Bollinger gave up appealing VA rejections in 1994, after four years of traveling back and forth 30 miles to a VA office office in Pittsburgh. Call: 988 (Press 1), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs | 810 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington DC 20420. Inside the chamber, Cavell's skin started to turn red and burn in the places where he sweat the most: between his legs, behind his neck and under his arms. One of the men who never heard from the VA was John Berzellini. I can continue by saying I filed an approximately 80 page document to the veteran's administration about my claims and kept getting blown off; resubmitted, blown off. With regard specifically to BZ and related compounds, the IOM study concluded that "available data suggest that long-term toxic effects and/or delayed sequellae are unlikely". These experiments were conducted primarily to learn how various agents would affect humans (NRC 1982). "We weren't told what it was," says Charlie Cavell, who was 19 when he volunteered for the program in exchange for two weeks' vacation. There's a reason we have such incredible details about the program available now, and this film makes excellent use of the truths revealed during a massive lawsuit. The Army colonel had no regrets about the experiments and believed he was acting in the best interests of the nation as it faced a Cold War threat. "No Social Security numbers, no addresses, no way of identifying them. The National Academies of Science reviewed this report in 2018 ("Review and Approach to Evaluating Long-term Health Effects in Army Test Subjects") and suggested a framework for evaluating these exposures moving forward. "I've read several of the guys say they were never the same after BZ, and they are telling the truth," Paul said. Even a book critical of the program, written by Lynn C. Klotz and Edward J. Sylvester, acknowledges that: Unlike the CIA program, research subjects [at Edgewood] all signed informed consent forms, both a general one and another related to any experiment they were to participate in. Cavell and 11 other volunteers were locked inside a gas chamber with mustard gas piping inside. The whole thing stinks, and if the American people knew about it, they would not tolerate it. It is not known how many soldiers may be experiencing long-tem health problems because of their participation in the U.S. Army medical experiments at Edgewood Arsenal. Oakland, CA: A Veterans disability class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of several Veterans Affairs associations including Vietnam Veterans of America as well as individual Vietnam. VA offers a variety of health care benefits to eligible Veterans. Kristian Thacker for NPR "Shortly after receiving the drug, he is grossly impaired," a narrator said as a soldier struggled through an obstacle course. Some test subjects had only partial exposure, such as having the chemical agents applied directly onto their skin. My mom eventually transferred to Edgewood Arsenal shortly later. Josephs has not received any health benefits related to his time as a human test subject at Edgewood. They ranged from potentially lethal nerve gases like VX and sarin to incapacitating agents like BZ. It just did not look like a military base, more like a hospital, recalled Josephs, a Pittsburgh native. Vol. In this U.S. government photo, Wray Forrest is seen on the far right in 1973 while participating in the program at Maryland's Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center. General William M. Creasy, former chief chemical officer, U.S. Army, testified to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1959 that "provided sufficient emphasis is put behind it, I think the future lies in the psychochemicals. Paul showed us an interview from April of 1968. "It's an important story that needs to be told and it's a story that frankly a lot of people don't know," Hancock said. He believes the testing hurt him emotionally and stole part of his life. In the midst of the Cold War, the military was concerned chemical agents could be used against U.S. soldiers. A diagnosed medical condition they think is a direct result of taking part in an Army chem/bio substance testing program. They had detailed the length of time he spent inside a gas chamber and the level of mustard gas in the air. 3, "Final Report: Current Health Status of Test Subjects" (1985). The purpose was to evaluate the impact of low-dose chemical warfare agents on military personnel and to test protective clothing and pharmaceuticals. 2004 GAO report The claims process has also been complicated by Department of Defense claims that it cannot find records to substantiate most of the veterans participation in the tests, causing the VA to summarily deny those claims, the lawsuit alleges. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) A top-secret military program treated active-duty U.S. soldiers like they were guinea pigs according to a class action lawsuit that shed light on what happened. Harry Bollinger, 88, of Freeport, Pa., pauses as he talks about his recovery from mustard gas exposure as part of an experiment at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. Congress has intervened in similar situations. Naval Research Laboratory CampBell's Complaint says that after execution of the real estate contract between McGill and the Abrahams, "on October 27, 2020, Sherry Abraham, acting as an Edgewood Town Councilor, filed an Emergency Motion to Intervene in the McGill lawsuit (D-101-CV-2020-00328).". Recent reports indicated that as many as 7,000 soldiers may have been subjected to these experiments in a top secret Cold War research program studying chemical and biological weapons. "[5] This was alarming enough to a Harvard psychiatrist, E. James Lieberman, that he published