Deseret News | Dugway's secret tests: Vets link health problems to chemical exposure

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Dugway's secret tests: Vets link health problems to chemical exposure

Former Salt Laker | 1:44 a.m. Dec. 28, 2008

It is not just the former military men at ages 60 to 70's that are showing up with cancer, neuropathy in feet, and thyroid cancer. Those of us that were in grade school in Salt Lake in the 1950-60's during the bomb blasts in Nevada and the Dugway tests are now suffering cancer rates way above the normal. Many of my Salt Lake schoolmates started dying of various cancers in their 20's. We were told not to worry about the tests, when in reality winds were blowing death into our ground and cows ate the grass, which in turn got into our milk. We all paid a nickel for a carton of milk in school and the milk was slowly introducing cancer into our cells. How many of you still in Salt Lake have not been touched by cancer by age 60?

RCS | 4:44 a.m. Dec. 28, 2008

How do you not comment on an article like this? The government/military has apparently always had the mentality that "You do what you are told!" or you are not a patriot. That is foolish and sad. I believe the government/military morally owes these military personnel and probably civilians who were exposed to their "tests," financial reparation. Was the government justified in running these tests on humans? I don't believe so. To be justified, they would have had to know the results of such exposure (which they didn't know -- hence the tests) and then fully inform the intended subjects for their consent (which none of them gave). So, I'd have to say the government is "Guilty as charged" and should pay up.

What a tragedy for those who were so taken advantage of. It was their health and lives at stake. My take on this: The government should Pay Up. (Yes, we the citizens will have to pay for this government abuse, but that is the right thing for us to do.)

Pay up? | 7:48 a.m. Dec. 28, 2008

Seems like the solution to everthing from cancer to acne -- the government should pay up!

Therein lies our problem. Very few Americans are willing anymore to take respsonsiblity for their own actions.

To the previous commenters -- if you grew up anywhere in the 50's and 60's, you should expect some percentage of your former playmates to have suffered from cancer and neuropathy. Most of them as the result of bad substance use decisions they made, some the result of genetics, or just pure, dumb luck.

Every epidemiological study ever done on Dugway employees -- those most likely to have been exposed to the chemical and biological agents we are engaged in protecting you against -- has failed to identify increased risk for any illness. It seems highly unlikely that others situated so much farther from danger would be affected.

Bottom line -- government should be, and is, responsible for harms it causes. But not for harms it had nothing to do with causing.

Maybe your cancer or neuropathy was caused by our efforts to protect you. Maybe not.

I spent some of my life in Missouri. You're going to have to show me.

Comments continue below

Evets | 8:06 a.m. Dec. 28, 2008

Give me a break. When Former Salt Laker says, "It is not just the former military men at ages 60 to 70's that are showing up with cancer...." he is right in the since that many men this age are indeed showing up with the symptoms mentioned in the article BUT most of those men were NEVER exposed to any of the substances mentioned. It is normal that people, especially over 60, start having these symptoms. It is called aging.
I spent much of my life working in public health and epidemiology and the glaring issue with this article is that it does not take into consideration the other variables in these men's lives. Furthermore, it doesn't take into consideration the reward these men get if they can connect their symptoms to the military...free health care (at a time they need all the heath care they can get) and the possibility of a disability pension. It also rewards VA in that if VA gets another class of people to care for they can petition an increased budget and staff.
I am not deminishing the fine service these men gave but this is not a clear cut case.

Volunteers? | 8:17 a.m. Dec. 28, 2008

They didn't "volunteer", they were voluntold. That is the difference. Dugway is one of the most contaminated places on earth. If you have been out there past the gates, you will see. To this day, National Guard units accidently cross into restricted areas and get contaminated. Dugway is a hell on earth.

I feel sorry for these soldiers. I bet most of them were lower enlisted and the only officers exposed were done so accidently. Military personnel, especially lower enlisted are expendable, always have been and always will be. I believe there are "tests" still going on. They are done so in secret as always. We always need the perfect way of killing our fellow man.

Military Lie? | 9:42 a.m. Dec. 28, 2008

Nooooooo, say it isn't so. At least it has changed today from ignorance to "flawed intelligence".

Great Book | 11:23 a.m. Dec. 28, 2008

I just read for a school assignment a book titled, Canaries on the Rim, by Chip Ward that describes in more detail about what this article mentions. It also talks about the problems with Magcorp and the Tooele Army Depot and how the west desert is nothing more than a waste land. I suggest this book to anyone who wants to know more about the issues facing the west desert. This is a great article by the way.

Bombs in Navada | 12:26 p.m. Dec. 28, 2008

The fall out was in the air and drifted over the entire United States
What do you know about Radiation?
It is everywhere in the water and on the earth
Make no excuses for the Government
We The People do not count
George W Bush just said that a few days ago
No body but me picked up on that statement
It is to hot to handle

To Volunteers, Great Book | 12:30 p.m. Dec. 28, 2008

Keep passing the word that Dugway and the West Desert are a wasteland. It keeps the riffraff away.

