The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America's Soldiers

SSG Hickman, well done! We have never met, but you've done an amazing job, unflinchingly telling our story. In 2004 I wondered why the captured Sarin Nerve Agent weapons we were loading onto C-17's in Baghdad never made the news. I wondered why I was plagued with rashes and why my short term memory was so messed up after I got back from the desert. Later on I wondered why I met so much resistance from VSO's and the VA when I wanted to file a claim after I was diagnosed with a very rare and lethal form of cancer. Joe Hickman asks these same questions I was asking myself. He has gone even further and dug up lots of answers to them. Nothing in this book can change what happened. But reading our story, told so brilliantly, fills me with gratitude that it is being told. Great work! Thank you Joe!!!

Before encouraging your newly graduated sons and daughters to join the military, I highly recommend reading this book so they know who they are "working" for when they enlist. What this book has demonstrated for me is that the military industrial complex (the DOD, the VA, corporations like Haliburton, and former-CEOs-now-politicians) have learned nothing from the Agent Orange and Gulf War poisonings, mostly because of a total lack of accountability and putting profits ahead of people. Your trust and confidence in these institutions will be shaken after reading it. With that said, this is an easy and necessary read for any American who truly cares about the well-being of America's veterans. You will be outraged before you finish the first chapter. Joseph Hickman has done a great service by documenting his findings here and gives the reader much to explore on their own after finishing the book. The controversy surrounding burn pits is far from over.

The U.S. government, from Dick Cheney to Hillary Clinton, told blatant lies about the Iraqi government creating chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons in 2002, despite having been informed of the fact that Iraq was doing no such thing. U.S. leaders lied about ties between Iraq and terrorists that they also knew did not exist. Then the U.S. military attacked and invaded Iraq, in the process heavily bombing old sites of Iraqi chemical weapons from the 1980s, many of those weapons having been provided by the United States. In large part because of the U.S. origin of the old Iraqi chemical weapons, the U.S. kept quiet about them during the new war. Another reason for the official silence was that, during the 2003 U.S. destruction of Iraq, many of those old weapons were seized by fledgling terrorist groups. The war had done exactly what it had been justified as being needed to prevent; it had given WMDs to terrorists. The geniuses running the U.S. military set up U.S. bases at the sites of old chemical weapons piles, dug giant burn pits into the ground, and began burning the military's trash -- monumental quantities of trash, something like The Story of Stuff on steroids. They burned hundreds of tons of trash every day, including everything you can think of: oil, rubber, tires, treated wood, medicines, pesticides, asbestos, plastic, explosives, paint, human body parts, and . . . (wait for it) . . . nuclear, biological, and chemical decontamination materials. The burn pits poisoned Iraq, together with depleted uranium weapons, napalm, white phosphorous, and various other horrors, creating unprecedented epidemics of birth defects, and killing untold masses of Iraqis. The burn pits also poisoned tens of thousands of U.S. troops, many of whom have died as a result, including very likely the son of the current U.S. vice president. The burn pits profited Halliburton, the company of the previous U.S. vice president. The burn pits were no secret, although bases sometimes stopped the burning during VIP tours. Typically, huge clouds of smoke filled the air and created immediate breathing difficulties and sicknesses. Soldiers knew which colors of smoke were most dangerous and discussed it as they discussed an enemy. Numerous burn pits turned hundreds of previously healthy U.S. troops into invalids. But the burn pits at six particular bases caused the most severe illnesses and the most deaths. They caused, among other things, numerous cases of constrictive bronchiolitis, which could only have resulted from exposure to mustard gas -- a chemical weapon left over from a program the United States had supported when it existed and used as an excuse for war when it didn't. I'm reminded of a ship that sits at the bottom of the Mediterranean. In 1943, German bombs sank a U.S. ship at Bari, Italy, that was secretly carrying a million pounds of mustard gas. Many of the U.S. sailors died from the poison, which the United States dishonestly claimed to have been using as a "deterrent," despite keeping it secret. The ship is expected to continue leaking the gas into the sea for centuries. The earth and water of Iraq have been similarly poisoned, as have U.S. soldiers. The Pentagon made crystal clear in Iraq, as most everywhere else, that it cares not a damn for the people or the natural environment of the places it attacks, and that it cares even less for the troops it uses to do so. But if you imagine that the Pentagon has reserved its concern for the civilian inhabitants of the Fatherland, don't look too closely into the open-air burns still happening in the United States. The U.S. military is the third-largest polluter of U.S. waterways, top producer of superfund disaster sites, and top consumer of petroleum. At least 33,480 U.S. nuclear weapons workers who have received compensation for health damage are now dead. Where it is blocked by legal regulations effectively enforced, the military shows restraint; where it isn't, it doesn't. In Virginia, the military very responsibly throws dead soldiers into a landfill rather then burning them. Either method communicates equally well just how much the military cares. Halliburton, for its part, is as happy to deal death at home as abroad. Residents of Duncan, Oklahoma, have sued Cheney's cash machine for poisoning the ground water with ammonium perchlorate. Government investigators also concluded that Halliburton was, in part, to blame for the BP oil spill that flooded into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Joseph Hickman's new book, The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America's Soldiers, collects the evidence, including from similar incidents during the first Gulf War that were known before the first 2003 burn pit was dug and lit. Hickman gives us stories of young healthy men who headed off to Iraq believing the lies, believing that the U.S. government that is now begging Russia to stop attacking terrorists because the U.S. wants to overthrow yet another government -- believing that this U.S. government had good intentions in attacking Iraq. These poor souls went to Iraq hoping to protect people from horrible suffering, and ended up inflicting horrible suffering on people including themselves. They come home, develop cancer, get stonewalled by the VA, and die dreaming of what it might have been to have health and the wealth needed to attend college. Their American Dream was cut short by the militarized American Fantasy. Joe Biden supported a war that very likely killed his son by means of burn pits. He then chose not to run for president because of his grief. His decision not to run received more media coverage than several months of the campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders who had voted against the war. But did Biden lift a finger to hold Halliburton or the military or the Congress accountable? Not that I've heard. Hickman describes the burn pits, and analogous poisons from past wars like Agent Orange in Vietnam, as "recklessly endangering the health of our fighting men and women." The only trouble with this is the fact that all war, all "fighting," consists of recklessly endangering the lives of the vast bulk of the victims (the Vietnamese, Iraqis, etc.) and of the U.S. troops. There's nothing non-reckless about any war. Perhaps distant drone pilots are not endangered in the typical way, but then look at how they're mocked within the Air Force. If troops weren't endangered, people wouldn't treat them with reverence and describe them -- as Hickman does -- as somehow "serving" their country, even while the facts he includes in his book speak otherwise. The U.S. Supreme Court has held since 1950 that members and former members of the military cannot sue over injuries received on the job. It may, however, still prove possible to win compensation from Halliburton. If so, you can probably chalk up another assist to Chelsea Manning who leaked evidence that the military had knowledge of the dangers when it created the burn pits, knowledge that General David Petraeus blatantly lied about in response to a Congressional inquiry. It now appears that the 2003- war on Iraq not only created ISIS, but armed it with mustard gas, thereby proving, I guess, that Saddam Hussein could indeed had given WMDs to terrorists had he just been as evil as the U.S. military.

