Salem-News.com Marine Corps articles Page 39

Navy Sealed El Toro Wells Without Thorough Inspection

A special in-depth report on the status of the heavily contaminated and now closed base, which was once the premier Marine Corps Air Station.

(IRVINE, Calif.) - El Toro's base wells were sealed by the Navy without inspection for well screen intervals after one screen was found in the contaminated aquifer.

An international epidemiologist and radiation expert recommends the Navy do blood tests on Marines for radiation exposure in one hangar on the former base.

Congressional Investigators Say Toxic Military Base Health Hazards Were Overlooked

Former assurances to Marines over health concerns related to Camp Lejeune are off the table; the feds now say the notion that Marines will remain cancer free, is false.

(IRVINE, Calif.) - It was just less than a year ago when we began investigating and reporting on the contamination of Marine Corp bases in North Carolina and Southern California.

Now there is a new President with new environmental policies, and the historically reluctant flow of data on these environmental disasters appears to be increasing.

ATSDR Withdraws Scientifically Flawed Public Health Document

For years, Camp Lejeune community activists have claimed ATSDR’s 1997 report used flawed data to support its conclusion that exposure to the detected levels of volatile organic compounds.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Today, the House Committee on Science and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight Chairman applauded the withdrawal of the public health assessment of Camp Lejeune’s drinking water system by a federal agency.

Can Senator Webb Lead America Out of the Drug War Quagmire?

Webb stands up to the U.S. incarceration machine and seeks to re-think the War on Drugs

(TACOMA PARK, Md.) - More than 1 in 100 adults in the United States are now behind bars. 1 in 31 are in prison, probation or parole. The U.S. with 5% of the world's population now has 25% of the world's prisoners.

Incarceration of drug offenders has risen 1,200% since 1980 from 41,000 to 500,000.

One of History`s Toughest Marines, Smedley Butler, was Anti-War (VIDEO)

"War is a Racket" by Smedley Butler, the two-time Medal of Honor winner denounced the military industrial complex.

(SALEM, Ore.) - When you are a Marine, you learn about specific individuals who shaped the Corps and formed the basis for what it is today. Names like "Red Mike" Edson, "Chesty" Puller and Major General Smedley Butler, who was awarded the Medals of Honor twice, stand out in the Corp's history.

Major General Butler was a Marine's Marine, in the sense that he cared about the right things. His perspective was shaped by an adherence to honesty that few know or live by, and at the time of his death, no Marine had been decorated more in U.S. history.

El Toro`s Radium Contaminated Hangar `In Limbo`

Hangar 296, constructed in 1944 is over 200,000 square feet in area. It is the second of two huge maintenance hangars in the highly industrialized section of El Toro.

(IRVINE, Calif.) - A huge maintenance hangar at former MCAS El Toro remains “radiological restricted” over California Department of Public Health concerns about a Navy radiological survey.

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has not approved an MCAS El Toro hangar contaminated with Radium-226, despite a July 2002 Navy report recommending unrestricted use.

California Law Firm Seeks Injured El Toro Veterans & Workers

There’s no question that this is the right thing to do for those who served our county honorably.

(IRVINE, Calif.) - A legal review and evaluation of possible injuries and deaths related to exposure to TCE/PCE at former MCAS El Toro is underway by a Southern California law firm. There is no cost for the review or commitment for legal representation. Veterans, dependents, and civilian workers are encouraged to contact the law firm.

A trichloroethylene (TCE) toxic plume was discovered in 1985 off of Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro, California. El Toro was placed on the EPA Superfund list in 1990, closed in July 1999, and most of the land sold at a public auction in 2005.

Medical Marijuana Accolades: Semper Fi David and Fellow Grunts

Pain pills prescribed by the VA don’t always work for PTSD and cause addiction.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - The people who know the most and best about the benefits of marijuana as medicine are certainly not the physicians nor the pharmacologists such as myself.

David is a Marine Combat Veteran/Victim of two extensive combat tours in Iraq. He definitely has PTSD with depression, pain and social and family problems.

Veterans for Change Fights for Presumptive Disability

TCE is a widespread contaminant among many water systems in the U.S. A 2003 Air Force Pentagon report estimated that there were 1,400 TCE-contaminated military sites.

(SOMERDALE, N.J.) - The Veterans for Change (VFC) supports legislation to include veterans under the VA presumptive disability category who were exposed to trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) in the military and are seriously ill from diseases linked to these chemicals.

The VFC was founded in 2006 by Jim Davis, son of retired Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant (MGySgt) Lesley Davis who died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," from exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam.

Marines Who Cared for Dead in Iraq Launch Death Scene Cleaning Firm

Carrying on what they learned in Iraq, two Marines stand ready to help families dealing with the aftermath of tragedy.

(GAINESVILLE, Ga.) - As part of the first group of Marines ever trained to perform search and recovery duties for fallen servicemen overseas, Benjamin Lichtenwalner and Ryan Sawyer realized both the historical and practical importance of their mission from day one.

This ultimately resulted in their establishment of Biotrauma, Inc. - a death scene cleaning firm founded on sensitivity for the emotionally traumatized.