SHOT'' BY FRIENDLY FIRE!

"SHOT" BY FRIENDLY FIRE!

Defense Department Forcing Anthrax Vaccines Without Informed Consent, Covering Up Failed Shot Program

by Tom Flocco

Widow’s Only Son Threatened With Jail, Sent to Kuwait Frontlines for Refusing Anthrax Shots / Fighter Pilots and Support Crew Sick from or Refusing Injection Are Ostracized, Demoted, Grounded, And Forced into Retirement by Air Force Generals—While Allies Make Anthrax Shots Optional / Full-Time National Guardsmen Sick from "Vaccine Cocktails" Denied Adequate Medical Care by Pentagon / General Lied Under Oath to Congress About Hundreds of Pilot Resignations.

Based upon their personal research, Kevin and 20 other members of his unit decided to refuse the injection series which they knew had already caused serious side effects among countless American soldiers.

The young men gathered their evidence in folders and presented it to the marine commanding officers. And when the date of administration of their first shot came on December 17, 2001, Kevin and 20 others in the unit refused the vaccination.

They were told by the officers that their research was "irrelevant," followed by threats of special court martial, loss of pay and benefits, jail-time, and a dishonorable discharge forever to be a part of future civilian job applications.

Mrs. Lotz told us that although Kevin was still single, the others were married -- some with dependent children -- and could not withstand the duress from commanders, finally submitting to the untested vaccinations out of care and concern for the stress that loss of income and benefits would place on their families while serving time in jail.

twenty to twenty-five service members reported Gulf War illness-like symptoms, resulting in a 50 % reduction in function. ("Information Paper for America’s Policy Makers," Thomas L. Rempfer and Russ Dingle, West Suffield, CT, 10-26-1997, p. 7.)

According to Lt. Colonel Tom Heemstra, at an October 20, 1995 meeting, a Defense Department slide shows a 1.3 percent systemic-reaction level from the [anthrax] vaccine. The Department would have been horrified at the math if they did it. Based on 2.4 million troops, that would equal 31,200 troops with varying degrees of sickness.

But Heemstra reveals more evidence of a Defense Department military safety cover-up in that on July 17, 1995, about 90 days earlier, the Department’s reaction-rate number was listed as 1.77 percent -- a higher figure before the later slide presentation -- indicating that someone did the math and revised the reaction-rate downward before the next briefing on October 20!

Every veteran who ever stood and endured the pain of a "shot line" knows what a "military vaccine cocktail" is. We all received them during our time in the military. Except most of our congressmen, senators and Administration officials.

But given the above reactions and physical impairments from the current AVIP, no "cocktail" tests including anthrax vaccine have been performed -- i.e. combined effects of receiving multiple vaccines that alter the body’s immune system, according to Colonel Heemstra.

Heemstra asks: "What is the saturation point in the human immune system for multiple types of vaccinations? Is it different for everyone? What are the effects of reaching this saturation level? Considering anthrax alone, what is the maximum dosage over time? How well can the human body handle the blitzkrieg of a dozen or more bio-warfare vaccines? Nobody knows. The Defense Department doesn’t. Neither does the National Institute of Health (NIH), nor the Center for Disease Control (CDC), nor Fort Detrick [where the military stores and researches anthrax strains]...."

"No safety testing; no long-term tests; no Gulf War illness tests; no cocktail tests; no human efficacy tests -- especially against inhalation anthrax; no carcinogenic [cancer] tests; no gender testing; and no fertility tests -- our patience should be tested," says Lt. Col. Heemstra.

What young, unsuspecting United States Marines like Kevin Lotz and highly skilled Air Force pilots like Captain Michelle Piel and Captain Bill Law do not know is that in September, 1998, Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera, on behalf of the Defense Department, granted indemnification to BioPort corporation, to protect the exclusive anthrax vaccine company from legal liability should any of the thousands of vaccine-injured soldiers decide to test the Defense Department’s BioPort Boondoggle in court.

