By Ron Leir
A lot of people have been surprised by “the Donald” phenomenon and the widespread attraction Bernie Sanders has drawn.
They shouldn’t be.
Too many folks have grown tired of hearing the same old drivel from both the Democratic and Republic establishment so it’s no wonder they’ve attached themselves to the new kids on the block.
But people are turning to these upstarts for another reason: they simply don’t trust established Beltway politicians because the pols only pay lip service to deep-seated problems in our Republic.
I grew up in the ‘60s when the voices of the noisy minority were heard and while they may have been extreme and radical, they were at least offering straight talk about issues dividing our country.
Some of those issues, unfortunately, still resonate today, such as transparency by our government.
Take the case, related in the June 20 and 21 issues of The New York Times, of the 1966 crash of one of our B-52 bombers with a refueling jet over the Spanish coast, killing seven of the crew in the two planes and spilling out four hydrogen bombs onto the village of Palomares.
No nuclear explosions occurred but the impact shattered two of the bombs, spreading radioactive material over the farming village.
The American government sent U.S. Air Force troops to clear away what turned out to be only some of the radioactive debris but, in the process, no safety precautions were taken for the troops as they cleaned up the mess.
While there is no evidence to indicate that the Spanish residents of Palomares showed signs of contamination, 21 of the 40 U.S. military personnel assigned to the cleanup have been diagnosed with cancer and of the 40, nine have died, according to the Times.
When those afflicted with cancer applied for medical benefits, they were rejected by the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs because the Air Force has insisted that there was no health risk in those exposed to the plutonium dust spread through the cleanup area.
No attempt was made to relocate the residents of Palomares.
The Times reported that a similar crash episode that happened in Thule, Greenland, in 1968, with U.S. Air Force personnel assigned nuclear cleanup duties there had similar results with the Defense Department refusing to admit any culpability. A string of cancer deaths has resulted, according to the Times.
Vietnam War veterans who returned to the U.S. as Agent Orange casualties were also denied benefits by the same government that sent them to die in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
In the run-up to the Iraqi War, President George W. Bush cited intelligence reports about weapons of mass destruction being stockpiled in that country as justification for our invasion of that country although U.N. inspectors and other experts disputed that claim at the time.
••
Even stateside, it seems, American veterans are not getting a straight deal for service to their country.
As noted recently by Patch.com, a number of Jersey Shore communities are ignoring newly passed legislation that encourages municipalities to permit active-duty military, veterans and their spouses and children over age 12 free access to beaches.
According to that online source, those vets will have to pay if they want to hit the beaches in the following towns: Monmouth Beach, Deal, Allenhurst, Loch Arbour, Ocean Grove, Avon-by-the-Sea, Seaside Park, Barnegat Light, Ship Bottom, Surf City, Beach Haven, Brigantine, Ventnor City, Margate and Longport.
Lavallette is offering a $14 season beach fee to active duty military personnel and to disabled veterans.
A New Jersey Navy veteran merits our attention for promoting a vital cause.
As reported by The Star-Ledger, on June 2, Michael Dowens, a Holmdel police officer, undertook a non-stop 200-mile trek, walking from the N.J. Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Holmdel to the national Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., as a fundraiser for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
Dowens, carrying 70 pounds of body armor and a pack, was expected to take 70 hours to achieve his goal. A buddy of Dowens was accompanying him on the journey.
Dowens said the money raised through his GoFundMe page will go for PTSD treatment for a veteran at The Refuge treatment center in Florida. He’s hoping that the effort will help launch a nonprofit to help vets with PTSD get help, much as he did after his discharge from the Navy after seeing service in the Middle East, Liberia and Somalia from 2002 to 2006.
