“Honoring Our Nations Veteran’s: As Cancer Stricken Soldiers Go Ignored”

Sister Soldier: A Chronicle of Life After Iraq

By R. B. STUART

Post XXII

In the Vietnam war the U. S. Military sprayed the herbicide created by Dow Chemical, Agent Orange (also Purple, Green, Pink, White and Blue) for the improvement of road and waterway visibility and clearing camp perimeters of weeds. The military authorized its use assuring the deployed soldiers it was harmless. But reports circulated in 1964 of increased miscarriages, stillbirths and birth defects among exposed Vietnamese women and animals. In essence performing genocide on the East Asian population. By sabotaging the reproduction system of the would-be mothers---of future Red Soldiers. With 36 forms of Cancer associated to the “approved” chemical, and a 30-year incubation period---it would continue to do the U. S. Military’s handy work long after the end of the war.

Our use of carcinogenic chemicals and a cozyness with Big Pharma seems to fester during war time, as a more potent cocktail with severe adverse reactions is introduced with each war. In 1990 soldiers deployed for the Persian Gulf - Desert Storm war under Bush Senior's regime, the soldiers witnessed piles of dead animals in the desert. They were stacked into decomposing mounds five months prior to the troops arrival.

The animals weren't considered a direct threat since the soldiers weren't camped directly beside them. But the potential for breeding grounds of diseases remained. To contain the existing problem military personnel thoroughly sprayed the decaying animals with the insecticides; methyl carbamate and “Baygon” (a propxur produced by Bayer, the aspirin makers), “Sevin” (a carbaryl produced by Aventis, a French company and smallpox vaccine maker that donated close to $2 million to the Bush camp in 2000), and “Lannate” (a methomyl produced by the chemical making machine DuPont). All are listed as poisons. Our military has already chosen to die for their country---but does that include by the hand of Big Pharma too?

From their deployment, over the past twenty years Gulf War Veterans have faced an endless battle with the VA for their array of chronic health issues. Only to be pacified with an all-inclusive watered-down diagnosis of Gulf War Illness, and mediocre benefits for their exposure.

Our current Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF] Veterans have since 2003, encountered a gamut of toxins in theatre; from the carcinogenic smoke of Burn Pits that includes feces from port-a-potty’s, to radiological exposure from inhalation or ingestion of depleted Uranium dust from spent munitions, both of which has infiltrated their camp environment, as well as the Iraqi civilians, via air, soil and water.

Without the DoD willingly coming forward with their cancer diagnoses amongst deployed soldiers, and refuting cancer as a war wound----medical doctors at the VA and other medical institutions are meeting challenges they’ve never seen before. As a percentage of soldiers are being diagnosed with rare, aggressive cancers post-deployment 4 – 36 months---that don’t fit the criteria of the illness.

Wyoming native, Cody Feeback [pictured above] joined the United States Marine Corps in 2002 at 18. The teen whose penchant for hunting, fishing, camping and spending time with his friends and family---would take second place to the Military service in which he became a devotee. “I loved the Marine Corps the friendships are like none other…it is a wonderful bond you experience with your fellow Marines,” explained SGT. Feeback whose home base from 2002 to 2005 was Camp Lejeune, N.C.

In February 2003 the 19 year-old deployed from Camp Lejeune in good health for his first tour in Kuwait, Iraq. He spent the next five months in northern Kuwait at Camp Coyote where as a Combat Engineer was in charge of Convoy Security. Like most soldiers, SGT. Feeback experienced vomiting and diarrhea in theatre, but like most soldiers deployed since 2003, was told it was normal. “I didn’t want my family to worry any more than they already were,” so SGT. Feeback never mentioned it. [on a night convoy below]


In the DoD’s own December 20, 2001 Field Manual, “Treatment of Nuclear and Radiological Causalities.” Chapter Three, page 13 outlines the radiological exposure dosages from 0 – 5 cGy being nominal and acceptable for military personnel during peacetime. But during war, if the dosages are from 75 – 300 cGy, onset in 6 hours the symptoms are headache and nausea at the low end of cGy, vomiting for the high range of cGy with an onset of 2 – 3 hours. The low range of duration is 12 hours upward to 3 – 4 days.

When diarrhea is included to the aforementioned symptoms, the cGy dosage ranges from 300 – 530. The onset of diarrhea within 2 – 6 hours with a duration of 2 – 3 weeks. There is a minimal 24-hour window after exposure to Uranium to order a urine or fecal bioassay. If ordered, those results are kept confidentially in the soldiers RER records [Radiation Exposure Records].

On Chapter Five, section I, Low Level Radiation, 5-2, B, Exposure Guidance page 5 – 1 and 5 – 2, “The risks associated with radiation exposure within the range of 5 – 75 cGy are confined primarily to the risk of increased incidence of malignant diseases, including solid tumors and leukemia.” So from their own admission, the U. S. Military is fully aware of radiation exposure of deployed troops resulting in a Cancer diagnoses, but maintain ignorance when a soldier is actually diagnosed post deployment.

SGT. Feeback’s tour ended July 2003 and returned to Camp Lejeune. He reconnected with his parents and three siblings, then in 2005 he transferred to Camp Pendleton, California. By that September he received orders to re-deploy. His second tour sent him to Fallujah, Iraq where over the next seven months he made a home at Camp Fallujah. Unaware that local doctors were recording high-rates of abnormal birth defects in Fallujah civilians.


Study Finds Iraq Littered with High Levels of Nuclear and Dioxin Contamination

The Guardian UK
--Jan. 22, 2010

• Greater rates of cancer and birth defects near
sites
• Depleted uranium among poisons revealed in report

More than 40 sites across Iraq are contaminated with high levels or radiation and dioxins, with three decades of war and neglect having left environmental ruin in large parts of the country, an official Iraqi study has found.

