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LtCol Robert Quinter
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The significance of the LeJeune situation far exceeds the millions of personnel cited in the CBS report. A similiar situation was publicized were the Naval fuel storage facilities in Hawaii were contaminating the water system. We continually read of our road, electrical, water and other infrastructure being aged and requiring investment of inestimable dollars to renovate.
The fact is, most of our industrial and infrastructure on bases and other government facilities were developed during WWII and Viet Nam and reflect the standards of those days compromised by deterioration that comes with age. While literally billions of dollars are spent on maintenance and upgrading of those facilities each year, the projects are insignificant when compared to potential modernization requirements to bring the systems up to modern standards.
While current discussions center on LeJeune, and now Hawaii, there is no reason to believe that most other military installations aren't subject to the same problems with the potential of having impacted the lives of billions of military members and their families. I don't subscribe to most theories that the government intentionally avoids such situations, but I do feel that recognition of the costs associated with remediation of these problems, and reimbursement for medical harm to the people effected would make the EPA Superfund look like petty cash and is so large that most involved can't wrap their mind around the costs.
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SSG Byron Howard Sr
3
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I think so. I think they have people who have no idea what they are reading rejecting the claims.
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SGT Unit Supply Specialist
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"Nearly two dozen veterans came forward after a CBS News story about children sickened at Camp Lejeune, describing a broken Veterans Affairs claims system. A CBS News investigation found doctors who lacked expertise in relevant medical fields and veterans who spent years in the appeals process.

The U.S. government acknowledges that from 1953 to 1987, nearly a million veterans and civilians were potentially exposed to dangerous chemicals in the drinking water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. In some areas, levels were 400 times what safety standards allowed.

Dave Metzler spent 34 months at Camp Lejeune in the late 1950s. He got out of the Marines as a sergeant in 1959, and a year later, he started having problems with his balance and stumbling — and then he lost his hearing, said his daughter, Patty Metzler."...
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