Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Open Letter to the new 110th Congress

Most veterans as well as most Americans are expecting you to return to Capitol Hill, a missing piece of the congressional process OVERSIGHT we have all heard the campaign promises, now it is time for the real deal, ACTION we expect it and we DEMAND it.

We the citizens of this nation have paid the price of the "Contract on America" that Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay delivered and enforced, and we and our grandchildren will be paying for it for decades, now we need you to fix it, for all of us, every American and even the world, the conduct of this nation has been less than stellar for the past five years. We need to return to having a credible voice in world affairs.

I am a disabled veteran, 100% Permanent and Total, there is no surgery that can fix my problems, I am on a medicate until death regimen. What caused it? I feel it was my use in a program related to MKULTRA at Edgewood Arsenal in 1974, I like 7119 other Army and Air Force enlisted personnel had volunteered to test equipment and unifroms for the battlefield of the future and we were lied to by the recruiters for the DOD/CIA program. http://www.nap.edu/books/030904832X/... As you can see the Department of the Army's Inspector General found they were breaking international law, and after Congress learned of it, the program of human testing was stopped.

But by then the damage was done as shown by this report from the IOM http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3795/4913/584... it shows that as of FY2000, that 40% of the men, 2098 were deceased, and that 54% of the survivors were disabled, yet the report never stated why, was that to embarassing to the Department of Defense or to the CIA.

We like most veterans do not care what was the "actual" cause of our injuries, we want the "Promise" of this nation that is made to all of it's citizens when they join the military, "that if anything happens to you while on duty, we will take care of you and your family" I am sorry to say that DOD and the VA have worked in colusion to deny these 7120 veterans and their widows, the benefits they have earned by participation in the human experiments at Edgewood Arsenal.

We veterans do know that our best advocate Congressman Lane Evans retired this year due to medical conditions and he will surely be missed, we do anticipate another great Congressman Bob Filner to be named as the Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, and we are confident he will demand accountability from the VA for all veterans, not just the Edgewood veterans.

The new veterans being caused by Iraq and Afghanistan are coming back to a healthcare system ill prepared for the influx of PTSD cases, traumatic brain injuries that will require a lifetime of specialized care, expensive care, with attendants and special needs.

We hope that THIS Congress will see to it, that the VA healthcare becomes more on the lines of the Medicare Program, if the veterans need it they get it, no more partially funded, dollar restricted management, sorry no surgery for you no money until the next fiscal year, that is not good enough, pass the Fully funded healthcare this year, give the veterans what they have earned, RESPECT, and the treatment that goes with it.

This manual shows that the VA addressed the issue of the veterans used in the experiments from WW2 thru the end of the Cold War in this manual, yet they refuse to process the claims of the Edgewood veterans, why? http://www1.va.gov/vhi/docs/CBR_www.pdf I would also like to point out that this manual was written six months after the release of the March 2003 IOM Sarin report, why weren't those results included in this manual? Again to embarassing?

I was recently honored by one of the communities best diarists OPOL here by the mention of my name and a link to one of my diaries about MKULTRA http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1... all I can say to OPOL is SALUTE you are one fine American.

In closing, I as many other Americans want is for Congress to do the job you were elected to do, the people's buesiness, not corporations with lot's of money for lobbyists, take care of us the average American, healthcare for all, a fair tax program, protect Social Security, pension programs, give us a reason to trust Congress again, is that to much to ask?

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Future of Veterans and Military Care? a prototype

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123032688

by Master Sgt. Kimberly Spencer
59th Medical Wing Public Affairs

11/24/2006 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- As the sound of sledge hammers swinging and bulldozers running fades, a new state-of-the-art medical facility on the north side of San Antonio is poised to open its doors.

The new North Central Federal Clinic, the first Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense venture using joint leadership and staffing, is scheduled to open Dec. 4

"The congressionally approved facility was chosen after a federal competition, and is a jewel in the crown for both federal agencies and a test bed receiving national recognition," said Maj. Eric Peipelman, the 59th Medical Wing project manager. "The clinic will provide pharmacy, radiology, laboratory and optometry services for those enrolled."

"We have several other facilities throughout the United States that are working toward the same goal we have achieved here," said Mark Goldstein with the South Texas Veterans Health Care System.

The clinic is designed to improve access to medial care for VA and DOD beneficiaries living on the north side of San Antonio. Currently those Air Force beneficiaries must drive across town to Wilford Hall Medical Center on the south side of the city on Lackland Air Force Base.

"The Air Force and the VA are both extremely excited to bring our quality care close to our patients living on the north side of San Antonio," said Brig. Gen. (Dr.) David Young, 59th Medical Wing commander. "This innovative partnership to improve healthcare will provide improved access to services for these beneficiaries."

Approximately 5,600 Wilford Hall patients have been identified and notified as those who would benefit the most from being seen at the NCFC. Officials looked at active duty dependents, retirees and retiree family members, enrolled in TRICARE Prime, who live in the north central San Antonio area. These individuals were then assessed by their medical needs and the level of services available at the NCFC.

The NCFC currently won't be open to active duty personnel. Active duty personnel will continue to be seen at their current care locations.

"Enrollment currently has been maximized," said Major Peipelman. "However, we will be looking at demand in the area and considering options over the next six months, such as active duty sick call, to increase access if demand warrants."

Hospital officials, along with congressional and federal leaders, will be following the success of the clinic closely for consideration for other joint facilities to begin using joint leadership and staffing.

