Reporting illnessesTroops sick from burn pits urged to contact DAV
Military official: Situation improving; troops report health complications
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Nov 15, 2008 7:02:03 EST
Top News StoryBurn pit falloutDisabled American Veterans has issued a call to all service members and veterans who think they may have illnesses related to burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq: Contact the DAV so they can collect data and look for trends.
“Anyone out there who thinks they may have had a long-term health effect ... needs to file a complaint” with the Department of Veterans Affairs, said Kerry Baker, DAV’s associate national legislative director.
Noting that it took Vietnam veterans 20 years to gain benefits for exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange, Baker said, “We don’t want to see these guys have to wait 20 years. We want to see Congress act right away.”
He said service members should be alert for respiratory-related problems, such as allergies, sleep apnea, trouble breathing, asthma and lymphocytic leukemia, as well as skin diseases. Of the 300 to 400 disability cases Baker said he has personally reviewed since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, he said 30 percent potentially could be linked to the burn pits. He said he’s amazed by the numbers of troops reporting sleep apnea.
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., also has demanded an investigation in an Oct. 31 letter to Army Gen. David Petraeus, the new chief of U.S. Central Command.
“After years of helping veterans of the Vietnam and Gulf Wars cope with the health effects of toxic battlefields, we have learned that we must take exposures to toxins seriously,” Feingold wrote.
He asked Petraeus to inform him of pending investigations into the “prevalence of health care conditions among those potentially exposed to toxins and particulates,” as well as why more incinerators are not taking the place of burn pits in Iraq.
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Saturday, November 15, 2008
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Lawmakers call for action on burn pits
Lawmakers call for action on burn pits
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 4, 2009 10:43:53 EST
Seven members of Congress have added their names to a growing list of legislators concerned about service members who say burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan have made them sick.
“It has come to our attention that a growing number of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are becoming sick and dying from what appears to be overexposure to dangerous toxins produced by burn pits used to destroy waste,” reads a letter from Rep. Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., to Eric Shinseki, the new secretary of veterans affairs. “Further conversations with other veterans have revealed that the armed forces have not investigated this threat adequately.”
Bishop’s office sent the letter Monday. It was also signed by Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.; Bill Delahunt, D-Mass.; Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y.; Keith Ellison, D-Minn.; Sander Levin, D-Mich.; and Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa.
Congress first heard about the issue, the letter states, after a series of stories came out in Military Times showing that service members were exposed to everything from burning petroleum products to plastics to batteries in burn pits used to dispose of waste at every base in Iraq and Afghanistan.
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 4, 2009 10:43:53 EST
Seven members of Congress have added their names to a growing list of legislators concerned about service members who say burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan have made them sick.
“It has come to our attention that a growing number of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are becoming sick and dying from what appears to be overexposure to dangerous toxins produced by burn pits used to destroy waste,” reads a letter from Rep. Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., to Eric Shinseki, the new secretary of veterans affairs. “Further conversations with other veterans have revealed that the armed forces have not investigated this threat adequately.”
Bishop’s office sent the letter Monday. It was also signed by Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.; Bill Delahunt, D-Mass.; Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y.; Keith Ellison, D-Minn.; Sander Levin, D-Mich.; and Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa.
Congress first heard about the issue, the letter states, after a series of stories came out in Military Times showing that service members were exposed to everything from burning petroleum products to plastics to batteries in burn pits used to dispose of waste at every base in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Rep. Todd Akin "Military’s Burn Pits Screwed Our Soldiers"
Congressman: The Military’s Burn Pits Screwed Our Soldiers
By Katie Drummond
November 3, 2011
A few months after he came home from Iraq, the Sergeant started having trouble breathing, and noticed numbness in his feet and hands. The military doctors he saw blamed his smoking habit: At 27-years-old, he’d been indulging in half a pack a day for five years. The Pentagon swore that the noxious smoke emanating from the military’s open-air burn pits — massive heaps of household trash, computer parts and even human waste that were used at bases in Iraq until last year, and are still being used in Afghanistan — weren’t at all responsible.
“We all knew that huge plumes of smoke going into the air, all the time, can’t exactly be good for you,” says the Sergeant, who requested anonymity because he fears reprisal from his commanding officers.
Now, one congressman wants the Pentagon to start paying attention to the accumulation of ailments. Rep. Todd Akin today announced a new bill that’d create a database of military personnel afflicted with health conditions they blame on burn pits.