Areas in and near Iraq's largest towns and cities, including Najaf, Basra and Falluja, account for around 25% of the contaminated sites, which appear to coincide with communities that have seen increased rates of cancer and birth defects over the past five years. The joint study by the environment, health and science ministries found that scrap metal yards in and around Baghdad and Basra contain high levels of ionizing radiation, which is thought to be a legacy of depleted uranium used in munitions during the first Gulf war and since the 2003 invasion.

So when SGT. Feeback’s tour ended in March 2006 he returned to Camp Pendleton where he awaited the completion of his stint in the USMC. And by September 21, 2006 SGT. Feeback was honorably discharged. The only thing the 23 year-old had on his mind was living a comfortable and fun life with his family, so he moved back home to Wyoming. The next two years he worked as an equipment operator until a position opened at the local VA, in their warehouse shipping and receiving. Within a month he met Roxan, and 16 months later, in March 2010 they were engaged, and prepared for a September wedding.

Then without warning in July 2010 he developed Flu-like symptoms that sent him to the Sheridan VA Medical Center. “I complained of abdominal and lower back pain, the Doctor assumed it was appendicitis and ordered a urinalysis and CT scan,” the 27 year-old informed. “But when the Doctor read the CT scan they saw a mass on the right kidney.”

Immediately they medEvac him to the Denver VA for a biopsy. “The Doctors were certain after the biopsy it was Wilms Tumor, but were perplexed since it is a pediatric kidney cancer usually found in three to six year-old children.” The following day when the urine results came back he was diagnosed with Stage III.

“At first my response was disbelief and fear for my family,” he admitted. “I don’t have any idea if I was exposed to burn pits or had depleted Uranium exposure. Even so, I don’t blame anybody for this sickness…I just don’t like putting my family through all this stress.”

Within a month his right kidney was removed. “I underwent eleven rounds of radiation and am currently going through 24 weeks of chemotherapy,” SGT. Feeback informed. “I’ve had good care at the VA, and have had a lot of support with visitors and phone calls.” [Marine Feeback below]


On September 4, 2010, while undergoing treatments, SGT. Feeback married Roxan, and after serving 4 years and 8 months in the USMC he conveyed, “I was very proud to serve my country and I would do it again.”

The dedication a majority of soldiers have for the military is palpable. And no matter what they were exposed to during deployments, the selfless, courageous men and women serve with honor and devotion never blaming….even at their own peril. And if the U. S. Military subjugates the evidence of cancer stricken soldiers in attempts to hide the environmental genocide in Iraq….then its higher ranking officials will find themselves marred in the history books, as a disloyal superpower that thoughtlessly devoured its own.

In June 2010, Doug Rokke, Ph.D. retired, U.S. Army Major commented on the predicament Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF] Veterans and civilians of war torn countries are subjected to. “We’ve ignored what we have done to the residents of the nations. We [the U.S. Military] has invaded without justification and then trashed their country. I have come to the realization that based on history we in the military bought the notion ‘to protect,’ but who are we protecting, and from whom?”

“We in the military are simply the extension of power and greed, reality not myth. And the abandonment of our Veteran’s is because of the casualty numbers, that we ourselves are responsible.”

“I am constantly bombarded by telephone, E-mail, knocks at my door, and stopped wherever I go. Every day more Veterans or their families seek help, and suffice to say it’s becoming worse---while we continue to set-up more of the same,” concluded the disabled Veteran Doug Rokke.

UN Health Agency, Iraq Studying Birth Defects

AFP Agence France-Presse
--Oct. 5, 2010

GENEVA (AFP) – The UN Health Agency, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Iraqi authorities are carrying out a survey of birth defects in Iraq following media reports of abnormal patterns in Fallujah, a WHO spokeswoman said.

“An investigation has begun in six governorates (administrative region) of Iraq into these reports of congenital defects,” WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told journalists.

The BBC reported in March 2010 that large and growing numbers of birth defects were observed by doctors in Fallujah, a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad that was at the heart of some of the fiercest fighting with US forces.

Chaib said the scientific “pilot assessment” by “the Iraqi government with the help of the... WHO” began in July and would take about 18 months to complete.

The study covers Sulemaniah, Diyala, Baghdad, Dhi-Qar, Basra and Anbar province, which includes Fallujah.

It will lay out “the magnitude, distribution and trends of Congenital Birth Defects” in Iraq and establish a basis for comparison with today as well as between different parts of the country, according to the UN health agency.

Reports of health abnormalities among civilians in Iraq or soldiers who served there have sparked claims of links with special weaponry allegedly used during successive wars, including armour-busting depleted Uranium shells.

UN First Committee Sends Clear Message to Depleted Uranium Users Over Transparency

International Coalition To Ban Uranium Weapons, U.K.
--Oct. 29, 2010

The United Nations First Committee has voted, by an overwhelming margin, for state users of depleted Uranium weapons to release data on where the weapons have been used to governments of states affected by their use.

136 states voted in favor of a resolution calling on state users of depleted Uranium weapons to release quantitative and geographical data to the governments of affected states. The resolution will now go forward to the United Nations General Assembly for a second vote at the end of November 2010.

Although UN resolutions are non-binding, they are a useful means of focusing attention on key issues. In this case the ongoing failure of the US to release data on its use of depleted Uranium in Iraq and concerns over the use of the weapons in other conflicts, such as the interventions in Somalia in the mid-1990s.

The resolution was opposed by only four states - the US, UK, France and Israel. These four also voted against previous resolutions accepting that DU has the potential to damage human health (2007) and calling for more research in
affected states (2008).

CNN Audit: Military Using Potentially Harmful Methods of Burning Trash

By Adam Levine, CNN
--Oct. 15, 2010

Military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to use waste methods that expose troops to potentially toxic emissions without fully understanding the effects, according to a new government audit obtained by CNN.

Between September 2009 and October 2010, investigators from the Government Accountability Office visited four bases in Iraq and reviewed planning documents on waste disposal for bases in Afghanistan. None of the Iraq bases visited were in compliance with military regulations. All four burned plastic--which generates harmful emissions--despite regulations against doing so.

