[CPEO-MEF] DU, veterans, and the Guard

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Gulf War vet testifies on radiation 

Gregory B. Hladky 
New Haven Register
February 11, 2005

HARTFORD - Gulf War veteran Melissa Sterry's voice shook as she told
state lawmakers Thursday about the devastating illnesses she blames on
her contact with depleted uranium ammunition and armor in Kuwait. 

"On the outside, I look perfectly normal," said Sterry, a 42-year-old
New Haven resident. "On the inside, my body is destroying itself."

Sterry told lawmakers about her chronic headaches, the pneumonia she
suffers through three or four times a year, muscle spasms, chronic
diarrhea, blood in her urine and stool and the three recorded heart
attacks she has survived.

"Eight of us served together," she said about her buddies in the
National Guard. "There are two of us left alive. ... I'd like to live to
see 45 - most of my friends didn't make it to 30."

Sterry said she is now "in combat" with the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs over medical coverage because the government insists that its
studies show depleted uranium "won't cause any long-term health risks."

Sterry was testifying in support of a bill to require that Connecticut
National Guard troops now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan be properly
screened and treated for depleted uranium contamination. The bill is
still in committee.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13937502&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=6

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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