Dear Editor,
How ironic that at a time when politicians in Washington are stepping over each other to show how much they support the troops, they are preparing to pass an asbestos bailout bill that would hurt veterans poisoned or killed by asbestos.
Asbestos was used extensively on Navy ships during World War 11. Today, thousands of American Navy veterans and shipyard workers suffer from asbestos related diseases due to heavy exposure.
But the asbestos trust fund considered by Congress excludes many of them from ever receiving compensation for their medical bills or ever being able to hold the asbestos manufacturers accountable when they knowingly manufactured a product they knew was killing veterans and civilians alike.
My father was stationed aboard the U.S.S. Phoenix (CL-46) during World War II.
He served in the following nine operations in which Battle Stars were awarded the Phoenix: Pearl Harbor, Bismarck Archipelago, Eastern New Guinea, Hollandia, Leyte, Luzon, Manila Bay and Borneo.
He survived more than 35 torpedoes shot at him in the Pacific and Indian oceans.
He survived dozens of Kamikaze attacks in the Philippines. He survived a German submarine attack in the Atlantic.
He did not survive asbestosis. He had an asbestos caused tumor removed from his lung which eventually confined him to a wheel chair, an oxygen tank and finally, death.
I’m one of many that have been diagnosed with asbestosis, and many more will be.
The function of our government is to protect our citizen’s rights and well being.
I urge you to send a message to Washington telling our legislators to do the right thing.
Corporations don’t need protection; we, the people need to be protected from corporations!
Theodore Moore, Camino
