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'Semper Fi: Always Faithful' Camp Lejeune water contamination documentary (2/24 10pm)

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Clarity

Clarity

Will Bryant
Staff member
I was going to PM a couple people about this and decided to just post here openly instead for any interested.

Friday night (2/24/12) at 10pm ET, MSNBC will be airing 'Semper Fi: Always Faithful', which is a documentary about the Camp Lejeune water contamination issue and how it has affected a couple generations of Marines and their dependents.

As many of you already know, as this all came to light during BP's relatively young life, my own health issues are the direct and ultimate result of the aforementioned contamination. I was born in the Naval Hospital at Camp Lejeune and we lived at that time in what was the junior officer housing right on Tarawa Terrace while my father was still serving in Vietnam and then back at home as a young infantry lieutenant. So during the whole of my time all up in my mother's business (it's science), she (and I by way of her) were quite literally bathing and drinking water loaded with sort of insane levels of TCE, PCE, and benzene (amongst other toxic compounds). The end result of all of that is quite measurable in myself, but I'm actually one of the luckier ones compared to those who were born in the same place and lived in the same area (right there on base) -- lucky in the sense that I'm here typing this.

Anyway, this isn't really an actionable issue or a "let's get people outraged" documentary. It does chronicle the discovery and ongoing process of and for those affected (with former Master Sergeant Jerry Ensminger at center stage), but my understanding (I won't see it until Friday myself) is that it's more an overview of the situation and where we've thus far gone with it. It's merely a "here's the situation" deal, without the whole "my parents went away for a week's vacation and they left the keys to the brand new Porsche" bit.

For any interested (just in general or because it's one explanation for why I'm defective), set your DVRs for 2/24 10pm ET, MSNBC.

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/documentaries/46372994#46372994
 
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I am also a (former) Marine, and while I was never stationed at Lejeune, my best friend lived in Tarawa Terrace as well and his daughter had some health issues that we feel can be attributed to this issue. Now, where I WAS stationed is in 29 Palms. The Marine Palms housing area has since been demolished, but while I was there, they found crazy high radiation levels in the soil. It was bad enough that kids were not allowed to play outside in those areas. A little history on the base in general, the Army used to have that base and used it as a munitions test area. Then, in the late 50's (I think) the Army declared the base as 'uninhabitable for humans'. the Marine Corps swooped in and said "We'll take it! It's PERFECT!" 29 Palms is now known as the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Center. It is the largest live fire training base the Marine Corps has. I am curious as to how much radiation is still present any where on that base. Many of my cohorts have had kids with health problems including my own son who was born with chronic renal insufficiency (kidney disease) after being conceived in 29 Palms.
 
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Will, it might be a good idea to share more about how you learned that your medial issues are a result of this contamination, and why they haven't taken a whit of financial responsibility despite acknowledging that to be the case.

Couldn't hurt for the BP action squad to have a presence in the comments for that documentary... might help draw out the representation you need.
 
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Deety;2112530; said:
Will, it might be a good idea to share more about how you learned that your medial issues are a result of this contamination, and why they haven't taken a whit of financial responsibility despite acknowledging that to be the case.

Couldn't hurt for the BP action squad to have a presence in the comments for that documentary... might help draw out the representation you need.
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Not being a lawyer type, I want to be careful about improperly representing a legal decision.

Any curious can check out Snyder v U.S. (504 F.Supp.2d 136). This was a case virtually identical to my own at least in the most relevant issues (timing, exposure, relation to the active personnel, etc.). It was dismissed by the U.S. District Court in Mississippi, and the basis for that decision has been the main stumbling block for those affected. There is a firm out there (the Bell Legal Group) who is trying to advance a number of claims despite it, and they're going to find out whether those claims will "survive against the affirmative defenses of Discretionary Function and the Feres Doctrine" within the next couple of months -- so we'll see where that goes. I am not represented by the Bell, but they forward me info because they'd like me to be. Indeed, I am not represented at all in any claim against the government relating to (or unrelated to, for that matter) this matter. That's not out of a lack of interest in some sort of remedy and/or relief, it's simply a product of the nature of the Snyder decision and the aforementioned personal aversion to terms presented by Bell.

