-Caveat Lector-
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********** VOICE OF THE GRUNT
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********** 01 September 1999
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ANTHRAX SPECIAL EDITION
TABLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLES
Hack's Column
Dumbing Down The Army 1
Mac Notes 2
>From The Field:
DoD's Anthrax Vaccine: The Side Effects On My Son 3
A Controversial Vaccine Program 4
Is There Hanky Panky Behind Mandatory Vaccines 5
It's A Plant That Produces Nothing But Controversy 6
Medal of Honor:
*WATTERS, CHARLES JOSEPH 7
Chaplain (Maj.), USA, Co. A, 173rd Supp. Bn, 173rd ABN Bgd.
Near Dak To Province, RVN, 19 November 1967
Story From January of 1998:
FDA Orders Pentagon To Follow FDA Vaccine Rules
Pentagon Broke Rules In Giving Soldiers Vaccine 8
* Indicates posthumous award
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ARTICLE 1
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DUMBING DOWN THE ARMY
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By David H. Hackworth, 31 August 1999
The Army wants our youth. But unfortunately for the "Green Machine," not
enough of our youth want the Army!
Despite more than a quarter-billion-dollar annual recruiting budget, 6,000
top NCO and officer recruiters (who are mainly combat leaders) and more
than 3,000 staff weenies who man the 46 recruiting headquarters-more than
enough talent to cadre three tank divisions --our all-volunteer Army isn't
mustering enough recruits to fill the squads.
These factors are part of the problem:
· A booming economy, which makes tooling down Mainstreet USA in a new set
of wheels more attractive than playing RoboCop in one of Clinton's global
villages.
· College fun and games over close order drill and war games in the rain.
· Too many harebrained missions such as Kosovo that are stretching our
forces to the breaking point and causing the troops to ask, "Why go to the
Balkans to be shot at for nothing?"
· Relatives and friends who because of a recent bad military trip or broken
promises, such as reduced medical, hospital and other retirement benefits,
are telling young people, "Don't join up. You'll just get used and abused
like I did."
· Generation Y-ers without the same patriotic fever or motivation that
their fathers and grandfathers mustered when they faced the Imperial
Japanese, Nazi Germany or Cold War communists who, in their time, were all
major threats to our security.
· And senior brass -- both politicians and military leaders -- who talk a good
game of caring for the troops, but rarely put their efforts or money where
their mouths are. Few, for example, have challenged the poor pay and
near-ghetto housing, the silly missions or the kinder, gentler Clinton
administration policies which have wreaked havoc on the vital warrior ethic.
The brass is pulling out their hair on this one. From long experience,
they know that regardless of how high-tech their weapons are, without
skilled and motivated warriors the best weapons in the world are worthless.
Many solutions are being kicked around. Unfortunately, most have to do
with "dumbing down" the Army by further lowering standards instead of smart
moves like immediately fixing the pay, cleaning up the lousy living
conditions and taking the teen-age summer camp out of basic training.
Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera has proposed accepting more high-school
dropouts. Caldera, a West Point graduate, should eyeball the lessons of
Vietnam. During that cruel war, Project 100,000 was implemented to produce
more grunts for the killing fields of Vietnam. It took unfit recruits --
classified as Category IVs -- from the bottom of the barrel and rushed them
to Vietnam. The result was human applesauce. Cat IVs sustained the highest
casualties of any group and caused such massive discipline problems --
fraggings, drug use, racial strife -- that by 1973 the Army had been
virtually brought to its knees.
Ten smart-and-fit soldiers are better than 100 out-of-shape dummies. From
a decade of combat experience as a soldier and war reporter, I'm convinced
that the brighter the soldier, the higher his chances of making it through
the nightmare of combat.
Fort Gordon, Ga., recently put out a memo that said, "Keep in mind that
the objective is to graduate and ship the soldier to the field. …It is not
illegal or immoral to give the soldier the benefit of the doubt (on a PT
test)." Meaning if the soldiers don't pass, look the other way and move 'em
out.
We're back to the quantity over quality system that produced Lt. William
Calley of My Lai shame and filled so many body bags in Vietnam. The Army
should follow the Marines' example and push for higher standards -- not lower.
The Corps continues to make its boot training tougher, and the line to
become a Leatherneck grows longer.
Meanwhile, almost 37-percent of those who do join the Army -- many
receiving
incentives such as college-tuition aid of $50,000, in addition to a $19,000
enlistment bonus per soldier -- become disgruntled and quit or get thrown out
before their first hitch is up.
Young people clearly want a challenge. They want to be molded into
warriors, not treated like spoiled kids.
Won't the Army brass ever learn?
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ARTICLE 2
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*******MAC NOTES******
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Robert L. McMahon, 31 August 1999
I really appreciate all of your feedback on the M16 comments. What we need
to do now is get a serious dialogue going on this Anthrax issue. I know
that SFTT has been writing about it, but with the recent courts martial of
servicemen for refusing to take the battery of shots, we need to have a
serious review of this topic. The fact that BCD's are being awarded I find
really loathsome. Is the military prosecuting service members that come
down with HIV? Are they awarding these personnel BCD's?
