Update on the sham for SHAD vets

Lily over at Healing Combat Trauma sent me an update on SHAD. This is a sham and a shame our veterans are still being treated as if their lives just didn't matter.

June 24, 2008
Needless Trauma: What Vietnam Vets Still Don't Know about Their Service Could Hurt Them
Saw this recent press release from a California congressman, who himself is a decorated Vietnam vet, and wondered about the pain that comes from NOT knowing the full extent of what you've been exposed to, as you were serving your country. For the particulars, keep on reading:

– Today (June 12), Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) took another step toward helping veterans who were unknowingly tested with chemical and biological weapons in the 1960s and 70s.

The House Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs held a hearing on a Thompson-authored bill that would give these veterans health benefits and compensation for illnesses resulting from “Project 112” weapons tests. Thompson hopes this hearing will ultimately push his bill toward consideration by the House.

Project 112, which included ship-based Project SHAD, was conducted between 1963 and 1973 by the Department of Defense (DoD) and other federal agencies. The DoD now admits that during these projects, unknowing military personnel were involved a number of chemical weapon tests such as VX nerve gas and Sarin nerve gas and were exposed to biological weapons such as E. Coli, Tularemia (Rabbit Fever) and Q fever.

“First the government denied the tests existed. Then they said the tests happened but were harmless. Now they admit dangerous substances were used on our military personnel, yet they still refuse to give them care for their illnesses,” said Thompson. “We can’t change the past, but we can begin to right this wrong by giving these men the proper healthcare and compensation they earned.”

HR 5954, introduced by Thompson and Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-MT) in May, provides veterans of Project 112 a “Presumption of Service Connection.” This means the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) presumes the relationship between service and a health condition, making the veterans involved eligible for medical benefits and/or compensation for their conditions. For example, veterans exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War are already given a “Presumption of Service Connection.”
go here for more

http://www.healingcombattrauma.com/2008/06/what-vietnam
-vets-dont-know-could-still-hurt-them.html