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For decades during the Cold War, the Army carried out chemical and biological testing experiments on more than 7,000 of its own soldiers at the Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. In the late 1940s and early '50s, the U.S. Army worked with Harvard anesthesiologist Henry K. Beecher at its interrogation center at Camp King in Germany on the use of psychoactive compounds (mescaline, LSD), including human subject experiments and the debriefing of former Nazi physicians and scientists who had worked along similar lines before the end of the war. And even when veterans like Nathan Schnurman, a Navy test veteran, continued to suffer from long-term health problems and got the Department of Veterans Affairs to admit that human experimentation had occurred on him, he was unable to get them to admit that it had any relation to his current health problems. But considering the limited information provided by the U.S. Army, the General Accounting Office concluded that "precise information on the scope and the magnitude of tests involving human subjects was not available, and the exact number of human subjects might never be known. Some service members were only notified in 1996 that they'd been a participant in mustard agent testing, per the "Chemical Weapons Exposure Project: Summary of Actions and Projects." Records indicate that between 1955 and 1965, of the 6,720 soldiers tested, only 147 human subjects underwent exposure to mustard agent at Edgewood (NRC 1982). The experiments involved at least 254 chemical substances, but focused mainly on midspectrum incapacitants, such as LSD, THC derivatives, benzodiazepines, and BZ. List and description of film footage from Edgewood Arsenal, Fort Detrick and NBC/CBS of recording biological and chemical warfare test, trials of techniques for release of such weapons, some of which have been requested under FOI; also contains a list of films in the 'FT Archive', 9 Dec 1992; quotes from the Chemical Corps 1962 film 'Armour for . Once named Edgewood Arsenal, the U.S. Army organizations renamed and restructured countless times at APG South (Edgewood) have researched . After breaking ground a year earlier, by October 1, 1918, the Edgewood facility had over 585 buildings, a hospital with over 250 beds, and barracks for 8,500 officers and enlisted men (via "Environmental Histories of the First World War"). There were several projects at Edgewood between the 1940s into the 1970s. From 1955 to 1975, the Army conducted chemical weapons testing on volunteer soldiers at the Edgewood Arsenal facility in Maryland in pursuit of an agent that could disable enemy troops on the field of battle without killing them. Too much of it was lethal. Veterans Crisis Line: 2, "Cholinesterase Reactivators, Psychochemicals and Irritants and Vesicants" (1984), Vol. In 2009, a group of veterans organizations filed a suit against the CIA and the United States Department of Defense, stating that the government was obligated to contact all their subjects of the human experimentation and give them proper medical care. According to CNN, the Institute of Medicine determined that there wasn't enough information to form "definitive conclusions. However, a good history and physical examination can provide valuable information and help determine a Veterans risk of developing health problems related to the exposure. "Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Warfare Agents", Sommer, Harold Z. Krenzer, John Miller, Jacob I. EA 1464 and Related Compounds. Vol. (NRC 1982). VA offers a variety of health care benefits to eligible Veterans. Further, GAO concluded that precise information on the scope and the magnitude of tests involving human subjects was not available, and the exact number of human subjects might never be known. Cries from the Past, 2010) The GAO report indicates that field tests were conducted at 11 locations nationwide. Overall, about 7,000 soldiers took part in these experiments that involved exposures to more than 250 different chemicals, according to the Department of Defense (DoD). In 1918, The Baltimore Sun described it as "the largest poison gas factory on earth." ), Nerve agent reactivators, e.g. If you are concerned about exposures during Edgewood/Aberdeen chemical tests, talk to your health care provider or local VA Environmental Health Coordinator. These experiments were conducted at US Army Laboratories at Edgewood Arsenal, MD. ", Although these experiments were more common at the Edgewood facility during the Second World War, they continued well after the conflict ended. According to "Celebrating 85 Years of CB Solutions," the Edgewood facility was instrumental in supporting the Vietnam War with riot