thedrifter
01-13-09, 07:37 AM
Local Marines respond to Camp Lejeune story
Submitted by Jeremy Cox on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 14:40.
My phone has been rather apoplectic today.
No sooner have I finished talking to one former Marine before another is tickling my line.
The phone calls and e-mails -- I haven't kept track formally, but I'd say the number is approaching 20 -- are in response to my article Sunday about Camp Lejeune's water woes.
In case you missed it, the story featured local Marines who blame the base's tainted water for health problems ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to male breast cancer. The nut graf was that although the government has known about the contamination for nearly a quarter-century, many Marines who may have been impacted still are unaware of it.
Hence the headline: "An invisible epidemic."
I wrote about this issue because Jacksonville, being in the Sunshine State and a military town, is home to perhaps tens of thousands of former Marines.
And now it seems they're all trying to reach me.
They're calling:
* to find out more information about the pollutants.
* to see if they might have been exposed (not if you lived there outside of 1957-1987 or lived off-base).
* just to vent.
Harry Lamar Nelson was a typical caller. A former lance corporal, he lived in the barracks at the Jacksonville, N.C., base from 1980-83, except for a six-month overseas deployment.
These days, his 49-year-old body isn't treating him that well, he told me. He's had 15 surgeries related to kidney issues. A newly diagnosed heart defect. And a spot on his liver.
Nelson, who grew up in our Jacksonville and now lives in Cairo, Ga., had never heard of the contamination until he got a call from his mother yesterday, telling him there was an article in the T-U that may be of interest.
Now, he said, he's "beginning to wonder" whether there's a link between the water and his health.
That relationship is the subject of a decade-long federal study that's expected to be completed some time this year. That study is focusing on children born on the base. An adult study is to follow.
In the meantime, if you'd like more information, try registering for updates with the Marines' official registry or call them at (877) 261-9782.
Or, what the heck, give me a call.
Ellie
Submitted by Jeremy Cox on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 14:40.
My phone has been rather apoplectic today.
No sooner have I finished talking to one former Marine before another is tickling my line.
The phone calls and e-mails -- I haven't kept track formally, but I'd say the number is approaching 20 -- are in response to my article Sunday about Camp Lejeune's water woes.
In case you missed it, the story featured local Marines who blame the base's tainted water for health problems ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to male breast cancer. The nut graf was that although the government has known about the contamination for nearly a quarter-century, many Marines who may have been impacted still are unaware of it.
Hence the headline: "An invisible epidemic."
I wrote about this issue because Jacksonville, being in the Sunshine State and a military town, is home to perhaps tens of thousands of former Marines.
And now it seems they're all trying to reach me.
They're calling:
* to find out more information about the pollutants.
* to see if they might have been exposed (not if you lived there outside of 1957-1987 or lived off-base).
* just to vent.
Harry Lamar Nelson was a typical caller. A former lance corporal, he lived in the barracks at the Jacksonville, N.C., base from 1980-83, except for a six-month overseas deployment.
These days, his 49-year-old body isn't treating him that well, he told me. He's had 15 surgeries related to kidney issues. A newly diagnosed heart defect. And a spot on his liver.
Nelson, who grew up in our Jacksonville and now lives in Cairo, Ga., had never heard of the contamination until he got a call from his mother yesterday, telling him there was an article in the T-U that may be of interest.
Now, he said, he's "beginning to wonder" whether there's a link between the water and his health.
That relationship is the subject of a decade-long federal study that's expected to be completed some time this year. That study is focusing on children born on the base. An adult study is to follow.
In the meantime, if you'd like more information, try registering for updates with the Marines' official registry or call them at (877) 261-9782.
Or, what the heck, give me a call.
Ellie