By Nick LaFountain • Attorney and Marine Corps veteran
So many brave men and women have dedicated themselves to our country, fighting to protect and stand by their nation. Now they need us to fight for them.
Generations of American military veterans and their families may have unknowingly faced a risk as great as any foreign enemy, right here at home.
If they were stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, they may have been exposed to contaminated drinking water. As a Marine Corps combat veteran, I am horrified by this, but proud to stand by those who may have been affected.
For more than three decades, between 1953 and 1987, leaders at the United States Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune were aware that the drinking water was contaminated with dangerous levels of toxic chemicals, yet failed to report it.
Poisonous chemicals were in the water that military personnel and their families drank, bathed in and used to wash their clothes and dishes, exposing them every day they were stationed at Camp Lejeune.
The chemicals were detected in the water supply at 3,400 times more than safe levels. More than 70 toxins have been identified, including perchloroethylene, used in dry cleaning, and trichloroethylene, used as a degreaser.
Thousands of veterans and their family members are reporting conditions such as leukemia, breast cancer, infertility, miscarriage and others, all of which have been associated with those toxins.
The exposure has lasting effects, even through generations, as some victims were exposed to the harsh chemicals while still in utero.
These Marines and their families have legal rights and can pursue legal remedies for the harm done to them without their knowledge or consent.
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 (HR 6482) will establish a cause of action for those harmed by exposure to toxic water at Camp Lejeune.
But to do so, people affected must come forward. While these potential claimants face horrific and life-altering diagnoses, many veterans and their families may still be hesitant to file a claim against an institution they so dearly love.
Many veterans never seek benefits to which they may be entitled out of concern that they will be denied for one reason or another. Others may not pursue justice because they believe they aren’t as injured or sick as fellow veterans.
Despite these thoughts, it’s vital that those affected at Camp Lejeune understand that filing a claim can help them secure well-deserved, potentially healing medical care through the VA.
I understand what it’s like to sustain an injury during service. While I was deployed to the Middle East during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, I suffered an injury that eventually forced me into medical retirement from service.
During my medical evaluation board process, I witnessed an attorney with the Judge Advocate General’s Corps advocate for my disability benefits. It was at this moment that I knew I had to pursue a career as an attorney so I could help those who also were injured.
It’s OK to love the Marine Corps and the nation we so proudly served, yet still wish to pursue our legal remedies.
Our veterans and their families deserve the right to seek justice for a wrong done to them years, or even decades, ago.
Nick LaFountain is an attorney with Farah & Farah.