control agents. To enter and activate the submenu links, hit the down arrow. But while they've always insisted that the subjects were volunteers, the lack of documentation regarding these experiments makes it questionable if the people involved were actually giving their full and informed consent. By Charles Berg, M.D. A small portion of these studies were directed at psychochemical warfare and grouped under the . You will now be able to tab or arrow up or down through the submenu options to access/activate the submenu links. This vast program of human experimentation shrouded in secrecy was centered at the Army's compounds at Edgewood Arsenal and Fort Detrick, Maryland. Case No. The agents tested included chemical warfare agents and other related agents (inactive substances or placebos such as saline were used): There are no tests today that can confirm exposure to agents from decades ago. In 1975, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps officially ended its classified human subject research program at the Edgewood Arsenal facility in Maryland. In "Hard Right Turn," Jerry Carrier writes that many Nazi doctors and scientists were recruited by the United States as part of Operation Paperclip, and many werebrought to the Edgewood facility. [9] The safety record of the Edgewood Arsenal experiments was also defended in the memoirs of psychiatrist and retired colonel James Ketchum, a key scientist:[18]. Tristan Hunt has worked with multiple" Even the Army Research and Development wrote in 1968 that Edgewood developed three munitions that were being used in Vietnam "with very good results." 3, "Final Report: Current Health Status of Test Subjects" (1985). They deserve that respect and the audience this documentary can bring. Nashville veteran Dennis Paul, 79, discussed his experience in the program with NewsChannel 5 Investigates, saying. The U.S. Army believed that legal liability could be avoided by concealing the experiments. Mustard agent was also used in the human experiments at the Edgewood facility in various forms. A small portion of these studies were directed at psychochemical warfare and grouped under the prosac title of the Medical Research Volunteer Program (1956-1975). About 260 subjects were experimentally exposed to various psychochemicals including phencyclidine (PCP), and 10 related synthetic analogs of the active ingredient of cannabis (NRC 1984). BTW, I am not endorsing the article's quality otherwise, which is very low indeed. According to the memoirs of James Ketchum, who also cites the IOM study for the data, "24 belladonnoid glycolates and related compounds" were "given to 1,800 subjects". The prior finding held that the Army has an ongoing duty to seek out and provide "notice" to former test participants of any new information that could potentially affect their health.[22]. A Government Accounting Office report of May 2004, Chemical and Biological Defense: DOD Needs to Continue to Collect and Provide Information on Tests and Potentially Exposed Personnel (pp. These experiments were conducted primarily to learn how various agents would affect humans (NRC 1982). Edgewood Arsenal human experiments Published 2016 Medicine From 1948 to 1975, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps conducted classified human subject research at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. 2009), the plaintiffs did not seek monetary damages. About Dr. Delirium & the Edgewood Experiments:From 1955 to 1975, the US Army used its own soldiers as human guinea pigs in research involving powerful, mind-. Even after leaving Edgewood, Stanley continued to suffer reactions to the druggings, sometimes manifesting in violent behavior. June 09, 2022 A new documentary titled "Dr. Delirium and The Edgewood Experiments" walks through the American military's 20-year experiments on people using psychedelic drugs like PCP and LSD. The volunteerparticipants became unsuspecting guinea pigsexposed to nefarious contaminants and dangerous conditions that impacted their physical and mental health. Between 1950 and 1975, about 6,720 service members took part in experiments involving exposures to 254 different chemicals. [13] Some additional information in the section cited from the Course was based on a 1993 IOM study, Veterans at Risk: Health Effects of Mustard Gas and Lewisite. TheUSmilitary also used Edgewood to distribute new methods of biological warfare. Instead, they sought only declaratory and injunctive relief and redress for what they claimed was several decades of neglect and the U.S. government's use of them as human guinea pigs in chemical and biological agent testing experiments. 