"But not to get messed up," he continued. "But we have done everything that we could do, I definitely believe that.". Tim Josephs arrived at Edgewood Arsenal in 1968, he knew there was something different about the place. In the midst of the Cold War, the military was concerned chemical agents could be used against U.S. soldiers. In more than 20 years, the VA attempted to reach just 610 of the men, with a single letter sent in the mail. Greene called for a search for novel psychoactive compounds that would create the same debilitating mental side effects as those produced by nerve gases, but without their lethal effect. Other times, he experiences numbness in his joints or or tremors. BTS will be on hiatus until all seven members complete their mandatory military service in South Korea. ", Goss says he thinks the VA never delivered on its promises because this issue has been disappearing on its own for years. However once the experiments were uncovered, the US Senate also concluded questionable legality of the experiments and strongly condemned them. He filed a federal lawsuit for compensation in 1979, but was unsuccessful because of a legal doctrine that protects the military from being sued for service-related injuries. She says they didn't know that he was eligible for disability benefits when he died of a heart attack in 1995. The military also tested tear gas, barbiturates, tranquilizers, narcotics and hallucinogens like LSD. "You can't coordinate anything you know. The soldiers deposition also stated that participants were given no warnings about side effects or potential long-term health risks that might be associated with the experiments. Ariel Zambelich/NPR [3] In the 1950s, some officials in the U.S. Department of Defense publicly asserted that many "forms of chemical and allied warfare as more 'humane' than existing weapons. But the VA didn't uphold those promises, an NPR investigation has found. To my knowledge, not one of them died or suffered a serious illness or permanent injury. including tests designed to look for racial difference. Cavell is currently being re-evaluated before the benefits can be disbursed. In addition to medical benefits, the lawsuit is asking that the Defense Department and Department of Veteran Affairs find all Edgewood veterans and provide them with details of the chemicals they received and their possible health effects. It just did not look like a military base, more like a hospital, recalled Josephs, a Pittsburgh native. "For the actual test Private Zadrovney received a high dose of the incapacitating agent," the film's narrator said. After an hour, the officer released six of the men back to their barracks. I am convinced that it is possible, by means of the techniques of psychochemical warfare, to conquer an enemy without the wholesale killing of his people or the mass destruction of his property.[2]. After a stint at a defense company in Tennessee, Carl Gepp got a job in 1965 as an engineer working on the Honest John missile back at the Edgewood Arsenal. Read the secret (now unclassified) Army document revealing BZ tests on soldiers (PDF). Josephs said he didnt know what drugs he was getting. A deliberate destruction of evidence and files documenting their illegal actions, actions which were punctuated by fraud, deception, and a callous disregard for the value of human life. 2004 GAO report 1982-85 IOM report In the early 1990s, VA officials also announced the agency would lower its burden of proof to make getting benefits easier in these cases. He is very knowledgeable about the law and extremely professional. But the research expanded into offensive chemical weapons, including one that could, according to one Army film obtained by CNN, deliver a veritable chemical ambush against an enemy. Gordon Erspamer, lead attorney in suit against VA. During experiments that began on February 19, 1968, Josephs experienced Parkinsons-like tremors after receiving Prolixin, an antipsychotic medication, Erspamer said, prompting the Edgewood medical staff to give the young soldier Congentin and Artane, two drugs used to treat Parkinsons symptoms. Attorney James Hancock works with the California law firm Morrison & Foerster, which filed a class action lawsuit back in 2008 against the CIA and Department of Defense. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) A top-secret military program treated active-duty U.S. soldiers like they were guinea pigs according to a class action lawsuit that shed light on what happened. 