.html

(The DOD involvement didnt happen in a vaccuum- Ill Marines Put the Pressure on for answers. )

One Marine said it all:

"You know what went off in my head? A light bulb," said Allen Menard, 47, of Green Bay, Wis. His doctor had told him years before that his form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, mycosis fungoides, was chemical-related.

He filed for VA disability in 2008, blaming his cancer on Lejeune's water, and was at first denied until this spring he was finally granted a full service connection, a recognition that his illness is related to his service, this spring.

"I did my research. I had to fight," Menard said. "I had two professors at Boston University write letters for me."

If some of the illnesses in SHAD/112, DU exposed vets and oil fire vets etc etc can be determined to be in common with an above average ratio to the general population, and with some detailed scientific evidence (I feel these vets should somehow seek an environmental expert who might be able to give an all encompassing opinion- for the right fee-to provide the actual bio chemical nexus- it would help many vets gain service connections for exposures that VA will never concede at this point.

The number of sick Marines who did the leg work to begin having contaminated water at Le Jeune recognized as causing compensable disabilities started to accumulate and this was less than 2 years ago. Many of them are dying from their SC disabilties but they did this for far more then just themselves.

“It's estimated that as many as 1 million people were exposed to the water from the 1950s to the 1980s. The water was laced with trichloroethylene, known as TCE; tetrachloroethylene, known as PCE; benzene; and other volatile organic chemicals. “

http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2010/06/camp_lejeunes_contaminated_wat.html

Finding an uncommon ratio of specific disabilities within a veteran's population, that was proven as exposed to any type of bio hazard or chemical ,along with an environmental expert's opinion )possibly hired through a fund started by these veterans) could help many vets gain service connection for disabilities that could have arisen from SHAD, 112, DU, and the burn pits as a few reasons that veterans are sick today with no seemingly known service etiology. Yet.

Edited June 22, 2010 by Berta

[SLEDGE]

One of the Air Force bases that I got stuck with was K.I.Sawyer in upper Michigan.

When it was shut down and given back to the locals they had the water tested.

Like virtually every other military facility, the water table was contaminated with

all sorts of cancer related/causing materials in unacceptable amounts.

Mostly solvents and fuels, the same stuff that I breathed and practically bathed in

for over 3 years on a daily basis.

We had open tanks of very powerful solvents at every maintenance complex and usually at

least one special cleaning tank that used 'heated' trichlorethane or trichlorethene

and ultra-sound for cleaning composite metal filters.

We could tell when the special tank was being used by the increased concentration of trich in the air.

My regular job in the AF put me into closed spaces with strong amounts of trich and fuel and hydraulic fluid,

or combinations thereof, almost everyday.

In my opinion, we could find this kind of contamination in the water of all military complexes.

Military commanders are simply not concerned with the 'future' illnesses of the troops and their dependents.

I believe the key is 'at what levels' do the contaminates test out to be?

And/or the different combinations of the various contaminates.

Most of that stuff is still unknown.

The VA is opening the door on multitudes of claims related to chemical exposures.

When management discovers how widespread this type of contamination problem is I expect to see a clamping down on awards.

How do you connect illnesses today with the previous, military, chemical exposures

after several years exposed to 'who knows what' in the private sector?

When the VA slams the door on these 'chemical exposure' claims

it 'may' take decades to re-establish the connection if it can be re-established at all.

Anyone with a current, chemically related claim should get on the ball and get it service connected

at any level of disability before VA management wakes up and shuts down most of the chemical exposure claims.

Fortunately, I don't have one (yet).

sledge