The Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a three-volume report on the Edgewood research in 19821985, Possible Long-Term Health Effects of Short-Term Exposure to Chemical Agents.[16]. It just did not look like a military base, more like a hospital, recalled Josephs, a Pittsburgh native. Last year, the Department of Veterans Affairs granted him partial benefits for his Parkinsons for Agent Orange exposure during his time in Thailand, giving Josephs 40% disability. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Learn more from the Department of Defense.A2016 report to the DoD on long-term health effects due to participation in these tests concluded that although effects of the individual agents had been established in the literature, test subjects would have endured lower concentrations for shorter durations and no significant effects had been observed in the health of test subjects in the years since the tests occurred. 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. This top secret Cold War research program initially looked for ways to defend against a chemical or biological attack by the Soviet Union, thought to be far ahead of the United States in psycho-chemical warfare. These experiments with mustard gas were conducted by the Army and Navy at more than a dozen locations. There, Ketchum was administering psychotropic drugs on young. Tim Josephs arrived at Edgewood Arsenal in 1968, he knew there was something different about the place. Some test subjects had only partial exposure, such as having the chemical agents applied directly onto their skin. He is one of 60,000 World War II veterans exposed to mustard gas as part of secret experiments by the U.S. military. The chemical caused a delirium that included hallucinations and an inability to carry out tasks. None of the requested materials were cleared for public release as of this writing (2016).[19]. Finally, the command and control problems which were apparent in the CIA's programs are paralleled by a lack of clear authorization and supervision in the Army's programs.(S. Some of the volunteers exhibited symptoms at the time of exposure to these agents but long-term follow-up was not planned as part of the DoD studies. In 2009 a lawsuit was filed by veterans rights organizations Vietnam Veterans of America, and Swords to Plowshares, and eight Edgewood veterans or their families against CIA, the U.S. Army, and other agencies. "And as far as the secretary and I are concerned, we're about to do right by them.". 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"I'm sorry," Flohr says. [] At Edgewood, even at the highest doses it often took an hour or more for incapacitating effects to show, and the end-effects usually did not include full incapacitation, let alone unconsciousness. Greene, L. Wilson, "Psychochemical Warfare: A New Concept of War", U. S. Army Chemical Center, Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland; August 1949. The chemicals were given to volunteer service members at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland; Dugway Proving Ground, Utah; and Forts Benning, Bragg, and McClellan. If you are in crisis or having thoughts of suicide,
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 . 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. Other exposures included tear gas, and hallucinogenics like LSD. According to at least one class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Edgewood Arsenal veterans, other substances tested on soldiers there included mescaline, amphetamines, mustard gas, CS (riot control agent), a THC analog called red oil, anthrax, botulism, plague, tularemia, Q fever, and crop destruction agents such as dioxin, used in Agent Orange. However once the experiments were uncovered, the US Senate also concluded questionable legality of the experiments and strongly condemned them. CNN The moment 18-year-old Army Pvt. On the other side is an in-depth and wide-ranging interview with Ketchum filmed shortly before his death in 2019. 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. Youre going to Vietnam either way before or after, Josephs said recently. The Army then sent Josephs to Air Force bases in Thailand, in support of the war effort in Vietnam. Ariel Zambelich/NPR. Edgewood Chemical Activity is a chemical-weapons depot located at APG. Former ABC and Politico correspondent Tara Palmeri leads a team of investigative journalists as they reexamine a dark chapter of Army history. 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. A failure to secure informed consent and other widespread failures to follow the precepts of U.S. and international law regarding the use of human subjects, including the 1953 Wilson Directive and the Nuremberg Code. 2023 Cable News Network. Cavell and 11 other volunteers were locked inside a gas chamber with mustard gas piping inside. The ruling came on a class-action lawsuit filed by Vietnam Veterans of America, Swords to Plowshares and individual veterans over medical care for troops who participated in research programs at. However, the declaration was an effective deterrent, and the Axis powers did not use . "If I were back in Congress, I'd be asking that question.". 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. 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. 