It probably never will be known with certainty why Major Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, the son of Vice President Joe Biden, left for Iraq a healthy and vibrant 40-year-old man only to return home a year later to succumb to a series of mysterious and unexplained illnesses that metamorphosed into incurable brain cancer that took his life at age 46. But a convincing if circumstantial case can be made that the cause was exposure to toxic smoke from immense open-air burn pits at Camp Victory and another base where Beau Biden was bivouacked. One of the more insidious backstories of the Iraq war, which Joe Biden enthusiastically supported as a Democratic senator from Delaware, is how the friends of his predecessor, Dick Cheney, at Halliburton got rich providing housing, meals, water and many other services to Beau Biden and hundreds of thousands of other American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, at a cost of an estimated $39.5 billion by reliable estimates, much of it in no-bid contracts as the Pentagon outsourced many of the non-combat duties handled by the military in previous wars. In this shocking new book, investigative journalist Joseph Hickman, himself a Marine and Army veteran, asserts that Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, where Cheney was CEO before he became vice president, poisoned thousands of American soldiers and many thousands more Iraqis with the toxic smoke from the burn pits they operated in place of the incinerators typically run by the military. Some of the burn pits were operated on or near chemical warfare sites from Saddam Hussein's rule. Hickman’s story follows an arc tragically familiar to the victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam: Denial by the government that there was a problem, refusal by government agencies to address the problem, and finally, in the face of overwhelming evidence, grudging admissions by the government that there is indeed a problem. The Burn Pits is a must-read book, and I would have given it five stars if Hickman was a bit better writer.

This book was superbly written and, as many have pointed out, should be required reading for all Americans. What it discusses is shocking and should make any American feel deeply troubled by what U.S. soldiers and veterans have to put up with during deployment and long after they return from the battlefield. I don't come from a military family or know many people who have been or are in the military, so I didn't have a great awareness of these issues. What I can say as an environmental scientist, is that burn pit air pollution has no doubt been spreading all over the place--toxic metals and metalloids such as cadmium and lead are more likely to appear in the smallest particle size fractions, which are most easily transported through the atmosphere--we're talking here thousands of miles, or even more--before depositing back to the earth's surface. And as pointed out in the book, the smaller the particle, the more dangerous when inhaled, as the more likely it is to reach the brain, lungs, and vascular system. It disturbs me greatly to think of the quantity of pollutants being pumped into our atmosphere and distributed over the planet, let alone the huge harm is is posing to those immediately next to and near the burn pits with the highest exposures. Clearly this is just another case where people at the top who could easily put a stop to these practices won't be bothered to learn from the mistakes of the past (and in this case, present) because of all the money and greed involved. I'm so glad to have come across this book, since there is so little media attention on this very important and disturbing issue. What a travesty--I will definitely be paying much greater attention to veterans issues from now on. U.S. soldiers are definitely paying WAY too high a price for enlistment.

Thank you, Joseph Hickman, for bringing to light the criminal negligence of KBR/Halliburton and our own DOD. Sadly this horror is not getting much coverage in the main stream media. I had never heard a word about burn pits until March 21, 2017. It was that day my son-in-law, Heath, was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease and a rare stage IV terminal lung cancer. His oncologist's first question to him was, "What the hell have you been exposed too?" before he went on to explain that his type of cancer could ONLY have been caused by exposure to toxic chemicals and inhalants. Conferring with 20 other oncologists in order to gain some insight on what the best course of treatment would be, no one had anything to offer. He is being treated with chemotherapy and immunotherapy which is extending his life but we don't know for how long. The prognosis is grim. This is a 36 year old family man with a 4 year old daughter who should be looking forward to seeing his daughter off to her first day of kindergarten next fall instead of making sure his paperwork and affairs are in order to prepare for the end of his life. Heath served in Iraq as an army medic at Camp Victory and Liberty. There were times he was ordered to stand guard at or very near a burn pit. For three months of his 1 year deployment he stood as ordered within 50 yards of a burn pit for many hours each day. He has cancer in his lungs, membranes, heart, and bones now. There is no primary tumor which leaves nothing to focus on with treatment. The autoimmune disease causes multiple daily nosebleeds and some days bleeding from his ears. It's been a total nightmare. I feel as if I'm watching him slowly being murdered, day by day. And to learn that the DOD and VA denies ANY accountability for poisoning hundreds of thousands of people, not just soldiers, but civilians as well, should alarm and piss off to no end every one who knows this.

Dear CMSgt Jordan, We would like to extend to you a hearty congratulations on the recent disapproval of your VA disability application. We are more than proud to be able to offer you yet another opportunity to exhibit your dedication to the core value of "Service Before Self". We appreciate your dedication and greatly admire the fact that you enlisted and served during four different decades, tirelessly performed assigned duties, and voluntarily deployed on a combat tour in order to provide mature and stable leadership to our junior troops. We are especially pleased that we were able to supply you with the opportunity to sacrifice your health in service to your country. The derision and scorn that you received upon your return to home base was designed to further develop your character and provide you with additional opportunity to exhibit your ability and willingness to accept hardship and sacrifice as the character building opportunities that they are certainly meant to be. Thank you for understanding that supervision and leadership sincerely do "not" have your welfare and well being in mind. We do appreciate your willingness to avoid forcing them to glimpse a harsh sample of reality, instead allowing them to continue their illusion of a military branch filled with Shiny Happy People, Unicorns, and Cotton Candy Rainbows. As a military professional you should be commended on your ability to understand that the medical personnel that you were lead to believe are in place to assist you are only concerned with your ability to pass your semi annual fitness assessment and insuring that problems and concerns are not allowed to rise to a level which could reflect badly upon the unit leadership. Another accolade must be offered for your attempted involvement of the office of your Senator, Mr. Ted Cruz for assistance with dealing with the mind numbing, soul crushing bureaucracy that passes as a safety net for our nations war fighters. We are sure that by now it has dawned on you that you have not, and will not, ever be afforded the courtesy of a response from this representative or his staff. However be assured that your issue is raised on a bi-annual basis during their mandatory Enjoyment Session/Bake Sale/Revival Meeting. Additional prayers are available for a nominal campaign contribution and for a limited time you are eligible for our special double prayer which as you may have surmised gives you double the prayer power for you dollars. Be assured that your concerns related to the effects of burn pit usage on the health of yourself and many others has been slowly drawing attention from some members of the leadership chain. You may have heard that burn pit exposure is being considered as a possible cause of the illness that took the life of the the son of our Vice President. We can assure you that with this type of attention it will only be a matter of years before our elected officials and Veteran Administration leadership will commence a drive to begin to start thinking about getting ready to start thinking about beginning to select the shape of the table required to think about starting to get ready to consider beginning to plan a meeting and choose a caterer. Thank you again for your service and sacrifice! Now, would you please keep this between us and just go away. Regards, Your Gubment I have been fighting this battle for over 4 years now. Joseph, thank you brother for putting this book out for us. Reading it did me a world of good and made me realize that I am not alone.

I hope more people read this book and take action! SSG Hickman, THANK YOU for providing more information on this continuing problem in regards to our government's responsibility and lack of action towards our veterans! One reviewer stated that there was not enough information provided! If all of the information on this subject had been included in this book, it could not have published in a readable format! Hopefully this book will encourage others to research and demand that our government provide the care and support that is needed! Our veterans need and deserve all of the support we can provide. They put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms, and now they need us to support them in their quest for treatment. It should be simple........medical problem = treatment! But with every major conflict, every war, veterans face the same obstacles, but with different labels!

A great book that every American should read. Being a combat veteran I have personal experience with the lack of support and unnecessary exposure to agents that are detrimental to one's health. Tens of thousands of us were sprayed with Agent Orange while out on operations but the VA would not recognize any problems related to that for many years after the "war" was over. Hopefully, if enough of our citizens become aware of what is happening with these burn pits, we can put pressure on our representatives in Congress to get the military to comply with their own stated standards and stop the unhealthy conditions that exist today. The very least that a soldier should be able to expect is that he or she should be safe from any harm at the hands of the military and country that he/she serves and in the event that any health condition develops that treatment will be made available.

The young wife of one of my son's friends has stage 4 colon cancer because of her exposure to the burn pits near U.S. military bases in Iran and Afghanistan. This non-fiction book contains narrative chapters and passages that tell the stories of individual soldiers, a feature that puts a human face on the suffering caused by the burn pits. The author also provides lots of well-researched facts with citations. Buy this book, and after reading it, write to your representatives in Congress asking them to fund better treatment for our veterans.

