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Nobody Expects Military Service To Be Safe, But Nobody Expects To Be Poisoned

I Wanna Be An Airborne Ranger I Wanna Live A Life Of Danger

Every veteran has stories. Lots of stories. Most of them true because you can’t make up stuff like that. Thirty years ago, veterans of World War II were in their 60s. They had saved the world from real fascists. Defeated the bad guys. Unleashed a torrent of peace and prosperity that transformed the planet. Thirty years ago, WWII vets were thinking about their own retirement and passing on their legacy. Some of them did estate planning. And they had stories. That they hardly ever told.

Most vets’ kids hadn’t heard their dads’ war stories. Too bad because it was not so long ago that we were surrounded by actual heroes. Guys who went out and did what was necessary. Most all came back. The American Way of War dazzled our enemies and allies. Americans would rather spend equipment and weaponry than our fathers’, sons’, brothers’, uncles’ lives. Americans prefer that equipment get smashed instead of American bodies. But war is war, and you don’t usually get to choose. The bad guys killed lots of people. The bad guys looked like they’d be killing lots more. The bad guys did not give up easily. So.

A gentle, soft-spoken, smiling gentleman worked at a farm stand in southwest Michigan. His sweet, good-natured wife baked. His name was John. He spent that day stacking huge round bales of hay with a forklift to make Halloween figures. He was a grunt in the Third Infantry Division, serving in France. On a weekend pass, he got to Paris. He ran into his brother, a pilot. Coincidence? Brother flew close air support in a P-47 Thunderbolt. The P-47 was enormous for a fighter. Heavily armored. Eight .50 caliber machine guns. Over a ton of bombs. 5-inch rockets. And whatever other frightfulness they could think of.

Pilot brother was worried about John. He flew

to blow up the stuff that could kill his brother. Thunderbolts almost always came back. Missing wings shot full of holes, but they came back. Unless a German 88 got ‘em in the belly. Infantrymen got shot, blown up, worn out. Pilot brother didn’t want John taking unnecessary chances. John thought his brother was relatively safe.

Both men were concerned about their wives. How would their wives get by if the husbands didn’t make it? They made a pact to look out for their sister-in-law, if necessary. The brothers had a fine weekend. Then back to their units.

Next week, Pilot brother flew over a German 8.8 cm Flak anti-aircraft/anti-tank gun. Got it in the belly. Didn’t come back. A little later, John got a “Dear John” letter. From his soon-to-be ex-wife.

John fought his way to Berlin. Then back to southwest Michigan. Went through with the divorce. Kept his promise to his brother. After a couple of years, they got married. And spent the next 50 years together. Smiling, baking, and occasionally stacking round bales of hay.

A machinist mate on the Yorktown fleet aircraft carrier served at the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Yorktown got so beat up, repairs at Pearl Harbor would take months. He was looking forward to a little R&R along with the work. But 3 days of 24-hour emergency repairs later, the Yorktown was back in the fight at Midway. When the battle seemed to be over, he went up to the flight deck to get some air. Spotted black smoke from a snorkeling Japanese submarine’s diesel engine. Watched as the Japanese torpedoes came at the Yorktown. Went swimming when the Yorktown sank. Picked up by a guard destroyer. And was on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay for the surrender.

Wake Island is not far from Pearl Harbor. Indefensible, it was assaulted by the Japanese a few days after the attack on Pearl. The Marines managed to sink a couple of Japanese destroyers and a sub. About 1000 Japanese died, but the island fell within weeks. All survivors were tortured. The Marines on Wake were killed randomly, for any reason or no reason at all. 98 American civilians were machinegunned in a single incident. Few survived. Sailors were treated a little better. One POW went from Wake to China, the Philippines, various atolls, and finally the home islands. Starved for 4 years he recovered and eventually retired after a long Navy career. I made the mistake of suggesting he had “missed the war.” He did not see it that way.

Patton loudly claimed that on his way to kick Hitler’s ass, he would pee in the Rhine River. When the first pontoon bridge was across, Patton kept his promise. With thousands of soldier eyewitnesses. Some with cameras. Including a gentleman of my acquaintance.

My uncle Francis was executive officer on a PT boat. His commander decided that attaching limpet mines to Japanese destroyers would be a good idea. Captain reasoned that the PT boat was so low in the water, the destroyer’s guns couldn’t hit it. But somebody on the destroyer had a rifle. Shooting at the PT boat. Which was loaded with barrels of high-octane avgas on the deck (before diesels replaced the gas engines). When the boat blew up, most of the crew survived. Including my uncle who refused to ever serve with Captain Johnny Sioux again.

