This is not good. And they’ve been forced to get an attorney.
When the USS Ronald Reagan responded to the tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011, Navy sailors including Quartermaster Maurice Enis gladly pitched in with rescue efforts.
But months later, while still serving aboard the aircraft carrier, he began to notice strange lumps all over his body. Testing revealed he’d been poisoned with radiation, and his illness would get worse. And his fiance and fellow Reagan quartermaster, Jamie Plym, who also spent several months helping near the Fukushima nuclear power plant, also began to develop frightening symptoms, including chronic bronchitis and hemorrhaging.
They and 49 other U.S. Navy members who served aboard the Reagan and sister ship the USS Essex now trace illnesses including thyroid and testicular cancers, leukemia and brain tumors to the time spent aboard the massive ship, whose desalination system pulled in seawater that was used for drinking, cooking and bathing. In a lawsuit filed against Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plaintiffs claim the power company delayed telling the U.S. Navy the tsunami had caused a nuclear meltdown, sending huge amounts of contaminated water into the sea and, ultimately, into the ship’s water system.
“At our level, we weren’t told anything,” Plym told FoxNews.com. “We were told everything was OK.”
Now, Plym, Enis and dozens of others wonder if their service to their country and to Japan has left them doomed.
“I get so angry,” Plym said. “They said as long as the plume was avoided we would be fine. But we knew then that something was going to happen. Common sense tells you that the wind would blow it everywhere. You don’t need to be a nuclear scientist to figure that out.”
San Francisco Attorney Charles Bonner,who is representing allegedly cancer-stricken sailors, initially filed a federal suit in the Southern District of California more than a year ago on behalf of a dozen sailors. But the number has more than quadrupled as more service members come forward with radiation-related illnesses, he said.
Related:
Sickened Navy crew members have lawsuit dismissed on technicality, but will refile.— TV: “Sailors say they have cancer”… of thyroid, gallbladder, testicles — Unremitting headaches, rectal bleeding, tumors, bodies deteriorating”
After listening to Tammy’s interview with the lawyer, I find that the most disturbing part of this story is that the Navy was apparently unable to detect the presence of radiation in the water. Or perhaps it was just that they thought is wasn’t necessary to bring the radiation detection equipment on line?
These ships are supposedly designed to operate in areas that have been contaminated with nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. Naval combatant vessels are supposed to have systems to detect the presence of these agents. The ships are also supposed to have systems and procedures designed to protect the crew from these threats. The sailors aboard these vessels are supposed to be trained in their operation and use. Why weren’t they used?
[…] a dozen sailors…but the number has since expanded to over 50. During a recent interview with Tammy Bruce, Paul Garner (an Encinitas attorney who is also involved with the case) said that number is likely […]
[…] a dozen sailors…but the number has since expanded to over 50. During a recent interview with Tammy Bruce, Paul Garner (an Encinitas attorney who is also involved with the case) said that number is likely […]