“I have worked with a number of my constituents who were exposed to burn pits while serving in the military,” Rep. Akin, a Republican from Missouri, said in a statement. “The health consequences have been severe.”
read more here
Friday, November 6, 2009
Military’s stance on burn pits assailed
Military’s stance on burn pits assailed
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 6, 2009 13:01:40 EST
The Air Force bioenvironmental officer who was among the first to warn about the potential effects of open-air burn pits on U.S. troops deployed in the war zones said Friday that he does not believe the findings of a 2008 Army report that discounted the possibility of long-range health risks from exposure to the smoke, fumes and ash.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Darrin Curtis, a biomedical sciences officer who was deployed to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, in 2006 and 2007, told a Senate panel looking into military contracting issues that he believes the Army lacked the necessary data to conclude, as it did in a report from its Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, that long-term health effects from breaking smoke from burn pits is unlikely.
A new joint study by the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs Department is underway that focuses on comparing the health of 30,000 combat veterans who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and 30,000 veterans who never deployed to see whether there are signs of ill effects from exposure to burn pits. This is similar to post-Vietnam and post-Gulf War studies that took years to complete.
“Although I have no hard data, I believe that the burn pits may be responsible for long-term health problems in many individuals,” Curtis said. “I think we are going to look at a lot of sick people.”
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_burnpits_curtis_110609w/
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 6, 2009 13:01:40 EST
The Air Force bioenvironmental officer who was among the first to warn about the potential effects of open-air burn pits on U.S. troops deployed in the war zones said Friday that he does not believe the findings of a 2008 Army report that discounted the possibility of long-range health risks from exposure to the smoke, fumes and ash.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Darrin Curtis, a biomedical sciences officer who was deployed to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, in 2006 and 2007, told a Senate panel looking into military contracting issues that he believes the Army lacked the necessary data to conclude, as it did in a report from its Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, that long-term health effects from breaking smoke from burn pits is unlikely.
A new joint study by the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs Department is underway that focuses on comparing the health of 30,000 combat veterans who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and 30,000 veterans who never deployed to see whether there are signs of ill effects from exposure to burn pits. This is similar to post-Vietnam and post-Gulf War studies that took years to complete.
“Although I have no hard data, I believe that the burn pits may be responsible for long-term health problems in many individuals,” Curtis said. “I think we are going to look at a lot of sick people.”
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_burnpits_curtis_110609w/
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Troops near burn pits to get masks, respirators
Troops near burn pits to get masks, respirators
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 10, 2011 16:51:02 EST
Under pressure from Congress, the Defense Department is moving toward short-term and long-term protections against the risks posed by open-air burn pits that have been used to dispose of garbage in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Protective equipment such as respirators and gas masks are expected to be made available to deployed troops near the burn pits, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen pledged in a letter to two U.S. senators dated Monday. He said a policy on how to promote the use of protective equipment should be ready within 60 days.
For the long term, the U.S. Central Command is buying and installing about 200 solid-waste incinerators that will be used in Afghanistan, Mullen said in the letter to Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
The pits have been used to burn a wide variety of potentially toxic products, including industrial and medical waste, paint thinner and other solvents, batteries and plastic. Schumer and Nelson wrote to the Defense Department in early January after the death of Army Sgt. William McKenna, who had a rare form of lymphoma that the Veterans Affairs Department determined was connected to his exposure to burn pit fumes in Iraq.
read more here
Troops near burn pits to get masks, respirators
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 10, 2011 16:51:02 EST
Under pressure from Congress, the Defense Department is moving toward short-term and long-term protections against the risks posed by open-air burn pits that have been used to dispose of garbage in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Protective equipment such as respirators and gas masks are expected to be made available to deployed troops near the burn pits, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen pledged in a letter to two U.S. senators dated Monday. He said a policy on how to promote the use of protective equipment should be ready within 60 days.
For the long term, the U.S. Central Command is buying and installing about 200 solid-waste incinerators that will be used in Afghanistan, Mullen said in the letter to Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
The pits have been used to burn a wide variety of potentially toxic products, including industrial and medical waste, paint thinner and other solvents, batteries and plastic. Schumer and Nelson wrote to the Defense Department in early January after the death of Army Sgt. William McKenna, who had a rare form of lymphoma that the Veterans Affairs Department determined was connected to his exposure to burn pit fumes in Iraq.
read more here
Troops near burn pits to get masks, respirators
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Burn Pits Killing OEF and OIF Veterans
Iraq, Afghan vets may have their own Agent Orange
Star Tribune
Mark Brunswick
June 18, 2016
The flames were stoked with jet fuel.
One of the most notorious was in Balad, site of the largest and busiest air base operated by the military in Iraq. More than 10 acres in size, the pit burned at all hours and consumed an estimated 100 to 200 tons of waste a day. It was hastily constructed upwind from the base, and its plumes consistently drifted toward the 25,000 troops stationed there.
During two deployments to Balad with the Minnesota Air National Guard, Amie Muller worked and lived next to the pits. And now, she believes, she is paying the price.