SSG Hickman, well done! We have never met, but you've done an amazing job, unflinchingly telling our story. In 2004 I wondered why the captured Sarin Nerve Agent weapons we were loading onto C-17's in Baghdad never made the news. I wondered why I was plagued with rashes and why my short term memory was so messed up after I got back from the desert. Later on I wondered why I met so much resistance from VSO's and the VA when I wanted to file a claim after I was diagnosed with a very rare and lethal form of cancer. Joe Hickman asks these same questions I was asking myself. He has gone even further and dug up lots of answers to them. Nothing in this book can change what happened. But reading our story, told so brilliantly, fills me with gratitude that it is being told. Great work! Thank you Joe!!!

Before encouraging your newly graduated sons and daughters to join the military, I highly recommend reading this book so they know who they are "working" for when they enlist. What this book has demonstrated for me is that the military industrial complex (the DOD, the VA, corporations like Haliburton, and former-CEOs-now-politicians) have learned nothing from the Agent Orange and Gulf War poisonings, mostly because of a total lack of accountability and putting profits ahead of people. Your trust and confidence in these institutions will be shaken after reading it. With that said, this is an easy and necessary read for any American who truly cares about the well-being of America's veterans. You will be outraged before you finish the first chapter. Joseph Hickman has done a great service by documenting his findings here and gives the reader much to explore on their own after finishing the book. The controversy surrounding burn pits is far from over.

The U.S. government, from Dick Cheney to Hillary Clinton, told blatant lies about the Iraqi government creating chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons in 2002, despite having been informed of the fact that Iraq was doing no such thing. U.S. leaders lied about ties between Iraq and terrorists that they also knew did not exist. Then the U.S. military attacked and invaded Iraq, in the process heavily bombing old sites of Iraqi chemical weapons from the 1980s, many of those weapons having been provided by the United States. In large part because of the U.S. origin of the old Iraqi chemical weapons, the U.S. kept quiet about them during the new war. Another reason for the official silence was that, during the 2003 U.S. destruction of Iraq, many of those old weapons were seized by fledgling terrorist groups. The war had done exactly what it had been justified as being needed to prevent; it had given WMDs to terrorists. The geniuses running the U.S. military set up U.S. bases at the sites of old chemical weapons piles, dug giant burn pits into the ground, and began burning the military's trash -- monumental quantities of trash, something like The Story of Stuff on steroids. They burned hundreds of tons of trash every day, including everything you can think of: oil, rubber, tires, treated wood, medicines, pesticides, asbestos, plastic, explosives, paint, human body parts, and . . . (wait for it) . . . nuclear, biological, and chemical decontamination materials. The burn pits poisoned Iraq, together with depleted uranium weapons, napalm, white phosphorous, and various other horrors, creating unprecedented epidemics of birth defects, and killing untold masses of Iraqis. The burn pits also poisoned tens of thousands of U.S. troops, many of whom have died as a result, including very likely the son of the current U.S. vice president. The burn pits profited Halliburton, the company of the previous U.S. vice president. The burn pits were no secret, although bases sometimes stopped the burning during VIP tours. Typically, huge clouds of smoke filled the air and created immediate breathing difficulties and sicknesses. Soldiers knew which colors of smoke were most dangerous and discussed it as they discussed an enemy. Numerous burn pits turned hundreds of previously healthy U.S. troops into invalids. But the burn pits at six particular bases caused the most severe illnesses and the most deaths. They caused, among other things, numerous cases of constrictive bronchiolitis, which could only have resulted from exposure to mustard gas -- a chemical weapon left over from a program the United States had supported when it existed and used as an excuse for war when it didn't. I'm reminded of a ship that sits at the bottom of the Mediterranean. In 1943, German bombs sank a U.S. ship at Bari, Italy, that was secretly carrying a million pounds of mustard gas. Many of the U.S. sailors died from the poison, which the United States dishonestly claimed to have been using as a "deterrent," despite keeping it secret. The ship is expected to continue leaking the gas into the sea for centuries. The earth and water of Iraq have been similarly poisoned, as have U.S. soldiers. The Pentagon made crystal clear in Iraq, as most everywhere else, that it cares not a damn for the people or the natural environment of the places it attacks, and that it cares even less for the troops it uses to do so. But if you imagine that the Pentagon has reserved its concern for the civilian inhabitants of the Fatherland, don't look too closely into the open-air burns still happening in the United States. The U.S. military is the third-largest polluter of U.S. waterways, top producer of superfund disaster sites, and top consumer of petroleum. At least 33,480 U.S. nuclear weapons workers who have received compensation for health damage are now dead. Where it is blocked by legal regulations effectively enforced, the military shows restraint; where it isn't, it doesn't. In Virginia, the military very responsibly throws dead soldiers into a landfill rather then burning them. Either method communicates equally well just how much the military cares. Halliburton, for its part, is as happy to deal death at home as abroad. Residents of Duncan, Oklahoma, have sued Cheney's cash machine for poisoning the ground water with ammonium perchlorate. Government investigators also concluded that Halliburton was, in part, to blame for the BP oil spill that flooded into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Joseph Hickman's new book, The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America's Soldiers, collects the evidence, including from similar incidents during the first Gulf War that were known before the first 2003 burn pit was dug and lit. Hickman gives us stories of young healthy men who headed off to Iraq believing the lies, believing that the U.S. government that is now begging Russia to stop attacking terrorists because the U.S. wants to overthrow yet another government -- believing that this U.S. government had good intentions in attacking Iraq. These poor souls went to Iraq hoping to protect people from horrible suffering, and ended up inflicting horrible suffering on people including themselves. They come home, develop cancer, get stonewalled by the VA, and die dreaming of what it might have been to have health and the wealth needed to attend college. Their American Dream was cut short by the militarized American Fantasy. Joe Biden supported a war that very likely killed his son by means of burn pits. He then chose not to run for president because of his grief. His decision not to run received more media coverage than several months of the campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders who had voted against the war. But did Biden lift a finger to hold Halliburton or the military or the Congress accountable? Not that I've heard. Hickman describes the burn pits, and analogous poisons from past wars like Agent Orange in Vietnam, as "recklessly endangering the health of our fighting men and women." The only trouble with this is the fact that all war, all "fighting," consists of recklessly endangering the lives of the vast bulk of the victims (the Vietnamese, Iraqis, etc.) and of the U.S. troops. There's nothing non-reckless about any war. Perhaps distant drone pilots are not endangered in the typical way, but then look at how they're mocked within the Air Force. If troops weren't endangered, people wouldn't treat them with reverence and describe them -- as Hickman does -- as somehow "serving" their country, even while the facts he includes in his book speak otherwise. The U.S. Supreme Court has held since 1950 that members and former members of the military cannot sue over injuries received on the job. It may, however, still prove possible to win compensation from Halliburton. If so, you can probably chalk up another assist to Chelsea Manning who leaked evidence that the military had knowledge of the dangers when it created the burn pits, knowledge that General David Petraeus blatantly lied about in response to a Congressional inquiry. It now appears that the 2003- war on Iraq not only created ISIS, but armed it with mustard gas, thereby proving, I guess, that Saddam Hussein could indeed had given WMDs to terrorists had he just been as evil as the U.S. military.