The emissions have been the source of controversy as troops have complained about a host of problems, from cancerous tumors to respiratory issues, blaming exposure to burn pits. Military officials have denied any consequential effects on most troops.

Prior to an initial outcry about the pits more two years ago, the largest base in Iraq -- Balad Air Base -- was burning everything from hazardous and medical waste to plastics, using jet fuel as accelerant, according to military documents. The smoke poured over the living quarters and the base hospital, exposing thousands of troops to the emissions.

The U.S. military generates about 10 pounds of non-hazardous waste per service member each day and "may consist of plastic, Styrofoam, and food from dining facilities; discarded electronics; shipping materials such as wooden pallets and plastic wrap; appliances; and other items such as mattresses, clothing, tires, metal containers, and furniture," the report says.

According to the report, there were 221 burn pits in Afghanistan by August and more are anticipated. Only 21 remained in Iraq and, like the troop levels there, the numbers are expected to decrease. The burn pits are operated by either the military or contractors.

While the pits have been in use since the beginning of each war, regulations and guidance were only issued in 2009 -- eight years into the Afghanistan conflict and six years after the start of the war in Iraq.

The military's attitude about the impact of the burn pits has shifted. When complaints initially arose in 2008 military officials denied there was any hazard to troops. Last year the Pentagon changed that position, declaring long-term effects for troops who had pre-existing conditions was foreseeable.

A GAO analysis of the data from the samples collected found matter named on the CENTCOM list of potentially harmful substances. Investigators found that the samples which exceeded the levels considered safe if exposed for a year mostly contained fine particles. Fine particles can embed in the lung tissue, and of particular concern is when there is prolonged exposure.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, who has been vocal in his concern about troops' exposure to burn pits, urged the Pentagon to restrict the use of the pits in Afghanistan. “I am deeply troubled to learn that the Defense Department has not taken simple steps, such as segregating plastics, to ensure that our troops are not exposed to harmful emissions,” Feingold said in a statement.

The acting commander of Central Command, Lt. Gen. John Allen, wrote a letter to Feingold in July saying the military is trying to eliminate the use of burn pits at bases that are active for 90 days or more and occupied by 100 personnel or more. In Iraq, Allen anticipates there will be no burn pits by December of this year. Afghanistan is more challenging, but the military is in the process of procuring “almost 200 incinerators,” he said in the letter, obtained by CNN.

“The Harley to Heaven:” Soldier Dies From Cancer Before Tour Ends

Sister Soldier: A Chronicle of Life After Iraq
By R. B. STUART
Post XVII


As a young boy, from first to sixth grade, Travis Bromfield [pictured throughout] rode to school on the back of his father’s motorcycle. Wedged between his Dads back and the sissy bar---the wind caressed his innocent cheeks---and his taste for the road was born. He developed a passion for not only motorcycles but cars too learning mechanics throughout high school. After graduating he decided to continue his education and become a certified mechanic, setting his sights on the United Technical Institute in Arizona. Except the tuition at the high ranking school was out of reach for his humble family.

His step-mother Esther Bromfield commented, “Even though I did not give birth to my son Travis I helped give him life. My husband had custody of Travis when we married. Travis was six years old, a very happy, loving child. As a mother raising five children they are all very special. They make you proud that you have steered them in the right direction.”

So in 1999, the Anaheim, California native hoped the GI Bill would give him the funds after a three-year enlistment, to attend. So the 18 year-old Bromfield followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and joined the Army. The middle child of five was the only son of Terry Bromfields’s to step out of his civilian life, leaving his other three brothers and sister marveling at his courage. His grandfather, SGT. 1st Class, Leo Carroll, a 73 year-old WWII and Korean Veteran with a Purple Heart and Bronze Star, in admiration, watched his grandson honor his country the way he did from 1944 –1966 ---and don a camouflage uniform.


His step-mother gushed, “Travis grew up to be such a handsome, respectable man. When he decided to join the Army I was so very proud of him. He was proud of himself as he should be for his accomplishments.”

Young Bromfield made his home at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin Army base in California where he became a Military Mechanic, and served with the 10th Mountain Division and later the 11th Armored Calvary Division Regiment, after he opted to reenlist another term and forfeit his dream of UTI in Arizona. Without foresight the war in Iraq was looming just a year ahead in 2003. Then by February 2005 nearing 24, the strapping six-foot-four 250-pounder in excellent health prepared for a one-year deployment to Kuwait, then onto Baghdad, Iraq. Before leaving he told his father, “Dad when I return (from Iraq) I'm going to buy a Harley Davidson motorcycle." Terry replied, “Go ahead son you deserve it.”

Skirting the bitter sand-laced winds and suffocating heat, the E-4 Specialist made a home at Camp Taji. The unpredictable nature of California fires, tremors, mudslides, throbbing heat and winds---wouldn’t be enough to prepare him for the unforgiving landscape of Baghdad.

Two months into his tour bumps erupted on top of his head which he assumed were bug bites. He later informed his parents of the pain he was experiencing with his shoulder---certain he strained it. The discomfort gravitated to his lower back, at which time he developed a cough that the medics diagnosed as a respitory infection.

By September 2005, after seven-months in Iraq, his two-week leave couldn’t come fast enough, and SPC. Travis Bromfield departed Camp Liberty for a respite on the Pacific coast of California. His family’s loving hearts and arms open wide welcoming, the undoubtedly changed, soldier home. But it was his Dad that insisted he see doctors at the Long Beach, California Veterans Hospital. His grandfather sat idle as he witnessed his grandson undergo a battery a tests, and after inspection of the bites atop his head, the 25 year-old soldier would discover that they were cancer tumors all along. And the shoulder pain he experienced in Iraq were tumors, the lower back pain; tumors in his lower spine, and his respitory infection---misdiagnosed---was a large tumor in the center of his chest obstructing his breathing.