Were I forced to try and encapsulate how that decision limits myself, I'd say that both myself and the child of the claimants in the cited case above were born during a period where the Marine Corps and the Department of Defense were aware of the problem, that it was a problem -- but were still in a discretionary period in terms of having to clean it up. That discretionary function exception effectively shields the government from liability.

Will this sort of dismissal continue to hold up over time? That's hard to imagine. I hope that at some point the Marine Corps itself is really going to want to take care of its own, that's sort of a central precept. It's probably bigger than them at this point, however.

I hope the documentary will be clear about the overwhelming degree of exposure so many people suffered, and what the fallout has been. I think the more people know, the harder it's going to be for anyone to continue to ignore it.

There HAVE been cases of active duty personnel who were injured from exposure where they've been awarded VA disability on that basis. The people left behind (so far) have been the children born to active on-base personnel. There simply isn't a mechanism in place to take care of them (us). There's more I could go into there regarding my own VA disability claim which was partially approved (but wholly dismissed when it came to the immunological issue that stems from the exposure, but we argued was triggered by a series of BT vaccines I received) -- but it would just sort of overwhelm the rest of the issue here.

Just for the sake of saying it, I was born on Lejeune and (as most know) am myself a former Marine. I have no ill will whatsoever towards the Corps, no axe to grind. This situation simply is what it is.

Here are more links for the curious:
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/
http://www.tftptf.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...amaged-lives/2012/01/10/gIQAfpy4GQ_story.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/camp-lejeune-water-contamination-navy-letter_n_1203465.html
 
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Trailer:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szjk8TKE_Hw"]SemperFi: Always Faithful - YouTube[/ame]

ABC News interview w/ the film's co-director, clips interspersed:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oihMK73zi0"]'Semper Fi: Always Faithful' - A New Documentary - YouTube[/ame]

It's also available on Amazon Instant Video to rent or buy: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Semper-Fi-Always-Faithful/dp/B006YMLR9Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1329752114&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Semper Fi - Always Faithful: Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger, Denita McCall, Mike Partain, Thomas Townsend: Amazon Instant Video[/ame]
 
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I was at LeJeune in the early 90's for a short time. Gieger to be exact. I'll have to watch the documentary and read up on this more.

C-Dog, I'm sorry for the issues you've struggled with over the years, but I very glad you're here today to tell the story and educate people on what has happened to the families of those who served.

Semper Fi, Brother.

Cpl Scott Bradley
Wpns Co 3/5
 
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Clarity;2112555; said:
Were I forced to try and encapsulate how that decision limits myself, I'd say that both myself and the child of the claimants in the cited case above were born during a period where the Marine Corps and the Department of Defense were aware of the problem, that it was a problem -- but were still in a discretionary period in terms of having to clean it up. That discretionary function exception effectively shields the government from liability.
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The emboldened is the part that blows my mind as the decision was either short-sighted or criminally-inept when put into place. I would think the measure could be discarded on the lack of merits in some way, shape or form. What a shame. :shake:
 
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muffler dragon;2113272; said:
The emboldened is the part that blows my mind as the decision was either short-sighted or criminally-inept when put into place. I would think the measure could be discarded on the lack of merits in some way, shape or form. What a shame. :shake:
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Yeah, I have a lot to say about that. I'll limit it to saying that laws written to shield the government from the judiciary in tort cases is sort of outrageous. But, again, not being a lawyer maybe I just don't "get it".

If you read the case I cited about, it actually talks in some detail about that exception, and its intended purpose -- which was an unapologetic proactive get-out-of-jail(trouble)-free card for governmental wrongdoing.
 
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Clarity thanks for the link and the discussion.

To the best of my knowledge none of my friends have any service related problems stemming from being at LeJeune.

On the other hand a family member was part of a lawsuit against the US government over illnesses stemming from poor handling of hazardous materials at a classified facility so I have some idea of that insane loops that must be traversed in finding satisfaction for some of these issues.
 
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