MY TURN: Camp Lejeune victims still awaiting justice

I met my wife, Grace, in 1964 at Camp Lejeune, where I had been stationed by the Marines. At the time, she worked as a waitress at the base’s E-4-5 Club. In 1965 we married at the Camp Lejeune chapel. Later that year, Grace gave birth to our baby boy. Born severely underweight — 1 pound, 3 ounces — he died a few hours after delivery. He’s buried in “Baby Heaven,” the cemetery just off Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, along with hundreds of other babies who died.

From 1953 to 1987, one million enlisted servicemen and women, their families and civilian staff were poisoned by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune military base in North Carolina. Until now, those impacted have been denied the opportunity to seek justice for the government’s betrayal and allowing base residents and staff to drink, bathe and cook with water that contained up to 280 times the safety levels of known carcinogens.

Currently, the Veterans Administration acknowledges 15 diseases caused by consuming Camp Lejeune’s toxic water. To date, approximately 71,400 Camp Lejeune victims have filed for disability claims, yet only 5% have been treated for a recognized condition.

But a long list of additional illnesses experienced by former residents and staff remain uncovered by disability benefits. Because of a strict 10-year statute of repose in North Carolina, thousands of victims have been prohibited from filing legal claims related to Camp Lejeune’s poisoned water. North Carolina’s statute — the only such statute in the country — is the reason why the Camp Lejeune Justice Act is so important. Passed in the U.S. Senate a few weeks ago and expected to be signed into law by President Biden in the coming weeks, the bill offers reprieve for the million or more who have suffered.

Grace and I endured immense pain from the loss of our son. She had two completely healthy children previously, so I naturally considered our son’s death my fault. The tragedy scared Grace from trying again. What if we conceived another baby and they met the same fate? We simply couldn’t endure the pain and suffering twice.

We moved away from Camp Lejeune at the end of 1965. Three years later, Grace gave birth to our son, who has always been healthy.

Life moved on for us, and Camp Lejeune faded from memory as the place we fatefully met. In 2000, while surfing the internet, I stumbled upon an article about Camp Lejeune and three decades of toxic contamination in its water wells. It was a complete coincidence.

In 2004, Grace was diagnosed with breast cancer, resulting in a mastectomy. The surgery put the cancer at bay temporarily, but in 2014, it returned, requiring a second mastectomy and the removal of one-third of her lungs. I received a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2011 and was also operated on that year and later diagnosed renal toxicity, which has severely impacted my kidneys.

We have received no support for Grace’s health conditions, and no acknowledgement for the devastating loss of our first-born son. Coverage for her cancer treatment cost us tens of thousands of dollars out of our pocket.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act will provide reparations for Grace, our son, the hundreds, if not thousands, of others who lost their newborns, and others who lived on base, unknowingly consumed toxic water and today suffer the health consequences.

The military and our government ask so much from their enlisted servicemen and women. We were prepared to give our lives, but when push came to shove, they did not have our backs. They have refused to help our families, who never signed up for this unfathomable fate. The passage of this legislation is critically important because it serves as recognition that the country let us down when we needed support the most. The act will also, hopefully, guide our government in correcting how it treats veterans and their families in the future.

The Marine Corps and our government ask so much from their servicemen and women who are prepared to sacrifice their lives in defense of our nation. However, when contaminated by toxic drinking water, they were abandoned. The government refused to help Marines and their families at Camp Lejeune who never signed up for this fate. Our local Chapter of the Marine Corps League is seeking support from Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch who both have a long history of supporting our troops.

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Peter Optekar is a resident of Hayden and served in the U.S. Marine Corps for eight years.