A first! Even though the government still denies that this could happen, the courts ruled that the veteran Marine's testimony made sense and that the evidence backed up his claim. This is a step toward doing the right thing by those who serve their country.
From the Japan Times online edition:
Ailing U.S. veteran wins payout over Agent Orange exposure in Okinawa
by Jon Mitchell
Special To The Japan Times
Mar 17, 2014
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has granted compensation to another former service member for exposure to Agent Orange while stationed on Okinawa during the Vietnam War era. Dated October 2013, the award was made to a retired marine corps driver suffering from prostate cancer that, the presiding judge ruled, had been triggered by his transportation and usage of the toxic defoliant on the island between 1967 and 1968.
The decision to grant the claim comes in spite of repeated Pentagon denials that Agent Orange was ever present in Okinawa.
According to the ruling of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA), the unnamed marine alleges he came into contact with Agent Orange while transporting it in barrels and rubber bladders between U.S. military ports at Naha and White Beach — a navy installation on the island’s east coast — and a warehouse on Kadena Air Base. He also claims to have sprayed the defoliant in the Northern Training Area, in the Yanbaru jungles, to keep back foliage and reduce the risk of forest fires.
The former marine was able to identify the barrels he helped to transport as the infamous Vietnam War defoliant due to the tell-tale orange stripes painted around their middles.
The retired service member had first applied for compensation in 2004 but his claim was initially rejected. Following appeals by the veteran, Judge Mary Ellen Larkin ruled in his favor last October, stating, “While neither the service department nor DOD confirms the presence of Agent Orange on Okinawa during 1967 and 1968, the veteran offers a highly credible, consistent account that he was directly exposed thereto during those years while performing his assigned military duties.”
ラベル agent orange in Okinawa の投稿を表示しています。 すべての投稿を表示
ラベル agent orange in Okinawa の投稿を表示しています。 すべての投稿を表示
2014年3月19日水曜日
2013年8月27日火曜日
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire
Instead of putting their heads together and finding a way to clean up their mess, why are the authorities still denying the chemical poisons left in Okinawa by the US military? Today's Japan Times online carries a long article by a chemist detailing the chemicals found buried under a kids' soccer pitch on property formerly used by the US for their Kadena air force base. Here is the lead. Please go to the Japan Times online to read all about it. The point is, the chemicals have been found but the denials still continue.
Denials of defoliant at former U.S. base site in Okinawa fly in the face of science
Evidence points to Vietnam-era herbicides in drums buried in field, scientist says
Aug 26, 2013
For the attention of the government of Japan and the people of Okinawa:
As accusations and denials swirl regarding the burial of herbicides employed by the U.S. military in Vietnam during that war, there are irrefutable facts that seem not to have been considered in their true context. Denials of such burials by the U.S. military on land that was then part of Kadena Air Base on Okinawa by Dr. Alvin Young, a hired consultant and purported expert on military herbicides, and the U.S. Department of Defense are disingenuous at the very least, and at worst a blatant cover-up of historical realities.
Denials of defoliant at former U.S. base site in Okinawa fly in the face of science
Evidence points to Vietnam-era herbicides in drums buried in field, scientist says
Aug 26, 2013
For the attention of the government of Japan and the people of Okinawa:
As accusations and denials swirl regarding the burial of herbicides employed by the U.S. military in Vietnam during that war, there are irrefutable facts that seem not to have been considered in their true context. Denials of such burials by the U.S. military on land that was then part of Kadena Air Base on Okinawa by Dr. Alvin Young, a hired consultant and purported expert on military herbicides, and the U.S. Department of Defense are disingenuous at the very least, and at worst a blatant cover-up of historical realities.
2013年7月4日木曜日
A Little Honesty Would Help
The truth will come out eventually. Why not just own up to hiding toxic chemicals where children play, clean up, and make the world a little safer?
This addition to the ongoing story of toxic chemicals put in Okinawa by the US comes from The Japan Times Online:
Okinawan authorities unearth barrels at onetime U.S. military facility
Finds raise toxic chemical suspicions at ex-Kadena site
by Mizuho Aoki
Staff Writer
Jul 3, 2013
The Okinawa Defense Bureau and the city of Okinawa uncovered seven more barrels Tuesday at a former U.S. military installation in the prefecture that may have been used to hold toxic chemicals during the Vietnam War, stoking concern among residents.
Prior to Tuesday’s findings, the city had dug up 19 barrels from the same site in mid-June.
The barrels found Tuesday had been buried about 1 meter deep in a soccer ground adjacent to the Kadena Air Base that had been part of the installation until 1987, the Defense Ministry said.
The barrels had white stripes around their rims and bore “Dow Chemical” markings, a city official said. The Dow Chemical Co. was one of the main developers of Agent White and other herbicides. Some decayed barrels were also marked “30 gallons,” the official added.
The ministry and the city plan by month’s end to complete a study of soil samples and the barrels, checking for any trace of toxic chemicals, a ministry official said. The ministry said it is also considering digging across a wider area to determine if more barrels are buried in the area.