Those initial days home would be more life changing than the tour in Iraq itself, as a trio of VA Doctors diagnosed SPC. Bromfield on September 15, 2005 with a terminal, stage IV Poorly Differentiated Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of unknown primary, of the liver, bones, lungs, kidneys, brain and spine. With a two-month expectancy, this particular cancer only occurs in patients age 55 or older. So it was unpredictably rare that a 25 year-old be diagnosed with it.

Although the dire prognosis didn’t deter SPC. Bromfield as he remained unfettered and extremely strong throughout his ordeal. “Travis never felt pity for himself. He was determined to beat the cancer and prove his Doctors wrong,” his father Terry Bromfield remembered. “I thought from the beginning that Travis must have been exposed to something in Iraq. I just couldn’t comprehend how our son left here healthy and returned full of cancer. I questioned the Doctors about his possible exposure, but the replies I got were, ‘It’s too early to tell.” Or ‘The cancer wouldn’t have shown up this fast even if he was exposed to something,’ said another. While one commented, ‘Your son has so much cancer in him it’s the same as someone who smoked cigarettes for 40 years,’ ” his father recollected. “Convinced, we stood by our son without thinking about it again.”

His step-mother Esther added, “After we started putting things together I remembered a staff nurse making a comment that the soldiers were coming back from this war worse than the soldiers from Vietnam.”

After his diagnosis several of SPC. Bromfield’s Army Sergeants and Officers came to visit him. His father reported that his sons Army Commanders were extremely upset with the medical staff in Iraq for not diagnosing him in the field sooner.

SPC. Bromfield unable to complete his tour in Iraq---went to battle for his own life, as his health was under siege by an internal enemy; cancer. It had found a breeding ground of organs in which to multiply, and it would take an insurgency of chemotherapy to eradicate its occupation. Promising to extend his life expectancy to one year.

Beyond surgery, he endured chemo treatments of three different drugs administered intravenously for nearly seven hours a day. Additionally a pill form of chemo was administered for 10 days, followed by self-injections for bone marrow for another five days. “This was one cycle of treatment,” his father exclaimed. “Travis underwent this every three weeks for a total of four cycles.” Following that, he took two drugs intravenously once a week for 26 weeks. “After 20 weeks of the second round of treatment the tumors on his head ate through to his skull and cancer tumors exploded in his brain,” he recounted in horror. The Doctors removed him from the chemo and ordered radiation for 20 days and then back onto chemo. “Although Travis’ cancer was pretty well advanced when diagnosed---it was one year before the cancer took over his body.”

Seventeen months from when his battle first began, The Long Beach Veterans Hospital used their assault of Chemo, radiation, and palliative care (pain management)…then finally hospice care, before all that remained was fulfilling the final wishes of SPC. Bromfield.

A portion of his requests were granted; that monies be donated to cancer research, and to have his family by his side at the end (as they were, except for one). His grandfather, who silently paved the way for his beloved and courageous grandson, had passed away five months earlier. Enabling him to wait with a flock of angels at the gates of Heaven for his grandson.

Then on February 20, 2007 at 105 pounds, the young 25 year-old hero melted into a golden blanket of bravery and love in which his grandfather was holding. They both walked arm and arm into where the selfless alone are permitted….the courageous, heroic protectors of our wars…the soldiers---into an Eden bathed in peace. For SPC. Travis Bromfield’s journey had ended, and finally, he along with his grandfather---were going home.

The medical review board discharged SPC. Bromfield from the Army before the review was over. Claiming they couldn’t reach him. His case manager at the VA hospital was able to have the specialist re-enlisted until review was complete at which time he was medically retired. After nearly seven years of service with his last unit, The 11th Armored Calvary, his wish for full military honors were granted and he was buried at the National Cemetery of Riverside, California, where he remains close to his parents and four siblings. In remembrance for his service, seven medals hang framed on the wall, including The Iraq Campaign medal, The Army Accommodation medal, The Army Achievement medal, The Global War on Terrorism medal and National Defense medal.

“To be diagnosed with terminal cancer days after he came home for leave was devastating for our family, but we were all there for him from day one until the Lord took him into his hands. To watch my son go through this cancer and not complain made him a hero in my eyes,” his mother choked back tears. “Through all his treatments, set backs and disappointments Travis stayed positive.”

Since he didn’t have the chance to buy his Harley Davidson, his father said,. “After he had passed away and all his affairs were settled. I was sitting in our garage thinking of Travis and thought I want to do something for him. So I had an idea to buy a Harley Davidson and make it a memorial to him.” Painting the entire bike with portraits of his son, a montage of years from his happy, but brief life. His parents ride it to all charity events including, “Rides for Cancer” and rides that help injured soldiers. “The interest and comments we receive are great---as we are able to share with others our discoveries after Travis’ death. It prompts people to ask questions about what happened, in which we gladly oblige,” informed Terry Bromfield. He purchased a 1999 Ultra Classic---of the same year his son joined the military.

“After much research we’re convinced Travis was exposed to depleted Uranium. We don’t believe the troops are being trained properly, let alone told what they are dealing with. Especially the mechanics that handle the DU contaminated vehicles that have been damaged (by roadside bombs),” his father admitted.

“We would visit my son at the Long Beach VA almost everyday, Even while he lay flat in bed all day for 5 months unable to sit up, we spent as much time as possible, even if we sat and watched him sleep. It never entered my mind that my own government poisoned my son,” his mother said in disbelief. “But I know now from all the research both my husband and I have done, along with other parents we have spoken to, that is, exactly what happened. The media won’t touch this for fear of our government. There’s an old saying, ‘everything comes out in the wash’ and I think the washing machine has started.”

“I just can’t believe that our government is treating our soldiers as if they are expendable,” his father reeled. “It’s one thing to lose a child in war by acts of war but to be actually poisoning our soldiers with exposure to depleted Uranium and burn pits that the government has been told by their experts not to is another. Maybe if this happens to one of our top official’s child (and God forbid), then maybe they will do something about it, and believe the parents who have lost a child this way.”

