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Fort McClellan: Generations of American Military & Their Families
Were Poisoned Without Care
freedomoutpost.com
He choked on his words as he described the helplessness and desperation. There was nothing he could
do to help. His newborn son, born with unexplainable birth defects was fighting for his life, and the doctors
could not explain the cause. Both of s sonsborn of parents with historically good Wayne Hayden
healthwould come into this world with unexplainable birth defects. Unfortunately, this is common for
some of our military veterans.
Decades later, as Hayden struggles with cancer, unexplained skin rashes and immune system failures he
thinks back to his Vietnam era training at Fort McClellan, a US Army Post adjacent to an Alabama town
named Anniston. Fort McClellan served as home to a variety of Army training programs including the US
Army Chemical Corps School.
From 1933 -1999, US Army personnel, working, training and living at Fort McClellan, were never told they
were to major biochemical health threats. Hundreds of thousands of men and women being exposed
trained in, bathed in, breathed and drank hazardous substances including ionizing radiation and
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). So did the residents of the adjacent town, Anniston, Alabama.
In 1966, after years of dumping and discharging waste from the manufacture of now banned industrial
coolants, dioxins and herbicideswhich included the infamous chemical Agent OrangeMonsanto
Corp. secretly, a University of Mississippi biologist with testing the water at Ft. McClellan. The tasked
horrifying results of these studies would be kept from environmental officials and the public.
In 1995, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission to permanently close Ft. McClellan. voted
During its closure ceremony, Major General Ralph G. Wooten, Commanding General and Chemical
Weapons School Commandant (1996-1999), thanked Ft. McClellan and the surrounding community for
being singularly responsible for providing our Army with the worlds finest military police and chemical
weapons soldiers. He referred to McClellan as a spectacular success.
In 1999, after its closinga direct result of Monsanto regularly discharging toxic waste into creeks and the
discovery by building contractors of open pit landfills containing millions of pounds of Monsanto
chemicalsthe Enviromental Protection Agency Fort McClellan a toxic site and mandated its declared
clean up. Moreover, after years of experiencing obscene levels of unusual civilian illnesses (cancer,
autoimmune disease, heart disease and diabetes) and birth defects (missing limbs, malformed hearts and
underdeveloped spinal cords) the city of Anniston filed a 2003 suit against Monsanto. The case concluded
with the City of Anniston and its residents awarded $700 Million to help care for its exposed residents.
Monsanto agreed to pay for their portion of clean-up costs.
Ft. McClellan military veterans and their families received nothing. Veterans stationed at Fort McClellan
were never made aware of this suit. They were also excludedby the Judgefrom participation in it. The
Judge felt veterans experiencing future illnesses from comparable exposure could rely on the Department
of Veterans Affairs for future care and treatment.
On April 26, 2010, the Department of Veteran Affairs Veteran Benefits Administration, issued a training
letter (REF: ) to 211A Subject: Environmental Hazards in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Military Installations
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all VA regional offices outlining specific environmental hazard incidents that present potential health risks
to service members and veterans. One stated purpose of this letter provides guidance on handling
claims for disabilities potentially resulting from exposure to environmental hazards while on active duty.
The Compensation and Pension examinations fact sheets, contained in this 2010 VA training directive,
require VA examiners to consider toxic chemical exposure and exposure to environmental hazards to
properly and objectively assess veterans claims.
Today, Wayne Hayden battles with deteriorating health from his exposure to toxic chemicals while serving
at both Ft. McClellan and as a Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Weapons Expert, which required
handling, safeguarding and use of artillery rounds filled with depleted uranium, while deployed in Korea
during the Vietnam War.
Since its 2007 filing, Wayne Haydens chemical exposure VA disability claim has been denied four times.
He continues to brawl with the Department of Veterans Affairs for their failure to access his medical
condition and provide the necessary care he needs and earned. Moreover, in contempt of a 2012 Federal
Court rulingwhich found the VA had failed to access Haydens illness and ordered a new medical
assessment and payment of Haydens service connected disability claimthe VA refuses to pay Hayden
a dime. Like so many other Ft. McClellan veterans, Wayne Haydens case is now floundering because the
VA refuses to acknowledge a service related connection to his poisoning at Ft. McClellan.
In 2011, Congress resurrected , the Fort McClellan Health Registry Act. This bill would require H.R. 2052
the to create and maintain a registry of veterans that were stationed at Fort Secretary of Veteran Affairs
McClellan, provide them with updates, medical care, and give a presumption of service connected
disability resulting from chemical and toxic substance exposure. Given our nations self-serving
entitlement addictions, mushrooming national debt, overflowing Veteran Affairs claims processing queues
and dying public support (in many circles) for our veteran communities, my guess is, most Vietnam era
veterans will be dead before this bill becomes law.
Like most, veterans issues are no longer on Americas and the national medias radar. The Ft. McClellan
scandal, another example of federal government veteran betrayal, continues to go poorly publicized, and
Americans become more divided.
UPDATE: Wayne Hayden and his foundation have been attacked and there have been libelous
accusations against Waynes service record by a military phonies blog. John sets the record straight with
the actual documentation of Waynes service record and his foundation to help veterans in an article here.
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Author: John DeMayo
Raised in New York, now an adopted son of Texas, John DeMayo is an advocate for the
restoration of conservative America. He has been called a "stone thrower" by some and a "sheep dog" by
others. DeMayo's America puts the Constitution and Conservatism first. Everything else is just colored
bubbles. Visit me at , or on . All are welcome. lazarusoverwatch.com Facebook Twitter