Monitor and Care for Our Troops Exposed to Radiation in Japan

Veterans for Common Sense remembers there are US troops stationed in Japan and they are focused on making sure they are taken care of now and tomorrow.

VCS to DoD and VA: Monitor and Care for Our Troops Exposed to Radiation in Japan
Written by VCS
Tuesday, 15 March 2011 09:51

VCS sent the following letter to VA expressing our concerns about caring for our service membes and veterans exposed to harmful radiation while deployed to rescue missions in Japan.
March 14, 2011
The Honorable Eric Shinseki
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
The Honorable Robert Gates
Secretary of Defense
Dear Secretary Shinseki and Secretary Gates:
Veterans for Common Sense writes you regarding the health and welfare of our service members deployed in and around Japan. We support our nation’s military mission to assist Japan in her greatest hour of need in more than six decades.

However, there are new and important developments related to the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011. The situation at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear reactor facility prompt us to present three salient, significant, and urgent points to you.

1. Widespread Radioactive Contamination is Now Confirmed.
Japan and the U.S. now confirm the radioactive contamination of both air and sea water as well as the exposure of both Japanese civilians and U.S. military service members in Japan and off the coast of Japan. Therefore, the entire nation of Japan, the airspace above, and the waters nearby for at least 100 miles must be designated by the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs as a radioactive and toxic environment. The zone can be expanded as the radioactive contamination spreads.

While there is more to what VCS suggests, this one stood out.

3. Create New Team; Remove Dr. Brix.
The integrity and transparency of VA and DoD on this issue are vital. VCS supports creating a new, joint DoD-VA team to monitor this issue. Independent (non-government) experts should be advising our government, not the current staff assigned. Our U.S. service members, veterans, and the public are not served well with the continued involvement in any manner of Dr. Kelly Brix and her Department of Defense Force Health Protection staff. Specifically, any ties between VA and Dr. Brix on this and related matters must be severed immediately.
Dr. Brix, her staff, and prior DoD efforts on Gulf War illness, Iraq War burn pits, and other toxic exposures are not credible in the eyes of our veterans. This issue of our troops' health after radioactive and toxic exposures is far too urgent and important for her and the same Gulf War illness office to be involved with recent events in and around Japan.
During nearly two decades, she and her staff concealed, delayed, and denied the existence of Gulf War toxic exposures and multi-symptom illness.
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Monitor and Care for Our Troops Exposed to Radiation in Japan

How is this still going on and who will do something about it to make sure our troops are taken care of today and tomorrow when they become veterans?