It probably never will be known with certainty why Major Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, the son of Vice President Joe Biden, left for Iraq a healthy and vibrant 40-year-old man only to return home a year later to succumb to a series of mysterious and unexplained illnesses that metamorphosed into incurable brain cancer that took his life at age 46. But a convincing if circumstantial case can be made that the cause was exposure to toxic smoke from immense open-air burn pits at Camp Victory and another base where Beau Biden was bivouacked. One of the more insidious backstories of the Iraq war, which Joe Biden enthusiastically supported as a Democratic senator from Delaware, is how the friends of his predecessor, Dick Cheney, at Halliburton got rich providing housing, meals, water and many other services to Beau Biden and hundreds of thousands of other American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, at a cost of an estimated $39.5 billion by reliable estimates, much of it in no-bid contracts as the Pentagon outsourced many of the non-combat duties handled by the military in previous wars. In this shocking new book, investigative journalist Joseph Hickman, himself a Marine and Army veteran, asserts that Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, where Cheney was CEO before he became vice president, poisoned thousands of American soldiers and many thousands more Iraqis with the toxic smoke from the burn pits they operated in place of the incinerators typically run by the military. Some of the burn pits were operated on or near chemical warfare sites from Saddam Hussein's rule. Hickman’s story follows an arc tragically familiar to the victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam: Denial by the government that there was a problem, refusal by government agencies to address the problem, and finally, in the face of overwhelming evidence, grudging admissions by the government that there is indeed a problem. The Burn Pits is a must-read book, and I would have given it five stars if Hickman was a bit better writer.

This book was superbly written and, as many have pointed out, should be required reading for all Americans. What it discusses is shocking and should make any American feel deeply troubled by what U.S. soldiers and veterans have to put up with during deployment and long after they return from the battlefield. I don't come from a military family or know many people who have been or are in the military, so I didn't have a great awareness of these issues. What I can say as an environmental scientist, is that burn pit air pollution has no doubt been spreading all over the place--toxic metals and metalloids such as cadmium and lead are more likely to appear in the smallest particle size fractions, which are most easily transported through the atmosphere--we're talking here thousands of miles, or even more--before depositing back to the earth's surface. And as pointed out in the book, the smaller the particle, the more dangerous when inhaled, as the more likely it is to reach the brain, lungs, and vascular system. It disturbs me greatly to think of the quantity of pollutants being pumped into our atmosphere and distributed over the planet, let alone the huge harm is is posing to those immediately next to and near the burn pits with the highest exposures. Clearly this is just another case where people at the top who could easily put a stop to these practices won't be bothered to learn from the mistakes of the past (and in this case, present) because of all the money and greed involved. I'm so glad to have come across this book, since there is so little media attention on this very important and disturbing issue. What a travesty--I will definitely be paying much greater attention to veterans issues from now on. U.S. soldiers are definitely paying WAY too high a price for enlistment.

Thank you, Joseph Hickman, for bringing to light the criminal negligence of KBR/Halliburton and our own DOD. Sadly this horror is not getting much coverage in the main stream media. I had never heard a word about burn pits until March 21, 2017. It was that day my son-in-law, Heath, was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease and a rare stage IV terminal lung cancer. His oncologist's first question to him was, "What the hell have you been exposed too?" before he went on to explain that his type of cancer could ONLY have been caused by exposure to toxic chemicals and inhalants. Conferring with 20 other oncologists in order to gain some insight on what the best course of treatment would be, no one had anything to offer. He is being treated with chemotherapy and immunotherapy which is extending his life but we don't know for how long. The prognosis is grim. This is a 36 year old family man with a 4 year old daughter who should be looking forward to seeing his daughter off to her first day of kindergarten next fall instead of making sure his paperwork and affairs are in order to prepare for the end of his life. Heath served in Iraq as an army medic at Camp Victory and Liberty. There were times he was ordered to stand guard at or very near a burn pit. For three months of his 1 year deployment he stood as ordered within 50 yards of a burn pit for many hours each day. He has cancer in his lungs, membranes, heart, and bones now. There is no primary tumor which leaves nothing to focus on with treatment. The autoimmune disease causes multiple daily nosebleeds and some days bleeding from his ears. It's been a total nightmare. I feel as if I'm watching him slowly being murdered, day by day. And to learn that the DOD and VA denies ANY accountability for poisoning hundreds of thousands of people, not just soldiers, but civilians as well, should alarm and piss off to no end every one who knows this.

Dear CMSgt Jordan, We would like to extend to you a hearty congratulations on the recent disapproval of your VA disability application. We are more than proud to be able to offer you yet another opportunity to exhibit your dedication to the core value of "Service Before Self". We appreciate your dedication and greatly admire the fact that you enlisted and served during four different decades, tirelessly performed assigned duties, and voluntarily deployed on a combat tour in order to provide mature and stable leadership to our junior troops. We are especially pleased that we were able to supply you with the opportunity to sacrifice your health in service to your country. The derision and scorn that you received upon your return to home base was designed to further develop your character and provide you with additional opportunity to exhibit your ability and willingness to accept hardship and sacrifice as the character building opportunities that they are certainly meant to be. Thank you for understanding that supervision and leadership sincerely do "not" have your welfare and well being in mind. We do appreciate your willingness to avoid forcing them to glimpse a harsh sample of reality, instead allowing them to continue their illusion of a military branch filled with Shiny Happy People, Unicorns, and Cotton Candy Rainbows. As a military professional you should be commended on your ability to understand that the medical personnel that you were lead to believe are in place to assist you are only concerned with your ability to pass your semi annual fitness assessment and insuring that problems and concerns are not allowed to rise to a level which could reflect badly upon the unit leadership. Another accolade must be offered for your attempted involvement of the office of your Senator, Mr. Ted Cruz for assistance with dealing with the mind numbing, soul crushing bureaucracy that passes as a safety net for our nations war fighters. We are sure that by now it has dawned on you that you have not, and will not, ever be afforded the courtesy of a response from this representative or his staff. However be assured that your issue is raised on a bi-annual basis during their mandatory Enjoyment Session/Bake Sale/Revival Meeting. Additional prayers are available for a nominal campaign contribution and for a limited time you are eligible for our special double prayer which as you may have surmised gives you double the prayer power for you dollars. Be assured that your concerns related to the effects of burn pit usage on the health of yourself and many others has been slowly drawing attention from some members of the leadership chain. You may have heard that burn pit exposure is being considered as a possible cause of the illness that took the life of the the son of our Vice President. We can assure you that with this type of attention it will only be a matter of years before our elected officials and Veteran Administration leadership will commence a drive to begin to start thinking about getting ready to start thinking about beginning to select the shape of the table required to think about starting to get ready to consider beginning to plan a meeting and choose a caterer. Thank you again for your service and sacrifice! Now, would you please keep this between us and just go away. Regards, Your Gubment I have been fighting this battle for over 4 years now. Joseph, thank you brother for putting this book out for us. Reading it did me a world of good and made me realize that I am not alone.

I hope more people read this book and take action! SSG Hickman, THANK YOU for providing more information on this continuing problem in regards to our government's responsibility and lack of action towards our veterans! One reviewer stated that there was not enough information provided! If all of the information on this subject had been included in this book, it could not have published in a readable format! Hopefully this book will encourage others to research and demand that our government provide the care and support that is needed! Our veterans need and deserve all of the support we can provide. They put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms, and now they need us to support them in their quest for treatment. It should be simple........medical problem = treatment! But with every major conflict, every war, veterans face the same obstacles, but with different labels!

A great book that every American should read. Being a combat veteran I have personal experience with the lack of support and unnecessary exposure to agents that are detrimental to one's health. Tens of thousands of us were sprayed with Agent Orange while out on operations but the VA would not recognize any problems related to that for many years after the "war" was over. Hopefully, if enough of our citizens become aware of what is happening with these burn pits, we can put pressure on our representatives in Congress to get the military to comply with their own stated standards and stop the unhealthy conditions that exist today. The very least that a soldier should be able to expect is that he or she should be safe from any harm at the hands of the military and country that he/she serves and in the event that any health condition develops that treatment will be made available.

The young wife of one of my son's friends has stage 4 colon cancer because of her exposure to the burn pits near U.S. military bases in Iran and Afghanistan. This non-fiction book contains narrative chapters and passages that tell the stories of individual soldiers, a feature that puts a human face on the suffering caused by the burn pits. The author also provides lots of well-researched facts with citations. Buy this book, and after reading it, write to your representatives in Congress asking them to fund better treatment for our veterans.

