Spray article
Some U.S. servicemen claim they were unknowing participants in military tests of biological and chemical agents. Now, they have medical problems, and Uncle Sam is giving them the runaround.
By Colleen Dougher
In January 1963, Richard Holmes was standing on the deck of the U.S.S. Navarro when it passed through a fog belt in the Pacific Ocean west of Oahu, Hawaii. Suddenly, his chest tightened, and he began coughing and doubled over, unable to breathe. “It’s like I was paralyzed,” the Homestead resident recalls.
Afterward, the teenage sailor visited sick bay, where the ship’s medic documented his inflamed throat, “shortness of breath” and “a tight feeling in his chest when in moist air.”
A few years later, in the frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Newfoundland, sailors aboard the U.S.S. Power were also getting sick. Joe Newberry, a former machinist mate on the Power who now lives in Jacksonville, says he contracted such a bad case of pneumonia in February 1965 that he was too sick to leave the ship — even to see his newborn daughter. He continued to have breathing problems and still suffers from bronchitis and pneumonia several times a year. Ten years ago, he developed atrial fibrillation.
James Druckemiller, a former junior medical corpsman aboard the Power, says his medical problems began that year, too. In 1965, he developed a lesion on the bottom of his right foot that had to be removed. A year later, he had another lesion removed from the back of his head and developed bacterial pneumonia and a 105-degree temperature. This was his first of several bouts with the disease.
According to Druckemiller, who lives in Topeka, Kan., many of the sailors aboard his ship developed sore throats and respiratory problems that continue to this day. Many developed a host of other ailments, ranging from skin conditions and cysts to heart problems, scarred lungs and cancer. During the time these sailors were getting sick, they were aboard ships involved in secret biological and chemical tests about which they didn’t learn until 40 years later.
Some U.S. servicemen claim they were unknowing participants in military tests of biological and chemical agents. Now, they have medical problems, and Uncle Sam is giving them the runaround.
By Colleen Dougher
In January 1963, Richard Holmes was standing on the deck of the U.S.S. Navarro when it passed through a fog belt in the Pacific Ocean west of Oahu, Hawaii. Suddenly, his chest tightened, and he began coughing and doubled over, unable to breathe. “It’s like I was paralyzed,” the Homestead resident recalls.
Afterward, the teenage sailor visited sick bay, where the ship’s medic documented his inflamed throat, “shortness of breath” and “a tight feeling in his chest when in moist air.”
A few years later, in the frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Newfoundland, sailors aboard the U.S.S. Power were also getting sick. Joe Newberry, a former machinist mate on the Power who now lives in Jacksonville, says he contracted such a bad case of pneumonia in February 1965 that he was too sick to leave the ship — even to see his newborn daughter. He continued to have breathing problems and still suffers from bronchitis and pneumonia several times a year. Ten years ago, he developed atrial fibrillation.
James Druckemiller, a former junior medical corpsman aboard the Power, says his medical problems began that year, too. In 1965, he developed a lesion on the bottom of his right foot that had to be removed. A year later, he had another lesion removed from the back of his head and developed bacterial pneumonia and a 105-degree temperature. This was his first of several bouts with the disease.
According to Druckemiller, who lives in Topeka, Kan., many of the sailors aboard his ship developed sore throats and respiratory problems that continue to this day. Many developed a host of other ailments, ranging from skin conditions and cysts to heart problems, scarred lungs and cancer. During the time these sailors were getting sick, they were aboard ships involved in secret biological and chemical tests about which they didn’t learn until 40 years later.
TC