My father spent his Navy career at various naval air stations that trained pilots. Dad’s job was to photograph the remains (sometimes headless, always bloody or burnt) of unsuccessful pilot trainees.

My uncle John flew B-24 Liberators. Survived enough missions to rotate back to the States.

A fellow trustee on my township board was a gentleman with a limp. He acquired the limp escorting bombers to Japan in a P-51 Mustang. A bullet came through the bottom of his plane, was slowed by the parachute stowed under the seat. Clipped an inch out of his thigh bone. When the doctors set the bone, they used a device to allow the pieces to grow back together, so the wounded leg would not be too short. Unfortunately, they did it wrong and the leg was too long. So, he limped.

Another gentleman had not slept through the night since he was at Tarawa. According to his wife of 48 years.

As a ROTC cadet I was volunteered for Airborne School, Basic Parachutist training. But if a fellow cadet had not fallen off the “Slide for Life” and broken 3 vertebrae, I would not have had the chance. At Airborne School, as at any training facility, there were broken legs, ankles, arms, wrists, dislocated shoulders, and more cracked vertebrae. I only got a finger that bends a little funny. Plus, I got to jump out of perfectly good aircraft. For my country.

The point is that the men and women who enter military service accept that bad things happening is part of the deal. When you are training to kill people and break things, sometimes things get broken. Training must be tough. Realistic. Dangerous. Best to find out whether someone can hack it at Fort Benning than a foreign battlefield. That is OK. Nobody has a problem with it, least of all the soldiers, sailors, Marines, Coasties and others taking the risks.

But who wants to be poisoned by dry cleaning fluid that somehow got into the water supply at your training base? Nobody signed up for that. But it happened at Camp Lejeune.

Camp Lejeune: What They Are Doing About It

We Agreed To Get Blown Up By Bad Guys, We Did Not Agree To Be Poisoned By Negligence

It is really pretty simple. From 1953 through 1987, chemicals from the dry-cleaning plant seeped into the ground water. The wells that supplied drinking water throughout the facility were contaminated. There is no argument about these basic facts. There is no question of responsibility. Like the veterans who have suffered from exposure to Agent Orange. Like the veterans who have suffered from exposure to asbestos. The fight is over. The battle has been won. The powers-that-be have admitted responsibility. All we have to do now is find out who was on the receiving end. Who are the men and women whose lives have been damaged or destroyed by this?

We need to find you. We want to find you. Those who did this to you are ready, willing, and able to make amends. Well, at least to move in that direction.

Toxic chemicals that were found in the waters of Camp LeJeune are the following:
• Trichloroethylene (TCE)
• Perchloroethylene (PCE)
• Benzene
• Vinyl chloride

Those chemicals cause a wide range of diseases. Including cancer. Not just for the service personnel, but their families and unborn children.

Diseases include:

• Multiple Cancers
• Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
• Bladder cancer
• Brain cancer
• Breast cancer
• Central Nervous System cancer (CNS)
• Cervical cancer
• Esophageal cancer
• Hodgkins Lymphoma
• Kidney cancer
• Leukemia
• Liver cancer
• Lung cancer
• Myelodysplastic syndrome
• Multiple myeloma
• Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma
• Ovarian cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Rectal cancer

Other Diseases

• Cardiac defect
• Epilepsy
• Fatty liver disease (hepatic steatosis)
• Female Infertility
• Kidney damage
• Immune disorders
• Nerve damage
• Miscarriage
• Myelodysplastic syndromes
• Neurobehavioral effects
• Parkinson’s disease
• Renal toxicity/disease
• Scleroderma

Everybody dies. Lots of folks get cancer. Bad things happen. People suffer. That is life. Deal with it. The luck of the draw. Sometimes your number comes up. You can’t beat fate.
But sometimes, it’s not just bad luck. Sometimes the folks who should be paying attention look the other way. Blow it off. Won’t upset the applecart. Do the easy thing instead of the right thing. And that’s what Lejeune is all about.

You signed up to get blown up, beat up, tortured, shot, stabbed, drowned, killed. By the bad guys. Not poisoned by your own leaders’ negligence or incompetence.

They acknowledge they ignored it. And admit that they should not have ignored it. And you should be paid for the damage they did to you. The hard part is done.

Now they are willing to make amends. With dollars. They took your health They can’t give it back. They can only give you a few bucks. Maybe more than a few. Money won’t fix it. But it is all that can be done.

