A Trust Betrayed (43 page)

6
. Sally Applegate, “Living One Victory at a Time,”
North Andover (Mass.) Citizen
, August 26, 2012,
www.wickedlocal.com/northandover/news/x1733881279/Living-one-victory-at-a-time
.

E
PILOGUE

1
. Dana Priest and Anne Hull, “Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration at Army's Top Medical Facility,”
Washington Post
, February 18, 2007,
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html
; Steve Vogel, “
VA
Struggling with Disability Claims,”
Washington Post
, November 11, 2012; Steve Vogel, “Petition Calls for Obama to Fire
VA
Secretary Shinseki,”
Washington Post
, August 21, 2013.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Jerry Ensminger usually signs off on his e-mails with a quote from scholar James Bryant Conant: “Behold the turtle, he only makes progress when he sticks his neck out . . . ” He and other former Marines, such as Tom Townsend, Jeff Byron, and Mike Gros—along with a true son of the Marine Corps, Mike Partain—have been sticking their necks out for years to demand justice and accountability from the Navy and the Marine Corps. Without their efforts, and their willingness to share their stories and information, this book would not have been possible.

Nor would it have come to fruition if not for the wise counsel and expert guidance of literary agent Ronald Goldfarb and editor Merloyd Lawrence, who both believed in this story from the beginning.

Finally, thanks to Denise, Sean, and Emma Rose for their patience, love, and understanding while I was focused on this book.

Index

ABC One-Hour Cleaners,
69–70
,
86
,
90
,
99
,
107–108
,
169
,
199

Adult-onset illness,
114–115

     
ATSDR study,
122

     
attributing to psychological causes,
40

     
parathyroid cancer,
154–155

     
scientific advisory panel recommendations,
158

     
survey results linking illnesses to,
187

     
See also
Breast cancer in men

Advanced Base School, New London, Connecticut,
24–25

Advance-force training,
21–22
,
26

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)

     
adult-onset cancers,
116–117

     
benzene contamination,
210–211

     
breast cancer in men,
177–178
,
207

     
Community Assistance Panel,
185

     
congressional funding,
209

     
contacting affected families,
113
,
124

     
DoD opposition to childhood leukemia study,
108–109

     
DoD request for exemptions,
139–140

     
dry-cleaning solvents,
82

     
expanding study efforts in 2004,
152–155

     
flawed data and the underreporting of illnesses,
140–141

     
House Committee on Science and Technology hearing,
213–214

     
integrity of health studies,
140–141

     
Jeffords's demands for data and accountability,
143

     
linking contamination to birth defects,
104–112

     
Marine Corps failure to cooperate with,
264–265

     
Marine Corps redacting water well information from ATSDR studies,
241–244

     
military ignoring contamination data,
163–164

     
mortality and cancer incidence studies,
193–194

     
Navy involvement in NAS study,
205–206

     
Navy stonewalling litigation claims,
233

     
Navy stonewalling study efforts,
191–192

     
Obama administration action,
194–195

     
Oversight Committee hearing,
166–167

     
political pressure on,
190–193
,
253

     
Portier's defense of study efforts,
257

     
request for DoD review of the PHA,
197–200

     
revising earliest date of contamination,
248–249

     
revising early study,
195–196

     
scientific panel findings and recommendations,
155–160

     
shifting the VA position on disability benefits,
218–219

     
survey completion and findings,
127–128
,
187

     
2013 survey,
239–241

     
Vieques Island contamination,
207–208

     
See also
Public Health Assessment

Agent Orange,
44

Air contamination,
92–93
,
114–115

Air Force, US, TCE contamination and,
131

Akaka, Daniel,
208

Akers, Paul,
222–223

Alexander, Bob,
58–59
,
67
,
72
,
85

Aloisio, Carol,
100–101

Alvarado, Robert, Sr.,
255

Alviar, Lupe, Jr.,
44

American Revolution,
22

Amon, Tyler,
167

Amos, James,
251

Anderson, Henry,
132–133

Anencephaly,
37
,
41
,
127–128
,
184
,
186–187
,
221

Aoyama, Stephen,
100

Aplastic anemia,
75–76

Arlington National Cemetery,
260

Armed Forces Epidemiological Board,
109

Army Environmental Hygiene Team,
46

Aschengrau, Ann,
203–204

Associated Press,
210

Atlanta Journal-Constitution
,
190

ATSDR.
See
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Azar, Steve,
47

Babson, Bruce A.,
51–52
,
55

Bailey, J.R.,
50

Baker, C.H.,
91–92

Bankruptcy,
236–237

Barnett, George,
25–27

Barrett, Barbara,
209–211

Barton, Joe,
146
,
148

Bashor, Mark,
104–107

Basketball court, contamination beneath,
58

Beach, Betty and Dave,
13
,
15–16

Bennett, Kyla,
210

Benzene

     
ATSDR findings,
195–196

     
base command ignoring contamination,
198–200

     
benzene and solvents at Hadnot Point,
69–70

     
holding the Navy responsible for exposure,
235–236

     
lack of regulation,
33

     
leukemia connection to,
224

     
1980s water sampling,
55
,
103

     
state government's notification of violations,
83

     
understating contamination levels,
210

Berkeley Manor Elementary School,
71

Betz, Elizabeth,
45(quote)
,
48–50
,
53
,
55
,
94

Birth defects,
44
,
221–222

     
abundance of,
41

     
ATSDR investigation,
99
,
101–111
,
113
,
127–128
,
143

     
congressional action on studies,
184
,
209

     
families' litigation over,
233–234

     
Love Canal,
79–80

     
Marine Corps downplaying occurrence of,
224

     
multiple defects in families,
186–187

     
overriding ATSDR report,
139–140

     
PCE exposure,
37–40

     
Rachel Byron,
75

     
scientific panel investigation,
153

     
TCE and PCE role in,
129–131

     
USDHHS health survey,
123–124

     
See also
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Block, Brian,
205
,
210–211

Blogs,
224
,
226

Boling, Sharon Kay,
237

Bove, Frank,
128
,
140
,
185
,
192–193
,
201
,
207

Boyle, Terrence,
235

BP oil spill,
265–266

Breast cancer in men,
173–182
,
206–207
,
212
,
219–220
,
224–225
,
238
,
246–247
,
258
,
261–262

Breed, Allen,
250

Bridges, Sandra,
159

Broun, Paul,
212–213

Buehl, L.H.,
73
,
76
,
83

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED),
54
,
235–236

Burr, Richard,
147–148
,
196
,
203
,
208
,
243
,
245
,
252–253
,
260

Bush administration,
131–133
,
137
,
187–188
,
257

Butler, Thomas,
27

Byron, Andrea,
62–63
,
75–76
,
123
,
226

Byron, Jeff,
160

     
activism,
123–124

     
CAP,
159
,
185–186

     
congressional hearing,
162–163

     
daughters' illnesses and death,
61–63
,
75–76

     
information gathering,
126–127

     
opinion of the Marine Corps,
260–261

     
scientific panel,
154

     
The Few, the Proud, the Forgotten,
226–227

     
Water Survivors rift,
226

Byron, Mary,
61–63
,
75–76
,
123

Byron, Rachel,
75
,
123

Caldwell, Jane C.,
131

Calendar fundraiser,
225

Camp Garcia (Puerto Rico),
11–13

Camp Johnson,
21
,
59–60
,
64

Camp Pendleton (California),
17
,
144
,
193–194
,
258