2009), the plaintiffs did not seek monetary damages. Fort Hoyle was established on October 7, 1922, and was created from a portion of the Edgewood Arsenal. My question to you is my son suffers from a rare form of eczema and severe asthma. Edgewood Arsenal Medical Experiments Compensation. ), Nerve agent reactivators, e.g. To enter and activate the submenu links, hit the down arrow. The National Academies of Science reviewed this report in 2018 ("Review and Approach to Evaluating Long-term Health Effects in Army Test Subjects") and suggested a framework for evaluating these exposures moving forward. According to the class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Edgewood Arsenal veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), despite having actively participated in the experiments, has denied between 97% and 99% of all disability or death claims arising out of the exposures. Records indicate that between 1955 and 1965, of the 6,720 soldiers tested, only 147 human subjects underwent exposure to mustard agent at Edgewood (NRC 1982). 1, "Anticholinesterases and Anticholinergics", Vol. One film showed soldiers being injected with BZ, which in high doses can lead to hallucinations and confusion. These experiments were conducted primarily to learn how various agents would affect humans (NRC 1982). After NPR's inquiry, the VA told NPR there was enough evidence to grant his claims. [22], Material Testing Program EA (Edgewood Arsenal) numbers. These efforts are ongoing. Instead, they sought only declaratory and injunctive relief and redress for what they claimed was several decades of neglect and the U.S. government's use of them as human guinea pigs in chemical and biological agent testing experiments. According to the agency, if a veteran has an illness on the list and can prove he was exposed, he receives benefits. According to the lawsuit, some of the volunteers were even implanted with electrical devices in an effort to control their behaviour. A diagnosed medical condition they think is a direct result of taking part in an Army chem/bio substance testing program. Around 7,000 US military personnel and 1,000 civilians were test subjects over almost three decades. While the soldiers were given the option to decline the drug testing, there were innuendos of bad punishments if they did not participate, the former soldier said, according to CNN. Parker Waichman LLP is offering free lawsuit evaluations to any former soldier who was subjected to medical experimentation at Edgewood Arsenal between 1955 through 1975. Cavell and 11 other volunteers were locked inside a gas chamber with mustard gas piping inside. Documents reveal after getting BZ, Paul was put in temperatures of 105 degrees then 125 degrees for up to seven hours, to see if the drug impacted the way soldiers sweated. Berzellini says every winter her husband spent weeks in bed with chronic bronchitis an illness government studies have linked to mustard gas exposure. They want to use young men as guinea pigs and throw them away., The Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs declined face-to-face interviews with CNN, citing pending litigation. "[6], The Edgewood Arsenal human experiments took place from approximately 1948 to 1975 at the Medical Research Laboratorieswhich is now known as the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD)at the Edgewood Area, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. A group of them, led by Nat Schnurman, went public with their stories in 1990. 1942-1945: U.S. Navy initiated poisonous Mustard Gas and Lewisite (derivative of arsenic) experiments to test protective clothing and anti-blister ointments at the Naval Research Laboratory and at the Army's Edgewood Arsenal. Schnurman and his wife, Joy, spent the next two decades compiling evidence of the testing in order to put pressure on the military. At the end of the second hour, the officer ordered Cavell back to his barracks and to continue wearing his gas-saturated uniform. Elimination of the chemicals held here was put on an accelerated schedule after the September 11, 2001, attacks, and all chemical weapons were destroyed by February 2006. The letter granting him benefits made no mention of Edgewood. The use of troops to test nerve gas, psychochemicals, and thousands of other toxic chemical or biological substances. Congressional hearings into these experiments in 1974 and 1975 resulted in disclosures, notification of subjects as to the nature of their chemical exposures, and ultimately to compensation for a few families of subjects who had died during the experiments (NAS 1993). Finally, the command and control problems which were apparent in the CIA's programs are paralleled by a lack of clear authorization and supervision in the Army's programs.