Veterans questions may finally be answered

Man sees hope in probe of chemical weapons testing

A Whitefish man who was unwittingly part of a Cold War chemical and biological weapons program says he sees a ray of hope in the latest congressional efforts to help veterans like himself.

J.B. Stone was aboard the USS Granville S. Hall in 1962 when the vessel was participating in the Shipboard Hazard and Defense Project, also known as Project SHAD. Stone and other sailors were exposed to biological and chemical agents that were tested on animals in remote Pacific Ocean locations.

Stone said he is encouraged by legislation announced this week that would create a 10-member independent commission to investigate chemical and biological testing involved with Project SHAD and another program, Project 112. The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif.

The reason that Rehberg and Thompson are doing this is theyve heard from several veterans, myself included, Stone said. This is a ray of hope, but its not anything concrete yet.

Stone and other veterans say the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration have not taken action to identify and notify veterans who were involved with the testing programs, despite legislation passed two years ago that guaranteed those veterans access to no-cost medical care.

Veterans have until the end of December to apply for those benefits.

That window of opportunity is going to slam shut at the end of this year, when half the people involved dont even know about it, said Stone, who has been working on the issue for the last five years.

People laughed at me when I started working on this back in 2000. They said it would take an act of Congress, Stone said. We got the act of Congress, now Im trying to get an act of God to get the VA to pay attention to the act of Congress.

After first denying that the testing ever occurred, the Defense Department acknowledged in 2003 that 5,842 soldiers and sailors were involved in experiments carried out between 1962 and 1973.

Last year, congressional investigators learned that the Defense Department hadnt followed through on direction from Congress to identify and notify surviving veterans. Lawmakers and veterans advocates complained Tuesday that the Defense Department has yet to take action.

We finally were able to get DOD to admit that, in fact, they did expose veterans unknowingly, Rep. Thompson told The Associated Press. The problem is we get conflicting reports in regard to whos been exposed and the extent of it … Theyve really dragged their feet and their work has been incomplete.

Stone said he has multiple medical ailments that the Veterans Administration has yet to acknowledge. Most seriously, he has had five heart operations in the last few years.

Because information on the testing programs and even medical records have been kept secret by the military, Stone said it has been impossible to confirm what agents he might have been exposed to and what medical problems might have resulted from that exposure.

I still dont know what I was exposed to, he said. All I know is I have been sick for 35 years.

Based on extensive research of available information, Stone said he may have been exposed to an anthrax stimulant called Bacillus Globigii, a biological weapon called Serratia marcscens and even sarin gas.

Some of the symptoms I have are an exact match for exposure to sarin gas, he said. But thats all conjecture, because the Department of Defense has not been forthright or forthcoming in their review of this.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com