Veterans who served at a top-secret base known as “Area 52” say the government won’t compensate them for getting sick during their service because the United States won’t confirm they were ever there.
Air Force veterans have previously sued the federal government after allegedly developing health problems as a result of working at the base, known as Tonopah Test Range, in the 1980s.
More service members are coming forward with stories of how working at a nuclear test site left them with debilitating illnesses later in life, as the United States tested weapons that would leave toxic radioactive material dispersed, according to a federal assessment.
Mark Ely, 63, served at the base in his 20s as a technician inspecting secretly obtained Soviet fighter planes in what was known as a “quiet house” when he was a physically fit young man.
Now, he tells of the various problems that threaten his life due to the various classified missions, he says, due to radiation from the tests at Area 52.
Mark Ely, 63, served in what is known as “Area 52” when he was 20 as a technician inspecting Soviet fighter planes secretly obtained in what was known as a “quiet house” when he was a young man in good standing. physical form.
Veterans like Ely (pictured during his Air Force days) who served at a top-secret base known as “Area 52” say the government won’t compensate them for getting sick during their service because the U.S. won’t confirm they ever They were there.
‘It left scars on my lungs. I have cysts in my liver. …I started having lipomas, tumors inside my body that I had to remove. The lining of my bladder came off,” Ely said. CBS News.
He says he can’t get the government to recognize his service, which was performed under a confidentiality agreement, and he can’t prove he worked there.
“There’s a slogan people say: ‘Deny, deny until you die.’ Something true here,” Ely said.
“Defending the national interest was more important than my own life,” he added.
Ely says he is furious with the federal government after the service it gave to his efforts during the height of the Cold War.
“It makes me really angry and it also hurts me because they’re supposed to have my back,” Ely said. “I had theirs and I want them to have mine.”
Dave Crete has long spoken about the effects of testing on soldiers and has spent much of the last decade trying to track down hundreds of other veterans who served there. He is one of two who filed a lawsuit last year over his and another soldier’s service in the more infamous ‘Area 51.’
He says he has seen “all kinds of cancers” in veterans, while he himself suffers from chronic bronchitis, breathing problems and a tumor that had to be removed from his back.
Air Force veterans have previously sued the federal government after allegedly developing health problems as a result of working at the base, known as Tonopah Test Range, in the 1980s.
Tonopah Proving Ground in Nevada, known colloquially as ‘Area 52’
Creta was employed by the Air Force Security Police Squadron to protect the F-117A stealth bomber at the range.
While many government employees have been able to obtain more than $25 billion in federal assistance during their time working in the region, Air Force veterans like Ely and Creta have been left out.
The Defense Department confirmed that Ely and Creta served, but declined to say where when contacted for comment.
Crete and Pomp Braswell, the co-plaintiff in their lawsuit, allege that their health problems arose after the soil they lived and worked on became contaminated with toxic materials from government testing.
“The thing is, we were all carefully chosen, to be there we have to get that authorization,” Braswell, who worked at the site between 1987 and 1990, told the media.
“That being said, we were all always at the top of our game,” he added.
“The government said they had secured the area so there would be no further spread of contamination,” said Creta, who worked at the base between 1983 and 1987.
‘The way they secured it was with a barbed wire fence. Now I don’t have a PhD in Physics,’ he added, ‘but a barbed wire fence isn’t going to do that.’
Dave Crete has long spoken about the effects of testing on soldiers and has spent much of the last decade trying to track down hundreds of other veterans who served there. He is one of two who filed a lawsuit last year over his service in the more infamous ‘Area 51’.
The Defense Department confirmed that Ely and Creta served, but declined to say where when contacted for comment.
Crete, now an activist for wounded or wounded government personnel, said he realized something was wrong after attending a meeting with those who used to work in his unit at the proving ground.
“There are eight of us and six of us have tumors, so that can’t be normal,” he explained.
“One of the guys who didn’t say his son was born with a tumor,” he said.
The Department of Defense has allegedly told the men that they were not in the area at the time they claim.
This means that they have not had the right to compensation for themselves or their families.
‘They say their plane was there, but we weren’t, so the plane flew itself, watched itself, parked and repaired itself. It pisses me off,’ Creta said.
‘Because we are not recognized as doing duty, we have people dying with children without benefits for those children or that widow.
“It’s disheartening,” Braswell, now a professional golfer, said of the government’s response.
Dave Crete and Pomp Braswell are suing the federal government after allegedly developing health problems as a result of working on a government base in the 1980s.
Dave Crete and Pomp Braswell were hired by the Air Force Security Police Squadron to protect the F-117A stealth bomber.
“It’s infuriating, especially when our government and our company take care of other countries and they don’t take care of us.”
Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei told Arizona Family News that he is working on a bill to provide compensation and restitution to U.S. military personnel and their families who have suffered exposure to toxic materials.
The Department of Defense told DailyMail.com they do not comment on any pending or ongoing litigation.
