“Today, a row of chin-up bars stands beside a grassy mound topped with a manhole cover bearing the words, “WARNING DO NOT FILL.” This is the only visible reminder of Hadnot Point Well No. 602, in which one 1984 test found levels of the carcinogenic gasoline additive benzene at 76 times the allowable federal limit.”
-After nearly 30 years, Camp Lejeune coming clean
Those carcinogens were part of the what could be the largest water contamination in U.S. history. Nearly one million Marines and their families used contaminated water for drinking and cooking for over 30 years. Only now is the clean up finally coming to an end.
Today’s pretty sunset photo courtesy of the Marine Corps Flickr page.
Marines, police prep for mock zombie invasion →
Yes, this does seem a little ridiculous on its face, but even though zombie attacks aren’t going to happen, being prepared for unpredictable disasters is a worthwhile goal. If it takes calling this a zombie attack for the government and citizens to pay attention and get prepared, then it’s worth it.
Obama Signs Healthcare Bill into Law for Camp Lejeune Victims
What a great victory! Thanks for all you who helped get this bill passed. Find out more here.
President Obama signing the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012. Standing next to him are the makers of the moving documentary Semper Fi: Always Faithful, which follows the fight of the victims of the water poisoning at Camp Lejenue as they work for justice while the Marine Corps and the Navy attempt to cover up their knowledge of the 30 year water contamination that harmed as many as one million people. Also in the room were Jerry Ensminger, who lost his 9-year-old daughter to cancer, and Mike Partain, who is one of many male breast cancer victims with ties to Camp Lejeune.
Read more about the Camp Lejeune water contamination.
(Source: whitehouse.gov)
A powerful quote from Jerry Ensminger, a retired Marine Corps drill instructor, from the 9th Annual Ridenhour Awards yesterday. Read more at the POGO blog.
Semper Fi: Always Faithful is an important documentary about the thousands of Marines and their families who were poisoned at Camp Lejeune. It is premiering at 10 p.m. Friday on MSNBC. Watch it and then join POGO in taking action to help the victims.
'Star Creep' Creating a Top-Heavy Military, POGO Tells Senate Panel →
The U.S. military’s top-heavy command structure is the result of “star creep,” the trend over the last 20 years of adding more and more generals and admirals to do work that could easily be performed by lower ranking officers, POGO National Security Fellow Ben Freeman told a Senate panel today.
The military has more generals and admirals now than at any time since the end of the Cold War — the average general and admiral has nearly 500 fewer personnel under their command than in 1991.
Learn why this is a problem on the POGO blog.
Franz Gayl, a Marine Corps science adviser, exposed the fact that the Marine Corps ignored an urgent request from troops in Iraq for vehicles that are better protected against improvised explosive devices and roadside bombs. These vehicles, called MRAPs, would go on to save thousands of lives.
But Gayl was stripped of his security clearance, effectively ending his career. This sends a message to not speak up, even when lives are on the line, and punishes a whistleblower for speeding up a program that former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates praised as saving “thousands and thousands of lives” and “multiples of that in terms of limbs.”
Tell Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to reinstate Gayl’s security clearance.
(Source: youtube.com)
