Repatriate Intrepid Sailors Remains Now

In 1804 the USS Intrepid was on a mission to destroy pirate ships in the harbor at Tripoli that
were attacking U.S. merchant ships.

During the attempt all 13 men aboard the Intrepid were killed, and their bodies washed ashore.

They are buried in Tripoli's Protestant Cemetery, which Chief of Naval Operations
Adm. Jonathan Greenert considers their final resting place. A navy spokesman, Lt. Cmdr.
Alana Garas said "Navy custom and tradition is to honor the final resting place of those
lost in ships and downed aircraft."

 An amendment to the NDAA 2012  introduced in the Senate by Sen. Dean Heller failed final
passage. Heller was disappointed that his amendment  failed but that he "is committed to
making sure these fallen sailors receive the recognition they deserve and (I) will continue
working with my colleagues until this legislation becomes law."


Sources say that Sen. John McCain the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee blocked the amendment from becoming a part of final bill.

McCain's office would only state that he is "still reviewing" the issue, but a source in his
office noted the Navy's objections.

So it appears that the Navy and Sen. McCain do not believe in the saying "No Man
Left Behind." Which is a long standing tradition in the US Military.

The head of the nonprofit Intrepid Project is leading the attempt to repatriate the remains,
Michael Caputo said "That the cemetery is not well cared for, is in a country that has
been hostile to the United States for decades, and has graves that are dissipated and in some
cases unmarked." He went on to say "the grave sites are squalid, unkempt and at risk
of falling into the sea."

Congressman Mike Rogers R-Mich., who in a 2004 visit to Tripoli learned of the remains
of the Intrepid sailors introduced a bill this year to repatriate the remains.

Rogers bill passed the House said that even though the Navy wants to leave the remains where
they are, and considers the graves in Tripoli a final resting place, "our country should never
leave a fellow American in uniform behind."

The amendment is now out of the Senate version of the NDAA, but it is still in the House version.
The Senate voted final passage of S.1836 the National Defense Authorization Act FY2012
last week.

So now the House/Senate conference committee members will have to debate this issue and
hopefully reach a conclusion that the remains of these brave men must be repatriated.

The US Navy should reconsider their stand, and bring home the remains to give
closure to the families of those who are left behind.

Contact your elected officials tell them that more than 200 years is much too long. Bring home
our heroes.

Jerald Terwilliger
National Chairman
American Cold War Veterans
"We Remember"



---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996

Asbestos and the U.S. Navy

This is a very important piece of information for anyone who

served in the U.S. Navy.

Please keep this, copy and take to your doctor to discuss your

possible exposure to asbestos, possible health problems, and

ask to be checked for Mesothelioma. 

Asbestos and the United States Navy

The recent post on this site discussing Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the development of Chinese military capacity has a couple of telling remarks in it that apply to military spending habits. He mentions the “cyclical view” of American military decline that has occurred among foreign nations many times, notably in the late 1970s. It is fair to say that the view of American military readiness is related to American military spending not only on new weapons systems, but on the maintenance of existing equipment and the numbers of men and women on active duty.

After each of the two World Wars U.S. military spending was reduced dramatically and U.S. interest in maintaining a large combat-ready military dropped to peacetime expectations. Korea and Vietnam changed that pattern in the military for the length of those conflicts, but military spending during non-combat years has always been focused on new systems and not upkeep. The result over the decades has been the accumulation of outmoded bases, facilities and in the case of the Navy, outmoded ships.

Asbestos and the World War II Navy

It is well known by now that asbestos exposure can cause cancer and the development of asbestosis, a progressive and destructive respiratory disease. It is also known that thirty percent of all asbestos related mesothelioma cancer victims have been veterans. And the majority of the veterans who were at risk for asbestos cancer are Navy veterans. Sailors and shipyard workers who served on and worked on World War II Navy vessels were exposed to asbestos in engine rooms, alongside boilers, from the miles of pipe on the ships, and from the insulation and fire protection materials used in ship construction.

Every ship commissioned by the Navy from 1930 to about 1970 was fitted with tons of asbestos insulation, the perfect material for Navy use because of its insulation and fire resistant properties. Sailors inhaled asbestos fibers from the insulation that covered boilers and pipes and that was used for gaskets and packing in pumps and valves. Thousands of them got sick.

Asbestos and the Cold War Navy

After it became clear that asbestos is a carcinogen the Navy was fairly proactive in cleaning up its ships and eliminating asbestos products from newly built craft as well as in existing Navy bases and shipyards. But cleaning up all that asbestos in all those ships and locations took years and for many Cold War veterans asbestos exposure was a common occurrence. The USS Enterprise still has an asbestos abatement team on board, an example of the health risks associated with vessels of that era.

Asbestos exposure doesn’t take its toll for decades after it occurs. The latency period for mesothelioma is forty years or more. For asbestosis it can be twenty to thirty years. So Cold War vets who were unknowingly exposed to asbestos during active duty may just now be getting sick. After decades of denial the VA has finally recognized asbestos related disease as possibly related to active duty. It’s not easy to prove: the military insists that you be able to demonstrate that asbestos exposure occurred during active duty.

That’s not easy after a lifetime of post-service jobs and careers. But if you are a Navy veteran suffering from an asbestos related disease, don’t think that because your service came after 1945 the asbestos threat in active Navy duty is unlikely. Asbestos use was so common and so pervasive that exposure in all military branches continued through the twentieth century.

Source:

Bob Hartzell is a freelance writer for AsbestosNews.com, a resource on health risks and hazards commonly linked to dangerous levels of asbestos exposure, such as asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Jerald Terwilliger

National Chairman

American Cold War Veterans

"We Remember"

---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996