He added, “We parents need to join forces about this travesty to our soldiers. I tell as many people as possible and most respond with, ‘I have never heard about this and why hasn’t it been in the news?’ I tell them the government does not want the public to know. As one high ranking military officer put it, ‘this is the modern day Agent Orange.’"

"Are we as a country going to wait as many years as Vietnam Vets did before our government acknowledges this? I hope not.” Stressing, “It really hurts that our son went to war for this country, willfully gave his life, and our government won’t even acknowledge Travis as a “casualty of war.” Travis was proud to be a soldier and proud to serve his country. And we as a family are extremely proud of him.”

“It is very difficult to know that Travis will never be coming home,” Terry Bromfield mourned. “Tears still fill my eyes when I think of our son and all he had to go through. It was extremely difficult to watch our son deteriorate day after day and there wasn’t a damn thing we could do. We felt completely helpless. His Mom and I continue to visit his grave each week even though it’s been nearly three years since he passed away, it does not get any easier. But going to his grave is the closest we feel to Travis now. It somewhat brings us comfort to be with him there. Our whole week revolves around going to the cemetery on the weekend. This is our life now. We must remain strong for our child in this battle with the government.”

“Our government needs to STOP looking at these brave casualty of war soldiers as a small percentage for the “greater good.” My son Travis along with the thousands of other soldiers beginning with Desert Storm who have come down with and died from cancers from their exposure to DU in my eyes, died directly connected to the war and should be recognized as such,” Esther Bromfield argued.

“DU is harming not only our American loved one’s but the people in Iraq too,” she fumed. “This will be another Vietnam. Our government knows what’s going on, as they did then. And I’ll be dammed if it takes 20 years for the government to take responsibility for this. They downplay the use of DU but they know very well what it’s doing.”

“At Travis’ gravesite, we sit sometimes in silence, sometimes in tears but always with our memories which no one can take from us. Travis loved this country and was very patriotic---he served his country bravely. Our country needs to stop this. We need to join forces and let people know what’s happening to our sons, daughters, fathers, uncles, aunts, mothers, and sisters,” his step-mother grieved.

“Everyday there is something that reminds me of my son---he is with me at all times. I miss his smile, his laughter, his touch, his scent. I want my son back and I know that won’t happen,” she wept. “But I don’t want another parent to go through what we did.”


Copyright August 2009, R. B. STUART, All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction of this Blog in any form.

"MARINE MAROONED BY U.S. MILITARY"

Sister Soldier: A Chronicle of Life After Iraq
By R. B. STUART
Post XVI



As a child, Marine Staff Sergeant Ryan J. Oyster [pictured throughout] emulated his father, a Marine. Even though his biological father was in the background of his life---the adventurous youngster who had a penchant for uniforms---had his sights on the military. An outdoorsman, he was an Eagle Scout, played baseball, soccer, football, wrestled and ran cross country. Then in 1998 when he was old enough to make his own life’s choices, at 18 the Virginia native set out on a journey that would claim his body---and eventually his life.

He became a Marine and found a home stationed at the U. S. Marine Corps base, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Married to his childhood sweetheart, Rachel, who without reservations proudly became a military wife and mother to their four children.

SSG. Ryan Oyster was the epitome of perfect health, a go-getter and full of life---he wanted it all and that’s how he lived, his mother Evelyn Oyster reminisced.


But five years later all that would change. In February 2003, SSG. Oyster would deploy to a place where his father never served---the battlefields of Iraq. During the initial assault he was just turning 23, his mother Evelyn Oyster recalled. “On his birthday

March 21st his battalion was pushing against the hot desert sands of Iraq. Ryan said as he drove the tool truck nicknamed the “tool bitch,” that when hearing the gun blasts, felt his birthday come in with a bang.”

SSG. Oyster was a trained “Amtrak Mechanic,” responsible for repairing the military’s 27-ton land and sea, Amphibious Assault Vehicles. In Iraq they transported hoards of courageous young men from sea to land, and also shuttled the wounded and ravaged to safety.

For four months SSG. Oyster brushed the salty sweat from his brow and trudged across the baked lands of Kuwait, Baghdad, Felusa and Kirkut. With his bravery in tact---the wind swept sand speckled his saliva and scratched at his eyes. While clusters of invisible particles from unknown origin made a home in his chest and lungs---he maintained his composure---complaining briefly about a stomach virus that most of his fellow Marines encountered.

The end of his tour finally came in June 2003, alas he was homebound to Camp Quantico in Virginia, and his adoring wife with three cackling children. Life was good as he was adjusting to a normal routine. But then 16 months later, October 2004, SSG. Oyster experienced a shortness of breath and then eventually leg swelling which brought him to Bethesda Naval Hospital who diagnosed him with one functioning lung and kidney disease. They assumed it was an old, undiagnosed pneumonia caused by the kidney disease. Only later discovering it was a pulmonary embolism caused by the kidney disease and not pneumonia which never existed. In an attempt to stave off the kidney disease and wrestle it into remission, SSG. Oyster was given a treatment of chemotherapy alternated by steroids.

Two years later they found he had a blood clotting disorder and had several major clots around his heart. SSG. Oyster saw several doctors at Bethesda Naval. “But, they would not further diagnose and biopsy his lymph nodes. They were in denial,” reported his wife Rachel Oyster. “So we went to our local hospital, Winchester Medical Center [Virginia] and they performed the original biopsy and sent the lymph node to the University of Virginia [UVA] who made the diagnosis. In May 2007 they [UVA] discovered he had Cancer. A form of Cancer they’d never seen before, nor what it was.”

