As reported in this article Burn Pits from the DAV Magazine, Balad Air Base and Anaconda were exposing troops to toxic fumes. By 2006 there were 25,000 men and women there.
Balad dioxin level was 51 times higher than what the DOD would even think was acceptable with particulate level 50 times higher, yet the risk of exposure, "twice as high" as acceptable, was something to avoid doing anything about including warning the troops and their families back home. Given the fact many Marines are unaware of the toxic exposure they and their families lived with
CAMP LEJEUNE WATER CONTAMINATION : Veterans Today
this is not so unusual just as exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War was kept from them."Hundreds of thousands of tons of trash were burned daily." This left another bitter legacy far beyond what war is supposed to do. It is one thing to be fearing bullets and bombs and another to fear what your own military is doing to you.
For Kelly Kennedy, the reporter covering this story that has yet to ended, the DAV gave her an award for her work on reporting this issue few in this country are aware of. How many years will it take to get a proper accounting and fully know the health problems from this is any one's guess but if Vietnam is any indication of how slowly things get done, most of these veterans' kids will be going off to college by the time they get real answers.
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