8s. For decades during the Cold War, the Army carried out chemical and biological testing experiments on more than 7,000 of its own soldiers at the Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. Conducted from 1955 to 1975 at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland, the experiments echoed studies conducted through Project MKUltra, a CIA program that focused on the mind-control potential of drugs . Lieberman, while acknowledging that "most of the military data" on the research ongoing at the Army Chemical Center was "secret and unpublished", asserted that "There are moral imponderables, such as whether insanity, temporary or permanent, is a more 'humane' military threat than the usual afflictions of war. ", The Messed Up Truth Of The Edgewood Experiments, Environmental Histories of the First World War, Military Neuroscience and the Coming Age of Neurowarfare, Possible Long-Term Health Effects of Short-Term Exposure to Chemical Agents, Chemical Weapons Exposure Project: Summary of Actions and Projects, Report of the Comptroller General of the United States, Use of Volunteers in Critical Agent Research. ptsd Edgewood Arsenal Experiments Asked by The Old medic, December 2, 2009 Share Followers 0 Answer this question Ask a question Question The Old medic Seaman 6 Service Connected Disability: 50% State: KY Posted December 2, 2009 Between 1952 and 1975, the US Army acknowledged that 7,200 GI's were involved in the medical experimentation program. The use of troops to test nerve gas, psychochemicals, and thousands of other toxic chemical or biological substances. Attention A T users. Former ABC and Politico correspondent Tara Palmeri leads a team of investigative journalists as they reexamine a dark chapter of Army history. Secret World War II Chemical Experiments Tested . 2. A number of different reports have been produced describing the health effects of this testing, including the Veterans Health Initiative Report in 2003. Long-term follow-up was not planned as part of the DoD studies. Jan 08, 2009 #1. The purpose was to evaluate the impact of low-dose chemical warfare agents on military personnel and to test protective clothing, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines. In the Army's tests, as with those of the CIA, individual rights were subordinated to national security considerations; informed consent and follow-up examinations of subjects were neglected in efforts to maintain the secrecy of the tests. By the early 1950s, Edgewood Arsenal, which became part of the larger complex at the Aberdeen Proving Ground,produced numerous biological agents, developed protective equipment and prophylactictreatments, and shaped UScombat policy and practice. For years, these experiments were kept a secret even from the soldiers who were being tested on. Not enrolled in the VA health care system? And rather than sending veterans an account of their medical history, the army has sent out form letters that state that the recipient may be eligible for medical care if they previously volunteered for "medications or vaccines.". From 1948 to 1975, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps conducted classified human subject research at the Edgewood Arsenal facility in Maryland. Although some sort of consent form was given to the service members at some point, it's questionable if any of the soldiers were fully informed about the experiments they were participating in. Thousands of. The final chapter of Edgewood Arsenal's history is ongoing, as are the stories of the individuals who suffered at the testing facility. Improved Synthesis of EA 1464 and Preparation of its Corresponding Di-(Hydrogen Oxalate) Salt, EA 3669. Edgewood Arsenal Chemical Agent Exposure Studies FAQs. The Edgewood Arsenal facility, located in the U.S. Army Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland, was built during the end of the First World War to study and weaponize chlorine and mustard gas. Of those involved in the experiments: Most of these experiments involved tests of protective equipment and of subjects' ability to perform military tasks during exposure. US researchers who were experimenting with LSD noted that LSD is capable of rendering whole groups of people, including military forces, indifferent to their surroundings and situations, interfering with planning and judgment, and even creating apprehension, uncontrollable confusion and terror. (Foundation for a Drug-Free World). The committee's understanding is that additional, and potentially relevant, material on SHAD tests exists and remains classified. Nothing in the article relates to all that work, only to the human subjects. World War II veteran Jack Holder died at age 101 after a colorful life. Greene called for a search for novel psychoactive compounds that would create the same debilitating mental