Because the military minimalized SSG. Oyster’s condition the Oyster’s chose to have his medical care provided by UVA and Winchester Medical Center, which were both closer in proximity. “Bethesda Naval told us specifically that they did not believe Ryan had cancer and would not perform the biopsy. Only after Ryan received his diagnosis from the civilian hospital did they believe it, and try to convince us to transfer to Bethesda Naval for his cancer treatments,” Rachel Oyster commented.


Since the rare Germ Cell Cancer was of an “Unknown Primary Source” it was treated as stage IV. The day after the Oyster’s were informed it was stage IV he began chemotherapy. Unknowingly, by alternating each month with high doses of steroids it resulted in the tumors growing more rapidly. “During that time…because of the build-up of fluid in his chest cavity and lungs, the doctors ordered a round of radiation to help shrink the tumors in his chest. They [the tumors] were blocking his lymphatic fluid,” Rachel Oyster recounted. “Except, after only one round of chemotherapy Ryan’s body went into shock. He coded and was put on a ventilator for five weeks.”

During the four years of ongoing health issues SSG. Oyster was always very positive, “He always thought it could be worse. But once he was diagnosed with cancer he was very scared and didn’t know what to do or how to feel. That broke his spirit,” Rachel Oyster admitted.


The day after Memorial Day 2007 SSG. Oyster became so weak it sent him to the oncologists office. Without pause, they admitted him. “For the first time since Ryan had been ill he asked me to stay the night,” Rachel Oyster remembered. “Then later that night he went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing. The nurses and doctors were able to revive him and he was put on a ventilator.”

His prognosis was bleak. With the lack of oxygen, his body was in septic shock, he was diagnosed with a MERSA infection in the good lobe of his lung, with a deadly form of pneumonia in both lungs.

His five-week stay in the CCU was smattered with complications and an emotional roller coaster for his wife and family. “Several times his heart stopped and he would be able to restart it himself within 20 seconds---they remedied it by inserting a temporary pacemaker. He received daily blood transfusions and blood plasma for the first four weeks. While simultaneously undergoing radiation to help shrink the tumors in his chest which caused fluid to build around his lungs,” recalled Rachel Oyster.

On June 28th they were able to remove the ventilator….his first word was FOOD. He was released home on July 6, 2007 with an uncertain prognosis. SSG. Oyster unable to walk by himself, needed assistance. For the administering of daily antibiotics he still had a PIC line in his arm, which was also used to feed him intravenously. Rachel Oyster stated, “I refused home health care and did it all myself. Ryan fought his way through an incredible illness to be able to come home before he died.”


In his final days....

SSG. Ryan Oyster dutifully gave the military six and a half years of his life then willfully handed it over to Cancer. On July 21, 2007 at the age of 27, he peacefully died at home in his sleep---10 weeks after his diagnosis----with those that he loved around him. SSG. Oyster’s only concern was that his wife of nine and a half years and their four children be taken care of if he passed. “I thank God for him being able to come home and see his children before he left this world,” Rachel Oyster mourned. As the eldest, he leaves behind five siblings and both his parents. He is buried at a cemetery near his home…close enough for them to visit often…sharing with him their endless love and devotion, and a spray of pink roses---he and his wife’s favorite. As father, husband, son and brother, his spirit has woven itself through their hearts.

In hindsight Rachel Oyster said they were led to believe it was just ‘one of those things.’ “But right after Ryan passed I started reading all these stories about sick soldiers and some of their stories were exactly like his. I certain, as well as his doctors, both civilian and military, that Ryan endured exposure to depleted Uranium. Because when he was in Iraq he was responsible for handling the destruction of vehicles if they could not be repaired.” She concludes, “I believe Ryan’s body was sensitive to the depleted Uranium dust that was in the air and that’s how and why he became sick. The DU first attacked his respitory system, lungs, kidneys and progressed to Cancer.”

When she approached his former doctor at Winchester Medical Center with her DU findings---he obliged her by reviewing it. So disturbed by what he learned, Dr. Nicholas Gemma provided Rachel Oyster with a statement for the VA verifying that his Cancer was DU related. Even though it’s after the fact…it is a victory for her. Now to make the military admit her late husbands Cancer was a war wound will be her next challenge.

In happier times as a boy....when life was innocent & his future was bright

His mother reflects, “The number 21 is bittersweet for us. It was a number significant to his life; he was born on the 21st, married December 21st, and died July 21st. I believe God gives us signs that he has our loved ones. If I didn’t have God---I wouldn’t have been able to get through his death. He did a lot and accomplished much in his brief 27 years. He loved life, and had very strong faith…people like him just don’t die.” Candidly adding, “I am very sad for my loss….you never accept it---you just learn to live with it.”

----AP National Writer, Sharon Cohen
June 27, 2009
“Did Toxic Chemical in Iraq Cause GIs' Illnesses?”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090627/ap_on_re_us/us_toxic_legacy_of_war

EXCERPT: This isn't the first claim that toxins have harmed soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan; there have been allegations involving lead, depleted Uranium and sarin gas. It's the same chemical linked to poisonings in California in a case made famous in the movie "Erin Brockovich." Hexavalent chromium — a toxic component of sodium dichromate — can cause severe liver and kidney damage and studies have linked it to leukemia as well as bone, stomach, brain and other cancers, according to an expert who provided a deposition for the civilian workers.

The chemical "is one of the most potent carcinogens know to man" and it can "enter every cell of the body and potentially produce widespread injury to every major organ in the body," said Max Costa, chairman of New York University's Department of Environmental Medicine.

KBR, however, says studies show only that industrial workers exposed to the chemical for more than two years have an increased risk of cancer — and in this case, soldiers were at the plant just days or months.

The company also notes air quality studies concluded the Indiana Guard soldiers were not exposed to high levels of hexavalent chromium. But Costa says those tests were done when the wind was not blowing.

Both soldiers and former workers say there were days when strong gusts kicked up ripped-open bags of the chemical, creating a yellow-orange haze that coated everything from their hair to their boots.