1, "Anticholinesterases and Anticholinergics", Vol. Bollinger still has chronic breathing problems and breaks out in eczema in places where he was burned as a young Navy recruit: "Around my privates and under my arms and face and everywhere else," he says. Copyrights 2002-2022 YourLawyer.com. Building 509 at Edgewood Arsenal in Harford County, Maryland was a production facility for the assembly of phosphorus igniter assemblies for incendiary bombs, employing a female staff of about 135 assemblers. hide caption. He filed a federal lawsuit for compensation in 1979, but was unsuccessful because of a legal doctrine that protects the military from being sued for service-related injuries. Josephs enlisted in the military fresh out of high school at the height of the Vietnam War. The plaintiffs collectively referred to themselves as the "Test Vets". In 1968, Tim Josephs was told he would be testing gas masks, boots and other clothing, he said. Each year more of their stories die with them. If you are concerned about exposures during Edgewood/Aberdeen chemical tests, talk to your health care provider or yourlocal environmental health provider. And in 2010, the VA announced it would review 90,000 previously denied Agent Orange claims. He believes the testing hurt him emotionally and stole part of his life. Parker Waichman LLP is offering free lawsuit evaluations to any former soldier who was subjected to medical experimentation at Edgewood Arsenal between 1955 through 1975. Josephs left the service when his three-year tour ended, and he began a career as a real estate agent. Only a small number of all the experiments done during this period involved mustard agents or Lewisite. He filed a federal lawsuit for compensation in 1979, but was unsuccessful because of a legal doctrine that protects the military from being sued for service-related injuries. See Vietnam Veterans II, 811 F.3d at 1076-78 (discussing the Army's failure in its ongoing "duty to warn" Edgewood Arsenal volunteers under AR 70-25), 1080-81 (discussing the Army's failure in its "duty of care" to Edge-wood Arsenal volunteers under AR 70-25); see also Vi-etnam Veterans I, 2013 WL 6092031, at *2 (explaining . 2. Copyright 2023 Military.com. According to CNN, declassified government documents indicated the men were exposed to incapacitating drugs like BZ; or to sarin, an extremely toxic, potentially deadly substance that disrupts the nervous system; or to VX, a liquid neurotoxin considered one of the most dangerous chemicals created. The mustard gas experiments were conducted at a time when American intelligence showed that enemy gas attacks were imminent. Officials say they can't explain why the benefits weren't granted sooner. Hancock said the class action lawsuit led to nearly 10 years of litigation. 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. 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. Medications cost $2,000 a month, which he was paying for out of pocket. "U.S. Navy, Guinea Pig. "But not to get messed up," he continued. 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. The VA created a list of illnesses that are linked to mustard gas exposure such as skin cancer, leukemia and chronic breathing problems. I was stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground and assigned to Edgewood Arsenal, my family and I lived in government quarters just off post in Edgewood and on the arsenal from 1985 -1990 for my family and 1985-89 for myself. He says he tires easily. Of those involved in the experiments: Most of these experiments involved tests of protective equipment and of subjects' ability to perform military tasks during exposure. Statistically, at least one out of a thousand young soldiers chosen at random might be expected to expire during any one-year period. These men aren't polished or rehearsed, and the filmmakers let them have their say, even when things veer into pure speculation. have hearing loss, Anticholinesterase nerve agents (ex., sarin and common organophosphorus (OP), and carbamate pesticides), Nerve agent antidotes atropine and scopolamine, Nerve agent reactivators (ex., the common OP antidote 2-PAM chloride), Psychoactive agents (ex., LSD, PCP, cannaboids, and BZ). Updated ", And "How would you compare this test with the last one?". The MRVP was also driven by intelligence requirements and the need for new and more effective interrogation techniques. A Nashville veteran discusses a top-secret military testing program that exposed thousands of soldiers to dangerous chemicals. By the early 1950s, Edgewood Arsenal, which became part of the larger complex at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, produced numerous biological agents, developed protective equipment and prophylactic treatments, and shaped US combat policy and practice.In the aftermath of WWII tensions between the US and the USSR prompted scientists, military officials, and policy advisors to increase the number of . Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much At the end of the second hour, the officer ordered Cavell back to his barracks and to continue wearing his gas-saturated uniform. The heart of the film is interviews with a group of veterans who participated in the testing program, mostly during the Vietnam War era. He said the group was told they would help test military equipment like gas masks. The National Academy of Sciences, which oversees the IOM, sent a questionnaire to all of the former volunteers that could be located, approximately 60% of the total. After receiving the drug, soldiers were monitored to see if they could do basic tasks like run an obstacle course. The 1945 Edgewood Arsenal explosion killed twelve munitions workers and injured more than fifty on May 25, 1945. I feel like in my heart there's a lot of guys out there that went through the same thing I did," Paul said. In January 2014, an additional request was made for release of multiple films made of Project SHAD tests. Subscribe to the Military.com newsletter to have military news, updates and resources delivered straight to your inbox. 