(S. From 1955 to 1975, the Army conducted chemical weapons testing on volunteer soldiers at the Edgewood Arsenal facility in Maryland in pursuit of an agent that could disable enemy troops on the field of battle without killing them. In all, roughly 60,000 World War II veterans were used as test subjects, and they kept the experiments secret for half a century. soldiers at the Edgewood Arsenal, or to other "volunteers" under contract to the Edgewood Arsenal, were not disclosed. A significant change was made on July 1, 1971, when Edgewood Arsenal, the former chemical center and current chemical research and engineering center for the U.S. Army, was merged into APG. Read the lawsuit complaint document (PDF), Read about an Edgewood volunteers widow who blames the VA for his death, Gordon Erspamer, lead attorney in the suit, has reviewed the partial Edgewood medical records that Josephs was able to obtain with the help of his wife. Dr. James Ketchum led the experiments, and we've got a clip in which he defends his methods. According to the 1984 NRC review, human experiments at DoD's Edgewood Arsenal involved about 1,500 subjects who were experimentally exposed to irritant and blister agents including: For example, from 1958 to 1973 at least 1,366 human subjects underwent experimental exposure specifically with the riot-control agent CS at Edgewood Arsenal (NRC 1984). appreciated. Decades after the U.S. Army used soldiers to test the effects of potent chemical and biological warfare agents - including some prohibited by the Geneva Protocol - it has begun notifying veterans. He said, You volunteered for this. For 20. If you or a loved one were exposed to dangerous drugs and toxins in the course of unethical medical experimentation conducted by the U.S. Army at Edgewood Arsenal, you may be entitled to compensation. [7][8][9] A concrete result of these experiments was that BZ was weaponized, although never deployed. But when he went to fill out paperwork the morning after his arrival, the base personnel were wearing white lab coats, and Josephs said he had second thoughts. 3, "Final Report: Current Health Status of Test Subjects", Health Outcomes Among Veterans of Project SHAD (Shipboard Hazard and Defense) (2016), "United States v. Stanley, 483 US 669 - Supreme Court 1987", "Vietnam Veterans of America v. Central Intelligence Agency", "THE HUMAN ASSESSMENT OF EA 1729 AND EA 3528 BY THE INHALATION ROUTE", "Assessment of Potential Long Term Health Effects on Army Human Test Subjects of Relevant Biological and Chemical Agents, Drugs, Medications and Substances", "King's Collections: Archive Catalogues: Military Archives", "Operation Delirium: Decades after a risky Cold War experiment, a scientist lives with secrets". This being said, also my son's father was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam. The chemical testing on soldiers stopped in 1975. 2023 Cable News Network. "They want to use young men as guinea pigs and throw them away," said Josephs, now 63. Cheryl Huppertz filed a lawsuit in district court Sept. 28, seeking a writ of mandamus to compel Edgewood to produce public [] Veterans who have a disease or injury they believe is related to the testing may seek treatment from the Army, according to the Armys Office of the Surgeon General. 3, "Final Report: Current Health Status of Test Subjects" (1985). I was a MRVP at Edgewood Arsenal Chemical in 1964/1965. ", And "How would you compare this test with the last one?". The lawsuit sought for the veterans to be notified about what substances they had received and be provided medical coverage. Copyright 2021 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Three test subjects enter a gas chamber, which will fill with mustard gas, as part of the military's secret chemical warfare testing in March 1945. Case No. "Dr. Delirium & the Edgewood Experiments" gives ample airtime to theories that Edgewood hosted Nazi scientists given asylum under the Pentagon's notorious Operation Paperclip program, but never quite manages to tie the Germans to Ketchum's experiments. Last year, the Department of Veterans Affairs granted him partial benefits for his Parkinsons for Agent Orange exposure during his time in Thailand, giving Josephs 40% disability. Tests began for Josephs almost as soon as he arrived at Edgewood for a two-month assignment on January 1, 1968. Then, in 1996, Bollinger received a military commendation in the mail. The lawsuit detailed how the military secretly tested drugs and chemicals on thousands of soldiers including dangerous nerve gases like Sarin and incapacitating agents like LSD and BZ, that Paul called Benzene. He married Michelle, a nurse, in 1977, but the couple decided not to have children, fearing his chemical exposure might somehow affect them. Her name is Joy. A lawsuit brought by a veterans advocacy group, Vietnam Veterans of America, resulted in the requirement that the Army give medical care to eligible veterans who took part in testing that supported U.S. chemical and biological programs, Army Medical Command officials said in a release this week. However, a good history and physical examination can provide valuable information and help determine a Veterans risk of developing health problems related to the exposure. The committee's understanding is that additional, and potentially relevant, material on SHAD tests exists and remains classified. Josephs left the