Hundreds of thousands of servicemen were exposed to asbestos over decades, especially during the period from 1940 to 1980. Asbestos was used in construction of naval vessels as well as shore facilities. All branches of the military used asbestos, which was also widely used in civilian applications. Asbestos can cause mesothelioma. Because this cancer has a particularly long latency period, many servicemen who were exposed years ago are now developing this disease.
- Mesothelioma Patient & Family Resources: Mesotheliomahelp is provided by Belluck & Fox, LLP as a comprehensive resource for mesothelioma victims and their families. The site provides up-to-date information on the latest news and treatment options as well as an easy to use search feature to find local mesothelioma doctors and health care clinics.
We fight for veterans harmed by asbestos: Veterans with mesothelioma or asbestos-related lung cancer should know they have options: the opportunity to bring a suit against manufacturers and sellers of the asbestos that caused their illness. If you were harmed by asbestos exposure, for example, in ships or military housing, contact Weitz & Luxenberg to get a free case review.
Important Information for Veterans: Asbestos products were often used on military ships and within military housing, and Veterans may have been exposed. Previous exposure to asbestos is the only known cause of mesothelioma, a fatal cancer that has no cure and affects countless Veterans and loved ones. For more information regarding military asbestos exposure visit Mesothelioma.com
U.S. Coast Guard helping to midwife Chinese Coast Guard
I was shocked. I was looking through the Jamestown Foundation's weekly briefing on Eurasian security issues, and there she was, my old ship, the Coast Guard Cutter RUSH (WHEC 723) moored up in Shanghai China!
I have not laid eyes on her since I left her at the end of my three year tour of duty in RUSH as chief yeoman in July 1987.
I will simply keep my mouth shut relative to that last sentence above. You would need to have served in the U.S. Coast Guard to understand the irony of that statement. Wow!
The following essay was forwarded to us from Veterans for Common Sense (VCS), and we wanted to share the red flags highlighted by a military spouse stationed at Fort Hood when the recent shooting incident occurred.
All credit and copyright for the story goes to Carissa Picard and VCS, so any use or reprint must be approved by the originators.
Special Report: Retired military officers cash in as well-paid consultants
By Tom Vanden Brook, Ken Dilanian and Ray Locker, USA Today
Six months after Marine Lt. Gen. Gary McKissock retired in 2002, he did what many other ex-military leaders do: He joined the board of directors of a defense contractor, a company doing business with his former service.
McKissock also had a second job. The Marines brought him back as an adviser, at double the rate of pay he made on active duty. Since 2005, the Marines have awarded McKissock contracts worth $1.2 million, in addition to his military pension of about $119,000 a year.
The dead at Fort Hood had not even been laid to rest when their massacre became yet another political battle cry for the self-proclaimed patriots of the American right.
Their verdict was unambiguous: Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an American-born psychiatrist of Palestinian parentage who sent e-mail to a radical imam, was a terrorist. And he did not act alone. His co-conspirators included our military brass, the Defense Department, the F.B.I., the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and, of course, the liberal media and the Obama administration. All these institutions had failed to heed the warning signs raised by Hasan’s behavior and activities because they are blinded by political correctness toward Muslims, too eager to portray criminals as sympathetic victims of social injustice, and too cowardly to call out evil when it strikes 42 innocents in cold blood.
The move comes in the wake of a Salon investigation, but results so far are mixed
In the wake of a Salon investigation, the Army Friday announced a broad investigation into “lost accountability” at some graves at Arlington National Cemetery, along with shoddy record keeping and other issues at the cemetery.
Army Secretary John McHugh ordered the inquiry after a series of articles in Salon showed the cemetery failed to alert family members when they dug up and moved remains to fix the problem. The Salon reports suggested these kinds of errors could be widespread, since the cemetery has failed to implement a computer system to track burials as other cemeteries have, despite nearly a decade of work and nearly $6 million spent on the effort.
Special Report: Veterans Day STRUGGLES WHEN THE PARADES ARE OVER
KEEPING VETERAN'S DAY ALIVE
By Ed Hooper History News Service
Two months ago, Jacksonville was threatened with cancellation of its 2009 Veterans Day parade after the city council cut the parade’s funding. Only a firestorm of protests from the Florida city’s residents restored the parade.
