thedrifter
10-17-03, 08:39 PM
October 16, 2003
Veterans of bioweapons program urged to share secrets
By David Dishneau
Associated Press
FREDERICK, Md. — They are veterans of biological weapons research dating back to World War II and the Cold War. They have done their duty — and they have kept their secrets.
But that’s a problem, says retired Army Gen. John S. Parker.
Parker is former commander of Fort Detrick, home of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, where the military began conducting biological warfare research in 1943.
Parker and others hope to interview the old-timers to preserve their knowledge. “There is more to the story than has been written,” Parker said at a Sept. 20 reunion of workers from the bioweapons program. “It’s important to know what’s been done and the thoughts behind it.”
Parker would like to produce a public document to help guide the nation’s response to the threat of biological weapons. It could broaden the foundation for biodefense research and reduce duplication of work done decades ago, Parker said.
For example, Parker said, despite the declassification in 1999 of documents describing experiments with simulated anthrax and other organisms, questions remain about the most effective ways of disseminating biological agents. Even anecdotal information could be useful, Parker said.
The Detrick researchers were barred from discussing their work publicly at the time, and many disagreed with President Nixon’s 1969 ban on offensive biological weapons. The labs at Fort Detrick are now used to develop defenses to biological agents.
Public awareness of Fort Detrick and its history has increased since the still-unsolved anthrax mailings that killed five people and sickened 17 others in the fall of 2001.
On Oct. 5, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., hosted a 60th anniversary event honoring the work done by Fort Detrick researchers and volunteers. Their research contributed to the development of vaccines for anthrax, botulism and several other diseases; the invention of equipment for studying airborne transmission of respiratory diseases; and the discovery of new techniques for sterilizing laboratories.
“They have made major contributions to defense, not just to defense against biological weapons, but major contributions to the medical area. There are vaccines that just would not have been developed without them,” Bartlett said.
Some bioweapons researchers are eager to share their memories.
“I’m proud of what we did,” said Joseph V. Jemski, a retired microbiologist who worked at Detrick from 1952 to 1983 and still lives in Frederick.
Under the offensive weapons program, Jemski exposed laboratory animals to aerosolized anthrax spores to study the death rates.
Some of those who worked at Fort Detrick contacted the FBI after the 2001 anthrax attacks, offering their insights. But others remain hesitant to come forward, still smarting from what they consider a distorted public perception of their work.
“I have never read in the open media any articles that really showed the good things that came out of biological warfare research,” said Alan M. Miller, 75, also a retired microbiologist. “They used to use the term ‘dirty warfare’ in relation to biological warfare. Well, what’s a clean war?”
Miller, of Frederick, refuses to disclose much about his work at Detrick. “I was involved in a project that was based on the principle that to keep a man in fighting stead, it took quite a few people behind him. If you could make a man sick, and keep him sick for one, two, three weeks, that would tie up quite a few other people.”
Contributing to public concerns about the military research is the case involving Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, a former Detrick researcher whom the FBI labeled a “person of interest” in connection with the 2001 anthrax attacks. Hatfill sued the federal government, claiming a malicious campaign was launched against him — including 24-hour surveillance — because the FBI was unable to solve the case. Federal officials have said Hatfill is not a suspect and that they have no evidence directly linking him to the attacks.
But despite the sometimes negative press surrounding their work, reunion participants — whether they were scientists, engineers, building managers, or maintenance workers — invariably said they were proud to have worked on a Cold War program that their government said was needed, although the weapons were never used.
“To me, it was a duty,” said Herbert Bloom, 85, of Frederick. “I realized that what we were doing was important.”
But the opportunity to mine the memories of these aging veterans will not last forever. A reunion in 2001 attracted 290 participants; the reunion this year was down to just 230, including workers’ spouses.
“The knowledge you hold, you hold it in a very select way. A lot of you are the only ones who know what you know,” Parker told them. “We are making sure we can reach out to you, to know what you did, what you know, for the future defense of the United States.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/content/editorial/editart/101603BIOWARFARE.jpg
Technicians work in a laboratory at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., in the late 1960s under the offensive biological weapons program that the Army ran there from 1943 to 1969. Workers from the program recently held a biennial reunion. — Department of Defense / AP photo
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292260-2308544.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Veterans of bioweapons program urged to share secrets
By David Dishneau
Associated Press
FREDERICK, Md. — They are veterans of biological weapons research dating back to World War II and the Cold War. They have done their duty — and they have kept their secrets.
