Young Marine sergeant dies of cancer at age 25 following service in Iraq

[sabra]

http://www.mesotheliomanews.com/2010/04/13/young-marine-sergeant-dies/

Young Marine sergeant dies of cancer at age 25 following service in Iraq

Apr 13, 2010

Sgt. Klayton Thomas was young and strong, with the kind of healthy lifestyle most people think they should have and don’t. The 25-year-old Nebraska native went to the doctor complaining of a backache that he thought he’d gotten playing soccer, and fewer than four months later, he was dead, felled by a mysterious lung cancer. Lung cancer generally takes years, sometimes even decades to progress, but the painful and debilitating cancer that destroyed young Sgt. Thomas’ body spread so quickly the doctors had little time to respond, and not nearly enough time to save him.

Sgt. Thomas himself provided the key to the mysterious origins of the virulent disease. During his stint at al-Taqaddum Air Base in Iraq, contractors utilized a nearby pit to burn trash, and smoke from the burn pit sometimes filled the sky with toxic black smoke. Military contractors burn almost everything, including plastics, batteries, asbestos and other known carcinogens. It was the cheapest way to dispose of waste. At first, soldiers living nearby considered the smoke a nuisance, but as more of them began getting sick, questions began to arise. The initial condition became known throughout the service stationed in Iraq as the “Iraqi crud,” a persistent cough with dark phlegm.

Military senior health protection officials were aware of health concerns regarding the choking smoke for years and chose to ignore the warnings. A 2006 memo warning that toxic poisons were being burned in the pits prompted an assessment of conditions at Balad Air Force Base. The resulting draft warning of elevated cancer risks was quickly rescinded and replaced with study results that suggested the burn pits were responsible for only eye irritation and coughing.

It is too late for Sgt. Thomas and many others like him, but something is finally being done. A multi-million dollar lawsuit against KBR (formerly Kellogg Brown and Root), the company responsible for the burn pits, is in progress, and the government is taking action.

[malaise]

1. KBR again

THey should fling Cheney in the burn pits.

[Warpy]

3. They'd have to evacuate people hundreds of miles downwind

Talk about toxic waste.

[malaise]

10. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaah

choking with laughter :rofl:

[virgogal]

2. Oh dear God. RIP,Sgt. Thomas.

[Oceansaway]

4. K&R...n/t

[Hello_Kitty]

5. Sue the shit outta them. eom

[sabra]

7. Update: Oregon Guard soldiers lawsuit against war contractor KBR can go forward

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/oregon_guard_soldiers_lawsuit.html

Oregon Guard soldiers lawsuit again war contractor KBR can go forward
By Julie Sullivan, The Oregonian
April 12, 2010, 5:57PM

An Oregon Army National Guard soldiers' lawsuit against war contractor Kellogg, Brown & Root over exposure to a cancer-causing chemical will go forward, a federal judge ruled Friday in Portland.

U.S. District Judge Magistrate Paul Papak denied KBR's motion to dismiss the case, saying the court in Oregon does have jurisdiction.

The ruling is a significant step for 21 Oregon soldiers who claim they were intentionally exposed to the chemical hexavalent chromium after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Troops from Oregon and two other states were ordered to guard employees of the Houston-based holding company and its four subsidiaries, which were restoring oil production in southern Iraq.

The soldiers claim that at the Qarmat Ali water plant, KBR ignored and downplayed the health risks of a corrosion-fighter scattered across the facility that contained hexavalent chromium. Soldiers sued alleging lung and other health problems as a result.

[sam sarrha]

6. i hope this hurts them in recruiting.. that is criminal

[1776Forever]

8. Thank you for posting this - Sent it to my son what has had 2 tours there. n/t

[aquart]

9. Negligent homicide. Depraved indifference to human life.