How veterans can get copies of "lost" documents

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-papers25nov25,1,1344383.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true the Lost documents slow veterans' access to benefits LA Times ran an excellent article here for the purpose of showing the need for replacing your seperation papers commoningly known as a DD-214


Almost a million a year ask federal officials about retrieving papers they need to apply for valuable aid. Now forms are available online.
By Diane C. Lade, South Florida Sun Sentinel
November 25, 2006


FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — Harold Brewster certainly earned the right to veterans benefits. He was aboard the battleship New Mexico when a kamikaze pilot slammed into its bridge, killing its commanding officer and 29 crew members during World War II.

But when the former sailor now living in Boca Raton asked about the free plots that would be available to veterans in the new South Florida National Cemetery, he found out he needed documents that had been lost years before. Brewster's military papers and five medals were taken when his household belongings were stolen 10 years ago.

"I didn't know what we were going to do," said Brewster, 80.

Almost a million veterans a year ask federal officials about retrieving lost military documents, papers they need to apply for valuable veterans benefits like housing loans and low-cost healthcare.

The process now can be expedited by applying online. But some veterans and their families still find it cumbersome and confusing.

"Most people don't have the ability to do it on their own," said Floyd White, section manager with Broward County Elderly and Veterans Services.

At least one veteran a week comes into the office for help replacing lost papers, White said.

Brewster's family turned to the Mae Volen Senior Center in Boca Raton, where Brewster goes for activities and lunch.

Administrative assistant Grace Ginsberg pulled up the forms online and, within a few months, had the papers, as well as replacements for the medals.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

CBS, NUMB3RS show BRUTUS Nov 24 2006

Do you want to talk about fictional reality. I was told about the show's premise by my friend Jeff, asked me if I knew anything about the show, yes I have heard of it, and seen some parts of different episodes while channel surfing, but I can not claim I am a fan. Well after he told me last nights show mentioned MKULTRA, I had to find it and watch it, you all know me, a glutton for punishment. I went to CBS website and found the homepage of NUMB3RS and found the links to past episodes and located BRUTUS, I had to watch it twice to really comprehend it, the plot, the MKULTRA program the sub programs within it, etc, all to real, the only distortion is the fact they portrayed the government as paying Army retirement checks to us, nothing could be farther from the truth, the VA will not even process our claims for medical problems related to Edgewood Arsenal and MKULTRA. Here is a link to the website to view the episode click on BRUTUS it's all TO REAL http://www.cbs.com/innertube/player.php?cat=115576&vid=&format=&auto=1

Thursday, November 23, 2006

open letter to Mike Barnicle of MSNBC

Mr Barnicle, I have watched many of your interchanges with Joe Scarborough and know you are a thoughtful man. I just was watching you all speculate about the hatred between Rumsfeld and Bush 41.

I know where part of the bodies are buried in this mess, as I am one of them. It does go back to Rumsfeld and Cheney pushing George H.W. Bush to China and then they arranged for his post at the CIA where he had to help clean up the fall out from Cheney/Rumsfeld and the Ford-Nixon involvement in the human experiments using enlisted men at Edgewood Arsenal in chemical weapons and drugs like PCP, LSD and other such nice stuff, 254 substances in all.

Cheney had helped the CIA coverup the death of Frank Olson in New York in 1953, he worked for the CIA at Fort Detrick in the Special Operations Division (SOD) under Dr Sidney Gottlieb. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Gottlieb let's just say he died in strange circumstances in November 1953, in 1975 the Ford Administration (Dick Cheney) arranged with then CIA Director William Colby a meeting with Mrs Olson and her sons, where he issued an apology by the Agency and a large sum of money was paid to the family 22 years after the death of Doctor Olson.

All the time this was ongoing the Department of the Army IG office had released this report on human experimentation which was controlled by Gottlieb and SOD at Edgewood Arsenal and it determined the CIA and the Army had been violating the Nuremberg Codes of 1947
http://www.nap.edu/books/030904832X/html/378.html this involved enlisted Army and Air Force soldiers from 1953 thru 1975. The Army Chief of Staff and the CIA Director William Colby fell on their swords for the Ford Administration and apologized to the public for their role in the human experiments.

What was not known at the time was the involvement of the German Doctors and Scientists snuck into the US by the Ghelen Organization and the OSS/CIA as later shown by Linda Hunt in a book titled Secret Agenda: Operation Paperclip, the same Germans who had worked with or for Dr Menegele and or Doctor Strughold had been put at Edgewood Arsenal to continue the experiments began at the camps of WW2 Germany. How would the American public felt about this less than 30 years after the trials at Nuremberg for this very same thing?

So as the Chief of Staff Dick Cheney got the heat off the of the White House since President Ford had inherited the program from President Nixon. Yet while Secretary of the Defense Donald Rumsfeld had been an active participant in the continuation of the human experiments of America's soldiers, first as the White House Chief of Staff for Ford, whom Cheney was the right hand man, thus elevating him to the spot when Ford nominated Rumsfeld for Secretary of Defense in 1975, which then again brought George H W Bush back into the US as the new CIA Director to replace the now disgraced and humiliated William Colby by the Olson and the human experiments and the violations of the Nuremberg Codes of 1947.

You will notice in all of this Donald Rumsfeld never apologized for the role DOD had played in the financing and protection of the secrecy of this program at the Army's chemical Arsenal at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland a small very well protected piece of Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Rumsfeld just kept quiet while the mess blew over in Congress.