1942-1945: U.S. Navy initiated poisonous Mustard Gas and Lewisite (derivative of arsenic) experiments to test protective clothing and anti-blister ointments at the Naval Research Laboratory and at the Army's Edgewood Arsenal. They gave him such high doses that he in the vernacular, he flipped out. [7][8][9] A concrete result of these experiments was that BZ was weaponized, although never deployed. Please click here for a free evaluation of your claim, Civil/Human Rights Settlements and Legal News, Personal Injury Settlements and Legal News. If a page cannot be made accessible, we will work to make a text version available. If you or someone you love were a victim of these experiments, we urge you to contact Parker Waichman LLP today to protect your legal rights. "This should have been ancient history by now," he told NPR. The committee's understanding is that additional, and potentially relevant, material on SHAD tests exists and remains classified. Cavell then submitted the documents to the VA as proof of his exposure. 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. II. Boxes of medical records his and those of other veterans fill the attic, along with handwritten notes and appeals to the VA. Then, in 1996, Bollinger received a military commendation in the mail. [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". Thank you. For example, certain types of 'psychochemicals' would make it possible to paralyze temporarily entire population centers without damage to homes and other structures. Josephs had volunteered for a two-month assignment at Edgewood, in Maryland, lured by three-day weekends closer to home. [21], On appeal in Vietnam Veterans of America v. Central Intelligence Agency, a panel majority held in July 2015 that Army Regulation 70-25 (AR 70-25) created an independent duty to provide ongoing medical care to veterans who participated in U.S. chemical and biological testing programs. By this logic, Edgewood was possibly the safest military place in the world to spend two months. "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. 1, "Anticholinesterases and Anticholinergics" (1982). To date, these policies have not been applied to World War II vets who were exposed to mustard gas. "For the actual test Private Zadrovney received a high dose of the incapacitating agent," the film's narrator said. 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. Original photo: Courtesy of Charlie Cavell, Left: U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Agency; Right: Naval Research Laboratory. They also compared the relative sensitivity of soldiers, including tests designed to look for racial difference. "I remember him laying up in the bedroom up there," she says. visit VeteransCrisisLine.net for more resources. An officer took him aside. Cavell and five others were told to stay put. Edgewood also hit a roadblock with its field in May of 2020, when the City of . he says. His wife, Irene, remembers how the experiments affected his health for the rest of his life. hide caption. 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. "Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Warfare Agents", Sommer, Harold Z. Krenzer, John Miller, Jacob I. EA 1464 and Related Compounds. If you are concerned about exposures during Edgewood/Aberdeen chemical tests, talk to your health care provider or local VA Environmental Health Coordinator. For 20 years the government tested chemicals on soldiers who were not aware what was being put in their bodies. 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. hide caption, Former CIA Director Porter Goss says the VA has mishandled these claims. The truth about the CIA is quite another story, one that should've been a huge news story a decade ago but gets fully recounted here for anyone who missed the truth the first time. Rochelle, 60, who has come back to live in Onslow county, said in an interview that there were about two dozen volunteers . 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. 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. 7 Jun 2022 Military.com | By James Barber From 1955 to 1975, the Army conducted chemical weapons testing on volunteer soldiers at the Edgewood Arsenal facility in Maryland in pursuit of an. "But we have done everything that we could do, I definitely believe that.". The Edgewood Arsenal human experiments took place from approximately 1948 to 1975 at the Medical Research Laboratories which is now known as the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD) at the Edgewood Area . 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. The club operated from approximately the 1920s until sometime not long after the Arsenal was combined with Aberdeen Proving Ground in 1971. "And that's what I have problems with today. Watching soldiers suffer through delirium and panic attacks while older survivors describe their experiences makes for powerful viewing. The lawsuit detailed how the military secretly tested drugs and chemicals on thousands of soldiers including dangerous nerve gases like Sarin and incapacitating agents like LSD and BZ, that Paul called Benzene. [9] The safety record of the Edgewood Arsenal experiments was also defended in the memoirs of psychiatrist and retired colonel James Ketchum, a key scientist:[18]. 2. 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 . But instead, the military deliberately exposed them to chemical and biological agents. He said, You volunteered for this. There were instances of chemical damages to the car. The experiments involved at least 254 chemical substances, but focused mainly on midspectrum incapacitants, such as LSD, THC derivatives, benzodiazepines, and BZ. 1,073 subjects were exposed to aerosolized CS; 82 subjects had both skin applications and aerosol exposures; and finally. His symptoms vary from day to day. "You can't coordinate anything you know. 