Diagnosed last month with Stage III pancreatic cancer, the 36-year-old mother of three from Woodbury has just completed her third round of chemotherapy at the Mayo Clinic here. As she undergoes treatment, she struggles with anger and awaits a VA determination on whether a host of ailments from migraines to fibromyalgia is connected to her military service at Balad.
read more here
Star Tribune
Mark Brunswick
June 18, 2016
“It makes me really mad,” said Muller, who monitored and edited video feeds from Air Force fighter jet missions while in Iraq. “I inhaled that stuff. It was all day, all night. Everything that they burned there, is illegal to burn in America. That tells you something.”
ELIZABETH FLORES – STAR TRIBUNEAmie Muller received a chemotherapy treatment at Mayo Clinic, Thursday, June 16, 2016.
While it took nearly three decades for the U.S. government to eventually link Agent Orange, the defoliant used in Vietnam, to cancer, President Obama has pledged quick action to make determinations about the effect of the burn pits on perhaps as many as 60,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.ROCHESTER – They are known as the Agent Orange of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars: Massive open-air burn pits at U.S. military bases that billowed the toxic smoke and ash of everything from Styrofoam, metals and plastics to electrical equipment and even human body parts.
The flames were stoked with jet fuel.
One of the most notorious was in Balad, site of the largest and busiest air base operated by the military in Iraq. More than 10 acres in size, the pit burned at all hours and consumed an estimated 100 to 200 tons of waste a day. It was hastily constructed upwind from the base, and its plumes consistently drifted toward the 25,000 troops stationed there.
During two deployments to Balad with the Minnesota Air National Guard, Amie Muller worked and lived next to the pits. And now, she believes, she is paying the price.
Diagnosed last month with Stage III pancreatic cancer, the 36-year-old mother of three from Woodbury has just completed her third round of chemotherapy at the Mayo Clinic here. As she undergoes treatment, she struggles with anger and awaits a VA determination on whether a host of ailments from migraines to fibromyalgia is connected to her military service at Balad.
read more here
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Congress turns up heat on burn pits
Congress turns up heat on burn pits
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 13:33:14 EDT
Two lawmakers have called upon the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to determine if open-air burn pits for waste disposal in Iraq and Afghanistan are exposing troops to harm, as well as if there are any alternatives.
“Preliminary reports have indicated that fumes from these burn pits produce a considerable amount of contaminants that may cause short- and long-term harm to our service members serving in proximity to these operations,” wrote Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., in a letter dated July 9.
And on Tuesday, Feingold and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., proposed an amendment to the 2010 defense authorization bill that would “prohibit the disposal of covered waste in an open-air burn pit during a contingency operation lasting longer than one year” and would direct the secretary of defense to submit a report about what is burned in the pits and a plan for alternative options. The House has already passed a similar amendment in its version of the defense policy bill.
read more here
Congress turns up heat on burn pits
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 13:33:14 EDT
Two lawmakers have called upon the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to determine if open-air burn pits for waste disposal in Iraq and Afghanistan are exposing troops to harm, as well as if there are any alternatives.
“Preliminary reports have indicated that fumes from these burn pits produce a considerable amount of contaminants that may cause short- and long-term harm to our service members serving in proximity to these operations,” wrote Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., in a letter dated July 9.
And on Tuesday, Feingold and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., proposed an amendment to the 2010 defense authorization bill that would “prohibit the disposal of covered waste in an open-air burn pit during a contingency operation lasting longer than one year” and would direct the secretary of defense to submit a report about what is burned in the pits and a plan for alternative options. The House has already passed a similar amendment in its version of the defense policy bill.
read more here
Congress turns up heat on burn pits
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Has Florida Doctor found cure for burnpits
Vets exposed to burn pits falling ill, treatment invented in Tampa Bay
WTSP News
Liz Crawford
January 9, 2018
WTSP News
Liz Crawford
January 9, 2018
Dr. Harrell said he's cured all of the veterans he's treated so far. His goal now is to make his treatment easily accessible for all veterans suffering from burn pit exposure.
PALM HARBOR, Fla
You've likely heard many stories over the years of veterans dealing with PTSD or soldiers learning to live as an amputee but there's another lesser-known challenge tormenting our soldiers.
You've likely heard many stories over the years of veterans dealing with PTSD or soldiers learning to live as an amputee but there's another lesser-known challenge tormenting our soldiers.
Exposure to toxic burn pits while in Iraq and Afghanistan could have devastating effects on the lungs. While tens of thousands of veterans have signed the VA's burn pit registry, nothing else is being done...until now.
Joe Hernandez served four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the US army. During that time he was exposed to toxic burn pits where the military burned waste like chemicals, ammunition, oil, anything they had to get rid of.
Hernandez explained that depending on which way the wind would shift, he would breathe in the burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan for extended periods of time.
“It’s war, it's not pretty. You got so many other things that are going to kill you on a daily basis so it’s like well what are you going to do?” Hernandez revealed.