side effects as those produced by nerve gases, but without their lethal effect. Meanwhile, "Inhalation Toxicology," edited by Harry Salem and Sidney A. Katz, notes that the United States doesn't recognize riot control agents to be chemical warfare agents. The Edgewood Arsenal experiments (also known as Project 112) are said to be related to or part of CIA mind-control programs after World War II, . The OSS was the American intelligence service during World War II (the predecessor of the CIA) and commissioned tests on human subjects at the Edgewood Arsenal human Experiments, although they are more popularly known under the general name of the MK-ProgramUltra, a code name given to this secret and illegal program for human experimentation . They tested the effects of cannabis and its derivatives on people. According to the US Army Research Development and Engineering Command Chemical and Biological Center,Edgewood had "two shell filling plants, housing for 8,500 workersand soldiers, a chemical laboratory, and a hospital, plus all the road and rail infrastructure needed for production and transport.". One of the most noteworthy substances was sarin gas. Some are still waiting for follow up medical care. According to the 1984 NRC review, human experiments at DoD's Edgewood Arsenal involved about 1,500 subjects who were experimentally exposed to irritant and blister agents including: . However, much of that flash comes from recordings made during the actual experiments. 1, "Anticholinesterases and Anticholinergics" (1982). "Dr. Delirium & the Edgewood Experiments" gives ample airtime to theories that Edgewood hosted Nazi scientists given asylum under the Pentagon's notorious Operation Paperclip program, but never quite manages to tie the Germans to Ketchum's experiments. Robert C. Krafty was just out of his teens when he was offered temporary duty at Edgewood Arsenal in 1965. The National Academies of Science reviewed this report in 2018 ("Review and Approach to Evaluating Long-term Health Effects in Army Test Subjects") and suggested a framework for evaluating these exposures moving forward. [21], On appeal in Vietnam Veterans of America v. Central Intelligence Agency, a panel majority held in July 2015 that Army Regulation 70-25 (AR 70-25) created an independent duty to provide ongoing medical care to veterans who participated in U.S. chemical and biological testing programs. Hunt, Secret Agenda: The U.S. Government, Nazi Scientists and Project Paperclip 1945-1991. These experiments tested protective clothing and evaluated the impact of chemical warfare agents on military personnel. v. Central Intelligence Agency, et al. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the mid-morning attack. Voluntary coordination and attention are impaired burns and bruises are not noticed.". [10], According to a DOD FAQ, the Edgewood Arsenal experiments involved the following "rough breakout of volunteer hours against various experimental categories":[11]. The chemical caused a delirium that included hallucinations and an inability to carry out tasks. The purpose was to evaluate the impact of low-dose chemical warfare agents on military personnel and to test protective clothing and pharmaceuticals. The experiments were performed at the Edgewood Arsenal in northeast Maryland, and involved the use of heavy hallucogens like LSD, in addition to biological and neurological chemical agents.. From 1955 to 1975, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps conducted classified medical studies at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. Scientists learned this through repeated experimentation. The intelligence community the CIA and the military saw LSD as a potential chemical weapon. According to The New Yorker, both the Soviet Union and the American governments were interested in acquiring Nazi knowledge about chemical weapons. While early experiments with marijuana and LSD get plenty of discussion, much of the long-term damage seems to result from experimentation with the powerful incapacitating agent 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate, commonly known as BZ. The array of tests involved usingpsychedelic illicit substances, chemical agents, and other mind-altering substances, all designed to produce "fits or seizures, dizziness, fear, panic, hysteria, hallucinations, migraine, delirium, extreme depression, notions of hopelessness, lack of initiative to do even simple things, and mania, according to scientific director L. Wilson Greene. 