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. In 2015, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the Army, and not Veterans Affairs, should provide veterans with medical care related to the testing. Her name is Joy. But when he went to fill out paperwork the morning after his arrival, the base personnel were wearing white lab coats, and Josephs said he had second thoughts. These men make a convincing case that they were not briefed about the risks involved in the program and did not understand the potential for the long-term effects they've endured. "I missed out on so much with my family, not being able to say, when they were little boys, you know, I love them. "It's sobering to hear the words and discussion that was happening about setting this program up," Hancock said. The documentary was produced by Zero Point Zero Production, the production company behind Anthony Bourdain's "Parts Unknown," so there's more visual flash and on-camera time for reporters than PBS viewers might expect. Secret World War II Chemical Experiments Tested Troops By Race. 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. For 20. These irritant chemicals were selected for human testing following preliminary animal studies. The idea was they would test new Army field jackets, clothing, weapons and things of that nature, but no mention of drugs or chemicals.. 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. 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. 2, "Cholinesterase Reactivators, Psychochemicals and Irritants and Vesicants" (1984), Vol. Cheryl Huppertz filed a lawsuit in district court Sept. 28, seeking a writ of mandamus to compel Edgewood to produce public [] From 1955 to 1975, military researchers at Edgewood were using not only animals but human subjects to test a witches brew of drugs and chemicals. Overall, about 7,000 soldiers took part in these experiments that involved exposures to more than 250 different chemicals, according to the Department of Defense (DoD). They deserve that respect and the audience this documentary can bring. A lawsuit brought by a veterans' advocacy group, Vietnam Veterans of America, resulted in the requirement that the Army give medical care to eligible veterans who took part in testing that. This includes receiving medicines or vaccines under the Armys investigational drug review. They based that conclusion on the same information that had been sitting in his VA file for decades. I was a MRVP at Edgewood Arsenal Chemical in 1964/1965. It concluded that "Whether the subjects at Edgewood incurred these changes [depression, cognitive deficits, tendency to suicide] and to what extent they might now show these effects are not known". Josephs applied for veterans benefits based on chemical exposure at Edgewood. [1] The experiments were abruptly terminated by the Army in late 1975 amidst an atmosphere of scandal and recrimination as lawmakers accused researchers of questionable ethics. After a stint at a defense company in Tennessee, Carl Gepp got a job in 1965 as an engineer working on the Honest John missile back at the Edgewood Arsenal. But now he just wants people to know what he and others endured. Schnurman, who died in 2013 when he was 87, had suffered debilitating injuries after being tested at the U.S. A third type of test exposed troops to gas outdoors in simulated combat settings. Parker Waichman LLP is investigating secret medical experiments that were conducted on U.S. soldiers from 1955 to 1975 at the U.S. Armys Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. CampBell's lawsuit seeks to remove Sherry Abraham from office . There is no VA environmental health registry associated with Edgewood/Aberdeen chemical tests. However, much of that flash comes from recordings made during the actual experiments. A previous version of this story misidentified Nat Schnurman's wife. They decided to live in the country. 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
In total, Army documents identified 7,120 Army and Air Force personnel who participated in these tests. Read the secret (now unclassified) Army document revealing BZ tests on soldiers (PDF). The Edgewood Arsenal Rod and Gun Club was a club that included U.S. Army officers and Department of the Army civilian personnel stationed at the Arsenal as well as their families and guests. Mr. Zekowski is always on top of his game. Erspamer said Josephs probably received an injection of sarin or another nerve gas, because the records show that he received the drug P2S on February 1, 1968, to treat organophosphate poisoning.. [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. And it just goes on for years and years, and they just want to wear us down. Schnurman and his. Two autobiographical books from psychiatrists conducting human experiments at Edgewood have been self-published: Journalist Linda Hunt, citing records from the. "The word got around they were looking for volunteers for testing," Paul said. A Government Accounting Office report of May 2004, Chemical and Biological Defense: DOD Needs to Continue to Collect and Provide Information on Tests and Potentially Exposed Personnel (pp. From Edgewood, Josephs said he went to an Army installation in Georgia, where he experienced tremors so severe, he had to be admitted to the base hospital and given muscle relaxers. 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". It claimed "no significant health effects have been observed" in those who were tested. In the midst of the Cold War, the military was concerned chemical agents could be used against U.S. soldiers. Others were locked in gas chambers, like Cavell. hide caption, When the story broke, VA Deputy Secretary Anthony Principi appeared on 60 Minutes, in 1991, to explain how the agency would respond to men who were injured in the tests: "They should be praised for what they did," Principi said on the CBS News program. Josephs says he now takes two dozen pills daily. Sometimes, he has trouble swallowing. The whole thing stinks, and if the American people knew about it, they would not tolerate it. Around 7,000 US military personnel and 1,000 civilians were test subjects over almost three decades. VA decides these claims on a case-by-case basis.