"I was spitting blood and I was not the only one doing that," recalls Danny Langford, who worked for the KBR subsidiary. "The wind was blowing 30, 40 miles an hour. You could just hardly see where you were going. I pulled my shirt over my nose and there would be blood on it. I also saw the soldiers. They had blood splotches on their masks."


---CNN, Adam Levine
June 25, 2009
“House Votes to Limit Use of Burn Pits on Bases”
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/25/house-votes-to-limit-use-of-burn-pits-on-bases/

Copyright July 2009, R. B. STUART, All rights reserved. No reproduction of this blog in any form.

THE DISPOSABLE MILITARY: "The Tumor of The Unknown Soldier"

Sister Soldier: A Chronicle of Life After Iraq
By R. B. STUART
Part XII

Recently, the Chaplains at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in DC who houses 800 ill and recovering soldiers at a time, has begun weekly tributes at their mass formations for soldiers who have died at WRAMC. Honoring the fallen soldiers---they read their BIO and cause of death. In the last three weeks they have saluted three soldiers who have died at WRAMC from Cancer. No one questions this. Not Congress, not our elected officials, not the brigade of medical staff who care for these soldiers returning from the war torn country of Iraq.

Some soldiers feel the DoD would rather these soldiers die silently of Cancer---then pay costly medical treatment for soldiers deemed non-deployable. To acknowledge this as a war wound---the military must also assume financial responsibility for these ill soldiers. And why shouldn’t they. They were good enough to send to battle when they were healthy. But now that a percentage are returning with Stage II, III and IV Cancers---and some dying. It’s more cost effective for the military to turn a blind eye long enough for them to die. Their Cancers unrecognized as a casualty of war.

They own you once you become part of the military. And it’s their prerogative to treat these courageous men and women as guinea pigs---exposing them to depleted Uranium and contaminants at wartime. Maybe so, but not to inform the soldiers of the toxic environment in which they live, bleed and fight. Is callous, inhumane, and against the credo of a warrior. And then to abandon them in their darkest hour because their wound is Cancer and not shrapnel---is soulless. This is the new plight for the 21st century’s unknown soldier….

In January 2005, 33 year-old Army Specialist Gregory Anton left for Iraq in perfect health. His horrors wouldn’t begin until his tour ended. [pictured throughout] SPC Anton’s journey began at Camp Shelby, Mississippi with 20 other soldiers in his Unit. When the 14 year National Guard active duty E-4 soldier walked onto the bus in the still hours of that January morn. His Army Combat Uniform would take him to the desert of Kuwait.

The route transported them to an aircraft awaiting their arrival at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi. Like contraband being delivered in the dark of the night, the bus drove onto the tarmac and the bleary eyed soldiers transferred their weapons and bags for a trip to the battle zones of the Middle East.

With an eight-hour layover in the Dallas Fort Worth airport, the soldiers milled around the USO lounge---the Army uniform masked the fear painting their faces of what lay ahead. It was there that SPC Anton met a Staff Sergeant from Manhattan. He was returning to Iraq after two weeks R&R. SPC Anton recalled, “He told me of how he had lost his Commanding Officer days before he left for home. A sniper killed him. He said after having only been in the country for seven months, 24 of his own died from several roadside bomb encounters.” The uncertainty of the soldiers lives are reduced to a shell game played by the hands of God.

With their courage in tact, the 21 soldiers boarded another plane for nearly a ten hour flight to Budapest, Hungary where they refueled and changed flight crews. The final leg of their journey would be the sandbox of Kuwait.

Arriving Kuwait International airport in the early evening they shuttled to Camp Doha. After a grueling trip the bus ride was quiet. From Camp Doha the soldiers went on to Camp Buehring, where they were instructed to close the curtains on the bus for safety. “We had a police escort all the way. The police blocked exit and entrance ramps on the interstate. No civilian vehicles were allowed anywhere near our buses,” SPC Anton remembered.

Their 49-hour transition into the battle zone finally ended in a late night arrival to Camp Buehring. “As we flew in to Buehring you couldn’t see anything. It was complete darkness---no lights of any kind. We unloaded the helicopter and proceeded to our bunks. It seemed they were not ready for us. We stacked 30 people into a 20 man tent.” SPC Anton described the first hours of the soldiers banding together. “As we sat talking about our mission the look on the younger soldier’s faces were grim. It seemed it had just “hit home” to where they were.”

The father of four recollected the days seemed to run together. “Up early, eat chow, a full day of missions, and then back to the Forward Observing Base. On one occasion I was listening to music with my headphones when I heard a loud screaming noise, then an explosion. It was the high pitched whistling of rocket fire coming in from the East. After that night it continued. Day after day we took mortar after mortar and rocket after rocket---encountering numerous roadside bombs as well.”

Six months later, in June 2005, SPC Anton was heading home for two weeks leave. Excited to see his family, and be able to relax, eat real food, drink Cokes, and wear civilian clothes. He shared, “I saw my Mom while I was home. She said she wasn’t feeling well. I told her all would be okay. She did not want me to go to Iraq and was worried something would happen. I tried my best to bring comfort to her concerns.”

He returned to Iraq two weeks later and upon arrival was moved to a different Platoon. “We were outside the wire every day---encountering mission after mission.” After being back in Theater for nine days, SPC Anton received a Red Cross message. His mother was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. They gave her five days to live. He left two days later. Boarding a helicopter, to a plane, he made the flight home once again. Except when he arrived to Washington, D.C. his flight was canceled.

“I was distraught because I needed to get home. I had to see my Mom one more time. I called home and told them of my delay, my trying to get home was intercepted. I caught a flight the next morning. This was day five of five. I was nervous and scared. How would I react when I saw my mother?” he reflected.

SPC Anton landed in Memphis where a family member met him. First taking him home for a shower and change. “As we pulled into the driveway there was an eerie silence. Then the words I never wanted to hear, ‘Your mother passed early this morning.’ I was devastated. I was one day late. If only my flight had not been canceled I could’ve seen her one more time.”

