[ RadSafe ] Pancreatic Cancer - Any Record of Uranium Having Caused

Wed Jul 30 02:31:33 CDT 2008

Is there a possibility that it was not DU, but other things that had
burned/were apparently still burning, when this officer went to Camp Doha?
Note that Elnagar, one of the most prolific anti-DU posters on the internet,
former owner of the Yahoo Groups DeadlyDUST and AmericanDUST which replaced
it (the DUST stands for DU Study Team, but no dissenting or "scientific"
opinion is permitted in her rigorously moderated groups) has gotten this off
the notoriously anti-American Italian based website that claims to be the
"voice of the Iraqi resistance".   Cathy Garger, a prolific anti-DU writer
and now speaker as well despite having no knowledge of the subject beyond
what she has been fed by Moret, Rokke or Nichols (a co-moderator), has taken
over AmericanDUST, which has public archives so anyone can read what is
posted there and gets a very lopsided opinion of the horrors of depleted
uranium which posters maintain was used at Fallujah and nearly every day in
Iraq and Afghanistan (I would sure like to get accurate figures for usage in
Afghanistan; my guess is very close to zero since there were no tank-to-tank
battles and I am not even sure that the A-10 Warthog was used against the
Taliban's perhaps a half dozen tanks.  Garger has also taken over DU-Watch
as the sole moderator.  The European group that created DU-Watch seems to
have dissolved.

Roger Helbig

--- On Tue, 7/29/08, Romi Elnagar <bluesapphire48 at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Romi Elnagar <bluesapphire48 at yahoo.com>
Subject: [DU-WATCH] Widow's VA claim gaining steam
To: du-watch at yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, July 29, 2008, 2:17 PM

Widow's VA claim gaining steam
GEORGE WERNETH

Monday, July 28, 2008

A Mobile woman says she was encouraged recently when a Department of 
Veterans Affairs appeals judge agreed to review a claim involving her 
late husband, who believed that his Army exposure to radiation 
triggered his deadly cancer.

Theresa Orrell said she has been struggling with the VA over her 
husband's case for nine years, seeking acknowledgement of the dangers 
that he faced, as well as compensation for her family.

About six weeks before dying in 1999, Lt. Col. William A. Orrell III, 
an Army Reserve officer, filed a claim with the VA, certain that his 
pancreatic cancer was connected with his encounter with depleted 
uranium in Kuwait. He was 56 when he died.

Last month, an appeals judge, Lisa Barnard, took Orrell's depleted 
uranium death claim under advisement after a hearing in Montgomery. A 
ruling is expected in six to nine months.

"I was encouraged because this judge was more down-to-earth than the 
previous judge and she wanted all the facts," Theresa Orrell said.

She has pursued her husband's case while working and earning a degree 
from Spring Hill College to better support her three children.

Lt. Col. Orrell had gone to Kuwait in June of 1991 as commander of 
the 1103rd Transportation Battalion with the job of rounding up 
American military vehicles used in Operation Desert Storm for return 
to the United States, according to his wife.

There had been a huge explosion and fire involving U.S. military 
vehicles containing depleted uranium on July 11, 1991, in Doha, 
Kuwait, and he was sent two days later to inspect them, she said. 
That's when he believed he was exposed to high levels of radiation, 
Theresa Orrell said. She said the vehicles were still smoldering 
while he inspected them.

Depleted uranium is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process 
and because of its high density is used as a shield to protect U.S. 
military vehicles. It is also used in the manufacturing of munitions, 
such as armor-piercing bullets and tank shells.

There has been extensive controversy about depleted uranium and its 
possible toxic effects on U.S military personnel who have served in 
Kuwait and Iraq.

A VA spokesman in Washington, D.C., said recently that he could not 
comment on the Orrell case until Theresa Orrell signs and returns to 
the agency a privacy waiver. The spokesman said a VA official was not 
immediately available to discuss the depleted uranium issue in 
general as pertains to the VA.

Theresa Orrell is seeking compensation and dependents' assistance for 
herself and her three children since they owe about $86,000 in 
college loans, she said. Two of the children have completed college, 
while the youngest is a sophomore at the University of South Alabama.

She noted that she has a video in which her husband reported that he 
went to Doha after the explosion to check on the vehicles. She said 
he told her that the Army did not provide him with protective gear.

At the June 27 appeals hearing, she said, the judge agreed that her 
husband was at Doha at the time that he claimed. The appeals case 
rests on a decision by the VA concerning the radiation levels at the 
site of the fire, Theresa Orrell said.

William Orrell enrolled at the University of South Alabama in 1964 - 
the first year of the school - and was the first editor of the 
school's Vanguard publication, Theresa Orrell said. He went on to 
graduate from the Army's Officer Candidate School and served for 35 
years in the Army Reserve and the National Guard.

Theresa Orrell said her husband was a patriot who volunteered for 
service in both Bosnia and Operation Desert Storm.

"I want the Army to say my husband died because of his service to his 
country," she said.

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m46053&hd=&size=1&l=e

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