Ex Vet severed at Dugway | 4:13 p.m. Dec. 28, 2008

I love the article says that 1940 to 1970's.
If you served there you ran the risk of exposure no matter where you worked. I contacted the website and yeah I got no response. So they are not willing to talk to every vet that served there.

Sad situation... | 6:01 p.m. Dec. 28, 2008

I am always amazed at the level of disgust and distrust what seems a majority of Americans have towards the military. I am under no illusion that wrongs were done at Dugway, and Lord knows where else. I also am sympathetic to the issues at hand here; issues related to the health of these aging soldiers. But, in what other country than ours, can a people so continuously and blatantly blame everything on the evil military? Do you hear Germans calling for reparations for the MILLIONS probably affected by German gasses and gas tests? What about the TENS OF MILLIONS affected in Russia? Any traction there? Where's the outrage? Our government and military make efforts, flawed as they are, to be moral and sincere in her efforts to defend her citizens and stand prepared to defend her interests. America's military is not to blame for all the ills in the world, and I am constantly amazed at the level of disgust flowing out of this, the greatest nation on earth, towards our military. I hope the military takes serious these health issues, and learns from them (as I believe they have). I am grateful for our freedoms here!

DHS Graduate | 6:06 p.m. Dec. 28, 2008

If you went to Dugway High School and go to one of the High School Reunions, you find it's "Who DOESN'T have cancer?" - Not - "Who has cancer?" I am one of the hundreds and hundreds. When there are many from EACH CLASS of an average size of 20 who have died of or presently have cancer - and add parents to the many, you KNOW something is way out of whack! Many have tried to get up lists of those affected and it's mind boggling. My father worked there for many years, in the secret areas. He was once awakened in the middle of the night and taken away, being told he had to be decontaminated. He was a civilian. The Government papers have now been declassified. Read Up! We were all disposable and we can't hold them accountable.

not just in the past | 6:51 p.m. Dec. 28, 2008

Somebody should do a story about the stuff that the military is putting in the air right now over Dugway. They're testing stuff right over our heads.

To DHS Grad | 6:06 | 7:22 p.m. Dec. 28, 2008

Umm . . . your disingenuousness is showing.

I'll bet you don't even know when or where we had our last reunion. And, if you look it up on classmates or facebook, you're wrong. I doubt you'll admit it, but you didn't go to DHS, you're not a Mustang, and you don't have some government-caused cancer.

Joyce Davidson | 9:57 p.m. Dec. 28, 2008

I am the wife of David Davidson in the article. You will not find a more pro-military or pro-United States of America family than ours. We were just young naive newly weds when he was stationed at Dugway. He would come home (Tooele) and tell me about the tests he had gone through. I never thought our military would do anything to hurt him. I look at his health now and have changed my mind. I still LOVE our County (The Greatest Country on Earth) and am so very proud of our Military. But as with all things, there can be great improvement.

Mike Bailey | 9:13 a.m. Dec. 29, 2008

The DOD and the VA "promised" to find all the men used in Cold War experiments in 1991, Sec of def Dick Cheney and Acting VA Secretary Principi and get them medical care or compensation if they deserved it. In Nov 2004 The Detroit Free Press did a series of article by David Zeman he contacted Sec of VA Principi same man as 1991 and he said he thought the veterans had been helped and he would make certain they were helped in 2004, in Jan 2005 he resigned and Sec of VA Nicholson sent the lists of men 7120 of Edgewood Arsena;, 2300 of Fort Detrick and 6500 of Dugway to Sec of Def Rumsfeld where he sent the lists to the SHAD office to be buried a Feb 2008 GAO report shows they have contacted fewer than 50% of the veterans, and more than linkely none of the widows, to inform them they may be eligible for veterans benefits. Soon all of us will die and they won't have to worry about it.

C. Withrow | 2:36 p.m. Dec. 30, 2008

My husband was among a group of 100 young, new graduates in science or engineering drafted in 1952. He spent two years working in a chem lab at Dugway. He died of Parkinson's in 2006. I have often wondered if those Dugway nerve gasses caused Parkinson's, a nervous disease. I wonder if any record has been kept of the incidence of Parkinson's among Dugway veterans.

testvet 1968 | 6:07 a.m. Jan. 24, 2009

there is a lawsuit pertaining to this very topic any test vet that went through the program please access the actual complaint that was filed in san francisco it may help you understand what really happened to you so long ago, and may help you with any claims to the VA edgewoodtestvets.org please dont give up if you have health problems related to edgewood or other testing areas there may be help coming testvet 1968 qui nhon vietnam 1969

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