But that’s a problem, says retired Army Gen. John S. Parker.
Parker is former commander of Fort Detrick, home of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, where the military began conducting biological warfare research in 1943.
Parker and others hope to interview the old-timers to preserve their knowledge. “There is more to the story than has been written,” Parker said at a Sept. 20 reunion of workers from the bioweapons program. “It’s important to know what’s been done and the thoughts behind it.”
Parker would like to produce a public document to help guide the nation’s response to the threat of biological weapons. It could broaden the foundation for biodefense research and reduce duplication of work done decades ago, Parker said.
For example, Parker said, despite the declassification in 1999 of documents describing experiments with simulated anthrax and other organisms, questions remain about the most effective ways of disseminating biological agents. Even anecdotal information could be useful, Parker said.
The Detrick researchers were barred from discussing their work publicly at the time, and many disagreed with President Nixon’s 1969 ban on offensive biological weapons. The labs at Fort Detrick are now used to develop defenses to biological agents.
Public awareness of Fort Detrick and its history has increased since the still-unsolved anthrax mailings that killed five people and sickened 17 others in the fall of 2001.
On Oct. 5, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., hosted a 60th anniversary event honoring the work done by Fort Detrick researchers and volunteers. Their research contributed to the development of vaccines for anthrax, botulism and several other diseases; the invention of equipment for studying airborne transmission of respiratory diseases; and the discovery of new techniques for sterilizing laboratories.
“They have made major contributions to defense, not just to defense against biological weapons, but major contributions to the medical area. There are vaccines that just would not have been developed without them,” Bartlett said.
Some bioweapons researchers are eager to share their memories.
“I’m proud of what we did,” said Joseph V. Jemski, a retired microbiologist who worked at Detrick from 1952 to 1983 and still lives in Frederick.
Under the offensive weapons program, Jemski exposed laboratory animals to aerosolized anthrax spores to study the death rates.
Some of those who worked at Fort Detrick contacted the FBI after the 2001 anthrax attacks, offering their insights. But others remain hesitant to come forward, still smarting from what they consider a distorted public perception of their work.
“I have never read in the open media any articles that really showed the good things that came out of biological warfare research,” said Alan M. Miller, 75, also a retired microbiologist. “They used to use the term ‘dirty warfare’ in relation to biological warfare. Well, what’s a clean war?”
Miller, of Frederick, refuses to disclose much about his work at Detrick. “I was involved in a project that was based on the principle that to keep a man in fighting stead, it took quite a few people behind him. If you could make a man sick, and keep him sick for one, two, three weeks, that would tie up quite a few other people.”
Contributing to public concerns about the military research is the case involving Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, a former Detrick researcher whom the FBI labeled a “person of interest” in connection with the 2001 anthrax attacks. Hatfill sued the federal government, claiming a malicious campaign was launched against him — including 24-hour surveillance — because the FBI was unable to solve the case. Federal officials have said Hatfill is not a suspect and that they have no evidence directly linking him to the attacks.
But despite the sometimes negative press surrounding their work, reunion participants — whether they were scientists, engineers, building managers, or maintenance workers — invariably said they were proud to have worked on a Cold War program that their government said was needed, although the weapons were never used.
“To me, it was a duty,” said Herbert Bloom, 85, of Frederick. “I realized that what we were doing was important.”
But the opportunity to mine the memories of these aging veterans will not last forever. A reunion in 2001 attracted 290 participants; the reunion this year was down to just 230, including workers’ spouses.
“The knowledge you hold, you hold it in a very select way. A lot of you are the only ones who know what you know,” Parker told them. “We are making sure we can reach out to you, to know what you did, what you know, for the future defense of the United States.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/content/editorial/editart/101603BIOWARFARE.jpg
Technicians work in a laboratory at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., in the late 1960s under the offensive biological weapons program that the Army ran there from 1943 to 1969. Workers from the program recently held a biennial reunion. — Department of Defense / AP photo
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292260-2308544.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: