[ RadSafe ] Fw: [NoMoreDU] Request Seat on Depleted Uranium Task Force

[Roger Helbig]

Here is the reason why the NY State law that was just passed my put the power to decide whether DU has all the characteristics that the crusaders claim it has in the hands of the crusaders .. that is dangerous

Herbet Reed is the subject of the Associated Press article from last summer who claims to be suffering from exposure to DU.  From my point of view, not having seen the full documentation, I do not think he has established a reasonable case for his ailments being the result of DU and he is closely allied with the NY City NoMoreDU group.

I would like to see qualified RADSAFERs in NY apply for seats on the Depleted Uranium task force that the NY law creates.

Roger Helbig

--- Herbert Reed <herbert_reed at msn.com> wrote:

> To: <wodae at assembly.state.ny.us>, ellie Ommanie
> <nomoredu at yahoogroups.com>,
> ellie Ommanie <klosrtogod at optonline.net>, florence
> gold
> <goldslehrer2 at optonline.net>, florence gold
> <slehrer2 at optonline.net>
> From: Herbert Reed <herbert_reed at msn.com>
> Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 11:21:31 -0500
> Subject: [NoMoreDU] Request Seat on Depleted Uranium
> Task Force

>                                            December
> 5th 2006
>                                                     
>                  Herbert Rudolph Reed

>                  Retired Staff Sergeant (SSG)

>                  United States Army
> Contact Information
>  
> Herbert R. Reed
> 6 Somerton Court
> Columbia, South Carolina
> 29209
>  
> Home  #  803-743-9286
> Cell     #  914-275-2984

> Military Service

> Active Duty Army - May 1973 thru March 1980
>  
> Reserve/ National Guard
>  
> Coast Guard Reserve ( New York ) -  May 1990  thru
> June 2001
>  
> Army National Guard  ( Orangeburg New York ) June
> 2001 thru November 2004
>  
> (Iraq - 2003)
>  
>  
> To who it may concern:
>  
  
> My Name is Herbert R. Reed and as my service records
> reflects i started my Military career during the
> Vietnams era, when i believed in what our Military
> stood for.  I was proud to wear the uniform and to
> carry out the orders of my superiors.  I once
> believed that when a soldier had done all he could
> to complete the mission and was no longer able to
> carry on, the Military took care of it's injured.  I
> believed that my superiors would never purposely
> send a soldier into a situation without the proper
> protective gear and information needed to completed
> the mission.  One or two things has happened, either
> thousands of soldiers like myself were wrong in what
> we believed / it's always been this way and we
> couldn't see through the glitter and shine of our
> boots and buckles or something has drastically
> changed and no one has informed the soldiers that
> they are now listed among the items (equipment)
> expendable.  Soldiers need to believe that our
> superiors stand behind us all the way. 
>  
> Myself and others don't feel that way these days
> because of this Depleted Uranium issue. There are
> too many unanswered questions, half truths,
> unexplained illnesses and birth defects. It's like
> the vietnam Agent Orange story all over again, where
> the military denied agent orange had anything to do
> with the soldiers and their families illnesses.  Our
> situation is a little different in that the military
> had two chances to get it right. The first being in
> the nineties when we went to Iraq and the soldiers
> came home sick. There were Military reports
> generated by then Military doctors indicating the
> cause to be exposure to Depleted Uranium. One doctor
> was forced into retirement because he would not give
> up his investigation into depleted uranium being the
> cause. It appears that this new found weapon is more
> important than their own soldiers health and a new
> way of disposing of nuclear waste and they are
> unwilling to part with it at any cost.  I know this
> to be true because when i found out that i had been
> contaminated with DU i met with Senator Hillary
> Clinton.  At this meeting Senator Clinton stated
> that she was part of a committee after the first
> gulf  war to investigate possible solutions to the
> problems soldiers were having.  The committee's
> recommendation was that if there was another war,
> every soldier would be given a base line physical,
> (complete physical examination) so that when they
> returned and found themselves ill there would be
> something to compare against.  This would have been
> perfect, if it had been used, maybe it would have
> answered some of the questions from the previous war
> sense we went right back into the same country as
> before.  I don't know about anyone else but that
> just opens up a a whole lot of suspicion in my mind.
>  I would think that if a simple exam might have
> answers to some questions we might have administered
> them.
>  
> Then there is the question as to why we were not
> informed that we might come into contact with
> depleted uranium while in Iraq. There was no mention
> of the Depleted Uranium at all during our training,
> although there are military manuals on how to treat
> a soldier exposed to Depleted Uranium.   Also the
> military manual states that no urine sample should
> be taken from an exposed subject after twenty four
> (24)  has elapsed.  My urine was collected months
> after my exposure and i still tested positive.  The
> manual also states that there are three levels of
> exposure, there are just too many details that if
> put together looks a little suspicious.  Then there
> are the scientist in Germany and Italy which i met
> in Japan this summer while attending the  two week
> Uranium conference, who have been conducting
> research into depleted uranium exposed soldiers from
> various countries. The question that we have to ask
> our selves is, is everyone wrong but us.  Then there
> is the method we are using to test our soldiers, all
> i can say is it's inadequate .  It has taken over
> thirty years for the truth about Agent Orange to
> start coming out, can we afford another thirty years
> and countless lives. I say no and this is why i have
> been fighting for better testing, health care and
> research for our soldiers and me. I'm not an
> expendable commodity.