About: Robert ODowd

Email : rodowd@live.com
Website : http://www.mwsg37.com

Bob O’Dowd is a former U.S. Marine with thirty years of experience as an auditor, accountant, and financial manager with the Federal government. Half of that time was spent with the Defense Logistics Agency in Philadelphia. Originally from Pennsylvania, he enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 19, served in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Marine Aircraft Wings in 52 months of active duty in the 1960s. A graduate of Temple University, Bob has been married to Grace for 31 years. He is the father of two adult children and the grandfather of two boys. Bob has a blog site on former MCAS El Toro at www.mwsg37.com. This subject is where Bob intersected with Salem-News.com. Bob served in the exact same Marine Aviation Squadron that Salem-News founder Tim King served in, twenty years earlier. With their combined on-site knowledge and research ability, Bob and Tim and a handful of other ex-Marines, have put the contamination of MCAS El Toro, a Superfund site, on the map.

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Former CIA Pilot Tells of Guns and Drugs Shipments

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Robert “Tosh” Plumlee, former CIA pilot, reported the illegal shipments of guns and drugs to Congress. Plumlee said he flew into former MCAS El Toro, CA, a number of times, in unmarked C-130s in the early hours of the morning.
(IRVINE, Calif.) – The internet is full of [...]

Forensic Evidence Supports Marine’s Murder

ShareFormer attorney supervisor in Orange County District Attorney’s office said the Marine officer was injured by a blow to the head and while unconscious suffered a shotgun blast in the mouth.  U.S. Justice Department passed responsibility to California.  Jerry Brown, California’s Attorney General, needs to pursue investigation.    

(IRVINE, CA) – The murder of Colonel James Sabow [...]

Congressional Tug-of-War Over Veterans’ Healthcare

ShareAn unknown number of veterans and dependents were exposed to environmental hazards on military installations. DOD refuses to accept responsibility for the health effects of exposure. Two bills introduced in the Senate and House provide for health care coverage. Major differences in the bills need to be worked out.
(WASHINGTON D.C.) – The Department of Defense [...]

Band of Brothers: Darrel “Shifty” Powers

ShareEmail story of a WW II 101st Airborne trooper resonates with our need for heroes. The story is fictional but the story of those who jumped into Normandy and fought their way through France is definitely not.
(PHILADELPHIA) – The email story of “Shifty” Powers shows the power of the internet and our search for real [...]

Army Medic Walks for Children

Former Army medic walks the length of Vietnam to raise funds for children affected by Agent Orange. “Doc” Duff, age 59, now lives with his Vietnamese wife in Nha Trang, Vietnam, which is the kick-off point for this year’s walk.

Military Environmental Hazards Bill Faces Hurdles

The bill requires Camp Lejeune veterans and dependents to pay TRICARE health insurance premiums, which makes them eligible for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home. The bill requires that this health care be provided within 90 days of the enactment of the bill. However, directing DOD to provide health benefits to Camp Lejeune water contamination survivors is a little bit like leading a horse to water.

Senate Considers Bill for Environmental Hazard Exposures

Camp Lejeune veterans and family members are automatically covered under the TRICARE program. Veterans and dependents of other bases must await the decision of an Advisory Board. No provision is made for civilian workers injured from exposure to environmental hazards.

Who Killed Colonel James E. Sabow, USMC?

ShareNineteen years ago today, a Marine Corps Colonel was murdered at MCAS El Toro, California.  His brother has relentlessly pursued the investigation of his death for all of these years.  Guns, drugs, and a government cover-up make this a perfect crime.  
 (IRVINE, CA) – On January 22, 1991, Marine Colonel James E. Sabow, age 51, was [...]

Baa Baa Black Sheep

ShareMarine veteran remembers visit by Colonel Gregory (Pappy) Boyington, Medal of Honor and Navy Cross recipient, the Marine Corps’ highest ranking Ace from WW II. 
(Somerdale, NJ) – It’s not often that you get to ‘stand inspection’ for a Medal of Honor winner.  The word was passed that Colonel Gregory (Pappy) Boyington, WW II Medal of Honor [...]