When Hernandez came home in 2009, he struggled and had to adjust to becoming a regular civilian. Eventually, he found relief in fitness and started a new career in Florida as a personal trainer. However, Hernandez started to notice that although he was in great shape, he was lethargic and got winded way too easy, and even struggled to breathe.
read more here
read more here
Monday, April 4, 2016
Iraq Veteran Died After Burn Pit Exposure Before Justice Was Granted
Soldier who fought VA, blamed cancer on Iraq 'burn pits,' dies
FOX News
By Perry Chiaramonte
Published April 04, 2016
Former Army Sgt. John Marshall, who went to his grave believing his cancer was caused by standing over burn pits where the military disposed of everything from disabled IEDs to lithium batteries, died at his home in Surprise, Ariz., March 29. He was 31, and left behind a wife and two young children.
"John was the type of guy who touched people even if he didn't know them that long," said Marshall's wife and fellow veteran, Ashley. "The amount of people that have come from all over to offer condolences has been amazing and overwhelming. I knew John was a great person, but it shouldn't have amazed me as it did that so many other people thought so, too."
read more here
Here's the link to rules for a case like this. His claim does not have to die and they can fight to finally have his service honored.
Federal Benefits for Veterans, Dependents and Survivors
Chapter 13 Dependents and Survivors Benefits
And this as well
Compensation for Dependents
FOX News
By Perry Chiaramonte
Published April 04, 2016
Ashely and John Marshall met while serving in the Army. John died last week, leaving behind his wife and two young children.A decorated Army veteran who battled the VA over treatment for cancer he claimed to have gotten from working over burn pits in Iraq has died, his family said Monday.
Former Army Sgt. John Marshall, who went to his grave believing his cancer was caused by standing over burn pits where the military disposed of everything from disabled IEDs to lithium batteries, died at his home in Surprise, Ariz., March 29. He was 31, and left behind a wife and two young children.
"John was the type of guy who touched people even if he didn't know them that long," said Marshall's wife and fellow veteran, Ashley. "The amount of people that have come from all over to offer condolences has been amazing and overwhelming. I knew John was a great person, but it shouldn't have amazed me as it did that so many other people thought so, too."
read more here
Here's the link to rules for a case like this. His claim does not have to die and they can fight to finally have his service honored.
Federal Benefits for Veterans, Dependents and Survivors
Chapter 13 Dependents and Survivors Benefits
And this as well
Compensation for Dependents
Evidence Required
Listed below are the evidence requirements for this benefit:
The Servicemember died while on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training, OR
The Veteran died from an injury or disease deemed to be related to military service, OR
The Veteran died from a non service-related injury or disease, but was receiving, OR was entitled to receive, VA Compensation for service-connected disability that was rated as totally disabling
For at least 10 years immediately before death, OR
Since the Veteran's release from active duty and for at least five years immediately preceding death, OR For at least one year before death if the Veteran was a former prisoner of war who died after September 30, 1999
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
American Lung Association deeply concerned over Burn Pits
Shut down burn pits, lung association urges
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jun 23, 2010 17:05:42 EDT
The American Lung Association called for the military to ban open-air burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The association “is deeply concerned by reports of the use of burn pits and negative effects on lung health on soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan,” H. James Gooden, chairman of the association’s board of directors, said during a Senate defense appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
read more here
Shut down burn pits, lung association urges
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jun 23, 2010 17:05:42 EDT
The American Lung Association called for the military to ban open-air burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The association “is deeply concerned by reports of the use of burn pits and negative effects on lung health on soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan,” H. James Gooden, chairman of the association’s board of directors, said during a Senate defense appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
read more here
Shut down burn pits, lung association urges
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Toxic Battlefields Burn Pits Leave Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans Fighting for Their Lives
'Toxic battlefield'
Many tie Iraq, Afghanistan War veterans' illnesses to burn pits, dust
Live Well Nebraska
By Steve Liewer
World-Herald staff writer
Posted: Sunday, October 12, 2014
Jeff Flint remembers the sandstorms that regularly cloaked his military base in Iraq in a choking darkness.
And the black smoke, from the base’s fiery 10-acre garbage pit, that frequently blanketed both the gate where he stood guard and the tent where he slept during his yearlong deployment with the Nebraska National Guard in 2006-07.
“It was constant, 24 hours a day. It made you sick, nauseated,” said Flint, 45, of Fremont, Nebraska. “Put a dome over a city, and that’s what it was like.”
The hacking cough he developed more than seven years ago has never gone away. And it’s been joined by the tingling in his body and the numbness in his hands from multiple sclerosis, which he was diagnosed with two years after his return.
Flint is among tens of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan War vets who have developed chronic illnesses since returning from the war zones. Many — including Flint and his brother, John, who served with him and also has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis — are convinced they are sick because of noxious stuff they breathed in during their deployments.
