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What About the Atomic Vets?

What About the Atomic Vets?

TimesUnion.com August 30, 2009  by Don Rittner

“………….When Saratoga’s John Delay was drafted into the army in 1956, at age 19, he thought his time would be spent like most post war GI’s – perform his assigned duties and go back home. What he didn’t know was that he would become a human guinea pig in a series of radiation experiments conducted by the U.S. Government. Many people have compared these experiments to the human atrocities of Germany and Japan during the second war.

It is estimated that at least 250,000 American soldiers were used as human guinea pigs during some 235 atomic tests conducted between 1946 and 1962 in the Marshall Islands* and State of Nevada to assess, among other things, psychological reaction and how soldiers and civilians would react in case of an all out atomic war. Hundreds of unsuspecting civilians became targets of various studies including the ingestion of very toxic plutonium and other materials. In Nevada and the Marshal Islands, soldiers were placed behind sand bags or in trenches not far from a nuclear blast, were forced to walk into ground zero, and even forced to fly their planes into atomic mushroom clouds. Additionally, some 750,000 civilians have been exposed to radionuclide fall-out.

MORE THAN 200 ATOMIC TESTS PERFORMED”,

The human experiments began with the largest “Operation Crossroad” at Bikini Atoll in 1946 (a proposed series of three shots: Abel, Baker and Charlie), exposing over 42,000 men to potential harmful levels of radiation from the Bikini Lagoon. The lagoon became filled with fission products from the second underwater shot, “Baker.”

Dr. Stafford Warren head of the radiology party found that after Abel and Baker, over 120 ships, the whole lagoon, and the island itself were contaminated to dangerous levels of radiation. He cancelled the third “Charlie” shot fearing lawsuits. More than 200 other tests would follow however under 19 different “operations.”……………………

….What is even worse is the roadblocks that have been set up to prevent these survivors from seeking compensation for themselves and their families. In 1984, Senator John W. Warner, a republican from Virginia attached an amendment to a bill that prevented those exposed to radiation, or otherwise injured as the result of working for the nuclear weapons contractors, from suing either the contractor or the U.S. government. The Warner Amendment came at the request of the Reagan Administration and three contractors in atomic weapons tests: The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, the Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratories, both in New Mexico. The amendment resulted in the dismissal of a number of lawsuits brought by atomic veterans and civilians employed by the nuclear contractors as well as their widows. Coupled with the Feres Doctrine, a supreme court ruling that bars veterans from seeking damage from the government while on active duty, most of the survivor’s claims have been refused.

What About the Atomic Vets – Don Rittner – timesunion.com – Albany NY

August 31, 2009 - Posted by | 1, environment, USA | , , ,

2 Comments »

  1. […] the original post: What About the Atomic Vets? « nuclear-news Share and […]

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  2. Now lost for both active U.S. Service Personnel and U.S. Veterans are the check and balances within and between our three (3) branches of government, i.e., the Legislative (the U.S. Congress’s House and Senate), the Executive (examples, Departments of Defense [DOD] and Veterans Affairs [DVA]) and Judicial Branches. For veterans there is now no underlying oversight and accountability “Constitution, Statutes and Regulations” basic facts review by the superior Judicial Branch Courts! Please hold your members in the U.S. House and Senate responsible.

    The 1950 U.S. Supreme Court’s FERES DOCTRINE holds the DOD harmless for injuries to active duty service personnel. In 1988 the U.S. Congress’s Veteran’s Judicial Review Act created the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals (COVA). This is a U.S. Congressional no teeth inferior LEGISLATIVE Court. Its Chief Judge describes veterans captured within an out of control, DVA health care process. Lost is a before military service right to a must be obeyed (independent from Congress and the Executive Branch’s DVA) superior Judicial Branch Court. Captured are all after service veterans within the Executive Branch.

    In 2009, fifteen (15) years after the COVA Chief Judge’s statements, the Secretary of the DVA and his laymen “initial adjudicators” still are not held responsible for their “freely ignored” and medically brainless “Schedule of Ratings for Disabilities” decisions. In 1994 the Chief Judge of Congress’s 1988 established inferior Veterans Court stated that the, “Constitution, Statutes and Regulations” are “policy freely ignored” by both the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) and “The Veterans Health Administration” (VHA), i.e., the “STATE OF COURT” transcript PARAGRAPH 9 with Congress’s law of the land, no allowed Court review U.S. CODE, TITLE 38, SECTIONS (§) 511 and § 7252. Decisions of the Secretary; finality. REFERENCES [1], [2] & [3].

