I write about some of the most vulnerable of society’s members: our men and women in uniform. Right now, many are protecting our freedom in austere conditions and dangerous places around the globe. Some may have given their lives today, in support of that freedom to do exactly what this book aims to do— to protect the principles we hold dear.
Unfortunately, these brave defenders of our freedom are defenseless against the mandatory use of dangerous vaccines, such as the anthrax vaccine. For the past sixty-four years, the United States military and other government agencies have used our servicemen and women as test subjects, often in secret and without informed consent. Moreover, there is no end in sight; there are additional biodefense vaccines waiting in a pipeline to be tested on our soldiers.
Sadly, this is not a conspiracy theory. This is documented fact. In December 1994, right after the first Gulf War, the United States Senate released a report titled, “Is Military Research Hazardous to a Veteran’s Health?”1 This report outlined the unethical use of servicemen and women as test subjects. The report revealed that the Pentagon had quietly used soldiers in clinical trials and did not record the resulting information in their medical records, preventing the soldiers from receiving appropriate follow-up care. Many were simply left to die.
Witness the well-illustrated connection between Gulf War Illness and the anthrax vaccine. “Gulf War Illness” encompasses a wide range of acute and chronic health disorders, including chronic fatigue, severe joint pain, neurological problems, memory loss, and unexplained persistent rashes and sores, to name a few. Many illnesses are autoimmune in nature, meaning that a person’s own immune system has turned on certain tissues and organs in his or her own body. Roughly one in four of the 697,000 veterans—my fellow servicemen and women, who served in the first Gulf War—are afflicted with Gulf War Illness. Multiple studies and governmental reports demonstrate a higher rate of Gulf War Illness in vaccinated veterans.2 At the time that those fighting in the first Gulf War were vaccinated, the Department of Defense ordered medical staff not to annotate or identify the anthrax vaccine and the botulinum toxoid vaccine in soldiers’ vaccination records. Instead, they mysteriously recorded these vaccines as “Vac A” or “Vac B.” 3
While investigating potential causes of Gulf War Illness, Vancouver neuroscientist Chris Shaw and his research team were shocked to find that the aluminum hydroxide adjuvant in the military’s anthrax vaccines caused massive brain-cell death in laboratory mice.4 Vaccine makers now routinely use this adjuvant in childhood vaccines.
There is no doubt that the first Gulf War was a toxic war, and that there may be other contributory factors to Gulf War Illness besides the anthrax vaccine. One of the most damning pieces of evidence implicating the anthrax vaccine, however, is that the coalition forces from other countries that fought alongside United States troops in the Gulf War, but did not receive the anthrax vaccine, have relatively few incidents of Gulf War Illness.5 Meanwhile, other coalition troops, such as British forces, who were also vaccinated against anthrax, do have significant incidence of Gulf War Illness, like their U.S. counterparts. The French report a small number of cases, which are primarily associated with the French soldiers who served with U.S. soldiers, and were given the anthrax vaccine.
General Douglas MacArthur outlined the damage done to a fighting force when such treatment of soldiers is undertaken:
The unfailing formula for production of morale is patriotism, self-respect, discipline, and self-confidence within a military unit, joined with fair treatment and merited appreciation from without. It cannot be produced by pampering or coddling an army, and is not necessarily destroyed by hardship, danger, or even calamity . . . It will quickly wither and die if soldiers come to believe themselves the victims of indifference or injustice on the part of their government, or ignorance, personal ambition, or ineptitude on the part of their leaders.
—General Douglas MacArthur, 1933 Annual Report of the Chief of Staff, U.S.
Army http://www.lanl.gov/external/news/reflections/0900.pdf (pg 2 of 12)
Our soldiers’ calls for help have not only been ignored, but their own government, the one they swore to serve and protect, has tried to discredit them. For many years, veterans of the first Gulf War and their families have begged for help and answers. Meanwhile, in a misguided effort to mislead Congress, the press, and the American people about the extent of the damage done to personnel during the conflict, the Pentagon launched Operation Bronze Anvil,6 a propaganda program designed to deflect any inquiries into the Gulf War Illness-anthrax vaccine connection and to harm the reputations of those who spoke out about the connection. This effort has branded honorable U.S. servicemen and women complaining of anthrax vaccine reactions as malingerers, liars, whiners, and malcontents.