“It’s just a toxic battlefield,” said Dan Sullivan, president and CEO of the Sergeant Sullivan Center, a nonprofit organization that supports veterans with post-deployment health problems.
“You’ve got a bunch of toxic stuff floating around in an atmosphere that picks everything up.
read more here
Many tie Iraq, Afghanistan War veterans' illnesses to burn pits, dust
Live Well Nebraska
By Steve Liewer
World-Herald staff writer
Posted: Sunday, October 12, 2014
U.S. MARINE CORPS
Burn pits used especially in the early days of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars to destroy trash sent piles of wood, paper, medical waste, metal, plastics and even human waste up in smoke.
Jeff Flint remembers the sandstorms that regularly cloaked his military base in Iraq in a choking darkness.
And the black smoke, from the base’s fiery 10-acre garbage pit, that frequently blanketed both the gate where he stood guard and the tent where he slept during his yearlong deployment with the Nebraska National Guard in 2006-07.
“It was constant, 24 hours a day. It made you sick, nauseated,” said Flint, 45, of Fremont, Nebraska. “Put a dome over a city, and that’s what it was like.”
The hacking cough he developed more than seven years ago has never gone away. And it’s been joined by the tingling in his body and the numbness in his hands from multiple sclerosis, which he was diagnosed with two years after his return.
Flint is among tens of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan War vets who have developed chronic illnesses since returning from the war zones. Many — including Flint and his brother, John, who served with him and also has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis — are convinced they are sick because of noxious stuff they breathed in during their deployments.
“It’s just a toxic battlefield,” said Dan Sullivan, president and CEO of the Sergeant Sullivan Center, a nonprofit organization that supports veterans with post-deployment health problems.
“You’ve got a bunch of toxic stuff floating around in an atmosphere that picks everything up.
read more here
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Burn Pits leave generation of troops with health problems and they knew it
The Military’s Open-Air Burn Pits Have Left A Generation Of Troops With Health Problems
Business Insider
HARRISON JACOBS
NOV. 5, 2013
One of the most dangerous hazards of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was a product of the U.S. military, according to a new investigative report by The Verge's Katie Drummond.
U.S. soldiers have been coming home with respiratory issues that they say are a result of the noxious fumes spewing from burn pits on U.S. Military bases.
Burn pits, many as large as 10 acres wide, have been used extensively on military bases to incinerate the Army’s trash since the start of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The military burned nearly everything in the pits, including plastic, styrofoam, electronics, metal cans, rubber, ammunition, explosives, feces, lithium batteries and even human body parts, according to a 2010 report from The New York Times' James Risen.
read more here
If you doubt this or think it is new, think again. Reports go way back on Wounded Times search under Burn Pit
Business Insider
HARRISON JACOBS
NOV. 5, 2013
One of the most dangerous hazards of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was a product of the U.S. military, according to a new investigative report by The Verge's Katie Drummond.
U.S. soldiers have been coming home with respiratory issues that they say are a result of the noxious fumes spewing from burn pits on U.S. Military bases.
Burn pits, many as large as 10 acres wide, have been used extensively on military bases to incinerate the Army’s trash since the start of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The military burned nearly everything in the pits, including plastic, styrofoam, electronics, metal cans, rubber, ammunition, explosives, feces, lithium batteries and even human body parts, according to a 2010 report from The New York Times' James Risen.
read more here
If you doubt this or think it is new, think again. Reports go way back on Wounded Times search under Burn Pit
Friday, February 20, 2015
Widow Warns Iraq Burn Pit Caused Cancer
After her husband's death, widow warns burn pits used in Iraq may cause deadly cancer
KSHB Kansas
Garrett Haake
Feb 19, 2015
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The widow of a Lee’s Summit veteran killed by a rare and aggressive cancer says she’s convinced her husband’s illness was brought on by his exposure to toxic fumes from “burn pits” during his service in Iraq.
Now she’s warning other veterans to speak to their doctors about risks associated with the pits.
Staff Sergeant Matthew Gonzales received a diagnosis of Esthesioneuroblastoma four years after returning from Tikrit, where he worked regularly near a burn pit used to dispose of medical waste by burning it with jet fuel in a large open pit.
“One thing that caught me off guard is that they didn't have any protective gear covering themselves,” his widow, Elizabeth, said of a video her husband showed her of the pit. “I asked about that, and he felt confident saying, 'The government wouldn't put us in any harm’s way. They're going to protect us.'”
read more here
KSHB Kansas
Garrett Haake
Feb 19, 2015
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The widow of a Lee’s Summit veteran killed by a rare and aggressive cancer says she’s convinced her husband’s illness was brought on by his exposure to toxic fumes from “burn pits” during his service in Iraq.
Now she’s warning other veterans to speak to their doctors about risks associated with the pits.
