Marine discharged over vaccine

[thedrifter]

Marine discharged over vaccine

Rancho Peñasquitos man refused anthrax inoculation

By Jeanette Steele
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

October 1, 2003

Lance Cpl. Kevin Lotz yesterday became the first Southern California Marine to be discharged for refusing the anthrax vaccination since the Marine Corps resumed widespread mandatory shots last fall.

Another Marine, a Camp Pendleton mortarman, faces trial in coming months if his case goes forward as expected.

Lotz, 21, a machine gunner from Rancho Peñasquitos who is stationed at the Twentynine Palms Marine base, will serve 14 days in a military jail and received a bad-conduct discharge – one step less severe than a dishonorable discharge.

He pleaded guilty yesterday to disobeying a lawful order in return for a guarantee of less than 60 days in jail. His sentence was shortened by the 42 days of barracks restriction he had already served.

After the sentencing, the 2000 graduate of Mt. Carmel High School said he still thinks the military's vaccination stance is wrong. He refused inoculation because research convinced him it wasn't safe.

"I think we need to bring this issue out in the open. It's still happening and there's no sign of it letting up," Lotz said in a telephone interview from his lawyer's office.

"People shouldn't be punished for this if they are sincerely worried. It should be voluntary."

The other serviceman, Pfc. Darren Fisher, 20, of San Marcos, also declined the shot when the Marine Corps was gearing up for the Iraq war last fall. He has not been charged because officials were awaiting his unit's recent return from Iraq, his family said.

A lawyer with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, which encompasses 45,000 Marines in Southern California, has said no one else has refused to date.

It's been a winding journey to the courtroom for Lotz, who initially declined the vaccination in December.

In January, the Marines sent Lotz to Kuwait with the rest of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, despite his refusal. In February, the Corps reversed course and flew him home to await punishment.

His mother, Kathleen Lotz of Arcata, called yesterday's sentence too harsh for the crime. The discharge leaves a black mark on her son's record, she said.

"I just don't know why they want to ruin somebody's life – I understand punishment, yes, he refused an order," Kathleen Lotz said. "It wasn't that he wasn't willing to go to Iraq; all he wanted was to not take that shot."

A Marine spokesman said the Corps is following direction from the Pentagon, which has said the vaccine is safe.

"This is consistent with Department of Defense policy on this kind of refusal," said Capt. Robert Crum of the Twentynine Palms base. "Fortunately, these cases are relatively rare."

The Marine Corps doesn't collect data on how many people it has charged with refusing the vaccination, said Capt. Nat Fahy, a Corps spokesman at the Pentagon. But at least one other Marine faced a military court this year.

First Lt. Erick Enz, a North Carolina-based helicopter pilot, refused on religious grounds. Pleading guilty in July, he was dismissed from the service and ordered to serve a maximum seven-month sentence.

The Air Force and Navy have issued administrative punishments but have not dismissed any refusers this year, though the Air Force court-martialed three people in 2000 and 2001, representatives said. An Army spokesman said his service doesn't track anthrax cases, but at least two female soldiers at Fort Drum, N.Y., have been court-martialed this year for refusing.

The vaccine, meant to safeguard troops from the biological toxin used as a weapon, was given to 150,000 servicemen in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. In 1997, the Pentagon announced plans to inoculate the entire military. That program faltered when the nation's sole manufacturer, Michigan-based BioPort Corp., lost federal approvals.

Then, in June 2002, the Pentagon resumed mandatory vaccinations for troops deploying to high-threat areas such as the Middle East.

The vaccinations have been controversial, and some service members have complained of falling sick after receiving them. A 2000 General Accounting Office report said it was the leading cause cited by pilots and aircrew members for leaving Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units.

Activists question why the military still insists on anthrax vaccinations though the toxin hasn't materialized as a threat.

"People are getting ready to be deployed to Iraq, and they are being asked to take a vaccine to protect them against a potential biological weapon that currently soldiers can't find," said Steve Robinson, director of the National Gulf War Resource Center. Pentagon spokesman James Turner said vaccinations continue and are not unduly dangerous.

"More than 30 years of experience tells us that the anthrax vaccine is as safe as other vaccines," Turner said.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeanette Steele: (619) 718-5182; jen.steele@uniontrib.com

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...i1anthrax.html


Sempers,

Roger

[CPLRapoza]

I don't see the problem, bunch of babies is all I see. Scared of a bloody needle.

[greensideout]

The story fails to tell why the Michigan based BioPort Corp. lost federal approval. I think that I read somewhere that the vaccine was contaminated. I don't think that I would want anything that was contaminated shot into my body either.

Untill the Pentagon tells us the truth about the Gulf War Syndrome I think that the vaccine should be an option, not an order.

Pentagon spokesman, James Turner says it's not "unduly dangerous". (And Agent Orange won't hurt you.)

Would I take the shot? Not even maybe!

[TMM54]

It's not the needle that anyone should be scared of, it is the
effects ten, twenty, or thirty years later that you active duty
guys and ladies should be worried about. I let them shoot
me with an air gun to give the "required" vaccinations, and now,
with my liver failing, and on the verge of dying at age 48, because
of the "required" vaccination, I wish that I had told them to
stick their needles some where else. A very good rule of thumb
to follow is test everything by logic, and if it fails, get away from
it. Semper Fidelis, Tom Murray

[Devildogg4ever]

I agree with greensideout on this matter! They need to look into this more then they have! They need to ask James Turner if he would take the shot! Matter of fact, ask Congress if they will, to prove how safe it is!! I would normally follow orders, but not in this case!!

[Sgt Sostand]

i dont know but i know one thing when you sign up the goverment own your ass they should have sent his ass to iraQ for 12 months then discharge him after his 12 month was up

[top1371]

I don't know whay they just cant hold ya down and give you the shot.

Problem solved

[greensideout]

"I think we had a poll".

Now that problems have began to show up, do you feel the same?

[airframesguru]

Tough call. I never would have worried about it until I seen what AO did. Dad passed away last year with 80% of the autopsy findings being linked to AO symptoms. I guess I would have taken it with the hope that our leaders/government would have gone to bat for us if something came up.

Sempers,

MW