(Newswire.net — November 7, 2014) — The US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered The Pentagon to disclose internal records which reveal that more than 600 US troops reported exposure to chemical weapons while serving in Iraq.
US Army Spokesman told The New York Times on Thursday that 629 people answered “yes” to the question if they were exposed to a chemical weapon. They even identified the chemical agent they were exposed to. The records, however, remained classified and soldiers shipped home without medical attention.
“Each person would have received a medical consultation at the end of their combat tour,” said the Army Spokesman for NYT. The military, however, failed to take any further steps with the soldiers who reported exposure to chemical weapons for more than a decade, NYT reported.
The Pentagon should compile data and monitor veterans with medical complaints or circulate warnings to other soldiers and the Department of Veterans Affairs, but they didn’t. Further more, the soldiers wounded in action were not awarded Purple Hearts – one of the oldest and most sacred military awards.
The Pentagon, however, told The New York Times it has asked the Public Health Command to identify all veterans who reported a possible chemical exposure. Public Health Command will then gather their medical records, conduct interviews and carry out possible medical examinations.
“It’s too little, too late,” said Jordan Zoeller, a former Army sergeant whose platoon was exposed to sulfur mustard agent in 2008. After developing a series of health problems, including asthma and psoriasis, Mr. Zoeller was medically retired.
Mr. Zoeller said to the newspaper that his breathing trouble began within weeks after the exposure; however, he is not sure if it was mustard agent because the Army “denied that he had been exposed and did not examine his claims.”
The US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the internal review after New York Times revealed last month the story of 17 soldiers who were in contact to sarin and mustard nerve toxins, while handling abandoned and re-used munitions during the Iraq war. After story went public, another eight soldiers came forward with their stories about chemical weapon exposure. Disclosed documents from the Pentagon revealed total 629 cases of chemical weapons exposure, left aside as a classified documents.
Military officials said the information was kept classified so the enemy would not learn the whereabouts of Iraq’s old munitions.