This misuse of our military personnel did not stop after the Gulf War or after the Senate’s 1994 report. Three key areas continue to provide fertile ground for the abuse of our servicemen and women as guinea pigs by the pharmaceutical industry in cooperation with senior military leaders.
First, the military may order soldiers to take medicines or receive vaccines against their will. If they refuse medications, these proud soldiers risk incarceration, forfeiture of pay, and a dishonorable or bad conduct discharge, which would lump them together with murderers and rapists.
Second, the military may waive informed consent for the use of untested or unstudied medications and vaccines in two possible ways: when there is a Presidential Executive Order7 or if the defense or intelligence establishment deems that there is a credible military threat.
Third, servicemen and women are barred from suing the federal government under an archaic and arguably unconstitutional law from 1950 called the Feres Doctrine.8
Sadly, recent history has taught us nothing, and our soldiers continue to pay with their lives and their health.
Despite mounting concerns over anthrax vaccination as a contributing factor to Gulf War Illness, the U.S. military launched a mandatory anthrax immunization program in the late 1990s. I was at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware at the time and I witnessed a hotbed of illnesses and controversy surrounding the anthrax vaccine. Among the documented illnesses witnessed, many were autoimmune in nature, such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. I have personally and sadly witnessed both of these conditions in relation to the anthrax vaccine. After receiving pressure from the Government Accountability Office (the watchdog arm of Congress), the maker of the vaccine, Bioport, was forced to list autoimmune diseases and all the symptoms of Gulf War Illness on the anthrax vaccine product insert.9
In May 1999, the USAF Surgeon General’s Office arranged a “town hall meeting” at Dover Air Force Base to assuage the concerns of many who had become ill following anthrax vaccination. In attendance were the chief public health officer of Air Mobility Command, Colonel Denise VanHook; the USAF Surgeon General of the USAF Anthrax Vaccine Action, Officer Lieutenant Colonel Jack Davis; the medical head of Dover’s anthrax program, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Fadel-Luna; Wing Commander, Colonel Felix Grieder; and the men, women, and families of the 9th Airlift Squadron. It was during this meeting that Davis let the proverbial “cat out of the bag.” While fielding a question from a military member in the audience, Davis stated that the military did indeed possess an experimental anthrax vaccine that contained an illegal adjuvant called squalene, and flippantly stated that no one at Dover received that vaccine. Another assertion came from my former squadron commander, Dr. and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Fadel-Luna. When addressing the so-called rumor that there was an increase of people with an autoimmune illness at Dover, Luna stated the following:
That is incorrect. Autoimmune disease is something we do not typically see in flyers. If we do see it, it sends up a flag. In my nine-year career, I have seen five or less. We are simply not seeing it. We are looking at other clinics in the Medical Group to see if they are seeing an increase. And, basically they have not seen a problem.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. At that time, we had over fifteen cases of autoimmunity and over thirty cases of illnesses exactly the same as the ones the veterans had reported as associated with Gulf War Illness. In fact, many of our patients were sent for evaluation at Walter Reed’s Gulf War Illness clinic.
In response to these town hall meetings, Dover AFB Wing Commander Colonel Felix Grieder temporarily halted anthrax injections on his base because of concerns about safety and after seeing his troops that had become severely ill after receiving the anthrax vaccine. It cost him his career. Greider has since alleged that his troops were used as guinea pigs in undisclosed military medical experiments.10
He was right to be concerned. At Dover, the FDA tested anthrax vaccine lots in 2000 and discovered the presence of an experimental adjuvant and immune “turbo booster” called squalene or MF59—an adjuvant with potentially devastating health consequences. I want you to burn these two letters and two numbers into your consciousness so you will remember them because squalene will next be used in civilian vaccines.11 I strongly urge you to read award-winning journalist Gary Matsumoto’s powerful exposé, Vaccine A, which is an outstanding example of the dying field of authentic investigative journalism.12 The book blows open the military’s shameful history of secret medical experiments on its soldiers and especially its illicit use of an unlicensed additive in the anthrax vaccine that is proven to cause fatal autoimmune diseases in animals.