an article entitled "Psychochemicals as Weapons" in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1962. We conduct ongoing accessibility reviews and remediate any functionality issues. Blocks of ice sat on shelves overhead with fans blowing across them to increase the humidity in the room, which intensified mustard gas's effects on the body. Dr. James Ketchum led the experiments, and we've got a clip in which he defends his methods. The release of the new document comes after a year in which the Navy saw several major clusters of suicides. [17], The official position of the Department of Defense, based on the three-volume set of studies by the Institute of Medicine mentioned above, is that they "did not detect any significant long-term health effects on the Edgewood Arsenal volunteers". A Defense Department Form 214 or War Department discharge/separation form or the functional equivalent. The NRC report also mentions human experiments involving exposure of 741 soldiers to LSD (NRC 1984). In the early 1990s, VA officials also announced the agency would lower its burden of proof to make getting benefits easier in these cases. "That's going to be on my tombstone," Bollinger says. All Rights Reserved. The chemicals were given to volunteer service members at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland; Dugway Proving Ground, Utah; and Forts Benning, Bragg, and McClellan. The prior finding held that the Army has an ongoing duty to seek out and provide "notice" to former test participants of any new information that could potentially affect their health. Left: U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Agency; Right: Naval Research Laboratory "I don't think there's an explanation for why this program wasn't more successful," Goss says. "[4] Soviet advances in the same field were cited as a special incentive giving impetus to research efforts in this area, according to testimony by Maj. Gen. Marshall Stubbs, the Army's chief chemical officer. He is very knowledgeable about the law and extremely professional. Documents reveal after getting BZ, Paul was put in temperatures of 105 degrees then 125 degrees for up to seven hours, to see if the drug impacted the way soldiers sweated. Josephs enlisted in the military fresh out of high school at the height of the Vietnam War. The MRVP was also driven by intelligence requirements and the need for new and more effective interrogation techniques. Tim Josephs arrived at Edgewood Arsenal in 1968, he knew there was something different about the place. File a claim online. Other times it was a pill, Josephs told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He blames his time at Edgewood for all this, and he has joined a lawsuit on behalf of Edgewood veterans seeking medical benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much including tests designed to look for racial difference. But Goss says that excuse is at the core of all that is dysfunctional in Washington bureaucracies. Schnurman and his. "These were active-duty U.S. service members being used as human guinea pigs," Hancock said. The lawsuit sought for the veterans to be notified about what substances they had received and be provided medical coverage. He was told never to talk about his experiences at Edgewood and to forget about everything he ever did, said or heard at the Maryland base. As a result, at least one class action lawsuit has been filed against the Defense Department and Department of Veteran Affairs, with the hope of, at the very least, getting . These agents are still used today as antidotes to organophosphorus nerve agent poisoning, including accidental poisoning by organophosphorus pesticides. 1,073 subjects were exposed to aerosolized CS; 82 subjects had both skin applications and aerosol exposures; and finally. The lawsuit's argument is in line with broader criticisms of Edgewood: that, whether out of military urgency or scientific dabbling, the Army recklessly endangered the lives of its soldiers . 2. They deserve that respect and the audience this documentary can bring. hide caption. Former ABC and Politico correspondent Tara Palmeri leads a team of investigative journalists as they reexamine a dark chapter of Army history. APG-EA continued to hurt soldiers ways after the human experiments and should be considered also. What's the use?" Three test subjects enter a gas chamber, which will fill with mustard gas, as part of the military's secret chemical warfare testing in March 1945. Erspamer said the government has reached very few of the 7,000 or so Edgewood veterans, and the VA has turned down almost all Edgewood-related health claims. A nurse or doctor asked him questions after he was put in a chamber and exposed to an irritant, likely tear gas. Original photo: Courtesy of Charlie Cavell, Left: U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Agency; Right: Naval Research Laboratory. She previously worked as an editor and staff writer at newspapers in Columbus, Georgia; Huntsville, Alabama; Bloomington, Indiana; Monterey, California and in Germany. Read the lawsuit complaint document (PDF), Read about an Edgewood volunteers widow who blames the VA for his death, Gordon Erspamer, lead attorney in the suit, has reviewed the partial Edgewood medical records that Josephs was able to obtain with the help of his wife. He showed a black and white photo of a large group of soldiers in front of a sign "Medical Volunteers.". Theyre hoping we die off, so you apply [for benefits], you get turned down, Josephs said. However, much of that flash comes from recordings made during the actual experiments. According to the memoirs of James Ketchum, who also cites the IOM study for the data, "24 belladonnoid glycolates and related compounds" were "given to 1,800 subjects". About 500 World War II veterans die each day, according to data maintained by the VA. "I do think there is a little bit of that attitude of: 'This is today's problem, it will be gone by tomorrow,' " Goss says. Harry Bollinger, 88, of Freeport, Pa., pauses as he talks about his recovery from mustard gas exposure as part of an experiment at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. "I was disgusted already. APG Transition: 1980s-1990s At the end of the second hour, the officer ordered Cavell back to his barracks and to continue wearing his gas-saturated uniform. 