The Congressional investigations into this in 1975 and 1976 were extensive but somehow Rumsfeld avoided the finger being pointed at him. However he had sat on the Cabinet of Nixon as the head of the Office of Economic Opportunity, where he first met Dick Cheney whom he soon learned to admire his work ethic and standards and loyalty, so when Ford tapped him to be Chief of Staff in August 1974, he quickly brought Cheney into the West Wing with him. His work on the Olson settlement soon showed why he valued him....http://www.frankolsonproject.org/Articles/Steinberg-Cheney.pdf there are many points of Cheney's use to President Ford and Chief of Staff Rumsfeld in the Olson Family handling by the White House and CIA in 1975. Even copies of Memo's with Cheney's name and initials all over them.

They then had President Ford appoint George H.W. Bush to head the CIA where he had to help in the cover-up of the Olson mess and the use of soldiers in the human experiments and the continued cover-up of the Nazi doctors and scientists, who by the way have continued to be protected by the CIA until Senator Mike Dewine of Ohio forced CIA Director Porter Goss in Feb 2005 to open all the old OSS/CIA files pertaining to the Nazis by threatening to take him before an open Senate hearing and requesting the information publicly, the threat worked and the files were opened to the working group and all the information is due to be released in Feb 2007 http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/issues/2005/0504/0504nhc2.cfm last paragraph deals with it.

Why is this relevant to the issue's of today? Did we not just go to war with Saddam over the WMD issue and when that argument fell by the wayside, did not VP Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld go to the Saddam used weapons of mass destruction on his own people, the Kurds?

The problem I have with that argument coming from these two men, is I feel using chemical weapons and illegal drugs on your own soldiers to be a far more serious offense, especially since it was done knowingly violating the Nuremberg Codes of 1947, than to use chemical weapons provided by President Reagan's middle east envoy, none other than Donald Rumsfeld arranged for the sale of these materials in this now famous photo

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/press.htm photo is dated 1983 the Kurds died in 1988

In my opinion the acts of Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney are far more harmful to the United States of America, than anything Saddam Hussein has done to us. President Bush 41 knew containment of Saddam in the aftermath of the first Gulf war, was the best way to deal with Iraq, in the period following the first Gulf War, in which I served in the Army by the way.

Now why do the human experiments matter to Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld now three decades later and the relevance to today. The federal government despite the numerous investigations over the years, the VP Nelson Rockefeller Commission 1975, The Church Commission 1976, the National Academies of Science report Veterans at Risk 1993, and the Rockefeller Commission 1994 on human experimentation with a primary focus on radiation experiments, but the Edgewood experiements are again brought up in these hearings and investigations.

They the DOD and the Veterans Administration have never bothered to find these men used from 1955 thru 1975 to find out if they are healthy, except one badly put together health survey in 1985. They don't have a clue how they fared health wise, death rates, disabilities, nothing, out of sight out of mind, 7120 men as shown by the records.

It is not until after the first Gulf War and the destruction of the ammunition depot at Kamisayah, Iraq where the US Army destruction of Iraqi weapons released Sarin Gas, mustard agents, and other weapons into the desert winds to be spread all over the Arabian Peninsula. Now the US Government needs to learn how these exposures are going to effect the 500,000 US soldiers in the theater of operations. The only known group of men exposed to chemical weapons is the Edgewood Arsenal test veterans from 1955 thru 1975.

DOD awarded a contract to the Institute of Medicine to do the study in 1996, but they already know from previous health studies about chemical weapons that this study has to be carefully crafted on what to look for and what to ignore. S it took them until FY 2000 before the study was crafted and sent out. They hired a third party to gather the data a company called Roncha, Schnullman of New York, they rented an office in Silver Springs, Maryland to do the study gathering from the IRS, Social Security and the Veterans Administration, they sent me a letter to every rank I ever held in the Army E1, E2, E3, E4, E5 and E6 Staff Sergeant to my offical IRS record my PO Box in Augusta Georgia at the time.

It was a very extensive health study, it covered all the main body systems, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, cardiovasluar and the emphasis was on nuerological, the other questions were buried in "optional data" the focus was nuero symptoms. The trouble with this report it found medical problems no other chemical weapons study ever done before had found and there are not many of them here they are
Toxicity of the Organophosphate Chemical Warfare Agents GA, GB, and VX: Implic this was done by the US National Institutes of health in 1994 and then this one done by a German Doctor Karl Heinz Lohs in 1975 based on Wermacht soldiers of WW2 that worked with chemical weapons http://www.sipri.org/contents/cbwarfare/Publications/pdfs/cw-delayed.pdf if you are interested in Vietnam they have an interesting page about a defoliant used there on page 19, it woud be years before American scientists addressed Agent Orange.

Doctor Pages March 2003 IOM study is here, it is far more interesting in reading between the lines of what it doesn't say, than in what it does say, how ever you have to know what to look for. http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/5/844/MilitaryMedicineSarin2003.pdf the study comes to two medical conclusions, a high rate of sleep disorders and 25 cases of brain tumors per 100,000 personnel (a fact no other study has ever found) it ignores all the known issues of the other two studies, pulmonary issues, cardiovascular and gastorinetstinal, why?

The facts from the Veteran Affairs web site show us there are 618,000 Gulf War era veterans drawing service connected compensation for medical problems that range all over the body, pulmonary, cardiovascular, gastorintestinal and nuerological as the NIH 1994 study and the 1975 SIPRI study show, which would explain the "undiagnosed illnesses" from Gulf War one.

