Veterans Groups & McCaskill Team Up in Renewed Push on Arla Harrell Act, Following Public Support from the VA Chief

Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America, and Military Officers Association of America join Senator in urging relief for servicemen exposed to mustard agents through secret U.S. military experiments

WASHINGTON – The nation’s leading Veterans Service Organizations joined U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today to urge passage of the Arla Harrell Act—following yesterday’s announcement of support from the VA Secretary—to help reverse seven decades of mistreatment and bureaucratic indifference by the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs toward servicemen who were intentionally exposed to chemical weapons during World War II.

Watch this 5-MINUTE VIDEO on Arla Harrell and the secret mustard gas experiments.

McCaskill was joined by representatives from Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America, and Military Officers Association of America.

“Thank you Senator McCaskill for the opportunity, also for your leadership on this issue—let’s just say as a Kansas City, Missouri based organization, we couldn’t be more proud of the work you’re doing,” said Carlos Fuentes, Legislative Director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “We’re talking about World War II veterans here so we don’t have much time to spare, so we are fully supportive of the Arla Harrell Act and believe it’s past time that Congress pass this bill so that Arla and the approximately 400 veterans involved in these experiments can receive the proper care and benefits they deserve.”

“It speaks to my heart greatly when a senator who’s not on the Veteran’s Affairs Committee takes a priority like this and runs with it, and you have certainly done that and the American Legion thanks you,” said Matthew Shuman, Director of the Legislative Division of the American Legion. “We think there are roughly 60,000 enlisted men who were subject to these tests of mustard gas, and it is downright deplorable and wrong. This was classified, so these men were threatened with dishonorable discharge and imprisonment if they spoke and that is sad.”

“There is only a relative handful of the 60,000 or so veterans who were part of these experiments, but they are deserving of major justice that has been far too long denied them,” said ‎Bernard Edelman, Deputy Director for Policy and Government Affairs of the Vietnam Veterans of America. “[The Vietnam Veterans of America] strongly supports enactment of this bill and thanks you Senator McCaskill for taking the lead on ameliorating what we believe to be an historic wrong.”

“It highlights some of the darkest hours of our nation, we never think of our country ever doing that to those of served,” said Dan Merry, Vice President of Government Relations for the Military Officers Association of America. “It’s super good to hear that the Secretary of the VA finally is supporting this at the VA, and we stand ready to do whatever we can to help you.”

“What’s breaking my heart is that this happened to Arla Harrell, and he was a loyal and wonderful soldier for his country in a very difficult war, and his government is basically calling him a liar,” said McCaskill, the daughter of a World War II veteran and a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. “So it is uncontroverted that this test occurred at Camp Crowder, and we know that Arla Harrell was there—how dare they say he’s being untruthful to them? This is not somebody that’s looking for a hand out, he wasn’t even allowed to talk about it for decades. … And that’s what’s really motivating me—I want this fixed for him, for his honor, and for his integrity.”

Last week, after hearing testimony from McCaskill, Republican Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Johnny Isakson pledged action on the legislation, which has gained a bipartisan companion bill in the U.S. House, and said in introducing McCaskill: “I wanted to thank her for the hard work she’s done on the issue of mustard gas and the Arla Harrell Act, which she’s worked so hard on and I’ve committed for a long time to help her with.”

An investigative report by McCaskill last year demonstrated that during World War II, thousands of U.S. servicemen were exposed to mustard agents through secret U.S. military experiments. By the end of the war, 60,000 servicemen had been human subjects in the U.S. military’s chemical defense research program, with an estimated 4,000 of them receiving high levels of exposure to mustard agents. For decades, these servicemen were under explicit orders not to discuss their toxic exposure with their doctors or even their families.

The U.S. military did not fully acknowledge its role in the mustard agent testing program until the last of the experiments was declassified in 1975. The military did not lift the oath of secrecy for the servicemen until the early 1990s. The VA has denied more than 90 percent of mustard gas claims in the last ten years and only 40 veterans are currently receiving any benefit due to their exposure.

Further background is available at mccaskill.senate.gov/mustard-gas.

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