Cases of cancer, bronchitis and other breathing issues have been documented in veterans who served at a classified military compound that inspected secretly-obtained Soviet fighter jets.
Hundreds of veterans of the US Armed Forces have been sickened after being stationed at a top secret base in the Nevada desert, but the confidential nature of their work there has prevented them from receiving benefits for their health conditions.
US media documented the story of one such former servicemember, who worked at an installation sometimes called Area 52.
“It scarred my lungs,” said Mark Ely, a 63-year-old retired Air Force technician. “I got cysts on my liver… I started having lipomas, tumors inside my body I had to remove. My lining in my bladder was shed.”
For years the United States conducted extensive nuclear testing near the secret base.
A 1975 federal report acknowledged that toxic radioactive dust scattered throughout the area posed a risk to people stationed nearby, but government analysts concluded nuclear testing should continue.
“Discontinuing the work done at the Range would be against the national interest,” concluded the assessment. “The Range could in principle be decommissioned, but the cost would be great… Shutting the Range down or moving its operations elsewhere would also have an adverse impact on the economy of the Tonopah area.”
“The environmental costs inherent in the work are small and reasonable for the benefits received.”
Some $25.7 billion in health benefits have been allocated to employees of the US Department of Energy and other federal agencies who were stationed in the area. But the work of Ely and other military veterans is excluded from service records, meaning they cannot prove they were present at Area 52.
“It makes me incredibly mad and it hurts me too because they’re supposed to have my back,” said Ely. “I had theirs and I want them to have mine.”
It could be nuclear radiation but also it could be the result of burning the top-secret coating from the stealth fighter. The excess unused coating from the F117 Night Hawk stealth fighter was burned in open pits whilst people were standing around when the stealth was being developed. Of course, this was years ago: The stealth started as project ‘Have Blue’ in 1976 and was only disclosed (and shown) publicly in Gulf War 1 in early 1991. If I remember correctly, the Saudis called it “Shaba’ or “Ghost’.
With the secrecy surrounding these areas one could never prove in a court of law what happened. Essentially, you lose all your constitutional rights when you work in these types of projects and areas. If you try to say what happened to the civil authorities, then they will ’86’ you: 80 miles out in the desert and 6 feet under.
Any U.S. Veteran reading this and who is affected / suffering by this and other similar scenarios should contact the Law Offices of Chisholm, Chisholm & Kilpatrick in Providence, Rhode Island USA.
00-1-401-331-6300 extension 102.
& BTW- if you’re a U.S. Service-Connected Disabled Veteran living in New Zealand, your Veterans Disability *COMPENSATION (*NOT a ‘Pension’) is tax-free on both sides of the Pacific as per the Dual Tax Agreement between the U.S. & N.Z..
If you are now a NZ Citizen and automatically relinquished US Citizenship when you took your NZ Oath / Affirmation to the Head of State of New Zealand, you are still legally able to receive your Veterans Compensation, as these are proven ENTITLEMENTS for services rendered to the U.S. Armed Forces, which one does not relinquish and are not stopped irregardless of the change in nationality!
U.S. Social Security also does not get cancelled when you become a Kiwi, as you worked for this during your time of employment in the U.S. and are ENTITLED to the same!