#Middlebury #Veterans #K2Veteran #Presumptives
VETERANS POST
By Freddy Groves
Sixteen thousand veterans who served at K2 are now eligible for expanded Department of Veterans Affairs benefits. This will be welcome (and overdue) news for many. K2, also known as Karshi-Khanabad and Camp Stronghold Freedom, was an Uzbekistan airbase used from 2001 to 2005 during Operation Enduring Freedom after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The VA is now making Gulf War illnesses a presumptive in those who served at K2, recognizing that those who served there were exposed to “several contaminants of concern” and ensuring that exposures to those toxins are taken into account for K2 veteran claims – all good steps forward.
But it wasn’t always so. A 2015 study detailed all the multiple types of cancer among those who’d served at K2. The VA rejected the information and claimed there was no high rate of cancer even though there had been many documented cases.
A 2020 congressional study, however, opened up some previously classified documents that showed the toxins and hazards were very real and so were the health consequences: Kerosene, jet fuel, contaminated soils that could “cause adverse health effects,” particulate matter, uranium, elevated levels of tetrachloroethylene, burn pits, jet fuel plumes, radiation exposure, asbestos in the soil and more.
One of the veterans who testified before the committee said that they’d constantly been told there was no risk from the toxic exposures. Further, any high environmental readings were blamed on faulty test equipment.
A Deployment Health Clinical Center (now the Psychological Health Center of Excellence) advice sheet instructed medical staff to “listen actively” when returning service members expressed concerns about exposure to toxins at K2. “It often helps rapport if you thank them” for their service, it says. But meanwhile, yeah, they tried to abate radiation in the soil with more soil dumped on top, and you walked around in glowing green water and breathed in jet fuel fumes. But hey, the protective measures were effective, and would you like a mental health consultation?
If you’re an ill K2 veteran or a surviving family member, call the VA. Don’t wait until they call you.
© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.
