Repost: Atomic Veterans Related Articles

["Michael P. Grissom" <mpg1@coastside.net>]

The dreaded "From" monster deleted much of this the
first time around:

radsafe'rs,

The following are items from recent issues of the American
Legion Magazine:

"Ionizing Radiation

 Factors determining service-connection compensation for
 veterans exposed to ionizing radiation include the amount
 of radiation exposure, duration of exposure, and elapsed
 time between exposure and onset of the disease.

 The conditions presumed to be service-connected are all
 forms of leukemia (except chronic lymphocytic leukemia)
 and cancer of the thyroid, breast, pharynx, esophagus,
 stomach, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall
 bladder, salivary gland, urinary tract, multiple myeloma,
 and primary liver cancer and lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's
 disease)."

>From the article "Playing the VA Game: Obtaining benefits
requires more than a shake of the dice" by John Fales, a
side bar on page 30, The American Legion Magazine, July 2000.

And:

" President Clinton said he wants to "right the wrongs of
 the past" committed against factory workers who built
 America's nuclear arsenal. To each civilian bomb maker
 suffering from cancers related to radioactive exposure,
 the administration offers either a lump sum payment of
 $100,000 or a medical-treatment-and-job-retraining package.

 If medical records are lost, the sick worker gets compensated.
 If there is uncertainty about the origin of the cancer, the
 sick worker gets the benefit of the doubt.

 The government should have taken this approach years ago, with
 respect to "atomic veterans" deliberately exposed to ionizing
 radiation in nuclear tests conducted in the 1940s, '50s and '60s.
 "Atomic veterans" wore badges that recorded their exposures
 so that the government could determine the impact of radiation
 on the human body."  ...[snip, more follows]

>From the "Commander's Message: "Atomic Veterans" should be
compensated" by National Commander Al Lance, The American
Legion Magazine, August 2000, page 7.

S.,

MikeG.
mpg1@coastside.net
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