Incredibly, the Indiana Colonel says that his state’s Air Guard and Wisconsin’s have wing commanders who are arbitrarily attempting to speed up the process and actually give the shots earlier than even the Defense Department requires! This, in spite of horrific medical issues:

"In Battle Creek, Michigan, nine of twelve personnel from a small unit [full-time National Guardsmen] preparing to deploy to the Middle East were given the shot and became sick. Three of those were seriously ill. They were harassed and the officers made an example of them. They were called malcontents and poor workers, even though they had excellent work records. Worse, they could not get the medical treatment that they needed and deserved. Their symptoms were similar but very troubling for any fighter pilot: memory loss, chills, fatigue, muscle aches, and dizziness."

"The military was denying the existence of their symptoms and any connection to the shot. If the Defense Department accepted no responsibility or liability for its own full- time employees, serious doubts existed about the health care that would be extended to part-time pilots, who make up as much as two-thirds of a Guard fighter squadron."(page 38)

"Within six weeks of his fifth anthrax shot, Master Sergeant Clarence McNamer of Vacaville, California, experienced severe symptoms. He wrote to the Air Force Times: ‘I began to experience severe insomnia, headaches, twitches in my right arm, involuntary tremors and complete loss of scalp hair, eyebrows, and facial hair...eyesight worsened, hot and cold flashes, exhausted all the time, chest pains, shortness of breath and moments of memory loss, feel and look like I’ve aged 20 years.’ With most people, the vaccine has it worst effects after the third or fourth shots." (page 40)

"Jason Nietupski, an Army Reservist, was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder caused by the first anthrax shot and became markedly worse after the next two. His symptoms ranged from sores all over his body and became markedly worse after the next two. His symptoms ranged from sores all over his mouth to blood clots in his legs which make him unable to stand for long periods. Not only does he suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome but his has been diagnosed with an allergic reaction called Stephen Johnson syndrome. His medical records are six to eight inches thick...."

"Thomas J. Colisimo of Pennsylvania, once an amateur weightlifting competitor, now gets winded pulling his wheelchair out of his pickup truck....His third anthrax shot resulted in nine cysts on his scalp that had to be surgically removed, one the size of a half-dollar. Still, he didn’t associate these symptoms with the shot until his fourth one in September, 1999. From that shot he lost fifty pounds, and began unexpectedly passing out. Three months later, he was suffering from fatigue, tunnel vision, and the first of his blackouts, which now lasted thirty to forty-five minutes. He also suffers from low blood pressure, memory loss, depression, explosive and unexpected loss of bowel control, and cognitive difficulties. Sleep apnea causes him to stop breathing in his sleep up to sixty times per hour."

"[Colismo’s] military doctors said cysts were probably from a milk allergy....they would not allow him to see his own military medical records, saying they were confidential. He was told that his symptoms were not anthrax-related and that he had to take a fifth anthrax shot, which he refused. He was admitted to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC -- but only after congressional involvement got him the medical attention he needed and deserved. He was diagnosed with ‘anthrax intoxication’ caused by the shots, according to hospital records." (page 40)

Heemstra says that most Americans were amazed at the low number of casualties in the Gulf War: "But out of some 700,000 soldiers deployed to the Gulf, 504,047 are now separated from the service as veterans. But 263,000 have sought medical care at the Veterans Administration (VA) and 185,780 (36 %) have filed actual claims. And from 171,878 claims processed thus far, 149,094 (80 %) were approved in part from a war that lasted just over four days.....More than 9,600 Gulf War veterans have died."

GENERAL LIES UNDER OATH TO CONGRESS

During special hearings held by Congressman Dan Burton, Chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, Air Force National Guard Director, General Paul Weaver, testified under oath that only one pilot had refused to take the anthrax shot.