    A couple of examples of the “initial adjudicators” to date “freely ignored” are this veterans 1957 DVA Physician’s resultant USAF Physician’s, “MPerR PERMANENT” “SURGEON HQ ARRC JUN 25 ‘58 MEDICALLY DISQUALIFIED FOR MILITARY SERVICE” (1952 to 1956)! Then the layman adjudicator’s brainless 6/27/96 Supplemental Statement Of Case (SSOC) no “…competent medical evidence…”. After an ongoing 18 years in the DVA administrative process the veteran receives a 100% disability. To date there is still no recognition of their 1957 DVA physician’s resultant 1958 USAF physician “disqualified”!

    REFERENCES (Emphasis added throughout) with comments:

    [1] “STATE OF COURT, CHIEF JUDGE FRANK Q. NEBEKER, STATE OF THE COURT, FOR PRESENTATION TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF VETERANS APPEALS THIRD JUDICIAL CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 17-18, 1994 {as it appears in Veterans Appeals Reporter}”

    ——————–PARAGRAPH 9 of 16 in “STATE OF COURT” TRANSCRIPT records DVA laymen ignoring medical opinion without veteran recourse.—————————–

    “I believe my message is clear. There is, I suggest, no system with judicial review which has within it a component part free to function in its own way, in its own time and with one message to those it disappoints — take an appeal. That is, I am afraid, what we have today in many of the Department’s Agencies of Original Jurisdiction — that is AOJs — around the country. Neither the Court, through the Board, the Board, nor the General Counsel has direct and meaningful control over the Agencies of Original Jurisdiction. Indeed, it is also clear that the VHA — the Veterans Health Administration — ignores specific directives to provide medical opinions as directed. And this is resulting in unconscionable delays. Let us examine judicial review. Remember, the Court and the Board do not make policy, the Secretary and Congress do. The Court simply identifies error made below by a failure to adhere, in individual cases, to the Constitution, statutes, and regulations which themselves reflect policy — policy freely ignored by many initial adjudicators whose attitude is, “I haven’t been told by my boss to change. If you don’t like it — appeal it.” The complete 16 paragraph “STATE OF COURT” transcript is available on request. Previously at, and now missing from the Chief Judges and state_of_court sites: http://www.goodnet.com/~heads/nebeker & http://www.firebase.net/state_of_court_brief.htm

    The top medically ignorant “boss” is Congress’s confirmed “Secretary” of the DVA.

    AND THE CONGRESS’S “policy freely ignored” UNITED STATES CODE law of the land, take away from Veterans:

    [2] UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 38 > PART I > CHAPTER 5 > SUBCHAPTER I >
    § 511. Decisions of the Secretary; finality
    http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/usc…11—-000-.html

    “(a) The Secretary shall decide all questions of law and fact necessary to a decision by the Secretary under a law that affects the provision of benefits by the Secretary to veterans or the dependents or survivors of veterans. Subject to subsection (b), THE DECISION OF THE SECRETARY AS TO ANY SUCH QUESTION SHALL BE FINAL AND CONCLUSIVE AND MAY NOT BE REVIEWED BY ANY OTHER OFFICIAL OR BY ANY COURT, whether by an action in the nature of mandamus or otherwise.”

    THEREFORE, NO COURT REVIEW OF THE MEDICALLY UNTRAINED DVA laymen and “Secretary” “schedule of ratings for disabilities” decisions as proven by:

    [3] UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 38 PART V > CHAPTER 72 > SUBCHAPTER I >
    § 7252. Jurisdiction; finality of decisions

    “(b) Review in the Court shall be on the record of proceedings before the Secretary and the Board. The extent of the review shall be limited to the scope provided in section 7261 of this title. THE COURT MAY NOT REVIEW THE SCHEDULE OF RATINGS FOR DISABILITIES adopted under section 1155 of this title or any action of the Secretary in adopting or revising that schedule.”

    David Marshall's avatar Comment by David Marshall | October 18, 2009 | Reply


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