We realize that a great deal of information and disinformation has been
spread around throughout the media about these shots. So far what we think
we know is that the current vaccine is a 30-year-old, FDA approved series
of shots for "wool born" anthrax that has been readily taken by
veterinarians. We also think we know that several of the reasons for all the
paranoia is that the current battery is for "air borne" anthrax and non-FDA
approved; during the Gulf War an unapproved additive, an accelerant, called
squalene was added; and that troops who received the "squalene" shots
developed a great many auto-immune related illnesses. We have also heard
reports of National Guard and Reserve units being given outdated vaccine and
service records being changed or altered to deny this.
One of the more controversial gumballs of news regarding this issue is
that the State Department has changed its policy from mandatory to
voluntary. When decisions like that start to be made, it certainly makes
you think about the validity of the arguments for taking the shots.
The benefit of the shots are dubious at best, too, because, after all, the
vaccine is for one strain from 30 years ago. Today the number and strengths
of strains being developed is higher exponentially. Someone correct me if
this is a poor analogy, but how many different strains of flu are there?
Would taking a flu shot from 1969 make any sense today?
There also appears to be some heavy-duty stink coming from the DoD's
contracting with a company called Bioport of Michigan. This is the company
that is supposed to be making the vaccine. So far however, they only exist
on paper. An accompanying article probes this further.
Well, let's get the channels open and the traffic going….
******EVERYBODY MAKE A NOTE******EVERYBODY MAKE A NOTE******
Hack's out on R&R and will not be back OnLine till 6 September at a
minimum.
His new book, "The Price of Honor," a Doubleday and Military Book Club
"Main Book" for Fall 1999, will be out in October. Details regarding Hack's
book-tour schedule -- what cities and when -- will be down the track. I read
the Galleys of the book, which was three years in the writing. Hack has
truly jumped into the ring with several of your other favorite authors:
Clancy, Griffin, Myrer, Webb, et al. It's a great read and a wonderful story.
You'll be able to find out more about the book at Hack's website
http://www.hackworth.com and I have added it also to my "Recommendations
Section" at my website.
So please, during this R&R for Hack, no emails to him. If it's hot
contact me.
Have a good week. Don't bunch up.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.freeyellow.com:8080/members7/rlmcmahon/
====================================================
ARTICLE 3
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DOD'S ANTHRAX VACCINE - THE SIDE EFFECTS ON MY SON
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SUMMARY: A mother writes of the frustration and fear experienced by both
her and her son regarding his refusing to accept the Anthrax vaccine. If
ordered to hit a beach the kid wouldn't refuse, but the kid and his Mom
also know the track record of the U.S. telling troops that a defoliant code
named Agent Orange wouldn't hurt them either. Ooops, sorry about that men.
========================================
BY MARY COOPER, ILION, NEW YORK
"Mom, can you help me?" Those words still ring in my ears since receiving
a telephone call on November 21, 1998, from my youngest son, Adam, a Lance
Corporal in the United States Marine Corps. Adam's unit in Okinawa had been
told they were to receive the anthrax vaccine in three weeks. I explained
to Adam that anthrax is a cow disease, but I would check the Internet and
let him know more. During my search, I met other mothers on the same
mission. We shared findings and determined there was more to this program
than the DOD was telling us.
The FDA cited Michigan Biological Products Institute, the only
manufacturer of anthrax vaccine in the US, for numerous and serious
discrepancies in a 19 page report last year just before it closed for
renovations. Additionally, no conclusive evidence exists to prove the
anthrax vaccine is not a contributing cause of Gulf War Illness. In a
recent press briefing and in Congressional testimony last year, DOD
admitted the use of PB tablets during the Gulf War was a mistake. Soldiers
should have been given informed consent because the drug was previously
FDA-approved in 1945 with no safety studies and only for a few individuals
with specific illnesses.
Similarly, the anthrax vaccine was approved for very limited use against
skin-exposure anthrax in wool mill workers, but now is being used on all
service members for inhaled anthrax, again with no safety studies. After
four heart stoppages, immune system malfunctions, long-term joint pain,
weight loss, constant dizzy spells and some 50 other reactions outside the
manufacturer's list, why hasn't the FDA pulled this vaccine from the
market? The FDA pulled the rotavirus vaccine recently for just 15 cases of
one type of severe, abnormal reaction.
DOD aggressively pursues anthrax vaccine marketing in spite of negative
media, 3 polls showing 80% opposition, and four Congressional hearings by
the House Subcommittee on National Security. DOD half truths, falsehoods
and outright fabrications abound including misrepresentations on the long
term safety of the vaccine, "routine" use by veterinarians, vaccine
effectiveness against all strains, adverse reaction rates, numbers of
refusers, and especially the character of concerned service members who are
seeking review of the program. These developments have this mother
concerned enough to beg for help in halting this program until further
testing and research can be done by independent researchers outside DOD.
On December 2, 1998, my son was ordered to take the anthrax vaccine, but
made the decision to protect his health and future by refusing the order.
His punishment consisted of 45 days restriction, two reductions in rank,
fined a 1/2 months pay for two months, and then fined another $200. My
heart was breaking. My youngest child was so far from home and every
attempt I made to help him against this abuse was unsuccessful. I felt no
young man should have to be forced to face this situation, therefore, I
determined I would exercise my rights as an American citizen and work to
halt this program.
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