800-829-4833, Veterans Crisis Line: As a result of the testing, many of the veterans who served between two and four months at the Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland, suffer from chronic, debilitating illnesses. Several veterans claimed they were exposed to dangerous chemicals during government-sponsored Cold War experiments without their knowledge, and they filed suit in 2009 against the Army, Veterans Affairs, the CIA and the Department of Defense. he says. "I'm sorry," Flohr says. His symptoms vary from day to day. He is one of 60,000 World War II veterans exposed to mustard gas as part of secret experiments by the U.S. military. However, a good history and physical examination can provide valuable information and help determine a Veterans risk of developing health problems related to the exposure. Each year more of their stories die with them. The judges in 2015 rejected a district courts earlier argument that the Army didnt have to provide medical care for the veterans because some of them receive VA care, The judges instead ruled the Army has a duty to provide them care. Kathleen Curthoys is editor of Army Times. In more than 20 years, the VA attempted to reach just 610 of the men, with a single letter sent in the mail. Tim Josephs blames secret Army program for health issues, including Parkinson's disease, Facility tested potentially lethal gases, narcotics and LSD on animals and humans, Cold War research initially aimed to defend against Soviet chemical or biological attack, The VA has contacted and offered free medical evaluations to thousands of veterans. Decades after the U.S. Army used soldiers to test the effects of potent chemical and biological warfare agents - including some prohibited by the Geneva Protocol - it has begun notifying veterans. Daughter can't have kids due to this place; not to mention the other members of the family ailments. The IOM study also concluded that "available data suggest that long-term toxic effects and/or delayed sequellae are unlikely" for this type of compound.[15]. "If I were back in Congress, I'd be asking that question.". More than 20 years later, the VA has attempted to contact fewer than a quarter of the thousands it said it would. hide caption. What types of tests were conducted at Edgewood? The soldiers were induced to become part of the experiments by program representatives who said they were looking for soldiers to test Army gear, vehicles, and military combat equipment, CNN said. Although, we tried.". Copyrights 2002-2022 YourLawyer.com. Please be sure to specify the particular web page or function at issue, and provide us with any other information you may think will help us locate the area. 2. Paul's paperwork shows he received BZ, which he said felt like he was in a nightmare for hours at a time. Statistically, at least one out of a thousand young soldiers chosen at random might be expected to expire during any one-year period. Youre going to Vietnam either way before or after, Josephs said recently. Nashville veteran Dennis Paul, 79, discussed his experience in the program with NewsChannel 5 Investigates, saying he it impacted him long after he left the Army. "[6], The Edgewood Arsenal human experiments took place from approximately 1948 to 1975 at the Medical Research Laboratorieswhich is now known as the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD)at the Edgewood Area, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. The website has details about applying for medical care through this program. Watching soldiers suffer through delirium and panic attacks while older survivors describe their experiences makes for powerful viewing. However, the declaration was an effective deterrent, and the Axis powers did not use . In the late 1940s and early '50s, the U.S. Army worked with Harvard anesthesiologist Henry K. Beecher at its interrogation center at Camp King in Germany on the use of psychoactive compounds (mescaline, LSD), including human subject experiments and the debriefing of former Nazi physicians and scientists who had worked along similar lines before the end of the war. For more information, fill out our online contact form or call 1-800-YOURLAWYER (1-800-968-7529). In order to best serve veterans and their families, VA continues to study the possibility of long-term health effects associated with in-service exposure to chemical and biological weapons, the letter promised. According to the 1984 NRC review, human experiments at DoD's Edgewood Arsenal involved about 1,500 subjects who were experimentally exposed to irritant and blister agents including: For example, from 1958 to 1973 at least 1,366 human subjects underwent experimental exposure specifically with the riot-control agent CS at Edgewood Arsenal (NRC 1984). In secret chemical weapons experiments conducted during World War II, the U.S. military exposed thousands of American troops to mustard gas. So, when I received the shot, we went into a heat room," Paul said. