Did you participate in medical testing 1942 - 1975?

1LT Sandy Annala Great find and presenting it on RP is a good start to help locate personnel who were involved. Thanks.

Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention 1LT Sandy Annala

I guess we did unintentionally. Back in the day, every recruit got 200M IU Bicillin in the hip. Problem was if you were allergic to the stuff, it'd kill you. The Catch-22 was you had to know you were allergic and there were always some who never had it before. They'd lose 2-3 a year at Great Lakes. Given the expense of pre testing, lab work, etc. 2-3 was an acceptable loss. Hell of an allergy test.

My Dad developed a rash above the waist later in his life. The Doc thought it was a chemical burn and Dad said it made sense as they tested mustard gas on him in WW2. He filed a claim with VA which was summarily denied. He then got the box out of the attic which had pictures of him and a couple buddies standing by the command sign for the Chemical Warfare Testing Unit, Great Lakes. Sailors were offered $5/month more if they volunteered which was a lot of money. My Dad was told to take the money or be sent to Iceland. Anyways, he copied all the records and sent them to Barbara Boxer, US Senator, who then slammed VA. Within a couple of months, he started getting a nominal payment for tinnitus. VA still refused to acknowledge chemical testing on their troops.

It's interesting to note that this didn't gain any real traction until it became a social justice issue claiming minorities were the target. Likely, but the way my Dad described what was going on, it was pretty colorblind at Great Lakes.