The report states as facts that using the IRS, VA and Social Security data bases they could not find 2098 men aged 45 thru 65 in FY 2000, one can only presume they are deceased, men that age are either paying taxes or drawing government benefits, that is 40% of the 7120 men used.

Of the 4022 survivors they were able to find and get medical information from 54% of them or approximately 2200 men reported being disabled, yet the report never states what has caused the disabilities, why? If they connect the other main body systems to chemical weapon exposure does that make the federal government liable for nearly 618,000 totally disabled soldiers who they are now denying 100% bebefits to, and denying their families medical care and or college benefits?

The VA had a Doctor Susan Mathers testify to a congressional committee on March 10, 1993 that the VA would find the Edgewood Arsenal test veterans from WW2 and the Cold War and get them medical care and or compensation, it was never done. In October 2003 the VA Health Initiative released this manual co-written by Dr Susan Mathers about the human experiments from WW2 and the Cold War, they were already in possession of the March 2003 IOM report and the fact that 74.43% of the veterans were dead or disabled, yet the manual never mentioned it, why? http://www1.va.gov//vhi/docs/CBR_www.pdf

In April 2005 Congressmen Lane Evans and Ted Strickland now Governor elect of Ohio, sent VA Secretary James Nicholson a letter with the names and service numbers of the 7120 men of Edgewood Arsenal's chemical weapons and drug experiments and the names of the 2100 men used at Fort Detrick Maryland in the biological experiments asking him to use the VA's access to the IRS, VA and SS databases to find these veterans and or their widows to determine if they were entitled to benfits as a result of their use in the classified experiments during the Cold War, the letter was sent on April 28 2005 here is the link http://veterans.house.gov/democratic/officialcorr/4-28-05exposure.htm on October 5 2005 Secretary Nicholson sent this reply letter to them, he had found a way to help Donald Rumsfeld bury this information again, he sent it to the Pentagon and put it back under Rumsfelds control in the office of DHSD http://veterans.house.gov/democratic/officialcorr/pdf/10-5-05arsenal.pdf where in 2004 the DOD had already told the GAO in this report that they would not be able to find the men of Edgewood Arsenal until 2009 as shown on page 24 of 42 http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04410.pdf

It would be very embarasing to Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and President Bush to have to admit to the American public that they used and abused soldiers in illegal experiments in the 1970's, then have deliberately denied them and their widows their benefits while taking this nation to war over chemical weapons used by Saddam.

Of course Bush 41 hates Rumsfeld, look at the damn mess he has left Bush 43 in, if this becomes public information, Cheney and Rumsfeld should be charged for conspiracy and Nicholson also for denying veterans and widows their just due benefits. All to protect their own reputations.

I understand fully why Bush 43 dislikes Rumsfeld, what I don't understand is why he ever liked Cheney?

Mike Bailey a disabled Staff Sergeant test vet 6778A Edgewood Arsenal June 25 1974 thru August 22 1974

a picture of me at age 18 while doing an experiment at Edgewood http://www.thewhyfiles.net/images/edgewood03.jpg it was in the 1992 A&E documentary Badtrip to Edgewood http://www.propagandamatrix.com/multimedia/badtripto_edgewood.html

Then there is the issue of the soldiers used in the experiments

I have 4 years of government documents and research to back this up I will send you a copy of a letter to the VA Senate Committee next


Mr. Bailey:



Thanks for sending this. You have raised very serious and, I believe, very legitimate concerns. I have forwarded your email to the health policy staff on the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, as well as to an official within the VA, and have asked them to review it.



My hope is that others reading your email will take the issues you raised seriously and work to provide satisfactory answers.



Sincerely,



Jeff Schrade, Communications Director

U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Direct: 202-224-9093

http://veterans.senate.gov


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: TESTVET@aol.com [mailto:TESTVET@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 4:42 PM
To: Schrade, Jeff (Veterans Affairs); John.Conyers@mail.house.gov; len.sistek@mail.house.gov; piegan3@hur.midco.net; rweidman@vva.org; sharon.schultze@mail.house.gov; tomsegel@joimail.com; William.McLemore@mail.va.gov
Subject: the federal governments failure to honestly assess the health problems



of the veterans used at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland and Fort Detrick, Maryland from 1952 thru 1975, in the chemical weapons and drug experiments primarily at Edgewood and the biological weapons experiments at Fort Detrick.



I realize I am beginning to sound like a broken record, yet after 31 years, nothing is being done to help these veterans or their widows, why?



About two weeks ago the Veterans Affairs Department released these two documents, filled with incorrect information why? http://www1.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=1464 dated 14 August 2006 and http://www1.va.gov/EnvironAgents/docs/Fact_Sheet_Edgewood-aberdeen_Chemical_Agent_Experiments_Information_Paper.pdf Unknown release date.



No one has yet addressed the fact that the IOM has the names and addresses of the 7120 veterans used at Edgewood Arsenal, despite DOD's allegations they will be unable to find these veterans before 2009, Rick Erdtman 202-334-1925 of the IOM has stated that as soon as DOD authorizes him to release the data to the VA, he will do so, that he has been in possession of this data since FY2000, after the private contractor Ronca, Schullman etc. had contacted the veterans of Edgewood for the health study that the March 2003 IOM report http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3795/4913/5842.aspx . This report showed that 2098 of the veterans could not be found using IRS, VA and SS files, one can only assume they are deceased, men aged 45-65 years of age are either paying SS taxes, drawing SS or SSD checks or paying income taxes, or being seem at VA hospitals, they don't just disappear. That is 40% of the entire group of veterans used in the experiments.



