Poisoned Paradise Part 2

Proud American citizens with high rates of military service to this nation are poisoned by the Navy for 6 or 7 decades, then, along with their land and water, are left to rot and die with no medical help, with not even a government agency charged to protect all of our lives, the CDC, willing to tell the truth about what has made them sick. How do the leaders at our Pentagon and Justice Department and CDC sleep at night and claim a love of Jesus?

Guess the Feds are way too busy handing-out Wall Street trillion dollar bailouts to crooks who shelter their money offshore!

After watching Monday night's segment on Poisoned Paradise, I checked the program guide to make sure I hadn't inadvertently turned on FoxNews. I will now eliminate the Brown show You're one sided coverage was unbelievably biased.
Perhaps some time should have been spent on diet (everything is fried), everythning contains the seasoning, sazon (salt, msg) and very rarely is a green vegetable or fruit (unless canned in heavy syrup) found in the locals shopping carts.
The alcoholism rate is astounding.
Personal responsibilty is something that just doesn't seem to apply to any of the problems facing Vieques.

I was incredibly disappointed that your crew was led around like they had a ring through their noses.

Certainly it is tragic when people fall ill. And apparently, the new Yale studies show that airborne contaminents had bad effects in the past. I wish those who are sick and their families better days. Please do note, however, that all Bombing stopped on Vieques in 2001... 9 years ago. Additionally, I feel that it's necescary to point out some inaccuracies in the 2nd CNN report: (1) Vieques was not bombed for 6 decades, It was only 3 decades. Bombing started on Vieques in 1970, after the Navy stopped doing so on the neighboring Island of Culebra. (2) "Much of the island was used for bombing" is not accurate. The 'OP' , AKA 'Bombing Range' was only the last 2 miles of the eastern tip a 55 square mile island (more than 2 times the size of Manhattan, NYC). The island is 21 miles long... and there's 10 miles between the 'OP' and where people live. (3) Claim: "Many scientists raised strong complaints" is seriously vague. (4) What about the hair testing results of thousands of residents ? Why wasn't this info made available ? (5) 'Mortality rates' is seriously not 'rates' of cancer and other diseases. 'Mortality rates' on Vieques have to be factored against the fact that Vieques has a very underequipped and poorly staffed 'clinic' that serves as a 'Hospital'. It's really a very subpar facility, and making it better is the responsibility of the PR government... not the USA Federal Government. Anyone who gets seriously sick here... goes across the channel to Fajardo, on the main Island for medical and dental care. There is decent dental care on Island, however. (6) Most Viequenses families have free medical & dental cards... and food stamps cards. It would be nice to have a balanced reporting of issues that pertain to Vieques. A number of people have expressed their surprise at the 2 CNN reports just aired, because most people on Vieques are very healthy indeed. And there has yet to be any study made public that shows that Vieques is indeed 'polluted', it's soils laced with heavy Metals, or that Vieques is 'toxic'. These 2 CNN reports are very slanted... and do not seem to be very accurate at all. Vieques is a very beautiful place. I know residents who've had their soil independently tested... and the results were 'off the charts' in a positive way ! I would expect such a one side report fromFox news... not CNN.

Thank you for your expose of the damage done to the people of Vieques by the U.S. Navy's 60 year bombing campaign. I have been to Vieques three times and learned how in the mid 1940s the Navy took over 2/3rds of the island for its military practice sessions. They gave people 48 hours to leave their homes in these areas. They had to leave behind their farming land and their animals. They ended up living in substandard housing in the middle of the island, many going on welfare since they had no land and no jobs. Others moved to the U.S. and other islands to find work.

For decades, the people, with international support, held meetings, rallies and committed civil disobedience in the bombing areas to try to get the Navy to stop its bombing. Finally, in 2003, the Navy was forced to leave.

It is very sad that on top of a cruel displacement the people are now dealing with serious health issues. I hope the U.S. government will realize that they owe Vieques health care and a serious, non-toxic cleanup of the contaminated areas.