If you were poisoned and suffered the diseases they caused, should you hold them accountable? Should you let them get away again? Should you allow them to escape their comeuppance? Get off scot-free? Why would you do that? Why not accept their apology?

Everyone knows most stuff like this gets swept under the carpet, ignored, rejected, forgotten. But not this time.

Unless you let them get away with what they did to you… or to your family member.

Is it a ridiculous idea to make a phone call? Is it too much to find out if you qualify?

Is making a phone call so hard?

You know how good it was to trust your chain-of-command. You also know how bad it is when that trust is betrayed. They can never “fix” what happened there for more than 34 years. But one phone call can start.

Is now a bad time to call?

Call (888) 954-3375
Talk to a Veteran-owned Law Firm

The post What Happened At Camp Lejeune? appeared first on Carrier Law.

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Scanning The Globe To Bring You The Constant Variety Of Shorts

Jeepers Creepers Fellas! Europe War Bad!
Oh My Golly! Inflation Ragin’!
Zounds! Oil Prices Up And Sheiks Rejoice!

The Thrill Of Victory, The Agony Of Defeat

News Of The World
Everything Going To Hell In Hand Basket
Raise Hand If Surprised

Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle.
Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. That’s why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. The very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.

—George S. Patton

That was then. This is now.

Are the Russian people strong? Recently, Russia celebrated a 50% drop in extreme alcohol abuse. But: “the average Russian over the age of 15 years old [still] drinks about 11 liters (almost three gallons) of pure ethanol every year.” Read More Here

Is the Russian military strong? “[T]he United States maintains a fleet of literally hundreds of operational fifth-generation jets, while Russia has only 14 or so (only two of which are serial production models, the other 12 are handmade prototypes).” Read More Here Russian ships, submarines, tanks, missiles, electronics malfunction, sink, and blow up unexpectedly. Also they rust. Right now, in Syria, whenever Israelis want to blow up something defended by Russian missiles, the Israelis tell the Russians to turn off the radar so the Russians don’t get blown up too. And the Russians do. Guess they don’t want to get blown up.

Is the Russian economy strong? Russian per capita income is 85th in the world. Bulgaria beats them. Guam is 36th. Read More Here

Nobody wants Russian stuff. Not even Russians. Except vodka. But they have a lot of oil and gas! $40/barrel = Russia poor. $100/barrel = Russia rich. Remember when there was too much oil? Who shut down American pipelines? Oil exploration? Fracking? Who shut down $2 gas?

Is Russian leadership strong? Czar-for-Life is Communist former KGB agent spy large and in charge. Stalin is role model. Longing for Soviet Socialist glory days. Like most Russians. (Freedom is hard.) Read More Here. “Stalin had nearly a million of his own citizens executed, beginning in the 1930s. Millions more fell victim to forced labor, deportation, famine, massacres, and detention and interrogation by Stalin’s henchmen.” Read More Here. Did Stalin kill 20 million Russians? Or was it only 14 million? Don’t know.

So we tremble and cower before a nation of alcoholics, bearing Cold War-era weapons (still deadly to civilians), and no economy to speak of. Led by a fanboy of the second most murderous megalomaniac in history (Mao Zedong (also socialist) is #1 with 30-45 million kills). And the fight seems to be over a “nation” with a similar leadership and history.

Punchline #1: Whose side are we on? Don’t know. Why? Don’t know.
Punchline #2: Whatever side we’re on, we are losing. To the alcoholics. Badly. Obviously.
Punchline #3: Losing is now a habit. Can you remember Afghanistan? Only a few months ago. August 2021. Look it up.

Also inflation is up. Way up. Jimmy Carter up. Remember when oil was cheap? Putin was put out. Sheiks were saddened. Americans elated. And now… $100/barrel oil is back. Moscow is making merry! And the sheiks won’t return our calls. Ready for gas lines?

The glamour of evil is seductive. Temptation is all around. It easily overwhelms weak- minded, weak-hearted weaklings. Who become desperate. Lash out. Why has our Neighbor to the North abandoned its ideals? Victimizing the victims? Do they know that George Orwell’s Animal Farm was meant as a cautionary tale, not a how-to guide?

What To Do

What can you do? Stay true to our middle-class values. Sure, it looks good for the bad guys now. It always looks good for the bad guys. For a while. But have you noticed that the more awful the bad guys get, the more certain they will eventually fail? Those who believe in nothing, will believe anything. Firebombing is peaceful. Horn-honking is terrorism.

Faith and freedom. Perseverance and patience. Courage and commitment. These are the sword and shield of the middle class.