The study also states in the fine print that of the 4022 surviving veterans that 54% of them are disabled, yet the study does not explain what caused these disabilities, again why?

The study seemed to have a very narrow focus, just Sarin exposures, yet mustard agents were released at Kamisayah Iraq in March 1991 also, why weren't these health effects studied? Why hasn't the government done more to study the long term health effects of the veterans used in the tests at Edgewood especially in lieu of the fact that this EPA report shows about 100 toxic chemicals found in the drinking water, ground water and soil of Edgewood Arsenal in 1978 and the EPA ordered the drinking water wells capped for the base and town of Edgewood, Maryland as the aquifer where they drew their water was also contaminated? http://cfpub1.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/ccontinfo.cfm?id=0300421 the first four chemicals on the list show long term cardiac effects and I was so disgusted I quit looking at the CDC site http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp39-c2.pdf atsdr at CDC will show all the health effects of these toxic chemicals yet, DOD nor the Army ever contacted the veterans assigned to Edgewood Arsenal to warn them of the hazards of their exposures thru environmental causes, since this list became known to them in 1978, why?



When claims are made thru the Veterans Affairs claim process, they refuse to address the issue of the Edgewood experiments, when forced to they have lied to me, about me, denied I was ever there, then claimed I was taken ill and sent home before the tests ever began, yet I have the documents to prove I was there from 25 June 1974 thru 22 August 1974 when I was released from the test program. The government then claimed I was only used in a radio listening test, then this picture of me was found after that, and this does not look like a radio, does it?



In spite of the governments continued lack of honesty about the test program, the failure to properly handle the claims made thru the VA, myself and the other "test veterans" I am in contact with trust that one day our government will "find" us as they claim they are trying to do. I have the names and e mail addresses of 11 other veterans used at Edgewood, we all have the same problems, we are all disabled and the VA will not address our medical issues in the claims process.



We have tried to use, elected officials, the VA itself, the Army, everyone that we can think of, yet no one will deal openly and honestly with us about this problem, why?



We 7120 men were promised the "Soldier's Medal" for risking our health to tests the "gas masks and battlefield uniforms" of the future. The Army did not keep their promise of the medals, they awarded medals to DR Van Sim and DR Siddell, from DOD for using us in these experiments, they even named a learning center building in honor of DR Siddell at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in 2002 for his work, using us as human test subjects.

Yet, the soldiers who laid it on the line, were deprived even as much as an Army Commendation Medal, let alone the promised Soldier's Medal, now to be deprived of our veterans benefits, because of the failure of our VA system and DOD to properly handle this, it is becoming to hard to trust, that the government will ever help us let alone make right, the last 31 years of ignoring us and or our widows.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/6/102919/7467


Since Mike Barnicle and Chris Matthews were trying to figure out why Bush 41 does not get alone with Donald Rumsfeld, this MIGHT be part of it, it does have the possibility of leaving Junior left hanging in the wind for Cheney/Rumsfled's youthful indiscretions.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

General Wesley Clark the right choice for 08




I have been an ardent fan of General Wesley Clark since I first met him as a SSG at Fort Irwin Cailfornia when he was a Colonel, my admiration has only grown since those first days. I am proud to support him and urge him to annouce his intent to run as the next President for America, so we can back to being Americans, instead of Red or Blue Americans, we have spent the past 50+ years. trying to get rid of color barriers, Rove and the Neocons have spent the past 6 years recreating color barriers.

The General is the man that can lead us past this and back to world prominence.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Eric Muth, a 1958 Edgewood Veteran

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1347&dept_id=432990&newsid=17476068&PAG=461&rfi=9

Retired optician Eric Muth Considered a Military 'Hero'




MANNY STRUMPF, Correspondent November 16, 2006

To those who know Eric Muth and frequented his business, Park Lane Opticians in downtown Milford, he is a hard-working entrepreneur whose reputation extends from Broad Street throughout New Haven and Fairfield counties, the Naugatuck Valley and beyond.

Ophthalmologists throughout southern Connecticut frequently referred their patients to him for eyeglasses because of his honesty and professionalism.

However, few, if any, of Muth's customers and friends, or the physicians who referred patients to him, were ever aware of the physical sacrifices Muth made for this country during his military career in the late 1950s.

His pursuits following the military have been varied. In addition to owning and operating the successful optical business that he purchased in 1979 from his mentor and former employer, Ernest Smith, Muth wrote two textbooks that became standard texts in colleges and universities from coast to coast. He also contributed numerous articles to professional journals here and abroad.

When he retired and sold Park Lane Opticians in 2002, he donated his collection of close to 1,000 antique and rare eyeglasses - some of which had belonged to noted individuals and some that dated back to the 18th century -to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and other museums in the United States and Europe.

As a businessman, Muth also was innovative. At one time there were three opticians in downtown Milford, but Muth eventually purchased a competitor's business on River Street, and the other closed after 17 years.

Putting himself at risk

Before the business world, military life absorbed Muth. His aforementioned sacrifices resulted from his volunteering to become a "victim" of government experiments on brainwashing techniques, both physical and chemical.

These experiments were authorized by the Department of Defense, orchestrated by Army Intelligence, funded by the CIA and conducted by the Army Chemical Corps, according to Muth. The programs and experiments were so risky that several of the 250 men who were test subjects died.

