{"id":14280,"date":"2016-04-10T10:42:57","date_gmt":"2016-04-10T15:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hcstx.org\/?p=14280"},"modified":"2016-04-10T10:42:57","modified_gmt":"2016-04-10T15:42:57","slug":"important-veterans-issues-the-burn-pit-is-now-sickening-and-killing-u-s-soldiers-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/2016\/04\/10\/important-veterans-issues-the-burn-pit-is-now-sickening-and-killing-u-s-soldiers-at-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Important Veterans Issues: “The Burn Pit” is Now Sickening and Killing U.S. Soldiers At Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Heads Up: If you are a Veteran or Know a Veteran who served in OIF or OEF or any operation where Burn Pit’s were used regularly and are having symptoms related to Cancer, and have been denied service connected disability, I suggest you hire a lawyer NOW and start the process of fighting the VA to take responsibility. This is nothing new, the VA did the same thing with Agent Orange and Gulf War Syndrome; it is their MO: DENY the claim until the veteran gives up or is DEAD. -SF<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Burn<\/p>\n

Thousands of U.S. military personnel who served on bases in Iraq and Afghanistan recall the dense black smoke from burn pits where everything from IEDs to human waste was incinerated.<\/p>\n

Now many have died, and more are gravely ill. Those battling a grim menu of cancers, as well as their loved ones and advocates,\u00a0 trace their condition to breathing in the toxic fumes they say could be the most recent wars’ version of Agent Orange or Gulf War Illness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe clouds of smoke would just hang throughout the base,\u201d Army Sgt. Daniel Diaz, who was stationed at Joint Base Balad, in Iraq’s Sunni Triangle from 2004-2005, told FoxNews.com. \u201cNo one ever gave it any thought. You are just so focused on the mission at hand. In my mind, I was just getting ready for the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diaz returned from duty in 2008. A year later, he started developing health problems including cancer, chronic fatigue and weakness, neuropathy and hypothyroidism. Nearly every base he was stationed at during his four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan had burn pits nearby – and pungent smoke everywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s breaking my family. I\u2019m just trying to fight to stay alive long enough get my claim settled so my family has something when I am gone.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>– Sgt. Daniel Diaz<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhen I was stationed at Camp Wright, there was one 20-30 feet from our rooms,\u201d he says. \u201cNo one ever questioned whether it was dangerous having it so close. Not even once.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the burn pit method was adopted originally as a temporary measure to get rid of waste and garbage generated on bases. Everything was incinerated in the pits, say soldiers, including plastics, batteries, appliances, medicine, dead animals and even human waste. The items were often set ablaze with jet fuel as the accelerant.<\/p>\n

Joint Base Balad, where Diaz was partially stationed, burned up to 147 tons of waste per day as recently as the summer of 2008, according to The Army Times.<\/p>\n

The incineration of the waste generated numerous pollutants including carbon monoxide and dioxide\u2014the same chemical compound found in Agent Orange, which left many Vietnam vets sick after it was used as a defoliant.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s killing soldiers at a much higher rate than Agent Orange did in the Vietnam Era,\u201d Rosie Torres, founder of Burn Pits 360, an advocacy group for service members who have fallen ill, told FoxNews.com. \u201cSoldiers from that war were seen dying in their 50\u2019s, 60\u2019s or 70\u2019s. Now with the soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, we are seeing them die in their early 20\u2019s, 30\u2019s, and 40\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Diaz\"<\/p>\n

\n

<\/h2>\n
\n

Sgt. Daniel Diaz was stationed near burn pits at Joint Base Balad in Iraq and now is bed ridden from multiple illnesses including various forms of aggressive cancer.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Torres, whose husband, LeRoy Torres, fell ill almost immediately after his return from Iraq in 2008, said nearly 64,000 active service members and retirees have put their names on the Burn Pit Registry created by the Department of Veterans Affairs.<\/p>\n

But documenting their plight doesn’t guarantee coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t got diddly squat,” Diaz tells Foxnews.com. \u201cThe VA is refusing to admit that my cancers are service-related. It\u2019s frustrating. I have $100,000 in medical bills because I have no coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s breaking my family,” he said. “I\u2019m just trying to fight to stay alive long enough get my claim settled so my family has something when I am gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once dead, servicemembers cannot retroactively be placed on the list, which advocates say leaves family members of the fallen in the lurch and often bankrupt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a failed registry. It doesn\u2019t work. It could take 20-30 years for someone to get assistance,\u201d Joseph Hickman, author of the 2016 book \u201cThe Burn Pits: the Poisoning of America\u2019s Soldiers<\/a>,\u201d told Foxnews.com. \u201cIt\u2019s not fair. They need help now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pits burned more than 1,000 different chemical compounds day and night, and most service members breathed in toxic fumes with no protection, said Hickman, who added the Agent Orange comparison is apt.<\/p>\n

\n

\"brianbads1\"<\/h2>\n
\n

Christie Badstibner (r.), with husband Brian (l.,inset), a 14-year Air Force veteran who recently died.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe Department of Defense won\u2019t admit that this is occurring and the VA does not do enough to assist service members because they are waiting on info from the DoD,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Requests for comment from the Department of Defense were not immediately returned.<\/p>\n

Not every case of cancer involving a service member can be blamed on burn pit exposure, but for families who have watched healthy loved ones succumb to terminal illness within months or a few years of returning home, the connection seems clear.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s hard to believe that my husband did not get cancer from this,” Christie Badstibner, whose husband Brian, a 14-year Air Force veteran who died two months ago, told FoxNews.com. \u201cHow can they deny that the pits had something to do with this? No one wants to take the blame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Respiratory Conditions Related To Burn Pit Exposure Graph<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Badstibner, 36, says that because her husband was still on active duty when he returned, their family had health coverage and benefits. But she knows many other families who have suffered the same loss as hers, and been left with no coverage.<\/div>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of families going through the same thing without any sort of coverage,” she said. “There are widows like me, raising their kids on their own. It sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the Original Article at Fox News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Heads Up: If you are a Veteran or Know a Veteran who served in OIF or OEF or any operation where Burn Pit’s were used regularly and are having symptoms related to Cancer, and have been denied service connected disability, I suggest you hire a lawyer NOW and start the process of fighting the VA…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[74,4048,3254,2820,1911],"tags":[11057,3071,11058,11059,9095],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14280"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}