My name is Michelle. I was a NICU RN for over 15 years and grateful to have been.
Prior to that I was in the Army and received Basic Training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. While there I received lethal doses of several toxins but despite being sick from the beginning of my Army career, I earned an Honorable Discharge and am fully eligible for VA benefits.
Still, I am denied VA health care based, I think, on my gender. Most men exposed to Agent Orange, and their offspring, are generously compensated, including COLLEGE TUITION, yet McClellan vets get nothing. I don't think it's a coincidence, given McClellan was known for its FEMALE Basic Training Brigade. This huge atrocity has been swept under the rug since 1935! That's not a typo. They've gotten away with it for that long, and only outcry from people like you can stop it. It's not like we can afford lobbyists.
A judge even ORDERED the Army/VA to provide care/compensation to McClellan vets, but they just ignored the order, even after Monsanto (makers of Agent Orange) paid almost a billion dollars to civilians in nearby Anniston who used the same water we did, and were FAR LESS POISONED than we were! The Army's Chemical Warfare Headquarters was at Ft. McToxic too! Guess who the lab rats were.
What '60 Minutes' called the "McClellan Cocktail" includes Sarin (nerve) gas, Mustard gas, Agent Orange, Dioxin, PCBs, Oxidized Uranium and secret chemical warfare agents. We breathed it steam ironing 5 times/ day, showered, drank, had it sprayed ON us, etc.
If you find this behavior by the Army/VA despicable, please contact your Representative in Congress or the media ...or anyone! And for the record, many thousands of men were affected too! Please help us all!
Green Bay, WI