"I was one of the fortunate ones who was able to lead a normal life, raise normal children and enjoy my career and family, although I have permanent physical disabilities that are attributable to my military career," Muth said, though he declined to specify or elaborate on those disabilities.

Muth received an honorable discharge from the Army in 1959. The experiments were so secret, however, that it wasn't until the spring of 2004, some 45 years later, that a former high-ranking government official who participated in administration of these experiments acknowledged his contributions.

A commendation

Colonel Albert Dreisbach, director of medical research at the U.S. Army Chemical Warfare Laboratories in Maryland, wrote the following to then-Private Muth in June 1958:

"I wish to thank you and express my appreciation for your participation in the military volunteer research program conducted by this Directorate. You have successfully completed all phases of the experiments to which you subjected yourself. The results of these experiments were of a critical nature and highly important to this Directorate and to the Chemical Corps.

"You volunteered with the understanding that no consideration of any sort would be granted for this service. Your cooperativeness and performance of duties while acting as a subject are duly recognized and appreciated.

"You are hereby commended for exposing yourself to the experiments above and beyond the call of duty. Your performance and behavior are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service."

Forty years later, on July 2, 1998, the Rev. Albert Dreisbach Jr. of East Point, Ga., Col. Dreisbach's son, wrote to then-Sen. Max Cleland that "...years after my father's death, I learned that he had sought psychiatric counsel to deal with the internal conflict resulting from his oath as an officer to follow orders versus his previous oath as a doctor of medicine with regard to the research on human beings conducted at Edgewood under his command.

"As I began to recall some of our conversations after I had been discharged as an artillery officer in the Marine Corps and ordained as an Episcopal priest, I remember his discussing tests on a U.S. Army artillery battery at Fort Bragg, N.C., wherein LSD was introduced into the water supply of that unit to see what effect it might have on impairing the functional ability of those troops. He went on to say that he could not discuss same with me at the time because such information was then classified. The time period of this discussion was in the early '60s when LSD was the drug choice of hippies.

"...Regretfully, through the years, I have learned that the government, which I was raised to respect, serve and defend, has not always been truthful in its dealings with its citizenry. While I understand and respect the need for secrecy in the interest of national security, I also have a personal and professional commitment to ethics and justice.

"It is my belief that Mr. Eric Muth as a volunteer put his life at risk above and beyond the call of duty and rightfully deserves both the recognition and medals of honor even some 40 years after his actual service. We both well know that 'Justice delayed is justice denied.'"

Several years later, on July 24, 2004, Dr. Arthur Caplan, chairman of the Department of Medical Ethics and director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia, issued the following statement:

"I am writing to call attention to the heroic behavior and sacrifice made by Eric Muth of Milford, Conn., in service to this nation. He answered this nation's call by his participation in highly risky medical experiments at the Army Chemical Center in Edgewood, Md., in the late 1950s. I have no doubt he was motivated to participate in experiments by patriotism, his desire to help his fellow Americans and to benefit the common good.

"Department of Defense has done little to recognize those who gave much through their willing, voluntary participation in these dangerous experiments. This can be rectified. It would be fitting to acknowledge his participation and sacrifice through the awarding of the appropriate medal, commendation or award. ... This would help bring closure to this era of medical experimentation during the time when this nation was engaged in a life-or-death Cold War struggle.

"It is my opinion that Mr. Muth's heroism is deserving of commendation and acknowledgement by his government and the armed forces that he so ably served. It is the kind of heroism that should be honored so that those who will be asked to serve this nation know what those who preceded them in service did. I am writing in the hope that justice can be done for Eric Muth."

Muth modestly confides that he eventually received nine awards from the military. The highest award was the Army Commendation Medal.

"I never said anything to anyone about my military career, since we were sworn to secrecy," Muth said.

To a question about his motivation for volunteering, Muth responded, "Weren't you 17 at one point in your life and willing to take risks and chances?"

Even now, almost a half-century after the secret experiments, Muth is reluctant to reveal much about what took place. A Government Accounting Office report in 1994, which the Mirror obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, acknowledges that during Word War II and the Cold War era, the Department of Defense and other national security agencies conducted or sponsored extensive radiological, chemical and biological research programs. Part of the report states:

"Precise information on the number of tests, experiments and participants is not available and the exact numbers may never be known. However, we have identified hundreds of...tests and experiments in which people were used as test subjects. These tests and experiments often involved hazardous substances such as radiation, blister and nerve agents, and biological agents...In some cases, basic safeguards to protect the people were either not in place or not followed."

(This reporter read the 1994 transcript that states further: "some tests and experiments were conducted in secret; others involved the use of people without their knowledge or consent or their full knowledge of the risks involved.")

The report continues, "The effects of the tests and experiments are often difficult to determine. Although some participants suffered immediate acute injuries and some died, in other cases adverse health problems were not discovered until many years later - often 20 to 30 years or longer."

Muth's role as a volunteer in these experiments is further documented by retired Army Col. Bernard G. Elfert, who now lives in Florida. He wrote in August 2004: "volunteer participants in the Edgewood Arsenal testing programs [which included Muth] deserve suitable recognition for their outstanding and exceptional service to programs then considered vital to the National Defense ...Justice demands suitable recognition for their acts of bravery. These men patriotically, admirably and courageously served this Nation in exceptional ways."

Immigrated as a child

Eric Muth was born in Munich to German parents. His parents divorced and his mother remarried an American GI from Bridgeport. They came to the U.S. in 1948 when he was 7 years old and settled in Bridgeport, where his stepfather owned a business.