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has a page about the testing on its website. From 1955 to 1975, the Army conducted chemical weapons testing on volunteer soldiers at the Edgewood Arsenal facility in Maryland in pursuit of an agent that could disable enemy troops on the field of battle without killing them. hide caption. It passed the Agent Orange Act in 1991, which requires the VA to assume that all veterans who served in and around Vietnam were exposed to the chemical. [13] Some additional information in the section cited from the Course was based on a 1993 IOM study, Veterans at Risk: Health Effects of Mustard Gas and Lewisite. ", Flohr tells NPR his agency has followed federal statutes in its handling of claims for mustard gas exposure. The study could not rule out long-term health effects related to exposure to the nerve agents. To date, these policies have not been applied to World War II vets who were exposed to mustard gas. That adds up to 1,167 man-years of survival. Josephs had volunteered for a two-month assignment at Edgewood, in Maryland, lured by three-day weekends closer to home. Even when he talks about Edgewood, he said, I get a tightness in my chest.. Those regulations have kept veterans like Harry Bollinger, 88, from receiving benefits. ", Goss says he thinks the VA never delivered on its promises because this issue has been disappearing on its own for years. "There was no identifying information," he says. The Marine Corps is eliminating the scout sniper program as part of the service's big Force Design 2030 overhaul. Office of Accountability & Whistleblower Protection, Training - Exposure - Experience (TEE) Tournament, Military Exposure Related Health Concerns, War Related Illness & Injury Study Center, Clinical Trainees (Academic Affiliations), Learn more from the Department of Defense, Review and Approach to Evaluating Long-term Health Effects in Army Test Subjects, Find out if you qualify for VA health care, Call TTY if you And in this case I'm afraid the answer is not yet. On July 24, 2013, United States District Court Judge Claudia Wilken issued an order granting in part and denying in part plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and granting in part and denying in part defendants' motion for summary judgment. This being said, also my son's father was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam. A small portion of these studies were directed at psychochemical warfare and grouped under the prosaic title of the "Medical Research Volunteer Program" (19561975). Cavell then submitted the documents to the VA as proof of his exposure. My phone calls were always returned quickly and all of my questions were answered in a thorough manner. A lot of chemicals were referred to as agent one or agent two., Some weeks, he would undergo one test; other weeks, more, Josephs said. But Bollinger says that time in his life is tainted: by the pain he felt as a human test subject in military experiments, and by the VA that told him it wasn't real. Paul was serving at Fort Bliss in Texas in 1968, when he volunteered for what he thought would be an easy assignment. Veterans may file a claim for disability compensation for health problems they believe are related to exposures during Edgewood/Aberdeen chemical tests. When those experiments were formally declassified in the 1990s, the Department of Veterans Affairs made two promises: to locate about 4,000 men who were used in the most extreme tests, and to compensate those who had permanent injuries. The founder and director of the program, Dr Van Murray Sim, was called before Congress and chastised by outraged lawmakers, who questioned the absence of follow-up care for the human volunteers. "But not to get messed up," he continued. If, at any time, you have difficulty using this website, please contact us. The test subjects who are still alive are now in their 80s and 90s. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) A top-secret military program treated active-duty U.S. soldiers like they were guinea pigs according to a class action lawsuit that shed light on what happened. [7][8][9] A concrete result of these experiments was that BZ was weaponized, although never deployed. "For the actual test Private Zadrovney received a high dose of the incapacitating agent," the film's narrator said. CNN The moment 18-year-old Army Pvt. The military also tested tear gas, barbiturates, tranquilizers, narcotics and hallucinogens like LSD. ", And "How would you compare this test with the last one?". Yet another lawsuit was filed against the town of Edgewood this week, this time by a former member of the town's planning and zoning commission, alleging violation of the Inspection of Public Records Act. "And that's what I have problems with today. Home U.S. Army Edgewood Arsenal Medical Experiments. "Incapacitating chemical agents": Law enforcement, human rights law and policy perspectives. [14], A significant omission from the Course summary above is the number of subjects on which BZ and related compounds were tested. Updated Thank you. CampBell's lawsuit seeks to remove Sherry Abraham from office . A previous version of this story misidentified Nat Schnurman's wife. Treatment will be in addition to the comprehensive medical care that plaintiffs are entitled to receive through Veterans Affairs because of their status as veterans, the release said. By this logic, Edgewood was possibly the safest military place in the world to spend two months. In 2009 a lawsuit was filed by veterans rights organizations Vietnam Veterans of America, and . And it just goes on for years and years, and they just want to wear us down. According to the class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Edgewood Arsenal veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), despite having actively participated in the experiments, has denied between 97% and 99% of all disability or death claims arising out of the exposures. They also compared the relative sensitivity of soldiers, including tests designed to look for racial difference. 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