Were you stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. for at least 30 days between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987? “She passed away because her immune system was shot still because of all the treatments she had to go through to save her life,” he said. Learn about research on past chemical contamination. She needed an advocate, so now she’s willing to be one for the Morehouses. The legislation was previously introduced in 2017. The contamination of drinking water at Camp Lejeune started in the early 1950s and ended in 1985 when highly contaminated water wells were removed from service. He was sent to Vietnam in 1965, returning in 1966. “She got really sick and to save her life they used every steroid under the sun and it killed her immune system,” he said. Veterans and families exposed Camp LeJeune was established in 1942 as a Marine Corps military base in Jacksonville, NC. Camp Lejeune, a military base in North Carolina, is home to hundreds of thousands of Marines and their families. It’s not covered by the VA benefits. Health Studies. Camp Lejeune N.C. 50 chemicals in ground water. “The slogan for the Marine Corps is Semper Fi — Always Faithful,” Sharon Stevans said. His own scars, the neurological issues, stem from time at Camp Lejeune, doctors told him. Our veterans and families who are exposed to such conditions deserve to receive the appropriate benefits and care from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. “He started by falling,” Sharon Stevans said. Active duty, reserve, and National Guard members who served at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River, N.C. for a minimum of 30 days … She was 42. By Shenandoah Briere, Local, News. NjBigfoot . Following class-action lawsuits, the federal government authorized more than $2 billion in payments to affected veterans, but that doesn’t make it easy. A few weeks later, her coverage was approved. Many Camp Lejeune veterans and their families have waited, suffered, and yes even died waiting for this scientific evidence, they shouldn’t need to wait any longer for the help they deserve.”. They almost crowd out the medal in the display case. Health Effects of the Chemicals. The ducks and owls are still works of art, with hand-scribed feathers and are painted to match the breed. When he was diagnosed in February 2016, the cancer had metastasized with a golf ball-sized tumor embedded in the spine that broke several vertebrae. The financial burden took a toll, too. The ducks line the living room shelves. In GovTrack.us, a database of bills in the U.S. Congress. April 11, 2020 From the 1950s through the 1980s, people living or working at the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, were potentially exposed to drinking water contaminated with industrial solvents, benzene, and other chemicals. 127 likes. Camp LeJeune has been the subject of concern about Veterans and their families suffering from possible contamination between 1953 and 1987. Diane Tedesco had been a nurse and earned more than her husband, but had to quit when she grew too sick. Were you or someone you know at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987? Roger Morehouse has stage 4 prostate cancer, which his children believe is from his four years stationed at Camp LeJeune from 1972 to 1976, minus a brief stint in the Mediterranean. From 1966 until 1968 he served mostly at Camp Lejeune. Specifically, from 1953 to 1987, everyone living or working at United States Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina was exposed to a variety of toxins in the water. Between 1953 and 1987, the Navy and Marine Corps said military personnel like Mike Stevans and civilians were exposed to water contaminated with trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, benzene, vinyl chloride and other compounds. Mike Stevans now sees a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where a center deals with movement disorders. Those are what he kept; he sold many. “Concentrate on what you’re doing.”. It kind of got slowed down and stopped when the country shut down.”. The primary sources of this contamination were on-base leaking storage tanks and industrial activities, and an off-base dry … The Camp Lejeune water contamination problem occurred at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune from 1953 to 1987. She tried to sign him up for Veterans Affairs services related to Camp Lejeune in 2018; he was denied in 2019. “It doesn’t seem right and it’s not fair.”. 6204. He joined the Marine Corps in 1964 at 17. “Our Service members and their families should not be subjected to toxic substances and conditions while living and working on U.S. military installations. Teal Barn Farms. Mike Stevans has little regard for the scars of war. The Navy’s announcement Thursday that it would deny 4,400 claims from Marines and their families who say contaminated water at Camp Lejeune caused cancers and … She blamed herself for the costs. Public Service. Roger Morehouse of Cortland doesn’t sleep in his bedroom because he can’t make it up the stairs. “The VA claims process takes a long time and I don’t know why it takes that long and that’s for anything, not just Camp Lejeune.”. Find commonly asked questions and answers … It’s been almost a year and a half since Diane Tedesco died from leukemia stemming from her training at Camp Lejeune. Doctors indicated the cancer could be because of chemical exposure. Tremors came, and now memory loss and “some cognitive changes” have been added to his symptoms. “He can’t stand for very long.”. ATSDR has been assessing the health risks from hazardous substances in the drinking water at Camp Lejeune since the late 1980s. Senators Richard Burr (R-NC), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Jon Tester (D-MT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Ben Cardin (D-MD) have introduced S. 1563, The Janey Ensminger Act of 2019, to ensure individuals with diseases scientifically linked to toxic chemical exposure at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina receive proper medical care from the Veterans Administration (VA). Sitting in his recliner in the living room of his Hamlin Street home, he keeps his left hand tucked between thigh and chair arm. The military disagrees. He is still coping. I know it gets better but you know you’re with someone for 30 years, it doesn’t go away quickly.”. Roger has so much he wants to do, but doesn’t have enough time, Aaron Morehouse said. They’ve minimized it, they’ve swept it under the rug, they’ve denied most of the applications for health assistance from the families and the Marines.”. Years would pass before they would start the process to get benefits through Veterans Affair because they were in and out of hospitals, Tom Tedesco said. “For her, mentally, it was horrible, as it is for anyone going through this,” Tom Tedesco said. He sleeps on a single mattress downstairs. He has a wheelchair for longer distances. Page created - May 13, 2019. Aaron is in the anger stages of it all, Laura said. “The Marine Corps was supposed to have sent out letters to everybody — 900,000 people that were affected by this,” she said. Veterans with the below illnesses who served at Camp Lejeune are eligible for VA disability benefits. Less realistic, but more artsy, she said. The Marine Corps continues to work diligently to . “It breaks our hearts that the veterans have risked their lives, that they’ve fought for this country and even though they come back they’re still dying for it,” Laura Boggs-Morehouse said. “He got out of boot camp the day the order was given to pull out of Vietnam,” Aaron Morehouse said. One way is by helping others. Attend via online livestream or teleconference call to learn more about ATSDR studies of the potential health … What Are the Camp Lejeune Presumptive Conditions? Two decades later, she was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia. ATSDR has conducted studies about Camp Lejeune because people were exposed to chemicals shown to be associated with several cancers and other chronic conditions. He and Sharon Stevans have been dealing with it for years — giving them insight they’re willing to share with others, but still less time than Cortland County’s veterans service officer, Tom Tedesco, grieving a wife lost to leukemia. He used to build pianos. But she has medical records from December 2017 when Mike Stevans took part in a study by a Veterans Affairs facility in East Orange, New Jersey, that acknowledged the effects of Camp Lejeune on his body. The bill is named for Janey Ensminger, daughter of Master Sergeant Jerry Ensminger, who was born at Camp Lejeune and died as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals. Diane Tedesco did not connect with services for five years. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ASTDR) has determined a number of cancers and other diseases found in individuals who lived at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina between 1953 and 1987 are scientifically linked to exposure to contaminated well-water. “I think he wanted to spend whatever time he had left not feeling like crap,” Laura Boggs-Morehouse said. “The Janey Ensminger Act of 2019 prioritizes science over politics and trusts the federal government’s independent scientific experts outside of the VA with decisions about medical coverage to ensure that every Camp Lejeune veteran gets the care they need and deserve.”, “If our servicemembers are exposed to toxic substances in the line of duty, it’s our duty to ensure they get the best care possible,” Senator Tester said. In early November 2017, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. He still walks when he can, with braces on his legs. The VA is required to provide health care to veterans and their family members suffering from health problems as a result of this toxic chemical exposure, but the agency continues to challenge certain findings, often delaying or denying care. Heroes and Health Issues of 1,000,000 plus Marines The stories on this site represent only a portion of the local journalism you'll find in each day's edition of the Cortland Standard. “They were kind of learning as we were learning as to what needed to be done, but the process took so long.”. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. In the meantime, his problems mean he can no longer use power tools for his woodworking hobby. Legislation has been passed by Congress to compensate these veterans for solvent neurotoxicity. – Today, U.S. News & Media Website. “She was a Navy corpsman and she was stationed at Camp Lejeune to go through the Marine training to become a field corpsman back in 1987, that’s how she came into contact with the water.”. He became a Veterans Affairs officer and joined Cortland County in January. He lost three fingers. He’s mad at the insurance companies for not paying for a blood test that could have detected the cancer earlier. “[N]o other military toxic exposure incident in our history has been documented nor studied as thoroughly as Camp Lejeune,” Sergeant Ensminger told the Committee. Owls, too. As part of VA’s ongoing commitment to provide quality care to Veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs has established a presumption of service connection for eight diseases associated with exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Military EM in Okinawa exposed to contaminated defoliated dioxin herbicide. Local Business. The Janey Ensminger Act makes sure the cause of reported diseases continues to be determined by scientific data, not bureaucratic red tape.”, “While progress has been made to ensure that veterans and their families who were poisoned at Camp Lejeune receive the benefits they have long deserved, some victims are still not receiving the care to which they are entitled because the VA has refused to accept the most up to date scientific data and research available,” said Senator Tillis. Service members living on the base at the time, along with their families, were unknowingly drinking contaminated water, as well as cooking with it, bathing in it, and washing their clothes in it. VA Plans to Propose Expanded Disability Benefits Eligibility for Veterans Exposed to. You can read the text of the Janey Ensminger Act of 2019 here. “It’s unacceptable that they are uncertain about their medical coverage and they deserve prompt medical care.”, “Our country is fortunate incredible individuals who volunteer to serve our military and are willing to risk their lives to defend it,” said Senator Cardin. Five years later, in 2012, Diane was going through a stem cell transplant in Buffalo when she received a letter from the Marine Corps “stating if you were stationed at Camp Lejeune you could have come into contact with contaminated water and the No. For more, subscribe. “They could not do surgery due to the fact that it was already stage 4,” said Laura Boggs-Morehouse, Aaron’s wife and Roger’s daughter-in-law. He felt like his legs weren’t connected to his brain anymore and he would just fall.”. “They really need to take care of people quicker — sooner rather than later,” he said. Roger went through chemo and radiation to slow the spread of the cancer. “These kinds of degenerative diseases don’t lead to good things,” she said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates as many as 1 million of them face the risk those compounds present: a half dozen forms of cancer; neurobehavior effects, renal toxicity, infertility, miscarriages — 15 ailments in all. Senators Richard Burr (R-NC), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Jon Tester (D-MT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Ben Cardin (D-MD) have introduced S. 1563, The Janey Ensminger Act of 2019, to ensure individuals with diseases scientifically linked to toxic chemical exposure at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina receive proper medical care from the Veterans Administration (VA). “I only know what she’s told me,” said Tom Tedesco. Woodworking hobby Vietnam in 1965, returning in 1966 officer and joined County... Sent to Vietnam in 1965, returning in 1966 willing to be the labor building it..! 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