Staff Sergeant Matthew Gonzales received a diagnosis of Esthesioneuroblastoma four years after returning from Tikrit, where he worked regularly near a burn pit used to dispose of medical waste by burning it with jet fuel in a large open pit.
“One thing that caught me off guard is that they didn't have any protective gear covering themselves,” his widow, Elizabeth, said of a video her husband showed her of the pit. “I asked about that, and he felt confident saying, 'The government wouldn't put us in any harm’s way. They're going to protect us.'”
read more here
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Would Burn-pit registry be waste of time and money?
You've heard the expression "time is money" so anything the congress mandates will take time to implement and money to fund it. Considering the backlog of claims, lack of mental health workers and influx of new veterans waiting too long for the country to live up to their end of the deal, will this help or hurt veterans?
Then again since it seems as if the "Institute of Medicine" wants to call toxic fumes "air pollution" these veterans may need a lot more help than they are getting.
VA: Burn-pit registry would not be effective
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jun 13, 2012
Veterans Affairs Department officials are opposing legislation to create a registry of service members who may have been exposed to toxic fumes of open burn pits in Iraq or Afghanistan, and they say they do not see the value of such an effort.
“VA can identify all service members that deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and has used this information in the development of an injury-and-illness surveillance system,” said Curtis Coy, VA’s deputy undersecretary for economic opportunity, at a Wednesday hearing at which a burn-pit bill was discussed.
Coy said there are two other reasons why the Obama administration doesn’t support S 1798, a burn-pit bill pending in the Senate.
“The most recent Institute of Medicine report on burn pits identified air pollution, rather than smoke from burn pits, as the most concerning potential environmental hazard,” he said.
He also noted that all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans already are eligible for up to five years of post-discharge health care, free of charge, from VA.
“Special authority for such a registry is not required,” Coy said.
read more here
Then again since it seems as if the "Institute of Medicine" wants to call toxic fumes "air pollution" these veterans may need a lot more help than they are getting.
Friday, July 29, 2022
"Ain't this a bitch!" Jon Stewart fights for veterans
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 29, 2022
The bill that would finally provide some justice to the men and women we sent to Afghanistan and Iraq, was stopped from passing yesterday by the same people that voted for it weeks ago, GOP members of the Senate!
Jul 28, 2022
Former Talk show host turned veterans advocate, John Stewart joined a bicameral group of Democrats to call out Senate Republicans for failing to pass the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022.
In a speech riddled with strong language, Stewart criticized Republican senators for speaking in support of veterans, but then voting against the bill that would increase spending by more than $300 billion over the next decade and dramatically boost health care services and disability benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I’m used to the hypocrisy … but I’m not used to the cruelty,” Stewart said.
The bill would open up Department of Veterans Affairs health care to millions of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service even if they don’t have a service-connected disability. The bill also would provide new or increased disability benefits to thousands of veterans who have become ill with cancer or respiratory conditions such as bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The measure has the backing of the nation’s major veterans groups and underscores the continued cost of war years after the fighting has stopped.
read more here
Kathie Costos
July 29, 2022
UPDATE
Worse than we thought as GOP members of the Senate celebrated blocking this bill!
The bill that would finally provide some justice to the men and women we sent to Afghanistan and Iraq, was stopped from passing yesterday by the same people that voted for it weeks ago, GOP members of the Senate!
I've seen a lot of crap in my day and that was over a lifetime. My Dad was 100% Korean War veteran and my husband is 100% disabled Vietnam veteran. I remember what it was like to fight the VA for what their service cost then and our families. I also remember the 40 years of fighting so that veterans and families could finally see their service honored.
I've seen political games played by both parties on all sorts of issues. I have never seen a good bill being blocked to take care of veterans. Surely, politicians prolonged the passage so they could get attention for themselves, whine, moan and complain like a toddler, but in the end, there were enough votes to pass it.
This time, They needed just 10 Republicans to step up so the bill could be voted on. Only five showed up to do the right thing for veterans. So what happened to the other 55 Republicans that voted on it before passing it?
The House passed the PACT Act by a 342-88 vote on July 13, about a month after the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 84-14.They claim it was because the House tweaked it and they couldn't stand that. I mean, the same crowd that kept repeating they support veterans and their care should never be subjected to budget cuts, is now something they want to use to take a temper tantrum!
Ever since the beginning of this nation, the leaders asked men and women to risk their lives for the sake of this nation. And ever since they returned back to this nation and home and families, they were forced to fight the same leaders to be compensated for what their service did to them. What is the most reprehensible thing of all is when they were forced to fight for what the nation did to them while they were serving and risking their lives.
Vietnam veterans fought for PTSD to be covered and treated, and that was a little easier to take on since it was due to combat. They also had to fight for being treated and compensated for what Agent Orange, sent by the government did to them and their families. Gulf War veterans were forced to fight for care after whatever the cause was for Gulf War Syndrome. And now this! Yet another thing the nation they served did to them with burn pits!