This book is a must-read for anyone who calls themselves a Patriot and who loves this country and who believes we owe it to our soldiers to make good on the promises we make them. Imagine offering your life to serve your country, then getting exposed to a chemical soup 24/7 (in some cases) that you can't escape. Everyone around you makes jokes and the culture is to not complain so you don't. Then months or years later when your lungs start to bleed and you can't remember your wife's name or who those little kids are that live in your house you're told by the V.A. it had nothing to do with the lithium smoke, the plastics and asbestos and paint vapors and ash you'd been breathing for your entire tour of duty. Then when the tumors start crushing your windpipe and damaging your kidneys the V.A. says, "Must've been something else, so we're not going to bother taking care of you." If everyone knew in advance how little care a returning soldier gets, and how difficult the V.A. makes it for them, I doubt we'd have much of an armed forces at all.

The book opened my eyes to what I already knew about the army,DoD,Pentagon,VA,and let's not forget our wonderful politicians who cover up and give lip service to our country's veterans. I served three times in Vietnam and the Gulf war. I retired a CSM in 1992. I applied to the VA for several disability benefits and have been waiting now for five years. When I arrived back from the Gulf War I told my wife that I didn't know which one would kill me the Southeast or Southwest curd. Thanks to the author for all his work and service to our country. May God bless all our veterans and families.

Having been based at Camp BUCCA myself I have to say this book brought back many unpleasant memories. That said I'm really glad people are writing about the burn pits to keep them in the news. I'm sure the government is hoping we forget. This is our agent orange! I was able to test this product for free or a discount in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by the seller or the offer in any way.

Warning...this book will make you mad if you read it. Thousands of soldiers were exposed daily to the smoke from the Burn Pits and they came home and were already sick or got sick. The Military, Government and the VA deny there is a connection. Even now on the VA website they are denying a connection. Beau Biden served overseas and was exposed to the smoke and got brain cancer as did most of the people he served with. People developed lung diseases, neurological disorders and cancers...young people and the VA denied them benefits. It is outrageous.

Hugely important, well documented, and very well written. If you truly "support our troops", this book will become a textbook! Don't look for it in a military PX or Exchange store, however. The Pentagon won't allow it on their book store shelves, lest their troops become enlightened about how they are being poisoned and ignored. Like the Agent Orange scandal of the Vietnam era, this story gives the army's advertising slogan "An Army of One" a most ominous and disturbing meaning.

This book is of particular interest to me after my tours in Iraq and being consistently exposed to burn pits. This book provides great information to help support a VA claim for compensation for health issues as a result of burn pit exposure. The VA is still reluctant to accept the overwhelming data to support health diagnoses from burn pits but this book as well as other peer related studies are helping.

A very disturbing look at how today's soldiers are being damaged, killed, and misled by the very military they are pledged to serve. This generation's soldiers are being poisoned at their bases and the causes are being covered up. Halliburton, and senior military officials should be ashamed and discharged for what they are allowing to happen. What happened in Viet Nam w/ Agent Orange, has now reached a similar level for today's troops w/ the burn pits. Shame for those allowing this to continue.

Very informative and fast read that reveals a government cover-up that hurt so many of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A sad tale of greed by Dick Cheney and his colleagues at KBR, revelations of careless, prideful cover-ups by George Bush, causing the deaths of thousands of American soldiers. And the VA still refuses to help them, in callous disregard for the sacrifices these young men and women have made for our country. Well told by Staff Sgt. Joseph Hickman.

A raw story that needs to be told, and not forgotten. Our Vet's need to be supported in benefits and within the health care system.

Everyone who cares about our veterans should read this well researched book about the toxic burn pits of the Middle East. We may have injured another generation of veterans and we need to fully investigate and help those affected, before it is too late for them.

Another excellent book by Joseph Hickman that exposes who vets are treated after being poisoned by toxic smoke from the KBR burn pits!! It's outrageous to read how big money (Halliburton, KBR) can get away with this crime and the vets have to pay.

A must read for Obama and his cabinet members. I finally understand many abnormal EEG's in the last 10 years. Thanks for being brave enough to write this.

I received my book in the mail, started to read and could not put it down. For me, my thinking about PTSD, a term that is widely used to described Veterans behavior, is forever changed.

This book needs to be in every service members hands (active and veteran! God read, engaging and thought provoking. Buy this book!

good read...every viet nam vet should read this one...and their families!

I read this book in one night.

A riveting account of the military's irresponsible disposal of waste materials which cause a variety of health issues and ultimate death of military personnel.

"Fascinating" is my one word review. I would recommend that every American read this.

Great book with some very powerful information. Makes you ask some questions about what's going on.

What a great book!!! I was a soldier over there during all of this and have suffered from the burn pits for years now!!! If you want an honest ebook, buy this one!!! I have listened to this book many times and love it more and more every time!!!

Great information. I passed the book on to my brother who was in the Navy in 1964-1968. He hadn'the heard about this.

Shocking, provocative, maddening. I just can’t come up with enough adjectives to describe my outrage at our own government.

Everyone needs to read this. Many soldiers and other USG employees who have served in our war zones have had their lives permanently altered or destroyed.

This is real. It's what my ex-husband experienced in Afghanistan. heard him hacking on the phone and he alsways spoke about what was being burned. This book explains what that was all about. more will probably come out.....eventually.........

The most stunning fact is that even when they, the soldiers, know that they are treasoned by their politicians, tomorrow they would go again and follow the same orders against people who in no way are their enemy or a danger for their homeland, retoric an flags would again let them march true their own poisoned valleys!

This book is extremely informative and eye opening on the real deal in the Middle East. I suggest the book be read by all who had served in the Middle East and pressure congress to take action and not screw these veterans as they did us Vietnam veterans.

Fighting for our future with death as their gift. This book is enlightening, shocking and horrifying on the great misconduct being conducted by the US. We need change, and this book is our catalyst. Must read ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

excellant book about sad plight of our Veterans. They've put themselves in harm's way for us and now we're doing nothing to help them

A must read for all. Couldn't put it down

Be aware of your Government Crimes

Astounding and heartbreaking. There is just too little public awareness about this shameful situation. Thank you, Mr. Hickman, for you compassionate and rigorous research and publication.

This book should be read by everyone. The burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan poisoned so many of our soldiers and this is a grave injustice that has broken my heart.

I had no idea. Joseph Hickman, thank you for your service and your work writing this must read for all Americans. I highly recommend this book.

Interesting and more anger toward our military and Congress. Agent Orange all over again. We need to hold the military accountable.

Finally someone that's putting the truth out there for all to read!

An easy read and a must read!

Needs to be read by Congress and President and Cabinet. Action needed to help,our military personnel and veterans

A thorough examination of a problem that will plague our nation and its veterans for decades.

Great product at a great price!

Lives of veterans evidently have no currency. A condemnation of the VA and the government that allows this type of "alternative "narrative to exist. We send soldiers to war, yet STILL don't care for them when they return...worse , we lie about their why they returned devastatingly ill. The question is....who benefits? Certainly not our veterans.

A Must Read for all Veterans. A great insight into the Disgrace called DOD and VA!! I highly recommend this book. 👍🏼

It was very well researched.

This was purchased as a gift for my daughter who said that it was a good read.