Jon Mitchell, a contributor to The Japan Times who has been investigating the Agent Orange issue in Okinawa, said that although the position of the white stripes on the barrels seems to suggest they’re not Agent White, there is a strong possibility they could be other toxic chemicals.
“Usually, these herbicides’ stripes were around the middle of barrels. But, from the photographs, it seems to be at the top. So that does seem to suggest it’s not Agent White,” Mitchell said.
Agent White is commonly known to be contained in larger barrels than the 30-gallon (114-liter) drums found at the soccer ground, he said, adding, however, there is also evidence suggesting Dow may have used smaller barrels to send defoliant to Vietnam.
“Even if this is not Agent White, then there is a strong chance that it is another type of dangerous chemical,” Mitchell said. “So it’s important that the barrels are checked and also a wider area is checked. There might be more, much deeper around the area.”
The Defense Ministry has asked the U.S. military to confirm what the site was used for when it was part of the Kadena base, but had not received an answer as of Wednesday.
“(The U.S. military) said it doesn’t have detailed documents about it. So we haven’t received an answer. But we will continue to seek an answer,” the official said.
Mitchell urged the U.S. military to be forthright.
“This is an example of American military pollution,” Mitchell said. “This is a soccer ground. This is where children play. It’s time the American government took Okinawa residents’ worries seriously. They need to cooperate fully with the investigation and come clean about the issue.”
In January, a story by Mitchell in The Japan Times shed light on a September 1971 report produced by the U.S. Army’s Fort Detrick in Maryland, the Pentagon’s main center for biochemical weapons research.
It summarized the military’s usage of chemicals during the Vietnam War, and among the locations cited is a reference to “Herbicide stockpiles elsewhere in PACOM-U.S. (Pacific Command) government restricted materials Thailand and Okinawa (Kadena).”
This addition to the ongoing story of toxic chemicals put in Okinawa by the US comes from The Japan Times Online:
Okinawan authorities unearth barrels at onetime U.S. military facility
Finds raise toxic chemical suspicions at ex-Kadena site
by Mizuho Aoki
Staff Writer
Jul 3, 2013
The Okinawa Defense Bureau and the city of Okinawa uncovered seven more barrels Tuesday at a former U.S. military installation in the prefecture that may have been used to hold toxic chemicals during the Vietnam War, stoking concern among residents.
Prior to Tuesday’s findings, the city had dug up 19 barrels from the same site in mid-June.
The barrels found Tuesday had been buried about 1 meter deep in a soccer ground adjacent to the Kadena Air Base that had been part of the installation until 1987, the Defense Ministry said.
The barrels had white stripes around their rims and bore “Dow Chemical” markings, a city official said. The Dow Chemical Co. was one of the main developers of Agent White and other herbicides. Some decayed barrels were also marked “30 gallons,” the official added.
The ministry and the city plan by month’s end to complete a study of soil samples and the barrels, checking for any trace of toxic chemicals, a ministry official said. The ministry said it is also considering digging across a wider area to determine if more barrels are buried in the area.
Jon Mitchell, a contributor to The Japan Times who has been investigating the Agent Orange issue in Okinawa, said that although the position of the white stripes on the barrels seems to suggest they’re not Agent White, there is a strong possibility they could be other toxic chemicals.
“Usually, these herbicides’ stripes were around the middle of barrels. But, from the photographs, it seems to be at the top. So that does seem to suggest it’s not Agent White,” Mitchell said.
Agent White is commonly known to be contained in larger barrels than the 30-gallon (114-liter) drums found at the soccer ground, he said, adding, however, there is also evidence suggesting Dow may have used smaller barrels to send defoliant to Vietnam.
“Even if this is not Agent White, then there is a strong chance that it is another type of dangerous chemical,” Mitchell said. “So it’s important that the barrels are checked and also a wider area is checked. There might be more, much deeper around the area.”
The Defense Ministry has asked the U.S. military to confirm what the site was used for when it was part of the Kadena base, but had not received an answer as of Wednesday.
“(The U.S. military) said it doesn’t have detailed documents about it. So we haven’t received an answer. But we will continue to seek an answer,” the official said.
Mitchell urged the U.S. military to be forthright.
“This is an example of American military pollution,” Mitchell said. “This is a soccer ground. This is where children play. It’s time the American government took Okinawa residents’ worries seriously. They need to cooperate fully with the investigation and come clean about the issue.”
In January, a story by Mitchell in The Japan Times shed light on a September 1971 report produced by the U.S. Army’s Fort Detrick in Maryland, the Pentagon’s main center for biochemical weapons research.
It summarized the military’s usage of chemicals during the Vietnam War, and among the locations cited is a reference to “Herbicide stockpiles elsewhere in PACOM-U.S. (Pacific Command) government restricted materials Thailand and Okinawa (Kadena).”
2012年4月15日日曜日
What do governments do best?