Muth's brother still lives in Stratford, as does his 88-year-old mother.

Muth attended local schools but dropped out of high school when he was 17 to enlist in the Army. He was honorably discharged two years later and went to work as a civilian employee of the Department of Defense in 1960.

"I was assigned to the National Guard and wore a uniform," he said. "My first assignment was at the former NIKE Site on Eel's Hill off New Haven Avenue in Milford." When that site closed he transferred to nuclear Hercules missile site in Ansonia, and later to Texas.

After returning to Milford, he applied for jobs with the local fire and police department, and was offered a position as a dispatcher at fire headquarters on New Haven Avenue. A short time later he was offered a job with the police department and, while he held down the fire dispatcher's position he also became a supernumerary police officer.

"While working as a police officer, I became friendly with Ernest Smith, who had recently opened Park Lane Opticians on Broad Street," Muth recalled. "I guess he saw some potential in me and offered me a secure job as an apprentice with his store so that I could learn a trade. I apprenticed with Mr. Smith under the GI Bill, eventually went to work for him, and became a licensed optician in 1972 at age 32. I bought him out in 1979 and I owned and operated the optical business until my retirement in 2002."

Many benefits

Being an optician on Broad Street brought many benefits, such as meeting the woman who would become his wife.

"Rachel worked at another downtown store," he said. "We were married in 1971 and have two children."

Ernie Smith and Eric Muth got along well except on one occasion when they had a major disagreement.

"It was in the '60s and an eyeglass salesman came into the store to show me beautifully engraved, gold-filled frames in their original packaging. I saw an opportunity and placed a large order for them without telling Mr. Smith. Ernie was not happy with me but soon changed his mind when sales went through the roof."

The retired optician has many fond memories of downtown Milford.

"I received my high school equivalency certificate while in the Army and eventually earned bachelor's and graduate degrees while working at Park Lane," he said. "I thought I finally arrived, but there were still customers who would always ask for the 'older man'. I decided, therefore, that whenever someone asked me how old I was, I would say 57. They were always amazed at how young I looked.

"When I turned 57, on the other hand, my stock answer was that I was actually 35. No more amazement at how I looked," he chuckled.

His experiences and customers have left a permanent impression on him. "My eyes still glisten when I read obituaries of former clients," he said. "Moments of joy also include running into and chatting with old clients when I walk around town or go to the fitness center. I remember downtown Milford as few can.

"The Harrisons of the hardware store always came in to chat and, of course, the Park Lane Restaurant was owned by a dear couple, Jack and Betty Friedman. Jack's corned beef sandwiches and Betty's homemade rice pudding were the best. And there were many mom-and-pop stores where you could find most products you needed."

Downtown contributor

Muth also directly contributed to the excitement of downtown. On one occasion, he braved the ice under the bridge behind the former Capital Theatre on Daniel Street to pull two skaters out of the water.

"I recall cradling and calming one of the women with her head on my lap in the middle of Broad Street," he said. "As crowds gathered, someone shouted, 'Look at her ankle, she's got a compound fracture.' The only word that came to mind was 'idiot.'"

He subsequently was invited to Philadelphia to receive the Opticians Association of America Distinguished Member Award for his lifesaving effort. A young woman flung her arms around Muth and kissed him. "My wife was with me and I said to myself, 'Oh boy, am I in trouble now,'" he said.

Then he realized the young woman who had kissed him was thanking him for being her inspiration to become an optician, having read his articles in professional journals and magazines when she was a receptionist, and then reading his textbooks while she was training to become an optician.

There also have been sad moments, such as when a senior citizen left Park Lane Opticians, stopped for coffee at a downtown restaurant, then ventured toward the green, where she was run over and dragged under a vehicle. "Seeing her final winter breath exhaled was very sad," Muth recalled.

On another occasion a 21-year-old newlywed who worked at another downtown store mentioned to Muth that she recently had been diagnosed with a rare blood disease. Within a week she was dead.

There were more incidents that stuck in his mind. "As a parent, I was saddened to have to make a duplicate pair of glasses for the mother of a boy who was incarcerated in a state prison. On the other hand, it was gratifying to send a pair of glasses with the color changing lenses to a former Boy Scout from my troop who was serving in Vietnam.

"I was contacted on another occasion by a former Eagle Scout in Milford who had graduated from West Point and was serving at the American Embassy in Cairo," he related. "My son and I accepted his invitation to fly to Egypt, where the colonel thanked me for being his inspiration to join the Army. This was a humbling experience for me."

The retired optician and businessman is able to cite many other interesting experiences during his lengthy civilian career. "A local clergyman, for example, broke a lens in his glasses as he fell and died. I received an order to fabricate a lens for the wake but only had one identical lens in stock, and the law required heat-treating all lenses. This could have been risky since lenses could be ruined in the treating process. There was a momentary debate, but ethics prevailed."

Made a difference

Muth feels proud that he has come a long way from Munich where he was born, and survived the experiments he underwent as a young soldier.

"Milford has been good to me and I hope that I have demonstrated enough reciprocity to have made at least a small difference," he said.

In terms of making a difference, Eric Muth has contributed a great deal, not only to his hometown but also to his profession.

Muth has been a youth advisor, scoutmaster, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Law and Safety Committee, a captain for the United Way, served the Red Cross, and was a member of the Lions and Rotary clubs.

He is a life member of the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division, American Legion Post 196 and Chapter 15 of the Disabled American Veterans. He was founder and chairman of the Korea-Vietnam Memorial Committee and an organizer of the World War II Monument Committee in Milford.