AND NOW THEY HAVE TO HEAR THIS BULLSHIT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!
This post went up in 2008!
Troops sick from burn pits urged to contact DAV
“Anyone out there who thinks they may have had a long-term health effect ... needs to file a complaint” with the Department of Veterans Affairs, said Kerry Baker, DAV’s associate national legislative director.When will they do the right thing? When the American people demand it!
Noting that it took Vietnam veterans 20 years to gain benefits for exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange, Baker said, “We don’t want to see these guys have to wait 20 years. We want to see Congress act right away.”
Watch the video and if you are not as angry as all these speakers are, don't ever say you support the troops or veterans with a straight face because the members of the GOP couldn't do the right thing when they had the chance, have been now seen for what they truly are and they are disgusting!
WATCH: Jon Stewart criticizes Republicans for voting down bill to increase care for veterans exposed to burn pits
PBSJul 28, 2022
“I’m used to the hypocrisy … but I’m not used to the cruelty,” Stewart said.
Former Talk show host turned veterans advocate, John Stewart joined a bicameral group of Democrats to call out Senate Republicans for failing to pass the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022.
In a speech riddled with strong language, Stewart criticized Republican senators for speaking in support of veterans, but then voting against the bill that would increase spending by more than $300 billion over the next decade and dramatically boost health care services and disability benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I’m used to the hypocrisy … but I’m not used to the cruelty,” Stewart said.
The bill would open up Department of Veterans Affairs health care to millions of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service even if they don’t have a service-connected disability. The bill also would provide new or increased disability benefits to thousands of veterans who have become ill with cancer or respiratory conditions such as bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The measure has the backing of the nation’s major veterans groups and underscores the continued cost of war years after the fighting has stopped.
read more here
Warning: This video contains strong language.
Friday, February 5, 2016
Congress cut funding for more research on burn pit exposures for 2016
News5 Investigates: Vets and contractors believed to be sickened by war time burn pits
KOAA 5 News
By Maddie Garrett
February 5, 2016
COLORADO SPRINGS -
A News5 investigation into so-called burn pits looks into how toxic fumes our service members and civilian contractors were exposed to in war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq on a daily basis are now believed to be causing serious health problems.
As thousands of veterans came home from war, doctors started noticing a common health problem, they reported having a cough and/or trouble breathing. Some cases developed into rare lung diseases, and few even ended in death. But just as more vets and civilians are being diagnosed as having respiratory problems, Congress cut funding for more research on burn pit exposures for 2016.
The burn pits were used to destroy all types of waste during wars in the Middle East, burning everything from trash and food waste, to vehicle parts, ammunition, tires, batteries, medical waste, animal carcasses, chemicals, plastic and in some cases even body parts.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said one of the challenges in understanding the risks of burn pits is that each one could contain varying kinds of waste and that could differ on a day-to-day basis.
read more here
KOAA.com | Continuous News | Colorado Springs and Pueblo
KOAA 5 News
By Maddie Garrett
February 5, 2016
"We have no idea what these veterans were exposed to day to day," said Daniel Warvi, Public Affairs Officer, VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System.
As thousands of veterans came home from war, doctors started noticing a common health problem, they reported having a cough and/or trouble breathing. Some cases developed into rare lung diseases, and few even ended in death. But just as more vets and civilians are being diagnosed as having respiratory problems, Congress cut funding for more research on burn pit exposures for 2016.
The burn pits were used to destroy all types of waste during wars in the Middle East, burning everything from trash and food waste, to vehicle parts, ammunition, tires, batteries, medical waste, animal carcasses, chemicals, plastic and in some cases even body parts.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said one of the challenges in understanding the risks of burn pits is that each one could contain varying kinds of waste and that could differ on a day-to-day basis.
read more here
KOAA.com | Continuous News | Colorado Springs and Pueblo
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Did Burn Pits Kill Joe Biden's Son?
Biden addresses possible link between son’s fatal brain cancer and toxic military burn pits
PBS
Dan Sagalyn
January 10, 2018
The issue appears to be personal for Biden, whose son, Beau Biden, a former Delaware attorney general, died at age 46 in May 2015 from glioblastoma multiforme, the most common form of brain cancer.
A U.S. Army soldier watches bottled water that had gone bad burn in a burn-pit at Forward Operating Base Azzizulah in Maiwand District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, February 4, 2013. File Photo by REUTERS/Andrew Burton
Former Vice President Joe Biden said he thinks toxins found in smoke from burning waste at U.S. military installations in Iraq and at other facilities abroad could “play a significant role” in causing veterans’ cancer.
“Science has recognized there are certain carcinogens when people are exposed to them,” Biden said in an interview with Judy Woodruff last week. “Depending on the quantities and the amount in the water and the air, [they] can have a carcinogenic impact on the body.”