The press -- military and civilian -- had widely covered the nine Connecticut Air National Guard pilots and seven pilots from the Wisconsin Air National Guard who had refused to submit to the anthrax shots. And reports were coming in from all over the country that pilots in the Guard would resign rather than take the shot. But the National Guard Bureau in Washington continued in its deception and intention to mislead Congress about the serious problem affecting combat readiness and national security.

Heemstra says that 20-40 percent of the pilots patrolling the skies over Iraq at any given time are Guard or Reserve pilots, who also fly 50 percent of all military missions in the United States -- maybe more overseas. Moreover, the Government Accounting Office predicted total loss estimates during 2000 at between 1,500 to 2,000 pilots if the anthrax vaccination program continued. There are no indications as to current statistics; however, media reports have been revealing a strange problem in filling military pilot slots over the past number of months.

Seventy-four officers from twenty-five states filed a Inspector General (IG) complaint with the Defense Department on January 12, 2000 that General Weaver had issued false testimony before Congress, but a March, 2001 investigation exonerated Weaver for "lack of straightforwardness and inaccurate conclusions." ("General’s Anthrax Vaccine Testimony ‘Inconsistent With Honesty’ Says Inspector," Stars and Stripes, by Dave Eberhart, 5-11-2001)

Congressman Burton was asked at House Government Reform Hearing what the punishment for lying under oath to Congress was, and the hearing room became quiet. Heemstra described it this way: "A rush of embarrassment swept through the silent room in the next few minutes, followed by the rancid taste of disgust from what this [AVIP] program had done for the integrity of our military leadership." Is Congress listening?

On September 20, 1996, according to Heemstra‘s book (page124), an Investigational New Drug application with the FDA is still pending more than five years later. "Three reasons for the change in indication include: inhalation anthrax, change of dosage, and a change in route of administration."

At first, Heemstra says, the Army’s medical leadership agreed that the changes were needed to allow for informed consent [that alone would indicate that the Army was admitting that AVIP was investigational, which would require by law, informed consent], but the Army reversed its positions within a month of Secretary of Defense William Cohen’s confirmation.

The Defense Department pressured the FDA to give permission to begin using the vaccine for inhalation [battlefield] anthrax with a new license and without completing scientific investigation proposed by the pending 1996 IND application. Under 21 U.S.C. P321, the vaccine is properly considered an Investigational New Drug (IND), because it is being used in a way inconsistent with the original licensing. Thus, informed consent by all military personnel is required by law.

"JUSTICE WILL NOT BE SERVED UNTIL THOSE WHO ARE UNAFFECTED ARE AS OUTRAGED AS THOSE WHO ARE AFFECTED."
(Benjamin Franklin)

Lt. Colonel Tom Heemstra’s book, Anthrax: A Deadly Shot in the Dark, may save the life of someone’s military family member; and while we have read the incredibly-written and sourced book cover to cover, the impact that Heemstra’s narrative is going to have on all soldiers and veterans is incalculable. And it’s going to cause a stir in Washington, DC.

Lt. Tom Heemstra receiving his diploma from the United States Air Force Academy

Tom Heemstra was an Air Force Academy graduate, a F-16 fighter pilot, and squadron commander who was forced to give up his hard-earned leadership position, flying status, and military career for refusing the Defense Department’s anthrax shot. He was forced to retire from the Air Force in retaliation for meeting with and then testifying before Congress twice about the dangers of anthrax and why hundreds of pilots were resigning rather than submitting to what they knew to be a dangerous vaccination.

The country owes a debt of gratitude to Lt. Colonel Heemstra. And we find it strange that the United States Congress failed to force the issue with the Defense Department and stand up for someone who was coerced by his commanding officers [and likely the Pentagon] to relinquish his military career for supporting the safety of his fellow pilots and ground-support personnel.

