Forgotten, not gone: What you
can do about human bio-chemical weapons experiments
(Very Important Note: Please forward
this message to anyone you think might be inclined to contact their
Congress Critters in our regard. Over 10,000 U.S. Servicemen,
their families, and surviving shipmates would sure appreciate it. Project
SHAD/112 - Shipboard Hazard and Defense. Gerald Ullery of
Silver City, New Mexico, is a U.S. Navy Grenada Combat Veteran
and the commander of Silver City's American Legion post. Gerry
is also the peerless webmaster of PropertyRightsResearch.org.)
October 1, 2006
My case is VERY complex and the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) have
been most helpful in forwarding my "cause." In fact,
they've done more for the Project SHAD/112 Veterans than any other
service organization.
The Legion, VFW, DAV, Order of the Purple Heart, AmVets, etc. have
all participated to some extent.
Here's how you can help us ALL:
I've provided numerous bits of information on a forum called
"Bio-Chemical Warfare and You" at:
The VVA has a page devoted to SHAD/112 at:
http://www.vva.org/shad/index.htm
And Veterans Affairs has its "official" site at:
http://www1.va.gov/shad/
These two sites reveal the bureaucratic and political aspects of
this battle. Anyone who thinks they might have been involved MUST go
to these sites and read them thoroughly. I say
"official" because they both leave a bit to be desired,
the VVA in being somewhat circumspect and PC [politically correct],
and the VA in respect to being heavily slanted to the "CYA"
method of "government help".
~~~~~~
The biggest issue, however, facing all of us right now is the
ongoing cover up by the DoD-VA-CIA and God only knows who else. It's
just not
convenient for the government to go admitting they
committed real genuine War Crimes between 1962 and 1974. Thus, it is
nearly impossible to get a SHAD/112 claim through the system,
because they refuse en masse to release our full Service Medical
Records and/or Service Personnel files. In an effort to correct this
problem, Representative Denny Rehberg of Montana has co-sponsored a
bill, HR 4259, "The Veterans Right to Know Act," which
lingers in committee at this time:
There are currently 43 cosponsors. Everyone should contact
their elected representatives -- this
is an election
cycle, you know -- and urge them to support this legislation.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HR04259:@@@N
Here's a brief overview of the Bill:
Veterans' Right to Know Act (Introduced in House)
HR 4259 IH
109th CONGRESS 1st Session
H. R. 4259
To establish the Veterans' Right to Know Commission.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 8, 2005
Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. FILNER,
Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr.
MCDERMOTT, Mr. HOLT, and Mr. STRICKLAND) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in
addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish the Veterans' Right to Know Commission.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Veterans' Right to Know Act'.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT.
There is established a commission to be known as the 'Veterans'
Right to Know Commission' (in this Act referred to as the
'Commission').
SEC. 3. DUTIES.
(a) In General- The duties of the Commission shall be--
(1) to investigate chemical or biological warfare tests or
projects, especially such projects carried out between 1954 and
1973, placing particular emphasis on actions or conditions
associated with such projects that could have contributed to
health risks or been harmful to any United States civilian
personnel or member of the United States Armed Forces who
participated in such a project or who was otherwise potentially
exposed to any biological or chemical agent, simulant, tracer,
decontaminant, or herbicide as a result of such projects; and
(2) to submit a report to Congress of its findings and
recommendations.
(b) Matters to Be Examined- In carrying out this Act, the Commission
shall specifically examine--
(1) classified and unclassified data, test operation plans, safety
plans, test reports, test results, and any other materials related
to a chemical or biological warfare test or project;
(2) the types and dosages of any biological or chemical agent,
including any simulant, tracer, decontaminant, pharmaceutical, or
herbicide, used during each chemical or biological warfare test or
project;
(3) information relating to the personal protection of
participants in each chemical or biological warfare test or
project, including respiratory equipment, clothing, citadel
systems, vaccinations, and safety and medical protocols;
(4) the list provided to the Department of Veterans Affairs by the
Department of Defense of names of individuals who participated in
each chemical or biological warfare test or project, the method by
which such names were provided, and any other information relating
to the number of individuals who participated in such a project or
who were otherwise potentially exposed to any biological or
chemical agent, simulant, tracer, decontaminant, pharmaceutical,
or herbicide as a result of such a project;
(5) the date and location of any land, air, or sea test conducted
as part of any chemical or biological warfare test or project and
the dispersal area likely to have been affected by the release of
a chemical or biological agent, simulant, tracer, decontaminant,
pharmaceutical, or herbicide during the tests; and
(6) any available data collected during health screenings or cause
of death determinations performed on any individual who
participated in a chemical or biological warfare test or project
to determine any possible health consequences of such
participation.
