Depleted Uranium and the Deadly Aftermath for Veterans

Depleted Uranium and the Deadly Aftermath for Veterans
by John Waltz, Special Assignment Writer Firebase Network

Depleted Uranium (DU) seems to be the new buzz word in warfare but it has been around since the World War 2 era. In the Groves Memorandum that dated October 30, 1943 presented research on DU and the possible usage by the Germans. In closing it states that, It is the recommendation of this Subcommittee that if the military authorities feel that the United States should be ready to use radioactive weapons in case the enemy started it first, studies on the subject should be started immediately.

www.answers.com/topic/groves-memo-30oct43-p2-gif 

DU has been heavily used by the military because it can easily penetrate armor and concrete making it extremely effective. Once a DU round reaches it target it emits Alpha, Beta, and Gamma (X-Ray) nuclear radiation.  

According to Dr. Doug Rokke (Director of the U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Project) alpha particles give off 4.15 million electron volts and in a human body the intercellular voltage is 10 electron volts. This type of shock to your body down to the cellular level causes cells to malfunction along with various enzymes and hormones.  

If a service member gets a fragment of DU in their body it will…

radiate at 300 millirems continuously. The maximum annual amount of rems that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says a person should be exposed to is 5 rems. When you get billions of these microscopic DU particles distributed through out your body it causes your body to have numerous malfunctions giving you a vast array of symptoms.

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts149.html#bookmark10 

A majority of Iraqi and United States equipment contains radiological components and once exploded the radioactive material is released into the environment. This in turn exposes and contaminates any military men and women around.  

In the 1991 Gulf War 350 tons of DU was fired and in the following years this amount was much more substantial. In the current wars the estimate amount of DU usage in Afghanistan was 1,000 tons in 2001 and in Iraq that amount was 2,400 tons in 2003. The DoD is showing no signs of stopping DU usage knowing that it is harmful to both our service members and the environment.  

Severe dust storms helps to further re-distribute DU. Soldiers were not given adequate protection and due to this they were left without any protection at all. According to Leuren Moret (Geological Scientist and International Radiation Expert): 

In a cubic meter of air infected with DU there are one billion particles a tenth of a micron in diameter. The average person breathes 28 cubic meters of air a day. For that reason veterans are contaminated with billions of particles of DU through out their body. This includes their bladder, semen, lungs, bone marrow and brain.  

Due to the DU contaminating our veteran’s sperm it in turn contaminates their spouse and any children they conceive. It is a travesty that a veterans family member who never served a day in the military are now suffering from the effects of DU. The veterans family’s stories are hardly told and their voices never heard. 

The wounds of DU are many and also invisible. American citizens deserve to know the truth about DU and the devastating effects it is having on many veterans and their families. Many proponents of DU would like you to believe that because it emits low level radiation it is not harmful but that is far from the truth. Just in the Gulf War in 1991 out of the 697,000 that served, 250,000 are disabled and 10,000 are dead. The usage of DU needs to be halted immediately so that we can stop our veterans from being further exposed from the deadly effects. 

For more information on DU please visit: www.gulfwarvets.com/du.htm  

The Firebase is interested in your thoughts, send comments to [email protected]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 License