One of our local politicians, Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-1) this week publically demanded that service members who were subjected to the Department of Defense’s chemical weapon testing get full medical care and disability compensation for their service-connected medical conditions.

Seems like a no-brainer. I actually can’t believe that military members don’t get free medical for life for themselves and their families. Politicians do, and I think the soldiers and their families’ sacrifices for our freedom are so far above that of the politicians that they may as well be from different planets.

But that’s not even Thompson’s issue. He’s righteously indignant about the unanswered health complaints of American sailors upon whom dangerous chemicals were intentionally though secretly tested several decades ago.

Holy cow!

Evidently, in late 2002, the defense department revealed that between 1962 and 1974 it “had tested harmful chemical and biological agents by spraying them on ships and sailors,” Thompson’s announcement says. “These tests – known as Project 112, which included Project Shipboard Hazard and Defense (SHAD) – exposed at least 6,000 service members without their knowledge to harmful chemical and biological weapons and included some of the most deadly chemicals on Earth: Vx Nerve Gas, Sarin Nerve Gas and E. coli.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m appalled. I say we round up those responsible for this atrocity and test stuff on them. If any of them are receiving government pensions, this should immediately cease and the person be given a time limit to repay what they’ve already gotten from the taxpayers.

These sailors, men and women – boys and girls, really, American citizens’ sons and daughters, brothers and sisters and parents – taxpayers all, were experimented on by their own government?!

What are we Mengeles over here?

Many veterans who were subjected to these atrocious chemical tests have developed serious medical issues but don’t get priority care from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or disability benefits “because the VA does not officially recognize any long-term health consequences from exposure to the chemical agents from these specific tests,” Thompson said.

Does the phrase “Agent Orange” mean anything to these people?

In typical glacial-speed government fashion, in 2010, Congress passed a law requiring the VA to contract with the Institute of Medicine “to consider the health impact on veterans that were part of” this project, he says. They’re going to investigate in the hope, no doubt, that they can drag this already 40-plus-year-old atrocity out long enough that everyone affected dies.

“Our country must ensure that any service member who has become sick or developed a disability because of these tests is provided with the treatment they deserve and benefits they’ve earned,” Thompson said. “We cannot wait any longer. Many brave men who served our country are now sick or have passed away because of Project 112’s chemical and biological testing. It is our duty to right this wrong and get our service members the care they need.”

He’s right, of course. But even if ongoing inquiries produces no “proof” of a connection between having one’s own government douse one with poison just to see what happens, and later health issues, these people’s health care should already be covered by virtue of their service.

It’s disgusting and embarrassing that it’s not.

Speaking before Congress, Thompson cited the story of a constituent, a veteran by the name of jack Alderson, who learned after getting sick of his exposure to disgusting toxins at the hands of his own government while in service to his country in the late 1960s. He has since been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, several types of skin cancers, prostate cancer and doctors have found four occurrences of asbestos in his lungs, Thompson said.

“Jack, and all the people who served with him, deserve to know the truth,” he said. “If we don’t get these service members the care they need, then how can we ask our current service members to put their lives on the line knowing that harm from the enemy may not be the only danger they encounter? It is imperative for us to right our government’s past wrongs and help these brave veterans who were unknowingly subjected to these tests.”

I’m speechless.

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