Jacksonville is not alone. Similar stories about cancellations or threatened cancellations erupted in newspapers across the nation this year. New York, Pennsylvania and California city officials cut back on observances of the holiday, citing waning interest and declining participation.
During the American Revolution, many important political discussions took place in the inns and taverns of Philadelphia, including the founding of the Marine Corps.
A committee of the Continental Congress met at Tun Tavern to draft a resolution calling for two battalions of Marines able to fight for independence at sea and on shore. The resolution was approved on November 10, 1775, officially forming the Continental Marines.
As the first order of business, Samuel Nicholas became Commandant of the newly formed Marines. Tun Tavern’s owner and popular patriot, Robert Mullan, became his first captain and recruiter. They began gathering support and were ready for action by early 1776.
Each year, the Marine Corps marks November 10th with a celebration of the brave spirit which compelled these men and thousands since to defend our country as United States Marines.
Washed onto the shores of his island home, after 10 years’ absence in a foreign war and 10 years of hard travel in foreign lands, Odysseus, literature’s most famous veteran, stares around him: “But now brilliant Odysseus awoke from sleep in his own fatherland, and he did not know it,/having been long away.” Additionally, the goddess Athena has cast an obscuring mist over all the familiar landmarks, making “everything look otherwise/than it was.” “Ah me,” groans Odysseus, “what are the people whose land I have come to this time?”
That sense of dislocation has been shared by veterans returning from the field of war since Homer conjured Odysseus’ inauspicious return some 2,800 years ago. Its vexing power was underscored on Thursday, when a military psychiatrist who had been treating the mental scars of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan went on a shooting rampage at an Army base in Texas.
The top official at Arlington National Cemetery claims he was unaware of the most recently reported burial error at the cemetery, possibly, he says, because he was away at the time it occurred. Cemetery employee records, however, show Superintendent John Metzler present and working at Arlington when the cemetery discovered this most recently disclosed burial foul-up, which resulted in digging up and moving the remains of one service member the cemetery had accidentally buried on top of another.
On May 13, 1864, the first military service man was interred in Arlington National Cemetery. Ever since, the cemetery has been a symbol of dignity and valor. Presidents, slaves, civilians and other notables have had the privilege of having their final resting place in this sacred ground. However, the majority of those buried at Arlington are the men and women in uniform.
Special Report: MILITARY PUSHING FOR PROLONGED LOSING WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
TROOPS DIE WHILE THE BRASS LIES
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor
Our professional military, cut from the same cloth that killed off a generation in Vietnam, is pushing for a decade of war in Afghanistan, a decade of promotions, massive budgets, big "after retirement" defense contracting jobs and the adrenalin rush of sending others out to die. Stuck in a land locked country with an enemy impossible to fight, and no cause of any kind to speak of, keeping a war going takes imagination and tons of lies and backstabbing. What group could be better at it than the Perfumed Princes of the Pentagon?
DEFINITION: PERFUMED PRINCE: a man who is seen as bureaucratic or careerist; a man who is said to be effete, feminine, ineffectual, vacillating, or cowardly; (hence) a member of the U.S. military leadership (at the Pentagon); top brass. (by Col. David Hackworth)
BARCHA, Afghanistan (Reuters) – U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Tiffany Jones chews tobacco, spitting the juice into the Afghan desert as she talks, and wears her M-16 automatic rifle slung across her chest just like her male colleagues.
Jones wanted to be a sniper but, like many women on active service in the U.S. military, she has never been outside "the wire" -- the heavily guarded razor-wire perimeter of her base.
RIVERDALE -- The U.S. Army will make an exception to a decades-old rule and allow a Sikh doctor from Morris County to serve without removing his turban and cutting his hair, an advocacy group said Friday. Captain Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, of Riverdale, is the first Sikh to be allowed to go on active duty with a turban, beard and unshorn hair in more than 20 years, according to the New York-based Sikh Coalition.
Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 23 -- A suicide terrorist driving a truck loaded with TNT blew up an American Marine headquarters at the Beirut airport today, killing at least 161 marines and sailors and wounding 75.
In an almost simultaneous attack, another bomb- laden truck slammed into a French paratroop barracks two miles away.