Heemstra’s book is an incredible read. And it will disturb all thinking military personnel -- but also many concerned and patriotic citizens. Tom Heemstra’s words honor the lives and courage of two military women (one of whom paid the ultimate price for submitting to the anthrax vaccine), and their stories will certainly cause thinking soldiers to consider the possible costs:

"Bioport did not report to the FDA or investigate the death at Fort Riley, Kansas, of a servicewoman who received her sixth shot. On October 19, 2001, a federal private multimillion-dollar lawsuit was filed in federal district court on behalf of one deceased and one injured soldier. The legal complaint alleges that the efficacy of the vaccine in a mass immunization program for the military was never sufficiently tested, nor were adverse reactions by soldiers accurately or adequately assessed."

"Plaintiffs are the heirs of Army Specialist Sandra Larson of Spokane, Washington, who died on June 14, 2000, and Ronda Wilson of Savannah, Georgia, a former soldier whose chronic ill health allegedly resulted from the vaccine. Larson received six injections that almost immediately resulted in adverse reactions -- exhaustion, fatigue, skin rashes, pain and numbness in her hands. When the symptoms remained , she was admitted to a hospital, lapsed into a coma, and died twelve weeks after receiving her sixth [anthrax] shot."

"Larson was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a bone-marrow autoimmune disease and a serious and rare blood disease , as well as invasive aspergillosis, an infection of tissues or mucous membranes marked by inflammatory lesions where the body’s defenses go into overdrive and mistakenly destroy its own tissues. Previously a healthy woman, she quickly went to having no bone marrow, no platelets, and an extremely low count of red and white blood cells."

"While at the Kansas City Medical Center, Larson was convinced that her illness was caused by the vaccine. She began doing her own research. 'Be sure you finish this research for me, because I know it’s the vaccine,’ she said to her sister, Nancy Rugo, also of Spokane. Since her sister’s death, Rugo continues to fight for others’ safety."

"Ronda Wilson, a helicopter pilot, rapidly lost one-third of her body weight and was unable to eat solid foods. She has been diagnosed with thirty-one different ailments, and her doctors no longer know how to treat her. She weighs in at a mere eighty-one pounds, and she has lost the flying career she loved."

While there are scores of additional stories in Anthrax: A Deadly Shot in the Dark, American citizens must become as outraged over what the Defense Department is perpetrating against its military. But there is more. Heemstra’s book intelligently and coherently validates and confirms the reasons that young Lance Corporal Lotz refused the anthrax shots a few weeks ago. The information alone will provide the ammunition to question AVIP's validity and safety.

It’s illegal in Canada. Optional in Great Britain. And Australian Able Seaman Simon Bond was just sent home last week from his warship, the Kanimbla, for refusing the anthrax shot:

"All my mates are still on board the Kanimbla and they’ve still got concerns about this [anthrax shot] and there’s nothing they can do about it," adding that "if you walked into a doctor in ‘civvy’ street and he gave you this information, there is no way in hell you’d let him jab it into you." (Sidney Morning Herald, 2-12-2003 and 2-13-2003)

Even U.S. Navy sailors on board ship in the Persian Gulf have the option of not taking the shots, according to our friend with two brothers on separate American ships in the Gulf.

The evidence is not good. But why isn’t Congress speaking up to protect the interests of the warriors who protect everyone’s skins—their own included? Only a handful of U.S. Congressmen and Senators have ever even worn a military uniform. Is that the problem?

Given the potential and proven medical difficulties that will begin to affect our highly-trained, intelligent, and heroic soldiers, airmen, and sailors as they are forced to submit over time to the Pentagon’s seemingly retaliatory AVIP disaster, military and civilian vaccine policy may just render the country even more vulnerable to attack than it already is -- given our wide open and undefended borders.

Hopefully, our military and their families will heed Dover Air Force Base Wing Commander Felix Grieder’s call for a "safety time-out" so that America can put a halt to more soldiers being treated like guinea pigs "shot" by friendly fire. But it will take some indignant outrage by the citizenry to pull it off.

The train has already left the station.

Marie Gunther and Michael Thomas contributed additional research to this story.