Marines Are No Longer Forgotten And May File A Camp Lejeune Justice Act Lawsuit
Other benefits of the Act are expanded medical benefits for those who served in Vietnam and Iraqi
Sunday, September 11, 2022 - US Marines have been under fire continuously for the last 20 years by enemies that presented themselves on the battlefield and also by some that were not so obvious. The hidden enemies may be the most fearsome of all as they attack without being seen, heard, smelled, or tasted. For example for several decades, Marines drank Camp Lejeune water contaminated by chemicals dumped into the storm drains by a dry cleaner, toxins that leached from unlined improper toxic waste pits on the base, and industrial cleaning solutions that leached into the water supply by military equipment cleaning solutions. According to the EPA, the scope of the types of chemicals that can be presumed carcinogenic is constantly growing. "Volatile organic compounds are compounds that have a high vapor pressure and low water solubility. Many VOCs are human-made chemicals that are used and produced in the manufacture of paints, pharmaceuticals, and refrigerants. VOCs typically are industrial solvents, such as trichloroethylene; fuel oxygenates, such as methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE); or by-products produced by chlorination in water treatment, such as chloroform. VOCs are often components of petroleum fuels, hydraulic fluids, paint thinners, and dry cleaning agents. VOCs are common ground-water contaminants." The Marine's most deadly adversaries have turned out not to be the Iraqi insurgents in places like Falluja, but are, in reality, the air that marines breathed and the tap water they drank.
With the passage of the Honoring Our Pact Act, and the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, marines are no longer forgotten. The dual-purpose legislation more than doubles the number of conditions that qualify as being caused presumptively by service in Iraq and the Middle East to include a dozen lung-related illnesses. It also takes into account diseases and deaths caused in Vietnam by Agent Orange. Camp Lejeune marines, civilian employees, and contractors that worked on the base may now consult a Camp Lejeune water attorney to see if they qualify to file a lawsuit.
Marines are urged to take matters into their own hands and not let a sense of loyalty to the Corps prevent them from seeking compensation. There is an on-going multi-pronged assault on their physical health and mental well-being that has manifested in more US Marines committed suicide since the War in the Gulf ended 15 years ago, than all of those killed in the war's most deadly battle, the second battle to evict Iraqi insurgents from Falluja. Military.com tells readers "Thirty-five members of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, have died by suicide since 2003. That surpasses the number of Marines the unit lost during the Second Battle of Fallujah, serving as a stark reminder of the wounds still carried by many who fought the war's toughest fights." Many of the Marine suicides may be attributed to the scars of battlefield physical and mental trauma. It has not helped any that the USMC and Navy have all but forgotten about the Marines that have developed cancer of the lungs and other parts of their respiratory system from inhaling toxic burn pit fumes. Marines have also discovered that their tap water at Camp Lejeune had been contaminated from 1953-1987 and many Marines and their families member had drank the contaminated tap water.
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