We Were Ignored, Ailing Soldiers Say

Six soldiers who have fallen ill since their return from Iraq said Friday that the Army ignored their complaints about uranium poisoning from U.S. weapons fired during combat.

They also said they were denied testing for the radioactive substance.

“We were all healthy when we left home. Now, I suffer from headaches, fatigue, dizziness, blood in the urine, unexplained rashes,” said Sgt. Jerry Ojeda, 28, who was stationed south of Baghdad with other National Guard members of the 442nd Military Police Company.

He said symptoms also included shortness of breath, migraines and nausea.

Sgt. Herbert Reed, 50, said that when a dozen soldiers asked for treatment last fall, they were initially turned away.

Three of them persisted and were tested in December, said Reed, who has yet to receive his results.

The soldiers held a news conference at Ojeda’s home, joined by Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who said he would work to get the victims extended health benefits after they are discharged.

Five of the men said they also were recently tested independently by Dr. Asaf Durakovic, a former Army doctor and nuclear medicine expert, who found traces of depleted uranium in their bloodstreams, with four registering high levels.

After their return from Iraq, “the Army was unfortunately not cooperative when they asked for testing,” Schumer said.

In Washington, D.C., an Army spokeswoman, Cynthia Smith, said the military would test any soldier who expressed concerns about uranium exposure.

The men said that Army officials are now testing urine samples they supplied. Results are expected in about three weeks.

Since the start of the Iraq war, U.S. forces reportedly have fired at least 120 tons of shells packed with depleted uranium.

Depleted uranium, which is left over from the process of enriching uranium for use as nuclear fuel, is an extremely dense material that the U.S. and British militaries use for tank armor and armor-piercing weapons. It is far less radioactive than natural uranium.

Veterans began reporting health problems as a result of depleted uranium shells in 1991, after the first Gulf War.

Some experts believe the depleted uranium used in warfare is practically harmless, whereas others blame it for cancers and other illnesses.