He finds time to volunteer at the Veterans Administration Hospital in West Haven, where he works one-to-one with hospitalized veterans. He also keeps in contact with other former GIs who underwent the same secret experiments that he did 50 years ago in Maryland.

Eric Muth, immigrant stepson of an American GI, a high school drop-out who gained success through hard work and entrepreneurship, and a strong contributor to his adopted community, claims he has much for which he is thankful and proud.

He is quick to point out, however, that his crowning achievements share a home in Morningside with him. He refers to Rachel, his wife of 35 years, his son Karl, who is a graduate student at Southern Connecticut State University and works part-time at Park Lane Opticians, and daughter Ellen, a professional actress who has appeared in several TV series and in films.

"Milford has been good to all of us, and I am grateful for the opportunity to call myself an American and a Milford resident," he said.




©Milford Mirror 2006




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Manchurian Veterans by Cdr. Jeff Huber USN Retired

The Manchurian Veterans

by Jeff Huber
19 November 2006
Stories of American service members returning from the Middle East wars with physical and emotional scars have focused national attention on the plight of the country's combat veterans. But still overlooked are G.I.s who suffered severe damage from service to their country as human test experiments. The tale of the uniformed guinea pigs who participated in America's Cold War mind control program is, perhaps, one of the most disturbing chapters in the history of the country that became the world's "sole superpower."
The Mind Control Gap
The United States Army established its chemical experimentation facility at the Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland in 1917. But it wasn't until 1954 that Edgewood became a temporary duty station for G.I.s who volunteered to participate in Project MK-ULTRA and more than 150 other projects involved in the Central Intelligence Agency's mind control program.

In the early 1950s, reports of Chinese and Russian brainwashing techniques used on U.S. prisoners of war during the Korean Conflict had reached American intelligence operatives. In 1953, eager to close the perceived gap in mind control capabilities during the heart of the "red scare" era, then CIA director Allen Dulles launched a mind control program of his own.

To head the project, Dulles named Doctor Sidney Gottlieb, a shadowy figure whose personality reflected the bizarre and horrifying nature of the mind control program itself.
The Sorcerer
Born in 1918, Sidney Gottlieb was a clubfoot and a stutterer who earned a PhD in chemistry from the Chicago Institute of Technology. He became chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's experimental interrogation programs in 1953.
By some accounts, Gottlieb often took LSD, locking himself in his office and taking extensive notes of his psychedelic experiences. Gottlieb is also alleged to have been behind plots to disable or assassinate foreign heads of state, including Fidel Castro, by covertly exposing them to deadly or psychoactive drugs.
Much of what is "known" about MK-ULTRA is anecdotal. In 1972, Gottlieb destroyed most of his clinical records by order of Richard Nixon's CIA director Richard Helms. Before he died, Gottlieb testified before Congress that the CIA had administered LSD to at least 40 unwitting subjects who included prison inmates and brothel patrons. Other sources suggest that the real number of unwitting subjects was exponentially higher. Martin Lee and Bruce Shlain, authors of Acid Dreams: The CIA, LSD, and the Sixties Rebellion, state that CIA operatives tested LSD by agreeing among themselves to:
...slip LSD into each other's drinks. The target never knew when his turn would come, but as soon as the drug was ingested a ... colleague would tell him so he could make the necessary preparations (which usually meant taking the rest of the day off). Initially the leaders of MK-ULTRA restricted the surprise acid tests to [their own] members, but when this phase had run its course they started dosing other Agency personnel who had never tripped before. Nearly everyone was fair game, and surprise acid trips became something of an occupational hazard among CIA operatives.... The Office of Security felt that [MK-ULTRA] should have exercised better judgment in dealing with such a powerful and dangerous chemical. The straw that broke the camel's back came when a Security informant got wind of a plan by a few [MK-ULTRA] jokers to put LSD in the punch served at the annual CIA Christmas office party ... a Security memo writer... concluded indignantly and unequivocally that he did "not recommend testing in the Christmas punch bowls usually present at the Christmas office parties."Experiments with consenting subjects were, if anything, even more sadistic. One group of volunteers was given LSD for 77 consecutive days. Other volunteers were given LSD and locked in deprivation chambers. Some were recorded in therapy sessions while under the influence of LSD, then forced to listen to tape loops of their most degrading moments while confined in straight jackets and again dosed with the psychedelic drug.
Another reported experiment involved injecting subjects with barbiturates in one arm and amphetamines in another. That method was eventually discarded because it often killed the subjects.

To keep within the copyright laws I have cut the rest of the artilce, I encourage everyone to read it at E Pluribus Media linked below the color and the graphics are worth the click......

About the Author
Commander Jeff Huber, U.S. Navy (Retired) was operations officer of a naval air wing and an aircraft carrier, and he commanded an E-2C Hawkeye aircraft squadron. His satires and analyses of military and foreign policy affairs have appeared in Proceedings, The Navy, Jane's Fighting Ships, and other print periodicals. Some of his essays have been required student reading at the U.S. Naval War College, where he received a master's degree in national security studies in 1995. Jeff is a contributing editor with ePluribus Media and his commentaries on the current strategic situation are featured at Daily Kos, Booman Tribune, My Left Wing and Pen and Sword.
http://www.epluribusmedia.org/features/2006/20061115_manchurian_veterns_p1.html the graphics and the color make the article a better read here my eternal thanks to Jeff and the rest of the team members of E Pluribus Media for this