[ RadSafe ] Letter to the Muskegon Chronicle

[bobcherry at cox.net]

FYI, in response to the following editorial:

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-0/111824191095790.xml

entitled, "Are soldiers told the truth about ammo risks?" I wrote the following:

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Dear Editor:

I am writing about your editorial on Tuesday, June 7, entitled “Are soldiers told the truth about ammo risks?” I read it on MLive.com while keeping up with Michigan news.

I grew up in Michigan and went to the University of Michigan for my three degrees, including my doctorate in physics. I am a certified health physicist. I was drafted into the Army in 1969. I served in combat in Vietnam. I retired from the Army as a colonel in 2001.

In the latter part of my career, I was one of the people whose truthfulness you are questioning.
If you did any research beyond listening to what the antiwar activists, antinuclear activists, and anti-depleted uranium (DU) activists are spouting, you would easily determine that virtually all of their claims are bogus and that the Department of Defense is telling the truth about DU to its soldiers, sailors, and airmen. (Not that anything is wrong with being an activist!)

Maybe, to you, DOD is a monolith harboring many conspiracies, but, to me, DOD employs dedicated military and civilian men and women devoted to the defense of our country and the welfare of those fighting for all of us. To answer your editorial question, DOD is telling the truth to its fighting men and women. The activists are not.

To help you get started on your research, ask some folks in the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of Michigan (for example, Dr. Kearfott) or UM’s Radiation Safety Service (for example, Dr. Mark Driscoll) for an educated opinion on the potential biological effects of DU. Don’t take my word for it, although you seem to take the word of activists on this issue.

Consider other environmental aspects, such as native insects, heat, and personal hygiene, of service in Iraq and Afghanistan for the causes of the alleged health effects of our soldiers before you blame DU for everything. Determine whether many of the alleged health effects were pre-existing or would have occurred regardless of service in an overseas theater. Determine whether it is even plausible that DU can cause these effects (that is, determine the mechanism).

DU can not and does not cause the wide variety of ailments collectively termed Gulf War Syndrome, even for much larger amounts than our soldiers are exposed to. Many reliable and responsible experts with no connection to DOD have said so.

Many people in DOD are working hard to inform our fighting men and women about DU, a large part in response to careless editorials such as yours. Their efforts would be better spent in addressing real hazards of serving in a combat area far from home, but it is very important to assure our soldiers that DU is a superb weapon and shield. It saves American lives, because it defeats the enemy at long range with efficiency. It saves enemy lives, because they surrender sooner. It hurts no one unless we fire it at you or you drop it on your foot. 

I learned in my journalism classes years ago to research before I wrote. Has journalism changed so much since then?

Robert N. Cherry, Jr., Ph.D. 
Certified Health Physicist
Colonel, U.S. Army (retired)
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