(c) Chemical or Biological Warfare Test or Project- In this Act, the
term 'chemical or biological warfare test or project' means any
project or program carried out by the Department of Defense,
including Project 112 and the Shipboard Hazard and Defense Project
(Project SHAD), as a part of which any biological or chemical agent,
simulant, tracer, decontaminant, pharmaceutical, or herbicide was
tested or used.
~~~~~~
For now, I have numerous irons in the fire regarding my own claim,
which I might point out is a "follow up" to my original
claim, which I initiated in 1971...!!! It has
been a long and arduous trail, but I've managed to get some small
satisfaction from making a few waves. Recently I hand-delivered
letters urging action on this matter to Senator Burns - MT;
Representative Rehberg - MT; Karl Rove; Speaker of the House Denny
Hastert; and Vice President Cheney -- all of whom were
"stumping" for Senator Burns and "just happened"
to be in town over the past few weeks. The odds of that happening
again are da_ _ slim, so I made the best of it, even though I'm
pretty burned out on the situation and weary from the battle. They
all patted me on the head and told me they'd "look into
it."
I'm not holding my breath.
~~~~~
Please forward this message to anyone
you think might be inclined to contact their Congress Critters in
our regard. Over 10,000 U.S. Servicemen, their families, and
surviving shipmates would sure appreciate it.
A SHAD EULOGY
I know LOTS of hollow men.
They sit back in Congress,
And they make our laws,
They command the Armies,
They give death its Jaws,
They'd feed you SHAD and crumpets,
Into your gaping Maws,
Until the day they stumble forth,
Proclaiming, "That's just the way it was!"
I recently
received the following reply to a months-old FOIA request, via my
Congressman’s office:
WHAT YOU REQUESTED:
- The number of Project 112/SHAD claims that VA has granted, to
include the disabilities claimed and the disability rating assigned
to each, as well as the names of the VA regional offices that
processed the same…
- Information on the number of Project 112/SHAD claims that are
currently being processed and the effort the VA has made to contact
the remaining 5,000 or more veterans listed by the Department of
Defense (DoD) as having participated in Project 112/SHAD.
- A full and complete copy of the file that VA has created
since 2003 for tracking veterans who participated in Project
112/SHAD.
WHAT WE PROVIDED:
According to DoD records, 6,437 veterans participated in Project
112/SHAD. We have located and mailed letters to 3, 429 of
these veterans. We continue to make efforts to identify and
locate the remaining participants, despite the paucity of
information DoD provided about some of the participants.
- We have enclosed our most recent data on the number of
Project 112/SHAD claims that VA has granted, the disabilities filed
by individual veterans, and the disability ratings assigned to each.
It also shows the number of claims pending at the end of April,
2006.
WHAT WE DID NOT PROVIDE:
- We did not provide information on the suicide rate of
veterans who participated in Project 112/SHAD because we do not
gather or maintain this type of information.
-We did not provide a full and complete copy of our Project 112/SHAD
tracking file as requested.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, a Federal agency
is not required to create a record in order to satisfy a request.
The authority to withhold from disclosure such information is
contained in 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(3) and 38 U.S.C. 5701(a), which
prohibit the disclosure of names and addresses of present/former
veterans and their dependents.
Sincerely yours,
Daniel L. Cooper
Acting Under Secretary for Benefits
Washington, D.C. 20420
PROJECT 112/SHAD CLAIMS PROCESSING STATISTICS
To date, VBA has received 562 claims from veterans alleging
disabilities related to exposure to chemical/biological
agents/substances used in Project 112/SHAD tests. The table
below shows the number of these claims still pending and the number
VBA has decided.
[due to the difficulty in reproducing the graph as received, I am
abbreviating the information…which dates from October, 2005
through April, 2006…a portion of fiscal year 2006]
October: Pending 73, Decided 435, Total 508
April: Pending 57, Decided 505, Total 562
VBA has granted service-connection for a total of 39 disabilities
filed by 28 individual veterans. Below is a breakdown of the
body systems these disabilities involve:
Neurological, 6
Respiratory, 8
Mental Disorders, 5
Musculoskeletal, 5
Organs of Special Sense, 3
Digestive, 2
Endocrine, 1
Genitourinary, 1
Hemic and Lymphatic, 2
Infectious Diseases, Immune Disorders, and Nutritional Deficiencies,
1
Skin, 5
TOTAL, 39
The breakdown of evaluations assigned to all service-connected,
Project 112/SHAD related disabilities is as follows:
100%, 3
90%, 1
50%, 1
30%, 9
20%, 2
10%, 16
0%, 7
TOTAL, 39