service when his three-year tour ended, and he began a career as a real estate agent. He was told never to talk about his experiences at Edgewood and to forget about everything he ever did, said or heard at the Maryland base. By the early 1950s, Edgewood Arsenal, which became part of the larger complex at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, produced numerous biological agents, developed protective equipment and prophylactic treatments, and shaped US combat policy and practice.In the aftermath of WWII tensions between the US and the USSR prompted scientists, military officials, and policy advisors to increase the number of . Josephs applied for veterans benefits based on chemical exposure at Edgewood. From Edgewood, Josephs said he went to an Army installation in Georgia, where he experienced tremors so severe, he had to be admitted to the base hospital and given muscle relaxers. In total, Army documents identified 7,120 Army and Air Force personnel who participated in these tests. Those regulations have kept veterans like Harry Bollinger, 88, from receiving benefits. "If I were back in Congress, I'd be asking that question.". About 7,000 soldiers took part in these experiments that involved exposures to more than 250 different chemicals, according to the Department of Defense (DoD). Original photo: Courtesy of Charlie Cavell Veterans who are eligible for the care must have: Eligible veterans can expect to receive the medical care and related medications at their nearest military medical treatment facility that has the capability and capacity for them, officials said in the release. the common OP antidote, other ocular and respiratory irritants; and. Court documents show that the Veterans Benefits Administration rejected 84 of 86 health claims related to chemical or biological exposure. APG Transition: 1980s-1990s "No Social Security numbers, no addresses, no way of identifying them. Ariel Zambelich/NPR Find out if you qualify for VA health care. And yet Flohr insists the VA still needs proof in order to grant claims. After receiving the drug, soldiers were monitored to see if they could do basic tasks like run an obstacle course. The plaintiffs collectively referred to themselves as the "Test Vets". Josephs has not received any health benefits related to his time as a human test subject at Edgewood. The IOM committee requested declassification of 21 additional elements from at least nine documents from DoD in August 2012. These studies included a secret human subjects component at least as early as 1948, when "psychological reactions" were documented in Edgewood technicians. Cavell says that even today, when he comes to a locked door he's reminded of the inside of a gas chamber. The Army is required to provide medical care to veterans who took part in classified Army testing of chemical and biological substances decades ago, officials say. As a result, at least one class action lawsuit has been filed against the Defense Department and Department of Veteran Affairs, with the hope of, at the very least, getting . The Edgewood Arsenal Rod and Gun Club was a club that included U.S. Army officers and Department of the Army civilian personnel stationed at the Arsenal as well as their families and guests. VA decides these claims on a case-by-case basis. The IOM study also concluded that "available data suggest that long-term toxic effects and/or delayed sequellae are unlikely" for this type of compound.[15]. A Government Accounting Office report of May 2004, Chemical and Biological Defense: DOD Needs to Continue to Collect and Provide Information on Tests and Potentially Exposed Personnel (pp. Learn more from the Department of Defense.A2016 report to the DoD on long-term health effects due to participation in these tests concluded that although effects of the individual agents had been established in the literature, test subjects would have endured lower concentrations for shorter durations and no significant effects had been observed in the health of test subjects in the years since the tests occurred. In his mid-50s, Josephs was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease, a progressive neurological condition that forced him to retire early. The ruling came on a class-action lawsuit filed by Vietnam Veterans of America, Swords to Plowshares and individual veterans over medical care for troops who participated in research programs at. hide caption. Fill out the form below to receive a free confidential consultation. So, when I received the shot, we went into a heat room," Paul said. hide caption. Rep., at 411.[5])[20]. The Marine Corps is eliminating the scout sniper program as part of the service's big Force Design 2030 overhaul. Call: 988 (Press 1), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs | 810 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington DC 20420. Veterans may file a claim for disability compensation for health problems they believe are related to exposures during Edgewood/Aberdeen chemical tests. 