Jon Stewart Says Military Burn Pits Kill Veterans. What Are They?
stewart #stewart
Photo credit: Paul Morigi / Contributor – Getty Images
From Popular Mechanics
Jon Stewart is back in the public eye advocating for recognition for veterans with lung disease.
Fire pits are a common way to reduce waste, but military burn pits include jet fuel, chemicals, and toxic heavy metals.
People with lung disease are also at an increased risk of severe forms of COVID-19.
Ex-Daily Show host Jon Stewart is a vocal advocate for veterans, especially 9/11 first responders. This week, he asked for congressional aid for veterans who have symptoms associated with living next to military burn pits.
➡ Get the best military content on the internet , any time you want it.
Approximately 3.5 million veterans have been exposed to burn pits that spew toxic fumes and carcinogens into the air, according to a new bill sponsored by Senator Kristen Gillibrand and Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D., and endorsed by Stewart. The legislation “would streamline the process for veterans to obtain [Veterans Affairs (VA)] benefits for illness” due to burn pit exposure, per a release.
Burn pits are a common way to dispose of waste by just incinerating it on site to reduce volume. But because of the military’s array of tools and technology, the items being burned include a lot of chemicals and materials that release toxic fumes. They’re even burned by adding jet fuel as a propellant.
Photo credit: Andrew Burton – Getty Images
Military burn pits were the go-to method of waste disposal for many sites in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Burn pits burned many things including: chemicals, paint, medical and human waste, metal cans, unexploded ordnance, petroleum products, plastics, rubber, wood, and garbage,” Military.com explains.
The VA is limited legally until there is a proven scientific link via research studies, but still says “toxins in burn pit smoke can affect you all over including the skin, eyes, respiratory system, cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, and internal organs.”
📥 Get Pop Mech in your inbox.
The burn pit saga goes back decades to at least Operation Desert Storm, and veterans affected by burn pit smoke have fought to be recognized, the way veterans affected by Agent Orange and even mustard gas fought for official recognition of their illnesses. Congress has previously passed legislation to research the impact of burn pits, but now these veterans’ fears are intensified because of COVID-19.
Story continues
The new bill would “establish a list of new diseases as service-connected for which veterans can receive VA benefits as a result of toxic exposure while serving in the military,” amending 38 U.S.C. (the section that helped Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange) to add new diseases, including asthma, cancer, and chronic bronchitis, among many others.
Why is this so important? Well, COVID-19 affects the lungs very profoundly, causing respiratory symptoms not just during the symptomatic phase of infection (and leading to ventilator support or even death), but in lingering lowered lung function in some patients. People with chronic lung disease or asthma are already more likely to experience severe illness from the virus. Burn pit exposure, veterans say, causes a form of chronic lung disease.
National Guard veteran Cindy Aman told an NBC affiliate in Philadelphia that what doctors have found in her lungs is “brown gunk.” “They don’t even know what it is,” Aman said. “And they also found all kinds of dust and metal particles like titanium, lead, iron. You name it, it’s embedded in my lung cells,” she told NBC10.
That means that when news began to repeat findings about ventilators and the respiratory effects of COVID-19, Aman knew she was in trouble. “I at first kind of panicked because I was like, ‘OK, I already have lung disease,’” she told NBC10.
Fight COVID-19 With These Face Masks
The same NBC10 report says 80 percent of veterans who try to apply for VA benefits, for example, to cover their burn pit lung disease have been denied on the basis that the link has not yet been recognized. This is why legislative acts demanding research and documentation are so important, and this is likely why Stewart is getting involved.
“We always have money for war,” Stewart told press outside the U.S. Capitol. “We never have money for the war fighter.”
You Might Also Like