Navy Cross Marine Remembered

ShareMarine veteran remembers Parris Island senior drill instructor who was awarded the Navy Cross with the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines (the “Walking Dead”) in Vietnam and later killed at Con Thien in September 1967. 

(Somerdale, NJ) – It’s been 48 years since we got off the Greyhound bus at Parris Island.  The bus ride from [...]

Lejeune and El Toro: 'A Tale of Two Bases'

ShareBoth Marine bases are EPA Superfunds.  Millions were spent in remediation.  The government has not disclosed the contaminants of concern and their health effects to veterans, and there are no procedures  for medical monitoring and on-going health care for those injured.   
  (Somerdale, NJ) – It’s no secret that Marines are a band of brothers.  [...]

Congress to Navy: Assist Lejeune Veterans & Dependents

Share(Washington, DC) – A letter of October 26st from twenty-eight Congressmen to the Secretary of the Navy expressed frustration and disappointment over the Navy’s failure to provide assistance to Camp Lejeune veterans and dependents affected by the contamination of the base water wells.
The Congressional representatives questioned the Navy’s failure to develop a strategy to address [...]

A Few Good Men and Bladder Cancer

ShareVeterans of EPA Superfund sites are at risk for bladder cancer from organic solvent exposure.  A simple and non-evasive test is available to detect bladder cancer.  
(Somerdale, NJ) – Those that served and were exposed to toxic chemicals have a critical need to know what chemicals they were exposed to and access to medical screening [...]

Senate Hears Testimony on DoD Toxic Soup

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by Robert O’Dowd, Staff Writer
(WASHINGTON D.C.) – The Defense Department is the biggest owner of EPA Superfund sites. Over 130 military bases are on the National Priority List (EPA Superfund). 
In his opening statement today, Senator Daniel Akaka, Chairman, Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, noted the requirement for the VA to provide health care and compensation [...]

Lejeune's Breast Cancer Marines

Share(Camp Lejeune, NC) – The Marine Corps threw the male breast cancer survivors under the bus on Friday night.
On Friday’s Campbell Brown show, Major General Carl B. Jensen, Marine Corps Installation East Commander and the spokesman for the Corps, danced around the issue of causality for the Lejeune Marines with male breast cancer.  
     
He had it [...]

El Toro Marines Question TCE Usage

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EPA reported that Trichloroethylene (TCE) was discontinued at MCAS El Toro in the mid-1970s.  Marine veterans dispute this story.       
(Irvine, CA) – Who’s telling the truth about TCE usage at former MCAS El Toro? The practice of using TCE at former MCAS El Toro was reported to be discontinued by the Environmental Protection Agency in [...]

Marines Exposed to Radiation

ShareMarines who worked in a radiation contaminated portion of a hangar at former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro were exposed to Radium 226.  No action was taken to notify any Marine veteran who worked in the hangar. 
(Irvine, CA) – Marines were exposed to radiation in a huge maintenance hangar at former Marine Corps Air [...]

Law Firm Pursuing El Toro Injuries and Deaths

ShareBy Robert O’Dowd, Staff Writer
A Long Beach law firm is investigating injuries and deaths connected with former MCAS El Toro. 
(Long Beach, CA) – A Camp Lejeune lawsuit filed this week for injuries from exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE) and other organic solvents and a growing list of injuries linked to organic exposure from Marine Corps [...]

Marine Spouse Battles Navy Over Atsugi's Contamination

ShareBy Robert O’Dowd, Staff Writer

Shelly Parulis, wife of a retired Marine Master Sergeant, is engaged in a running battle with the Navy over dioxin and other toxins at NAF Atsugi, Japan.  
(Atsugi, Japan) – No one assigned to Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi, the home of Carrier Air Wing 5, would have suspected that duty in [...]

Vietnam Dustoff and Dinh Nit

Share (Chester, PA) – Captain Maureen (Robbie) Robinson, Army Nurse Corps, was on her second tour in Vietnam in 1970 when she first saw Dinh Nit.  According to the medical report, Dinh Nit was around three years old, weighted only 18 pounds, suffered from severe malnutrition, parasite infections, and protein deficiency.
The ER was [...]

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