In some cases, they are very good at lies and denials. Or, as Sister Anne in 8th grade used to say: they "prevaricate". Is it right to use a person's labor, put them in danger, and then deny responsibility? Ordinary companies that employ labor are not allowed to do that. It's time for the governments responsible to step up to the plate and take responsibility for the workers they poisoned.
Read on about Agent Orange in Okinawa:
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Okinawa bases stored toxic defoliant, ex-soldier says
U.S. vet pries lid off Agent Orange denials
By JON MITCHELL
Special to The Japan Times
JACKSONVILLE, Florida — Thousands of barrels of Agent Orange were unloaded on Okinawa Island and stored at the port of Naha, and at the U.S. military's Kadena and Camp Schwab bases between 1965 and 1966, an American veteran who served in Okinawa claims.
In an interview in early April with The Japan Times and Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting Co., a TV network based in Okinawa, former infantryman Larry Carlson, 67, also said that Okinawan stevedores were exposed to the highly toxic herbicide as they labored in the holds of ships, and that he even saw it being sprayed at Kadena Air Base.
Carlson is one of only three American servicemen who have won benefits from the U.S. government over exposure to the toxic defoliant on Okinawa — and the first of them to step forward and reveal that massive amounts of it were kept on the island.
If true, his claims, which are corroborated by five fellow soldiers and a 1966 U.S. government document, would debunk the Pentagon's consistent denials that Agent Orange was ever stored on Okinawa.
"The U.S. Department of Defense has searched and found no record that the aircraft or ships transporting (Agent) Orange to South Vietnam stopped at Okinawa on their way," Maj. Neal Fisher, deputy director of public affairs for U.S. forces in Japan, told The Japan Times recently.
But the VA's decision to grant Carlson benefits over his exposure to the herbicide would appear to buttress his account.
"I am the tip of the iceberg. There are many others like me who were poisoned but the VA (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) is denying their claims," Carlson said during the interview at his Florida home. "I urge those men to dig in and plant their feet."
During his time in the U.S. Army, Carlson was assigned to the 44th Transportation Company at the U.S. military port in Naha between December 1965 and April 1967.
"Transport ships came in (from the United States) and we would move drums of Agent Orange. We worked 12 hours around the clock until we'd unloaded the ship," he said.
"A lot of the time, when they dropped the barrels in our truck they would leak. I got soaked at least three times and we couldn't do anything because we were driving (the barrels to storage sites) and couldn't shower until we got back to our barracks."
The USS Comet and the SS Transglobe, the most decorated American merchant vessel during the Vietnam War, were two of the ships used to transport Agent Orange to Okinawa, according to Carlson.
Deliveries arrived every two months on average, and 1966 was the busiest time in terms of shipments, he said.
Read on about Agent Orange in Okinawa:
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Okinawa bases stored toxic defoliant, ex-soldier says
U.S. vet pries lid off Agent Orange denials
By JON MITCHELL
Special to The Japan Times
JACKSONVILLE, Florida — Thousands of barrels of Agent Orange were unloaded on Okinawa Island and stored at the port of Naha, and at the U.S. military's Kadena and Camp Schwab bases between 1965 and 1966, an American veteran who served in Okinawa claims.
In an interview in early April with The Japan Times and Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting Co., a TV network based in Okinawa, former infantryman Larry Carlson, 67, also said that Okinawan stevedores were exposed to the highly toxic herbicide as they labored in the holds of ships, and that he even saw it being sprayed at Kadena Air Base.
Carlson is one of only three American servicemen who have won benefits from the U.S. government over exposure to the toxic defoliant on Okinawa — and the first of them to step forward and reveal that massive amounts of it were kept on the island.
If true, his claims, which are corroborated by five fellow soldiers and a 1966 U.S. government document, would debunk the Pentagon's consistent denials that Agent Orange was ever stored on Okinawa.
"The U.S. Department of Defense has searched and found no record that the aircraft or ships transporting (Agent) Orange to South Vietnam stopped at Okinawa on their way," Maj. Neal Fisher, deputy director of public affairs for U.S. forces in Japan, told The Japan Times recently.
But the VA's decision to grant Carlson benefits over his exposure to the herbicide would appear to buttress his account.
"I am the tip of the iceberg. There are many others like me who were poisoned but the VA (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) is denying their claims," Carlson said during the interview at his Florida home. "I urge those men to dig in and plant their feet."
During his time in the U.S. Army, Carlson was assigned to the 44th Transportation Company at the U.S. military port in Naha between December 1965 and April 1967.
"Transport ships came in (from the United States) and we would move drums of Agent Orange. We worked 12 hours around the clock until we'd unloaded the ship," he said.
"A lot of the time, when they dropped the barrels in our truck they would leak. I got soaked at least three times and we couldn't do anything because we were driving (the barrels to storage sites) and couldn't shower until we got back to our barracks."
The USS Comet and the SS Transglobe, the most decorated American merchant vessel during the Vietnam War, were two of the ships used to transport Agent Orange to Okinawa, according to Carlson.
Deliveries arrived every two months on average, and 1966 was the busiest time in terms of shipments, he said.
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