I have seen several comments on this story that allude to the fact that the Vieques Islanders have a poor diet and drink alcohol. Apparently these comments are made in order to convince folks that these Puerto Ricans eat bad food and drink too much, so this is why they have huge rates of heavy metals poisoning, and extremely high rates of cancer and diabetes and hypertension etc. Do these folks making these comments and statements assume that most of us that watched this story are simple minded and ignorant?

Let me tell y'all something. I live in the Deep South, and most folks here eat fried food regularly, many smoke, most drink too much alcohol, and most don't walk to work, they drive a pick-up truck or an older car. I can't think of one person or family around here where the parents and children have very, very high levels of heavy metals in their bodies, verified through scientific hair samples. The cancer rates are fairly normal in comparison to the rest of America, so are the rates of diabetes and heart attacks. I have not heard anyone ever, never, tell me at work, at play, at a public event or private party, a sporting event, at church, at school, or anywhere where I have lived for 50 years, that their body is full of lead, or cadmium, or mercury, or that their cousins are all born with birth defects etc.

Please stop making unfounded, unsubstantiated, hateful, bigoted, racially insensitive comments about fellow American citizens who happen to be relatively poor and Hispanic. Thank you, and special thanks to the CNN Team for bringing this sad story about our American Government's neglect and denial to our attention.

The diet of the people of Vieques is very similar to the diet of the people in the main island of Puerto Rico. However, they have a 33% higher rate of cancer, a 381% higher rate of hypertension, a 95% higher rate of cirrhosis of the liver, and a 41% higher rate of diabetes than the inhabitants of Puerto Rico’s main island. Hair testing has shown that 80% of those living on the island suffer from at least one form of heavy metal poisoning from toxins such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and aluminum. To blame all these illnesses and health conditions on their diet and alcoholism, is insensitive and irresponsible. The Obama Administration needs to do the right thing.

To Ms. Lacey:

Did you really watch the segments? FYI, if they eat that fried stuff, the least they can have is a high cholesterol, but here my friend, we are talking about CANCER. Did you see the difference among the numbers in this little island and Puerto Rico? DId you? You cannot see past your computer screen, it is so easy to ignore these problems for some people because they are not affecting them directly. This needs to be thoroughly investigated and we need to know the truth. These people deserve to know the truth and get the medical help they need.

The claims that Vieques has a "33%" higher rate of Cancer" is false. There are no scientifically valid studies that have arrived at this conclusion. Show the studies please. Isn't 'cirrhosis of the liver' directly related to extreme alcohol consumption ? Has there ever been someone who was not an alcoholic who contracted cirrhosis of the liver ? And a '41% higher rate of Diabetes', if verifiable... would seem to be directly related to diet ? Please help me out here... what do any of these diseases have to do with the Navy bombing ? Note: Vieques does NOT have a 33% higher rate of Cancer than the rest of Puerto Rico. Check the 'American Cancer Society' information.

Thanks to CNN for bringing this situation hopefully to national attention! I am certainly not here to bash the U.S. being that I am proud of being an American, as many Puerto Ricans are. Unfortunately, many do not know that Puerto Ricans are US Citizens and have served honorably the Military; the same organization whom we hope does whats right for the people of Vieques!

The people of Vieques deserve the truth! Lets be honest, I for one do not believe that the Military at the time really had a full understanding of the consequences such Military bombings would present to the population or to the environment. The truth is that we lived then and now in a turbulent world and the United States national security depends on our ability to defend ourselves. However, like any lab experiment, before you know what can work in the real world, you need to test it like many of the medication you even take today and in this case the military weaponry.

Unfortunately, the population of Vieques were the Lab Rats. Today, you can vividly see the effects of those military excerises which are even affecting the new generation of Viequenses. And yes, as documented well by this Segment in CNN, cancer is the number one concern, but I wonder if any other ailments that are not in the forefront are issues we are not currently aware.