The world is counting on you. As it has in the past. As it will in the future. You are the indispensable people. America is the exceptional nation. Evil is not inevitable, unless we shrink from challenging it.

Every week someone tells me that pointing out the basic, obvious truth is “political.” As if that’s a bad thing. The attitude bebaffles, bebothers and bewilders me. Are you against the idea that hard work should be rewarded? Do you oppose getting some return on your tax dollars? Is it wrong to follow government-made rules so your spouse is not impoverished by long-term care? Is it ridiculous to think that leaving your kids a little something could be significant?

Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?

Perhaps you already have all the answers. Maybe this is no problem at all. Possibly you do not believe in the passage of time.

Your habits and values have earned you peace of mind and financial security. LifePlanning™ is the easy part. You worked for the peace that only comes with financial security. What is most important, legal documents? Avoiding probate, is that the best you can do? Is family about inheritance? Or are the deeper things most significant?

Is any of this easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?

Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.

The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?

NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance.It is choice. Your choice.

Get Information Now.
(800) 317-2812

The post Europe War Bad! Inflation Ragin’! Oil Prices Up And Sheiks Rejoice! appeared first on Carrier Law.

Every soldier and Marine, and some airmen and sailors, too, know the delights of the Combat Ration. Also known as the C-Ration or C-Rat. Packing 1200 calories into a small, brown cardboard box. Three olive drab tin cans. Main course, soda crackers, something spreadable like peanut butter, jelly, or cheese. Sometimes pound cake or cookies. Plus, a brown foil envelope: salt, pepper, coffee or cocoa, toilet paper. And a P38 can opener. It could be breakfast, lunch, or dinner. As an Army ROTC cadet and on active duty, I ate quite a few.

Everyone said that some C-Rats came with cigarettes, but I never saw any. The best was the John Wayne bar: a disk of chocolate with toffee bits. Spread peanut butter on the soda crackers and make a sandwich with the John Wayne bar. Almost heaven. Getting a John Wayne bar was winning the lottery, and no one ever traded it away.

Printed on the top flap of the C-Rat box was the main course. Beans with Frankfurter Chunks in Tomato Sauce, Fried Ham, Chicken and Noodles, Spaghetti and Meatballs (like mama made!). There were others. C-Rats came 12 or 16 to the case. The case was always flipped upside down when you went to draw your ration. No picking or choosing!

My very first C-Rat was “Ham and Eggs, Chopped.” Scrambled eggs. With ham. From hens that had died during the Eisenhower Administration. In a can. (But I did get a John Wayne bar!!)

It taught me a valuable lesson. Never go on a Field Training Exercise without a bottle of Tabasco.

What has this got to do with LifePlanningTM? Everything!

LifePlan™ Basic Facts

FACT #1: Middle-class Americans cannot afford the $6000-$12,000 per month costs of long-term care.
FACT #2: Life savings evaporate like snowflakes on a hot griddle. (Don’t kid yourself about this. Folks with hundreds of thousands in savings go broke every day. You are not immune.)
FACT #3: When you are broke, then Medicaid, the government solution, kicks in.
FACT #4: LifePlanning™ enables you to qualify for Medicaid without going broke.

C-Rats, Medicaid, Tabasco, Long-term Care, Extras! The Government Solution

C-Rations are the government solution to soldiers’ need to eat in the field. Medicaid is the government solution to Americans’ need for long term care.

You Cannot Avoid the Government Solution.

There are no McDonald’s in the field. You cannot pack in enough sandwiches. You must eat the C-Rat. Long-term care is expensive. You cannot save enough to pay what it actually costs. You will go broke. You must take the Medicaid.

By Planning Ahead, You Can Add To The Government Solution.

Buy some Tabasco at the PX or Commissary. Bring it with you. Share it with your buddies. You’ll be glad you did! Preserve your lifesavings through LifePlanning™. Do not go broke when you need long-term care. Add the services you want and need by paying for them yourself. You choose. You decide.

Freedom, Security, Personal Responsibility

You have lifesavings now because you took personal responsibility for yourself, your spouse, your family. You did not shirk. You did the tough stuff. There are some people out there who did not. Those people will receive Medicaid benefits immediately. You will not. You will have to deplete your savings. Sell the cottage. No legacy. No ability to provide for your spouse. No choice.

How is that fair? I do not think that it is. That’s why I have developed and practiced the LifePlan™ strategy for the last 30 years. You are not a chump, a sucker, or a loser for having worked, saved, and cared for yourself and your family. We make the rules work for the people who played by the rules.

Get Information Now! Call 1-800-317-2812

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