2, "Cholinesterase Reactivators, Psychochemicals and Irritants and Vesicants" (1984), Vol. From 1948 to 1975, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps conducted classified human subject research at the Edgewood Arsenal facility in Maryland. "Dr. Delirium & the Edgewood Experiments" is a new Discovery+ documentary (available on June 9, 2022) that chronicles the program and its long-term effects on the soldiers who participated in the testing. Even when he talks about Edgewood, he said, I get a tightness in my chest.. There were instances of chemical damages to the car. An "Independent Study Course" for continuing medical education produced by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Effects from Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Weapons (October 2003),[12] presents the following summary of the Edgewood Arsenal experiments: Renewed interest led to renewed human testing by the Department of Defense (DoD), although ultimately on a much smaller scale. Bicycle, Scooter, and Electric Bike Accidents, Cerebral Palsy Malpractice Injury Lawsuits, Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) Disease Injury Lawyers, Clergy Sexual Abuse Lawyers | Priest Abuse Attorneys, Pennsylvania Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Lawyers, U.S. Army Edgewood Arsenal Medical Experiments, Bicycle, Scooter, and Electric Bike Accident, Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) Disease Injury. An Army investigation subsequently found no evidence of serious injuries or deaths associated with the MRVP, but deplored both the recruiting process and the informed consent approach, which they characterized as "suggest[ing] possible coercion". Many official government reports and civilian lawsuits followed in the wake of the controversy. "Health Effects from Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Weapons", Vol. But NPR interviewed veterans who met both of those requirements and have still been denied for years sometimes decades as the VA continues to request more information and proof. "There was no identifying information," he says. The truth about the CIA is quite another story, one that should've been a huge news story a decade ago but gets fully recounted here for anyone who missed the truth the first time. The class-action lawsuit was filed by Vietnam Veterans of America, Swords to Plowshares and individual veterans seeking medical care for troops who participated in the programs at Edgewood Arsenal and Fort Detrick in Maryland. But instead, the military deliberately exposed them to chemical and biological agents. "We did volunteer," Paul said. This is Part 2 of a two-part investigation on mustard gas testing conducted by the U.S. military during World War II. And this goes to the essence of 'Can you trust your government?' "[5] This was alarming enough to a Harvard psychiatrist, E. James Lieberman, that he published an article entitled "Psychochemicals as Weapons" in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1962. These men make a convincing case that they were not briefed about the risks involved in the program and did not understand the potential for the long-term effects they've endured. I really felt a duty to my country to go and serve, he said. "There was no handle on the door. The Army colonel had no regrets about the experiments and believed he was acting in the best interests of the nation as it faced a Cold War threat. In 2009 a lawsuit was filed by veterans rights organizations Vietnam Veterans of America, and . have hearing loss, Anticholinesterase nerve agents (ex., sarin and common organophosphorus (OP), and carbamate pesticides), Nerve agent antidotes atropine and scopolamine, Nerve agent reactivators (ex., the common OP antidote 2-PAM chloride), Psychoactive agents (ex., LSD, PCP, cannaboids, and BZ). All Rights Reserved. For assistance, eligible veterans may call (800) 984-8523 or go to the Army website for participants of medical research programs. In the end, the focus is on the veterans who endured these experiments and the struggles many have faced since. 2. More than 20 years later, the VA has attempted to contact fewer than a quarter of the thousands it said it would. The IOM decided in the end there wasnt enough information to reach definitive conclusions.. Hunt, Secret Agenda: The U.S. Government, Nazi Scientists and Project Paperclip 1945-1991. Nashville veteran discusses his experience at Edgewood Arsenal. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Things were different back then. [17], The official position of the Department of Defense, based on the three-volume set of studies by the Institute of Medicine mentioned above, is that they "did not detect any significant long-term health effects on the Edgewood Arsenal volunteers". His wife, Irene, remembers how the experiments affected his health for the rest of his life. The release of the new document comes after a year in which the Navy saw several major clusters of suicides. Researchers there had recorded his full name in neat handwriting on lined paper. Of those involved in the experiments: Most of these experiments involved tests of protective equipment and of subjects' ability to perform military tasks during exposure. A failure to secure informed consent and other widespread failures to follow the precepts of U.S. and international law regarding the use of human subjects, including the 1953 Wilson Directive and the Nuremberg Code. Goss was a Florida congressman when he was contacted by a group of constituents who were used as test subjects and spoke out on their behalf. (Left) The inside of a gas chamber used for tests on American troops during World War II at the Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. All rights reserved. Blocks of ice sat on shelves overhead with fans blowing across them to increase the humidity in the room, which intensified mustard gas's effects on the body. Improved Synthesis of EA 1464 and Preparation of its Corresponding Di-(Hydrogen Oxalate) Salt, EA 3669. He blames his time at Edgewood for all this, and he has joined a lawsuit on behalf of Edgewood veterans seeking medical benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. An officer took him aside. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a three-volume report on the Edgewood research in 19821985, Possible Long-Term Health Effects of Short-Term Exposure to Chemical Agents.[16]. The U.S. Army believed that legal liability could be avoided by concealing the experiments. Blisters that eventually increased to the size of half dollar coins started to grow in the same places. This program involved testing nerve agents, nerve agent antidotes, psycho chemicals, and irritants. Medications cost $2,000 a month, which he was paying for out of pocket. In 2009 a lawsuit was filed by veterans rights organizations Vietnam Veterans of America, and Swords to Plowshares, and eight Edgewood veterans or their families against CIA, the U.S. Army, and other agencies. "Weekends off and relaxing that's why I took it," Paul remembered. "It's sobering to hear the words and discussion that was happening about setting this program up," Hancock said. But Bollinger says that time in his life is tainted: by the pain he felt as a human test subject in military experiments, and by the VA that told him it wasn't real. Your email will only be used if a response is needed. The lawsuit's argument is in line with broader criticisms of Edgewood: that, whether out of military urgency or scientific dabbling, the Army recklessly endangered the lives of its soldiers . It forced the Army to locate soldiers who were in the testing program and send them documentation detailing what happened to them. After World War II, U.S. military researchers obtained formulas for the three nerve gases developed by the Nazistabun, soman, and sarinand conducted studies on them at the US Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center. Each year more of their stories die with them. The idea was they would test new Army field jackets, clothing, weapons and things of that nature, but no mention of drugs or chemicals.. Yet another lawsuit was filed against the town of Edgewood this week, this time by a former member of the town's planning and zoning commission, alleging violation of the Inspection of Public Records Act. These irritant chemicals were selected for human testing following preliminary animal studies. Vol. 31 subjects experienced ocular exposure via direct CS application to their eyes. What types of tests were conducted at Edgewood? With regard specifically to BZ and related compounds, the IOM study concluded that "available data suggest that long-term toxic effects and/or delayed sequellae are unlikely". Schnurman, who died in 2013 when he was 87, had suffered debilitating injuries after being tested at the U.S. The soldiers were induced to become part of the experiments by program representatives who said they were looking for soldiers to test Army gear, vehicles, and military combat equipment, CNN said. The American Legion identified limits on attorneys fees related to Camp Lejeune Justice Act claims as one of its top goals. Inside the chamber, Cavell's skin started to turn red and burn in the places where he sweat the most: between his legs, behind his neck and under his arms. 800-829-4833, Veterans Crisis Line: At 79 years old, he actively harvests honey from his bee farm. According to a deposition given by a former soldier involved in the program who is now deceased, it was not until men arrived at Edgewood Arsenal that they were informed that drugs would also be used in the experiments. . 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