3, "Final Report: Current Health Status of Test Subjects", Health Outcomes Among Veterans of Project SHAD (Shipboard Hazard and Defense) (2016), "United States v. Stanley, 483 US 669 - Supreme Court 1987", "Vietnam Veterans of America v. Central Intelligence Agency", "THE HUMAN ASSESSMENT OF EA 1729 AND EA 3528 BY THE INHALATION ROUTE", "Assessment of Potential Long Term Health Effects on Army Human Test Subjects of Relevant Biological and Chemical Agents, Drugs, Medications and Substances", "King's Collections: Archive Catalogues: Military Archives", "Operation Delirium: Decades after a risky Cold War experiment, a scientist lives with secrets". As such, this became the foundational understanding behind the Edgewood facility, and in order to manifest this new concept of warfare, thousands of people were experimented upon between 1948 and 1975. Finally, the command and control problems which were apparent in the CIA's programs are paralleled by a lack of clear authorization and supervision in the Army's programs.(S. These studies included a secret human subjects component at least as early as 1948, when "psychological reactions" were documented in Edgewood technicians. The truth about the CIA is quite another story, one that should've been a huge news story a decade ago but gets fully recounted here for anyone who missed the truth the first time. Hit enter to expand a main menu option (Health, Benefits, etc). (N.D. Cal. A classified report entitled "Psychochemical Warfare: A New Concept of War" was produced in 1949 by Luther Wilson Greene, Technical Director of the Chemical and Radiological Laboratories at Edgewood. The Edgewood Arsenal human experimentstook place from approximately 1948 to 1975 at the Medical Research Laboratories which is now known as the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD) at the Edgewood Area, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. "[6], The Edgewood Arsenal human experiments took place from approximately 1948 to 1975 at the Medical Research Laboratorieswhich is now known as the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD)at the Edgewood Area, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. However a good history and physical examination can provide valuable information and help determine a Veteran's risk of developing health problems related to the exposure. Experiments were also conducted using gas chambers, and they often lasted between one to four hours. 1942-1945: U.S. Navy initiated poisonous Mustard Gas and Lewisite (derivative of arsenic) experiments to test protective clothing and anti-blister ointments at the Naval Research Laboratory and at the Army's Edgewood Arsenal. Please switch auto forms mode to off. VA decides these claims on a case-by-case basis. The IOM committee requested declassification of 21 additional elements from at least nine documents from DoD in August 2012. Although the three-volume study published by the Institute of Medicine between 1982 and 1985 claimed that there were no "significant long-term health effects in Edgewood Arsenal volunteers," many veterans have reported experiencing long-term health effects that can be attributed to the human experimentation at the Edgewood facility (per the "Deployment Health Support Directorate"). After the Second World War, the U.S. Army put some of its efforts toward studying the nerve gasses that the Third Reich had invested in, including tabun, soman, and sarin. ", The 1975 report by the U.S. Army Inspector General on the "Use of Volunteers in Critical Agent Research" was one of the first official revelations regarding human experimentation at the Edgewood facility. In addition to chemical agents that could be used during warfare, the U.S. Army also tested numerous psychoactive agents on soldiers at the Edgewood facility. The chief of Irans nuclear program, Mohammad Eslami, acknowledged the findings of the IAEA report. Even the Navy records he was able to find were "erroneous and incomplete.". Home; News; Random Article; Install Wikiwand; Send a suggestion; Uninstall Wikiwand; Our magic isn't perfect. He wouldn't discover the cause of his behavior until 1975, when he received a letter from the U.S. Army asking him if he'd like to participate in a study of long-term effects of LSD on volunteers from the 1958 tests. Heading to Discovery+ this week, Dr. Delirium & The Edgewood. Veterans may file a claim for disability compensation for health problems they believe are related to exposures during Edgewood/Aberdeen chemical tests. Watching soldiers suffer through delirium and panic attacks while older survivors describe their experiences makes for powerful viewing. visit VeteransCrisisLine.net for more resources. Long-term psychological effects are possible from the trauma associated with being a human test subject. The practice of psychotherapy depends not only on knowledge. The experiments . This program involved testing nerve agents, nerve agent antidotes, psycho chemicals, and irritants.