Biden’s comments shed light on a debate that has roiled physicians, former service members and the Department of Veteran Affairs about whether the health of some U.S. military personnel was compromised by garbage disposal methods used by contractors and the military at overseas bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As a major in the Delaware Army National Guard, Beau Biden’s judge advocate general unit was activated in late 2008. He served in Iraq for much of 2009 at Camp Victory in Baghdad and Balad Air Force Base, 50 miles north of the Iraqi capital. Both bases used large burn pits. Earlier, he helped train local prosecutors and judges in Kosovo after the 1998-1999 war. read more here
Monday, May 11, 2015
Burn Pits Long Term Aftereffects For Veterans
Exposure to toxic ‘burn pits’ the new Agent Orange
WTNH News
By Mark Davis, News 8
Chief Capitol Correspondent
Published: May 8, 2015
WATERBURY, Conn. (WTNH) — Some are calling toxic “burn pits” near military installations in Iraq and Afghanistan the “new Agent Orange.” Veterans at an event in Waterbury Friday say they had to live and breath contaminated air from the burn pits for extended periods of time, and now they’re worried about their health. read more here
WTNH News
By Mark Davis, News 8
Chief Capitol Correspondent
Published: May 8, 2015
The V.A. has admitted some veterans could have long-term aftereffects, especially those with preexisting conditions like asthma or other heart or lung conditions.
They have established a burn pit exposure registry and are conducting research into it.
For more information, click here.
WATERBURY, Conn. (WTNH) — Some are calling toxic “burn pits” near military installations in Iraq and Afghanistan the “new Agent Orange.” Veterans at an event in Waterbury Friday say they had to live and breath contaminated air from the burn pits for extended periods of time, and now they’re worried about their health. read more here
Monday, December 1, 2008
Senator Akaka wants answers on burn pit toxins
Akaka wants DoD, VA to review war-zone toxins
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Dec 1, 2008 19:08:25 EST
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, has asked that the co-chairs of the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs Oversight Committee begin a review of environmental toxins — including those coming from burn pits — at bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Reports of possible exposure to smoke from burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan have come to the committee’s attention,” Akaka wrote in a letter dated Dec. 1. “Concerns about such exposure would appear to be an ideal opportunity for focused efforts to track the location of service members in relation to the possible exposure sites.”
The letter was addressed to Gordon England, deputy defense secretary, and Gordon Mansfield, deputy VA secretary.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/military_akaka_burnpits_120108w/
Burn Pit Video at the bottom of this blog
Also on Army Times on this
PREVIOUS STORIES
• Burn pit at Balad raises health concerns
• Possible contaminants and their potential effects
• Senator wants answers on dangers of burn pits
• Burn pit fallout
LETTERS
What the troops are saying
EDITORIAL
Pentagon must recognize burn-pit health hazards
VIDEO
An interview with a patient at Walter Reed who believes burn-pit fumes caused her leukemia
DISCUSS
CONTRIBUTE YOUR STORIES AND PHOTOS
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Dec 1, 2008 19:08:25 EST
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, has asked that the co-chairs of the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs Oversight Committee begin a review of environmental toxins — including those coming from burn pits — at bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Reports of possible exposure to smoke from burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan have come to the committee’s attention,” Akaka wrote in a letter dated Dec. 1. “Concerns about such exposure would appear to be an ideal opportunity for focused efforts to track the location of service members in relation to the possible exposure sites.”
The letter was addressed to Gordon England, deputy defense secretary, and Gordon Mansfield, deputy VA secretary.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/military_akaka_burnpits_120108w/
Burn Pit Video at the bottom of this blog
Also on Army Times on this
PREVIOUS STORIES
• Burn pit at Balad raises health concerns
• Possible contaminants and their potential effects
• Senator wants answers on dangers of burn pits
• Burn pit fallout
LETTERS
What the troops are saying
EDITORIAL
Pentagon must recognize burn-pit health hazards
VIDEO
An interview with a patient at Walter Reed who believes burn-pit fumes caused her leukemia
DISCUSS
CONTRIBUTE YOUR STORIES AND PHOTOS
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Iraq veteran fights VA over exposure to burn pits
Iraq veteran fights VA over exposure to burn pits
Iraq veteran Tim Wymore spends most of what he believes are his last days worried about what will become of his family. He has three lesions on his brain, another on his eye. He can stand only with the aid of a cane. He is 44 years old.
Related: Respiratory illnesses higher near Balad burn pit
Related: Pentagon promised study on burn pits
Iraq veteran Tim Wymore spends most of what he believes are his last days worried about what will become of his family. He has three lesions on his brain, another on his eye. He can stand only with the aid of a cane. He is 44 years old.
Related: Respiratory illnesses higher near Balad burn pit
Related: Pentagon promised study on burn pits
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