Opinion: An Appeal: Time To Oppose Military Recruiting
By Sherwood Ross Staff Writer
From every appearance, President Obama intends to step up the war in Afghanistan . Even though the American people voted for peace last November and would prefer to devote themselves to the ways of peace –working a full-time job if they can find one, educating their children, providing essential services in their communities, etc., Obama plans to remain in Afghanistan, squandering billions more on a war that the latest poll shows 57% of the American people oppose. Obama also has given no signal that he will withdraw the remaining U.S. troops from Iraq and is providing the Pakistanis with the money, means, and encouragement to expand President Bush’s criminal wars’ into yet a third nation.
Special Report: US SUPERBOMB TO MAKE IRAN AND NORTH KOREA VULNERABLE
MASSIVE WEAPON BEING RUSHED INTO PRODUCTION
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor and The London Daily Mail
The recent discovery of a second uranium enrichment facility in Iran, near the holy city of Qom, has pushed forward US plans to deploy a massive 15 ton 'bunker buster' bomb capable of penetrating any known underground facility. Originally slated by the Bush administration for testing in 2012, sources indicate this weapon could be ready for testing as early as December 2009. Several times larger than the previous version and deliverable only using the B2 bomber, the new bunker buster will give the United States an option of destroying underground nuclear facilities otherwise unreachable without a ground invasion.
News: Ultimate Bunker Buster: U.S military speed plans for 13-ton bomb... but deny Iran nuclear standoff is the reason
The U.S. military is speeding up delivery of a colossal bomb designed to destroy hidden weapons bunkers buried underground and shielded by 10,000 pounds of reinforced concrete.
Call it Plan B for dealing with Iran, which recently revealed a long-suspected nuclear site deep inside a mountain near the holy city of Qom.
Special Report: IS AMERICA'S PERSECUTION OF PHONY HEROES JUST?
THE MYTH OF STOLEN VALOR
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor
World War 2 set the standard for judging manhood for generations to come. Unless you hit a beach under withering enemy fire or parachuted behind enemy lines, you would spend the rest of your life labeled a yellow dog. We forgot one reality of the human condition, not everyone is comfortable with the idea of dying a horrible death at 19 years old. Dozens of John Wayne movies weren't enough to get millions of Americans over being scared stiff about the idea of serving in Vietnam. Reserve units, the National Guard, college deferments or a plethora of doctor's excuses saved the rich and resourceful. Others, many with non combatant military service, more with none at all, took a different road and began living a lifetime of lies. Author B.G Burkette calls this: Stolen Valor.
Features: MOTHER OF SOLDIER KILLED IN VIETNAM NEVER TOLD ABOUT DEATH GRATUITY
DEAD VET'S FAMILY CHEATED FOR DECADES
By Terry Richards for Veterans Today
Lorraine & David Noddin’s Son William “(Billy”) was killed in action in Vietnam on April 25, 1968. They knew about and were paid out the $10,000 Soldiers Group Life Insurance (SGLI) available at the time but they were never told about the DEATH GRATUITY also available at the time which was equal to 6-months of Billy’s base pay or to a maximum of $800 according to Department of Defense Officials. Billy’s pay rate as a Private First Class (PFC) was $137.70 - $192.00 per month at the time. So the Noddin’s were entitled to at least $800.
GREENSBORO, N.C. -A former soldier said Wednesday he believed that the deputy who initiated a fateful traffic stop in 2002 was part of an Army role-playing exercise - a belief broken only when the officer fired two fatal shots at a Special Forces colleague.
In testimony that ranged from tearful to forceful, Stephen Phelps laid out for a federal jury in North Carolina his recollection of the bizarre and tragic encounter with deputy Randall Butler. Phelps filed a federal lawsuit against the officer for using excessive force, while Butler insists he feared for his life.
The widow of Marine Sgt. Michael Ferschke Jr. paid a visit to Camp Pendleton last month to show her young son to the Marines who served with his father before his death in Iraq.
Now those same Marines are supporting an effort to let Hotaru Nakama Ferschke stay in America with her 8-month-old son, Michael "Mikey" Ferschke III.