Its a small population of the island and we only ask that you help us, help the population cope with the Cancer that looks to be spreading beyond the past generation of Viequenses!

Thank you for your coverage of the health crisis in Vieques. Americans need to stand up and do the right thing. That's what makes us great.

I am disillusioned at best with the report by Campbell Brown on Vieques Island. I am a 12 year resident on the island and find it quite interesting that all those interviewed spoke impeccable English (which is contrary to the majority of residents who do not). If there are 7000 out of 9000 people sick on the island – the place should be a ghost town – and it is not. Please remember that fear of poisoning from heavy metals and all sorts of carcinogenes did not stop the locals when they deliberately exiled themselves for months to live on the bombing range and set up a "mini" town complete with a church – and brought their children and boat loads of curious people out to the bombing range so that they could play among the unexploded arsenal and inevitably "kick up the contaminated dust" which allowed them to inhale toxins up close and personal. For CNNs information – You did a great disservice to the islands government run cleanup program. You totally ignored the fact that the contaminated area is well on its way to recovery and the cleanup has been done literally inch by inch. Where is your fair and balanced reporting Campbell – or are you becoming a clone of Fox News?

To Jane Califf: Just for your information, the so-called people who were given only 48 hours of notice did NOT own that land they occupied, it was owned by the few plantation families on the island that sold their land to the Puertorican government, who then sold it to the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy set aside some land for resettlement by those people, many of which chose to leave and moved to St. Croix. The ares of Santa Maria is in fact one of those resettlement areas. And to this day, residents of Santa Maria do not own the land in which they live and have lived for the past 60 years, thanks to the PR government. The PR government and the land owners were the ones who actually did not give the occupants enough notice to relocate. Do not blame the Navy for doing something that the PR government gave them the right to do. Blame the money hungry land owners who wanted to sell their failing sugar plantations – by the late 1930's and early 1940's, the sugar industry in Vieques was on the decline. The Navy made a fair purchase of the land.

Campbell and Abbie, and the rest of the CNN Investigative Team, please do some research on this subject. Culebra was used as a bombing range before the Navy came to Vieques, but I do not hear about anyone from Culebra saying that are dying of cancer because of the Navy, do you? The woman you interviewed in the second part, where were her two children raised? I'll bet in the United States and not in Vieques. All I ask at this point, since it is obvious that there are two very different opinions on this subject, research the information that you were given and verify that information. If you see that the program was biased, please make clarifications and corrections to state the truth. If you find in your research that you reported correctly, then I apologize to all those offended by my statements. I have given my full name for those who wish to seek me out and set me straight if I am wrong and if you can provide proof that I am wrong. Thank you for letting me state my voice here.

It strikes me as interesting that all the respondents in the "Leave your Comment" arena are gringos, or so it seems. If there's a Spanish equivalent response, I am Ignorant of it. To extend a variant viewpoint, I wonder just how it is that an environment, a particularly fragile micro-environment, such as Vieques with it's Bio Bay, declared by "The Guinness Book of World Records" in 2008 to be the best in the world, can be so toxic to humans and not its ecology? What seems to be toxic here is the infamy of the history of the Navy's presence, the lack of the of their current and former economic impact on the island (unless you happen to be a UXO bomb sniffer).

The biggest and worst cancers on Isla Nena are unemployment and greed. Five will get you ten that the family CNN interviewed has free Puerto Rican health insurance which includes dental insurance. There are two dentists on the island and both make concessions to the impoverished. My instincts lead me to believe CNN has been snookered by some altruistic misguided, under-informed and ill advised individuals. That said, Vieques does require a much greater attention than it has been payed.

And, expressly, because the Navy gave it so little attention in the first place. We're all saying essentially the same thing. Vieques was raped. How we go about getting reparations must be unified.

Thanks for allowing me this podium.