Many people are familiar with Agent Orange's effects on civilians and soldiers as a result of the Vietnam War. For those who aren't familiar, the United States and South Vietnamese army used Agent Orange to combat the North Vietnamese Army and Vietcong concealing themselves in the Vietnam jungle brush. Agent Orange was an herbicide that killed jungle brush and "created fields of fire where the enemy could no longer hide." Agent Orange was used for 10 years, killed 20% of Vietnam's plant life and sickened thousands of Vietnamese and many US troops. "As soldiers first started coming home from Vietnam, many were plaued with strange illnesses and cancers that couldn't at first be explained." By the end of the war thousands of people were sick and the veterans soon realized that they had all served in areas where Agent Orange was sprayed. "The Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs initially denied that Agent Orange was hazardous and refused to provide the veterans with medical benefits. It took many years and hundreds of independent studies on the damaging effects of Agent Orange before the DOD finally acknowledged that the U.S. military had inadvertently poisoned tens of thousands of its own soldiers." I thought the U.S. wrongly using chemicals and simultaneously poisoning its own soldiers ended with the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Joseph Hickman, a former US Marine and Army Sergeant tells the poignant and shocking story of the chemical war practiced on GIs in Iraq and Afghanistan-by their own commanding officers. Hickman tells this story through his own personal story in addition to the stories of other Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The U.S. military is poisoning its soldiers as much today as it did during the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, we are repeating history and it appears we haven't learned any lessons since the tragic Vietnam War Afghanistan and Iraq soldiers are being poisoned as a result of open air burn pits. These burn pits were used in over 200 military basis in order to dispose of accumulated trash by the U.S. Armed Forces. The trash that is burned includes highly toxic materials such as plastics and medical waste. In addition the burn pits are located on already contaminated ground as a result of mustard gas and other poison weapons. These burn pits blatantly violate the EPA air quality standards but, according to Hickman, the Pentagon put into place allegedly temporary regulations that are still in place as of late 2015. Just as Agent Orange affected Vietnam War veterans, these burn pits are affecting Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The soldiers are suffering from numerous health problems including autoimmune disorders, COPD, and various types of cancer. In fact, the author included a list of all the diseases of case study subjects at the end of the book. There are too many to list here. This is an important book. Read this book and write your member of Congress to tell them to support our Veterans experiencing health problems as a result of the war!

"The Burn Pits" is a research/ memoir by Sgt. Joseph Hickman that exposes yet another case of American Pentagon and Department of Defense duplicity that has left tens of thousands of American Veterans and uncountable Afghan and Iraqi civilians sick, dying and dead as a result of intentional actions during the on-going war in the Middle East. In short, the DOD subcontracted much of the war to KBR, a division of Halliburton. Halliburton's the company the Bush-Cheney administration contracted to out-source the war; a company that Dick Cheney served as CEO up until he was tapped as running mate whereupon they gifted him with a bonus of $36 million and countless stock options. In other words, Vice President Cheney would continue to draw a substantial salary from Halliburton. Particularly should Halliburton get a sizable contract, say from the United States Government. But that's normal 21st century greed and lies. The real horror is that the US Military produces thousands of tons of trash each day. Against EPA and DOD guidelines, KBR chose to destroy this trash using open air burn pits on six massive bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. They dug pits into contaminated soil where decades if mustard gas and saran had leaked from Saddam Hussein's storage and in these pits they burned everything. Day to day trash, medical waste, plastics, styrofoam, pesticides, name it. The book focuses on the thousands of victims interviewed and researched by Sgt. Hickman since their return from military duty. The ailments have taken a while to set in, as is the case with anyone forced to breath thick, toxic, black smoke 24 hours a day. The illnesses are horrific ranging from COPD, autoimmune malfunction, tumors, leukemia, and brain cancer-to name just a few. An entire chapter is devoted to the death of Vice President Biden's son, Major Beau Biden who, after serving two tours at the burn pits returned home only to die of a brain tumor a few years later. He is one of thousands. Hickman is not an experienced research author. He is bright and educated and it is his own battle with burn pit maladies and the constant denial and abuse from the DOD and the VA that caused him to undergo the frustrating research and energy (no small feat for an ill man) to write this book. His intent is to use his book to affect change. Given our government's refusal to accept responsibility for Agent Orange, this book stands as a remarkably important voice in American History. It is not necessary to speak of ways in which this book could have been more powerful and effective. It is closer to a memoir than historical research, though every citation and interview is validated within the text. You need to read this book because it is now our responsibility to learn the truth of all that happened during the first decade of the 21st century while The Executive Branch was lying, stealing, and murdering. For this reason, for content over quality, this is the most important book of historical research since Nine-Eleven.

This is a rage-inducing expose about the chronic illnesses, and deaths, of US military personnel who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, focusing on the open-air burn pits at several major bases there. The author is particularly compelling, and poignant, in his use of personal stories, individual cases of soldiers and airmen, healthy when deployed, suffering through the smoke and coming home painfully ill, ruined. Some revelations: - Saddam Hussein really did have weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) after all, albeit old, decrepit nerve and blister (mustard) agents left over from the 1980s war against Iran – and for a war ostensibly over WMDs, the US seems to have been cavalier about locating them and disposing of them properly. - The US built many of its biggest bases at the very locations the enemy had made and stored WMDs, without testing the soil and then burning tons of waste on that soil – probably including at least some of the chemical agents or their residue. - The burn pits flouted the military’s own environmental regulations. - The burn pits were, he alleges, operated by contractors, notably Halliburton and its subsidiary KBR, companies in which Vice President Dick Cheney had had an interest. - The cancer death of Vice President Biden’s son, Beau Biden, may have been a result of burn-pit exposure. - The returned veterans were treated callously by military medical agencies and the VA, accused of malingering or faking their symptoms, their claims often denied and left to tend their own illnesses and deaths. The author makes a sophisticated point in mentioning the Feres Doctrine. The Supreme Court case of Feres v. U.S. (340 U.S. 135 (1950)), which is still valid case law, bars service members from seeking civil relief for injuries incurred in the service of their country. It means that if the military or the VA won’t treat injured service members, they’re on their own, even if their pre-deployment exams showed them in the best condition – and the author makes this point in particular. It’s a recurring problem: the bomb-test vets of the 1950s, the Agent Orange casualties in Vietnam, the Gulf War syndrome injuries in the 1990s, also met with this kind of neglect, so all the more reason to deal with this now. It’s a fairly short book, and could do with more editing – the last chapters were a bit choppy. Nonetheless, the author was diligent and far-reaching in his research, and it’s an indictment that deserves a follow-up by the powers that be. These ailing veterans will be with us for some time, and still need our help. All this misery is simply from the burn pit problem, which this book focuses on, aside from other Iraq-Afghanistan hazards by depleted-uranium rounds or oil fires or shoddy base construction. Certainly, service members in wartime might expect injury or death by enemy action or the ancillary hazards in a war theater, such as transport accidents, local illnesses, heat/cold injuries or accidental fratricide. But, as this author is showing, they should not expect to be hurt or killed by avoidable, environmental hazards caused by the military’s own negligence, nor should they be discarded after they come home. They served in good faith and they were betrayed, as we see in this book.

If you aren't outraged, you aren't paying attention. One of my favorite quotes, and one that holds particularly clear once you read this well writtten and researched work. Sadly, the author hits all the right points, making a solid case for the fact that our country is not taking care of it's own.....the citizens who fight for the freedoms we all enjoy are so often left with life altering or fatal injuries caused needlessly by the use of chemical warfare by this country. They go to war mentally and physically healthy, yet come back not only mentally and emotionally scarred, but all too often with cases of cancer, wasting diseases, and many as of yet undiagnosed or unable to be identified and properly treated illnesses. Written in a manner that will break your heart, it's done in a way that makes the entire chemical poisoning outrage easy for both the total lay person and the seasoned reader to understand. There's plenty of blame to go around here, but fixing and dealing with those who deserve at least a part of the blame will never come about until this problem is insistently and continually called out to the public, government, press, etc. The handbook on chemical poisoning and the injustice of our government to our own troops. Please read this today, and share it with others. This is a story that must be told!

