OPERATION DELIRIUM
Decades after a risky Cold War experiment, a
scientist lives with secrets.
Vets feel abandoned after secret
drug experiments
By David S. Martin, CNN
March
1, 2012 -- Updated 1356 GMT (2156 HKT)
Cassi
Creek: There are times when, despite
your best efforts, the universe is functioning in such a manner that you can’t
win. In the cosmic competition for what
we feel to be our share of the pie, the dice are always loaded, the deck is
always stacked, and the house has all the advantages. We may think we have a system, or we may
think we have the games figured out.
That lack of applause is the universe inhaling in order to laugh at
you.
I spent most of the summer of 1968 at
Fort Sam Houston, training as a combat medic.
The class content included ward duty – taking care of patients who had
not yet become shot, who had survived being shot, or who needed medical care of
some other manner. However, we all knew
that we’d entered the pipeline and we all knew where the pipeline spilled its
contents.
The manpower needs for the 1968, post
Tet Offensive army were high. A large
number of non-English speakers had been scooped up and added to the mix. The result of this was training companies
that contained men unable to understand the training material and unable to
pass even the simplest written exam, necessary to document completed training
before they were assigned to save the lives of wounded.
From my training company, three of us
were encouraged to become tutors; working after evening chow to help the
non-English speakers assimilate the class material. Our reward was a guaranteed pass every night until
Taps, and every weekend. We also escaped
some of the more odious housekeeping duties.
I recall discussions about an
assignment option that involved testing medications, antidotes, and other
things beneficial to the combat troops in general. If I recall correctly, the recruitment drive
took place in the evening, while I was tutoring. It had been presented as an altruistic thing
to do that would prevent assignment to VietNam, the ever-present carrot. Looking back, I can’t say if I would have
taken the bait or if I had already lost my confidence in the benevolence of the
Army. I
know that a couple of men in my rotation were assigned to the program. Beyond that, I have no recall of any who
became guinea pigs.
The reports surfacing now are
frightening. The use of nerve agents,
while the results may be beneficial, is horrifying. From what I know of designer drugs, it
appears that some of the “volunteers” had too much, too fast, and wound up with
partially fried gray matter.
.
I can only imagine the difficulty the victims have had; incurring
Parkinson’s by 20 years of age, yet unable to obtain any VA compensation for
injuries received in Army sponsored research.
I’m lucky, in that my “atypical
Parkinson’s” most likely due to Agent Orange exposure, has only manifested in
later life. I have some chance of
obtaining compensation from VA. When,
and how much, remains to be determined.
For which ever reason I missed selection
for one of these programs, I’m extremely grateful. I didn’t beat the house, but I may have
broken more or less even.
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