I have personally borne witness to the devastating effects of the anthrax vaccine. I will forever have etched upon my memory the vision of a young enlisted woman screaming and crying as she was forcibly held down while the needle delivering the anthrax vaccine was pushed into her body.13 I will never forget the sad day when my dear friend, Technical Sergeant Clarence Glover, died after anthrax vaccination.14 My memory holds the stories of those whose skin literally burned off due to anthrax vaccine-induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome15 and of the infants under my care who were born with severe birth defects after their pregnant mothers were vaccinated with the anthrax vaccine.
Corruption within government for the profit of private industry is nothing new. Go behind the curtain of the anthrax vaccination program and you will see bailouts, lucrative financial contracts,16 and a revolving door of crony capitalism with strong ties to the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services. Furthermore, all studies that tout the safety of the anthrax vaccine, reported by so-called independent experts, were anything but independent. The studies were funded by the Department of Defense.
I swore an oath to defend this nation against all enemies, foreign or domestic. However, I most certainly did not swear allegiance to defense contractors and the hard-hitting lobbyists of the pharmaceutical industry. Forensic evidence now exists to launch a full investigation into the use of experimental adjuvants as a controlled experiment on our troops from the first Gulf War to the present. The potential implications of such an investigation are shattering.
We can no longer tolerate the cruel and dishonorable use as guinea pigs of America’s sons and daughters who have sacrificed their lives to fight for our freedoms. We must loudly protest when the international legal standard of informed consent does not apply to those who courageously defend our country. We must end the current mandatory anthrax vaccination program and, in its place, launch a full-scale investigation.
I truly mean it each time I say, “God bless America.” I have fought to protect our freedoms and rights. I believe that vaccination choice is a fundamental human right for all Americans, including our brave military personnel.
Please read the appendix to this chapter for Captain Rovet’s March 25, 2005, letter of complaint to the Department of Defense Inspector General, and excerpts from his report to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Editor’s Note: The appendix to this chapter contains excerpts from Captain Rovet’s report on anthrax vaccine injury to his superiors while serving at Dover Air Force Base.
AFTERWORD BY COLONEL FELIX M. GRIEDER (USAF, RET)
In April 1999, late in my two-year tenure as Wing Commander at Dover Air Force Base (AFB), I became aware that several members of my command were experiencing adverse reactions shortly after receiving the anthrax vaccination. At that time, Dover was one of the first military bases to receive and to administer the anthrax vaccine (a protocol of six shots), a vaccine designed to protect our military against what was perceived to be Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD), including biological weapons such as anthrax.
At Dover, we took pride in leading the way, whether it be with our strategically important airlift mission or, in this case, protecting our troops from the potential WMD threat. My strong support for the administration of the anthrax vaccine changed when I became aware of the adverse effects that a small, yet significant, number of my airmen were experiencing.
I called for an informational briefing. On May 5, 1999, when the Pentagon’s supposed “expert” on the anthrax program stated in response to concerns being articulated in the briefing room, “I don’t know and I don’t care,” I immediately ordered a “time-out” and suspended the vaccination program at Dover AFB.
I was simply doing my job as a commander. All military members take an oath to protect and defend our great country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. In this case, I clearly had the responsibility to protect my troops who were being put in harm’s way by internal forces.
Six days later, after Lt. Gen. Charles Roadman, Air Force surgeon general, gave us his word “as an officer” during a public briefing session that squalene, an experimental vaccine adjuvant, was never used in the anthrax vaccine, I reinstated the vaccination program.
Subsequently, in September 2000, the FDA documented that squalene had been found in six lots of anthrax vaccine. Of these, four of them—FAV 08, FAV 030, FAV 043, and FAV 047— had been sent to Dover.17 Not only did these lots contain squalene, but they contained dosages of squalene which approximately doubled in value (from 10 to 20, to 40, to 80), similar to a dose-range study. Separately, Tulane Medical School confirmed that three additional lots of anthrax vaccine were found to induce anti-squalene antibodies, of which two—FAV 041 and FAV 070—were also sent to Dover.18 It is my belief that the Department of Defense, in its zeal to establish an effective and more immediate anti-anthrax vaccine, experimented with the untested adjuvant squalene at a few military installations, including Dover AFB.
Those responsible for this decision need to be held accountable. There are parallels in this unfortunate decision to what happened at the prison in Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
A nation and an organization should never forego its core values and standards. The United States stands for freedom, human rights, and the fair and humane treatment of all. When we set aside our values, even temporarily, for what may appear to be a justifiable reason, we lose our way as a nation and as a superpower.