Another in a long and distinguished line of books that are currently exposing the inhumanity of our elitist leaders; their hypocritical two-faced TV side, versus the reality their off-camera policies. In Burn Pits/The Poisoning of America's Soldiers, author Joseph Hickman takes the reader through on his journey into the reality of those infamous burn pits/I never really thought or realized how much trash is created by war; I don't think many people do. It is estimated that every soldier deployed to a co0mbat zone accumulates on average about ten pounds of trash each day, resulting in hundreds of tons of solid waste a day burned in the war zones of Afghanistan & Iraq. By May 2003, there were over 250 burn pits, many operating nearly 24-hrs a day, 7 days a week on U.S. military bases in Afghanistan & Iraq. Nearly 8 years after the U.S. had gone to war in Afghanistan-CENT-COM released guidelines pertaining to the construction and management of open-air burn pits. The U.S. military had already burned millions of tons of trash in the open-air pits from November 2001 to September 2009. During that time, most of the burn pits operated round-the-clock without any attempt to monitor and control the clouds of toxic emissions swirling into the air. The author delves into the investigative process as he uncovers startling facts that speak of the government's and corporate official's callous disregard for the soldiers on the front lines in Afghanistan & Iraq; paying more attention and concern for their own healthy bottom lines, than the health of citizens or our own soldiers. These pits were scooped out of earth that was already contaminated! The grounds contained chemical waste from Saddam's deadly stockpiles of mustard gas and nerve agents! The soldiers on those bases-and the civilian population downwind from them-have been exposed to particularly lethal plumes as they wafted into the skies from those fiery pits. The author the asks, if the White House and Congress can act so quickly to send hundreds of thousands of men and women to war, why can't they act just as quickly to treat the casualties of war? The author also posits that Washington shows again and again it knows how to make international wars and how to ignore the international casualties and human wreckage from those wars. There just isn't enough corporate profit in it apparently. Saddle up for a hard ride and read of how the Washington bureaucracy is allowed to get away with its shabby treatment of sick veterans, in part because of the purposed incompetence and gullibility of our Mockingbird press.

Joseph Hickman has good reason to distrusts the DOD and VA. A Gulf War veteran, he reports he has had a chronic cough and chronic sinusitis since his discharge from the armed service - symptoms he says are common among veterans of that conflict, and like other veterans with such symptoms he reports lengthy and bitter conflicts with the VA about his disability. But this book is not about his personal problems but, rather the difficulties of numerous veterans of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who served on basses where all kinds of trash was burnt in open pits 24/7 and who have developed lung problems, cancers, and other illnesses. There are now groups trying to get help for such veterans but, it seems, claims are being denied. Mr Hickman points out most tellingly that the air around the burn pits was not tested nor was the soil in and around the pits. He questions whether this soil had remains of mustard gas in Iraq and whether the air there and elsewhere had multiple carcinogens as a result of what was burnt. This is an angry book and an important one. While it does not prove that all the sick, dying, or deceased veterans who served near these pits problems were or are the result of such service, it does document a failure to seriously protect our troops from harm - the pits should never have been built without proper tests and precautions - or real testing of what was in the smoke after medical complaints began.

A worthy field of inquiry related to Gulf War Syndrome is the topic of this book. Journalist and Marine Joseph Hickman has written a book about the sanctioned "Burn Pits" of the Gulf War. He formerly reported about the Guantanamo Bay prison, resulting in a Harper's magazine article and a book. For this round of military expose he has compiled stories, reports, first-hand accounts, and historical details of the Halliburton subsidiary KBR's construction of massive burn pits at military bases throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. He and others theorize that these burn pits, which resulted in massive daily burns of mixed garbage, plastics, metals, human waste, chemicals, pharmaceuticals (ignited with petroleum products) created not only a short-term hazard to the servicemen and women stationed in the Middle East, but set the stage for chronic, debilitating, and lifelong illnesses, some fatal. Cancer, respiratory diseases, and neurological issues are blamed on the burn pits. Hickman does an excellent job of emotionally investing the reader with compelling stories of individual military personnel who have suffered. He also creates a compelling narrative of military industrial complex and the climate of no-bid contracts which made the Iraq wars some of the most lucrative to a select few, while being expensive to taxpayers, as well as dangerous and largely unregulated in health and safety matters. What the book does is present a blistering account of military missteps related to human safety, particularly failures in the VA hospitals and denials of disability of affected service people. What fails to present are detailed footnotes, indexed material, or academic references, and instead lays at the reader a litany of complaints and allegations against the U.S. military's decision- making related to health and safety in persuasive language. What the book not do is definitively prove the correlation of the burn pits with illnesses. I had questions about vaccines, burning of chemical weapons, and chemicals used by the military (such as insecticides). Moreover, the reader must surmise that some individuals will develop cancer or neurological conditions from diverse and often unknown causes. In short, correlation does not prove causation. Do I believe the burn pits are correlated with serious, possibly life-threatening illnesses? Absolutely. Do I believe that Joseph Hickman has proved the pits as the sole cause of these illnesses from the contents of this book? No. But, it is a promising start that warrants further research and evaluation. A book consistently written in righteous indignation becomes difficult to navigate, particularly when numbers, definitive research, and statistics related to the topic are few and far between. And granted, the military has little interest or investment in tracking these issues. However, I hope Joseph Hickman continues to research these issues and reach out to affected service people. He has not forgotten the atrocities against our military personnel, nor the daily battles many are facing. His book is an important testimony in this ongoing battle.

“The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers” by Joseph Hickman arrived in the mail yesterday; that I’m reviewing it this morning says more than anything else about how extremely important I believe this book to be. Admittedly, it is short and a fast read – less than 150 pages including acknowledgements; but those pages are packed with vital if grim information. It is receiving the “love it” 5-star evaluation from me not because it is “uplifting” but because it is crucial. One of the things I enjoy doing is watching the live-streaming video from several eagle nests, and one of the things that amazes and delights all viewers is that the young eaglets, almost from the moment of hatching, seem to have the instinct to avoid fouling the nest. It is a true hoot to watch the tiny, fuzzy eaglet shoot a projectile poop out of the nest-bowl. As I was reading Hickman’s appalling narrative dealing with the open burn pits that have been causing so much illness among American service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention, of course, the totally ignored civilian casualties in those areas, I could not avoid the thought: “If the birds are smart enough to refrain from fouling their nests, why are we so stupid?” The answer, of course, is clear in Hickman’s account. The burn pits were built and operated by KBR, a subsidiary of the infamous civilian contracting firm Halliburton, and we all know about that company’s connection to former VP Dick Cheney. Although open burn pits are recognized environmental hazards even when they are NOT burning noxious chemicals and other toxic waste, and although they’ve been banned in the US itself and most other nations, they’re cheaper to build and operate than safer incinerators. As always, the almighty profit motive has taken precedence over human lives and environmental safety. Hickman’s main thesis, of course, is not merely that the burn pits are one of the most insanely stupid activities undertaken during the course of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, but that the gross negligence was compounded by building them on ground that had formerly been the location of chemical weapons stores left over from the pre-Gulf War era…sites of former Iraqi bases which, after the initial invasion and bombing, were re-purposed as American FOB’s. In addition, the VA and DOD have absolutely and utterly refused to acknowledge the clear connection between the toxic fumes produced in unbelievable quantity by these pits and the subsequent disabilities of the service men and women who were exposed to them. The author analogizes the negligence of the government and the military towards the burn pit casualties to the Agent Orange debacle of the Vietnam War. Also, of course, we have related situations in the US itself. There is a commercial currently playing on TV here in New Mexico urging former civilian employees in the nuclear industry – workers at Los Alamos and Sandia Laboratories during the period of the development of atomic weaponry – to get the “John Q. Patriot” card that entitles them to “free home health care”. But as we all know, the profit ethos pervades every aspect of our culture, not only motivating our military adventures, but also preventing any real concern or compassion for the soldiers we send out to fight. The “thank you for your service” platitudes are pretty meaningless when compared to the actuality of refusing even the most basic support and medical assistance for those with these “delayed casualties”. I am grateful but a bit amazed that I received this book from the Vine program in its final bound format, rather than uncorrected proof. Hopefully this means that the book is already in full circulation as it certainly deserves to be, and that it will reach many who need to be informed – especially in this very contentious election year!