Two weeks later back in Iraq, SPC Anton was not in a good place physically and emotionally. “I was depressed. Returning to a war zone after burying my mother.” Then around August 2005 SPC. Anton started feeling ill. “I had pains in my abdomen. Every day I had an upset stomach, becoming dehydrated once a week. My Commander told me I was just saying this because of my situation with my mother, accusing me of faking it.”

One day while outside doing sit-ups, he noticed a slight bulged on the bottom right side of his stomach. “I went to sick call again. Although the pain was still there, the doctor told me it was a pulled muscle from working out and dismissed me. After eating I urgently needed to go to the latrine. It got to the point where I would eat only small amounts of food maybe once or twice a day. This continued up until we left Iraq.”

By January 2006 SPC Anton returned to the U. S. and decided to stay at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to train soldiers who were going overseas. “It was a great opportunity for me to give them insight to a place they were headed and I just left.

Eight months after his initial medical complaint, at the end of April 2006 SPC Anton went back to the doctor. The pain and sickness intensified. “I saw the doctor and she told me it was either my gall bladder or my appendix. She gave me medicine and told me to go home and if it worsened to return the next day. That night I became nauseous. As I kneeled over the toilet vomiting, I saw blood. The next morning I returned to the doctor. Explaining what happened she sent me to the Emergency Room to meet a surgeon. He reiterated what the other doctor said, ‘It is your gall bladder or your appendix. You are 34 years-old so you are too young for Cancer. We are going to do some tests and see which one it is.’”

As he woke from the anesthesia, the doctor walked in the room with his head hanging. “When he looked at me I knew right then…still looking at the floor he uttered these words, ‘We found you have Colon Cancer. We have to do surgery tomorrow.’ First I said and expletive. But never thought I was going to die---I wasn’t fazed by the diagnosis. Having spent everyday for a year fighting for my life in Iraq---I wasn’t bothered by what he said.”

The next morning his doctor entered the room attempting to explain the procedure SPC Anton would undergo, but he stopped him. “I didn’t want to know. I wasn’t scared but I didn’t want to hear it. I told him, pretend as if we were going on a trip---you’ll drive and I’ll sleep the entire way. I do not care how we get there…just get there.”

After the surgery SPC Anton woke in a room laden with doctors. Standing around in white coats, some pressed up against the wall discussing his well being. His surgeon cleared the room to talk to him. “He explained that the mass they removed was a Stage 3 and not even one year old. Adding, if I’d waited another month, I would have been dead.” SPC Anton recuperated in the hospital for two weeks and then was released back to Camp Shelby, where he stayed in a hotel room for three more weeks before discharged for home.

In July 2006 he returned to Horn Lake, Mississippi to receive 26 rounds of chemotherapy treatment under his Tri-Care insurance. “It was 26 weeks of pure hell. During that time I had received my medical records from Iraq. I combed through them looking at all the times I went to sick call. What I found in them angered me. On the very first visit to the medic August 2005 when my stomach was hurting, the doctor had noted discretely on the side of the chart, ‘Palpable Mass lower right quadrant. EVAC TO BALAD FOR SURGERY IMMEDIATELY.’ They never disclosed this fatal information to a soul. They found the Cancer while I was in Iraq and intentionally withheld it from me,” he exclaimed.


SPC Anton has been in remission for one year. Post Iraq, this 36 year-old soldier walks with a cane and uses a handicap placard. He’s been diagnosed with Stage III Colon Cancer, PTSD, Dumping Syndrome, Chronic Bronchitis, Internal Derangement (both knees), Carpal Tunnel (both arms), Sleep Apnea, Memory Loss and Traumatic Brain Injury. He hasn’t received any assistance from his Unit, neither comfort or support, even while in the hospital at Camp Shelby. He has repeatedly requested help with filing claims, the Medical Review Board process and separating from the Military---but his pleas for help go unanswered, as his voice of Cancer is ignored and silenced.

He notes, “You don’t hear about the vast number of soldiers returning home with Cancer. You hear about the one who was killed or kidnapped. We do not receive the help we need to go on with our lives. You do not see us receiving medals, awards and promotions. Congress turns a blind eye and says, ‘The soldiers are not getting Cancer because of being in Iraq.’ I say we’re intentionally being overlooked. We were ALL given a clean bill of health before we went, so why are we sick now?” The military’s denial of Cancer only compounds the soldier’s feelings of abandon.

He continues, “Breathing in the daily burning of our Battalions garbage, feces and any other waste disposed of at the camp. Encountering regularly at our Forward Observing Base were the blown up and mangled vehicles sitting in the motor pool. The vacant buildings we spent countless nights in while on patrol. The houses we entered while looking for terrorists. The sleeping on the desert floor for a week while guarding a stretch of highway. The contaminated water they brought in for our showers resulted in having the showers closed down for a week. The dust and all the environmental toxins we’d breathe in when the sand storms rolled in.”

The sacrifice, the toil and dedication these soldiers commit for their country is repaid by a military system that would rather silently dispose of them through sheer neglect---discounting the quiet suffering these brave sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, undergo battling Cancer. While rejected by their Battalion brothers, and a system they’ve given their life for---only to be left alone suffocating in the political dust.

SPC Anton concludes, “Where are our Purple Hearts? Where is our financial aid for mounting bills while laid-up hooked to chemo treatments? Where are our brothers in arms when we need them? Congress needs to stop denying and admit there’s a problem. WE were given a clean bill of health before we left…and now we’re sick, and some dying from this. What about us and our families? They respond, ‘Sorry, this is Non-Combat related so you don’t qualify for insurance money.’ Congress can you hear me? Why won’t you help me?” Another military man cast from the battlefield pleads for his life….begs to be heard. This is the voice of Cancer---from an invisible Soldier---of the great US of A.


Copyright August 14, 2008, R. B. STUART. All Rights Reserved. No reproduction of this blog in any form.