Michael Ferschke met his future wife, a Japanese citizen, while he was stationed in Okinawa. After he deployed to Iraq they were married in a ceremony conducted by telephone. Hotaru was three months pregnant.
The Department of Defense sponsored a study during the Bush administration, on Screening for Potential Terrorists in the Enlisted Military Accessions Process (April 2005).
They came to similar conclusions as the Department of Homeland Security and FBI did during both the Bush and Obama administrations to wit Obama Secretary of Homeland Security was forced to apologize for hurting a few right-wing Veterans feelings.
News: Fighter Jet's Noise Worries Some Potential Neighbors
The Air Force says that within a few weeks it will release a list of preferred bases for the next generation fighter aircraft, which is now being flight-tested. As many as 200 bases around the country are candidates for the F-35, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter.
But while many of the communities near those bases would welcome the economic benefits of the new mission, they would not be as welcoming to the noise the aircraft bring.
SAN ANTONIO — In a bare-walled room at the main library here, Kris Rodriguez, a military veteran, was struggling to explain his confusion as a new writer.
A first step, Jenny Lumet suggested, might be to choose a format. Writing a novel might be different than, say, a cookbook, said Ms. Lumet, a screenwriter whose credits include “Rachel Getting Married” and who was there to offer help
News: Veterans Decry Abuse of G.I. Resisters in Fort Lewis Brig
Veterans' groups call Tuesday, October 13 Press Conference at Seattle Marriott
Veterans' groups are reacting with alarm to reports that two Army soldiers imprisoned in the Fort Lewis Regional Correctional Facility (RCF) have been subjected to human rights abuses. Travis Bishop (recognized by Amnesty International as a "Prisoner of Conscience") resisted deployment to Afghanistan, and Leo Church left his unit to prevent his family from going homeless. Their civilian defense attorney James M. Branum reports that they have been strip-searched while being possibly filmed. Bishop and Church have also been watched by female guards during strip searches, while using the restroom and in the showers. The prisoners were denied one in-person visit by counsel and all phone calls with their attorneys have been illegally monitored by guards.
The US Air Force has placed an order for 100,000 gallons of Camelina-based jet fuel, in addition to the 40,000 gallons the Navy ordered last month for $2.7 million, with delivery to begin this year. Sustainable Oils is supplying them with a biofuel grown in Montana with 80% lower carbon emissions than jet fuels now.
WASHINGTON — In the chaos of an early morning assault on a remote U.S. outpost in eastern Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips' M4 carbine quit firing as militant forces surrounded the base. The machine gun he grabbed after tossing the rifle aside didn't work either.
The Marine Corps is moving to ban dogs with aggressive temperaments from Camp Pendleton and other bases under a policy developed after a 3-year-old boy at Camp Lejeune, N.C., was fatally bitten by a pit bull. The banned breeds are pit bulls, Rottweilers and wolf hybrids.
Families moving into base housing are no longer allowed to bring those breeds. Families already in housing can keep their dogs until Sept. 30, 2012, but only if they receive a "good-dog" waiver.
I was shocked. I was looking through the Jamestown Foundation's weekly briefing on Eurasian security issues, and there she was, my old ship, the Coast Guard Cutter RUSH (WHEC 723) moored up in Shanghai China! 
The following essay was forwarded to us from Veterans for Common Sense (VCS), and we wanted to share the red flags highlighted by a military spouse stationed at Fort Hood when the recent shooting incident occurred. 
By Mark Benjamin 
KEEPING VETERAN'S DAY ALIVE
The superintendent says he may have been absent when remains were moved, but an employee's log says otherwise
TROOPS DIE WHILE THE BRASS LIES
Beirut October 23, 1983: Truck Loaded With TNT Wrecks Headquarters of a Marine Unit
MASSIVE WEAPON BEING RUSHED INTO PRODUCTION
THE MYTH OF STOLEN VALOR 
DEAD VET'S FAMILY CHEATED FOR DECADES
This is the last part and follow up on how the 
The Air Force says that within a few weeks it will release a list of preferred bases for the next generation fighter aircraft, which is now being flight-tested. As many as 200 bases around the country are candidates for the F-35, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter. 
Veterans' groups call Tuesday, October 13 Press Conference at Seattle Marriott
By Tony Perry 
