I remember the day I got my Anthrax Vaccine like it was yesterday.
We had all been bussed to the airfield efficiently and without incident. It was still dark, no less than 0330. We could hear huge C5's turbines warming up on the runway as we stumbled with our bags from the busses to the terminal. It was a bitter cold, the kind of cold that freezes your breath to your eyebrows.
I had arrived on post 2 days prior. I had just completed AIT (Advanced Infantry training) Airborne School and RIP (Ranger Indoc. Program). My Squad Leader gave the whirlwind tour of my new Duty Station: CIF (Central Issuing Facility), the range, PT, platoon meetings, packing list inspections, and lots of love piled on the new guy. I hadn't slept since I arrived on post. My civilian bags remained unpacked in my barracks room, and would remain in place for months to come.
You could imagine the sheer excitement and terror I felt. It was 2001, and we all were itching for payback.
After our feel-good-stranger-danger briefing in the terminal was complete, it was vaccine time. The men who had young children (some vaccines were too risky to have with small kids around) and the new guys were told to line up by a row of nurses ready to administer the shots. The rest of the unit had gotten vaccinated a week prior. We moved through, each getting needlefuls of whatever. I was too tired to care, to be honest.
Little did I know, some of us were injured before we even got to Afghanistan.
A few of my brothers from my unit were effected immediately, with nerve damage in the injection site. "Numbness is a side effect" said a nurse. We rolled on, focused on the mission at hand.. getting on the bird to saw some logs under our woobies.
Although all of us got the Anthrax Vaccine, only some of us have had bad reactions, or it at the very least made our immune system too weak to fight the bombardment of carcinogens from open burn pits and contaminated FOB sites.
Fast forward about 2 years.. I'm getting a physical for our next deployment and find out I have a "mild form of Chemically Induced Hepatitis". They asked how much I drank,(an enlisted man in the barracks imbibes many beers) and pushed it off on that. They told me a booze free tour should clear my problem right up. Again, I thought nothing of it due to my desire to deploy with my brothers. I did not want be left behind to suffer the life of the rear deployed infantryman.
By that point in time there were already whispers of the vaccine and/or the carcingen coctail we were subjected to was getting people ill. After that first deployment, some friends ETSd only to begin a new fight battling different medical abnormalities, ranging from heart disease like symptoms, swollen genatalia, low sperm counts and cancer.
In 2012 I was diagnosed with Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Melanoma. After a second opinion and 3 surgeries later, I am in remission. I fear I am one of the few lucky ones.
After speaking with a couple smart people on Twitter, I realized this issue far more widespread than I previously thought. I am sharing my story in the hopes that others will come forward. Do you know an OIF or OEF veteran suffering from unusual illnesses or patterns of symptoms that cannot be found in medical textbooks? Please feel free to share! There is very little being reported my the MSM, FDA or Military (surprise surprise)
We need to find out whats going on here. KBR is trying to have a case thrown out in this regard, brought to court by suffering veterans and former employees.. Information pertaining to this issue stopped being released back in 2001.
This is my generation's asbestos, our Agent Orange, our Gulf War Syndrome.
I look to the future, when the VA may or may not be funded enough to help the people that have not been treated yet. Lets put a name to this now. We deserve better.
If you are a Veteran, please get yourself checked! It's better to be safe than sorry, no?
God Bless, and Thanks for reading.
Rangers Lead the Way!
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2012/07/military-kbr-seeks-dismissal-burn-pit-lawsuits-071612/
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/6063.php
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