This is an important book, and having seen a burn pit like Joseph Hickman is reporting on, none of his conclusions surprise me. It takes five seconds of observation to see these are horrid, toxic risks, as the picture I've included shows. I took that picture of a TINY burn pit and it had a miasma of smoke around it, burning 24-7. While it did not give off the heavy clouds like Hickman describes at Camp Victory or Balad, it's still a mishmash of plastics, wood, cloth, and who knows what else. And this specific pit was not managed by KBR or anybody - just the soldiers tossed stuff in at the end of each day. I don't think this book is definitive by any means, and it is built on heavily anecdotal evidence. Hickman provides plenty of claims about soldiers who were likely affected by something, but this is not research that provides a definitive link. He writes about veteran's experience with the VA, and how health claims are routinely denied - but it's often from one source. For truly investigating reporting, it does need to be more than "he said this happened," and taking that claim entirely at face value. The example of Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer, is very compelling - and I accept the logic that burn pit exposure might have caused his cancer - but right now it's a theory. So it's up to a scientific journalist/researcher to take this theroy and try to make a specific link. Hickman's book has raised the question and that's a vital step. As he describes, the government stonewalled about Agent Orange, or the Gulf War Syndrome, before finally, after years, becoming willing to look at how wartime conditions might have caused various diseases - so in the case of burn pits, it's only been a few years and writers like Hickman are helping to raise awareness. He blames KBR for mismanagement or apathy, and I think that's fair - the military wanted things done easily and expeditiously and left it to KBR to do the job however they wanted. That lets KBR off the hook because, as their spokesman says to Hickman - the military approved their decisions. If this book succeeded at one thing more than anything else - it made me angry at how the VA routinely denied health claims. The cost of health care IS expensive, no doubt, but it seems to me that any veteran should have the benefit of the doubt as far as linkage - if we can spend millions/billions/trillions on the war, we can spend more money on the post-war care. Yeah, okay, so a disease might be random bad luck and we're paying for treatment not specifically connected to a war - so what? Who cares? Wouldn't you rather pay for the 10 veterans whose bad health IS linked to their service, even if that means 10 other veterans get "free" health care? I'll take that chance. I embedded as a journalist in Iraq several times, and I'm an Army veteran of Desert Storm. During Desert Storm, they lined us up to take some hoodoo anthrax pill. I got out of line and never took it - not as a protest but just because I wasn't buying what they were selling (nevermind that I knew full well that we never going to be attacked by WMD anyway). In the years since, I've seen plenty of reports that link that pill to various conditions. So trusting quick decisions about health made in wartime is usually a bad idea - and whoever thought to themselves, "You know what? A good way to get rid of trash to have an open fire burn 24-7-365, because that cloud of ash and smoke will surely be harmless," should have to answer for that decision.

“The Burn Pits” by Joseph Hickman is an eye-opening account of the Iraq and Afghanistan war’s burn pit scandal. Sergeant Hickman is a respected assistant professor, researcher, author and activist for veteran’s rights. This well-researched, timely and powerful book promises to bring the shame of government, corporate and military malfeasance in the burn puts to light; including what is owed to the brave service members who have suffered as a consequence. Sergeant Hickman brings just the right amount of context, research and analysis to the issue. Sergeant Hickman interviewed hundreds of service members who were exposed to burn pit toxins, reviewed the medical literature, and followed the Congressional hearings. His well-rounded perspective helps us understand how soldiers suffering from ‘delayed casualties’ get lost in a military/industrial system that privileges U.S. geopolitical interests over the needs of ordinary people. I like that Sergeant Hickman has personalized the subject by profiling a few of the individuals whose health was wrecked by the burn pits. Reading these deeply affecting stories, it is clear that no one should have to undergo these agonies. We cannot help but be outraged at the institutional indifference that often confronts veterans when they desperately seek financial and medical assistance in their time of need. I highly recommend this important book to everyone.

You will be outraged at what Halliburton and its subsidiary KBR has done to the health of our military, although if you lived through the Vietnam Agent Orange saga you may not be surprised. Joseph Hickman, a former U.S. Marine and Army sergeant with a string of commendations tells the story of the chemical warfare against our own soldiers by Dick Cheney's no-bid military contractors. It is both a humanitarian and ecological disaster. Soldiers in the past had metal canteens and mess kits which were washed and reused. Our corporate subcontractors have replaced these with single use Styrofoam and plastic, both of which degrade in the heat of the desert, contaminating food and drink for our troops. More importantly the US Military produces hundreds of tons of trash each day. Against EPA and DOD guidelines, KBR chose to destroy this trash using open air burn pits on six massive bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. It generates significantly toxic garbage. The garbage is burned in open pits- officially "temporary" but actually a long term feature of our Iraqi and Afghan military outposts. Some of these burn pits were built on sites where chemical weapons- stashed by the US or abandoned by Saddam- have been dumped, reactivating them with the fire The fumes released from these open burn pits have lead to brain cancers, internal organ cancers and even a spike in birth defects among Iraqi babies, some of which are so rare that they have not even been named. Not a good way to win hearts and minds! It has taken years for the VA to acknowledge these cancers as being service related and many have been refused care and died. Those who breathed the toxic black smoke and the toxic white ash were reassured that it was not dangerous- but it was. The conclusion that our troops were sold out for profit is inescapable. The book will leave you outraged.

I am one of the thousands of veterans who were subjected to the acrid, black smoke emitted from the act of burning trash that is ubiquitous across the Middle East. This book intrigued me because I was curious what Joseph Hickman had to write. What was inside the book was infuriating. Hickman has patched together a quilt of US government missteps that may end up resulting in being the Agent Orange for this generation’s military. Any service member who has served in the Middle East will speak to the stench and black smoke from the tons of trash incinerated every day. Hickman’s research led him to conclude that the open air burn pits at six locations in Iraq were even worse than anyone could have possibly imagined. Although the book relies on anecdotal evidence instead of hard data and documentary references, Hickman lays out a convincing argument that the almighty dollar has driven a series of US Government decisions that put more than a million veterans at risk. Hickman alleges that as early as the Reagan administration, the US provided dual-use technologies that enabled Iraq to build chemical weapons to support their operations against Iran. Hickman writes that Iraq mass-produced chemical weapons in the 80s, and then after the US-led invasion in 1991. The weapons that weren’t used, were then stored at a series of sites around the countries. He shares the heart-breaking story of a squad leader who tragically died a few years after he led his squad into a recently-emptied weapons storage bunker. And it wasn’t only the US population that suffered from the black smoke. Hickman provides hard-hitting assertions that the Iraqi population has experienced a spike in birth defects, including some that are so rare that they have not been named yet. After the service members return from combat, many of them had to fight more bureaucracy back home. Hickman documents anecdotes from US service members who have been fighting for months, and even years in some cases, to get the VA to recognize the burn pits as a source of lingering service-connected illnesses. This book documents an amazing conspiracy at the highest levels of US government. However, the story will be quickly discounted by the academic community because Hickman did not reference most of his substantial statements. Personal interviews are okay, but human memories are fallible. Some of these statements should have been really backed up by hard data. Would it really have been difficult to put in a chart showing the rise of birth defects in Basra? How about a chart showing the rate of birth defects in the 6 Iraqi cities alleged to be chemical weapon sites versus the other cities in the country? Hickman obviously put a lot of effort into the book, but it reads like a newspaper article. There is a lot of substance to this story. Hopefully, this book will trigger academic studies to further substantiate the claims. Don’t look on the US government to fund it, because according to Hickman, they were complicit in the poisoning of our troops.