By Cristina Johnson

After decades, asbestos still has a deadly toll on Mississippi veterans

Our veterans in Mississippi and nationwide experience health crises, which have their roots way back in the 1920s when the US Military started to apply asbestos for various activities, ranging from the construction of buildings, roads, and airstrips to shipbuilding and the maintenance of equipment. The amount used increased considerably during wartime, especially during WWII and the Vietnam and Korean wars. It continued to grow until the late 1970s, when laws were introduced to regulate the use of asbestos-containing material. However, asbestos is still not banned despite the evidence pointing to its health risks.

Asbestos is one of the many toxic substances veterans were exposed to during their service years, but it is among the deadliest ones. Asbestos is a durable and heat-resistant mineral fiber naturally occurring in rock and soil. These properties made it a cost-effective material valuable for the military industry. With the small asbestos particles contaminating almost everything from the barracks where veterans slept to boiler rooms, ammunition rooms, warships, fighter plans, and so on, service members risked developing malignant asbestos-linked conditions of mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer, and asbestosis, the scarring of lung tissue long after their service years. Asbestos also increases the risk of lung cancer, the most frequently occuring malignancy among our vets.

Mississippi veterans affected by asbestos

The US Army, US Navy, and US Air Force have military bases in Mississippi. The Navy has the strongest presence with its three installations. Gulfport Battalion Center, for example, was built to provide raw materials and construction services to the US Navy throughout World War II. It became a permanent military service base. Since then, its members, known as Seabees, have been responsible for building camps, bridges, roads, and airstrips. For example, more than 25,000 Seabees worked in Vietnam alone during the war, all of who were heavily exposed to asbestos during the construction.

Another example is the Naval Air Station (NAS) Meridian. It deals with jet strike training operations and is one of the primary training spots for the US Navy. While not a military base, Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula became the leading producer of ships for the US Navy. Moreover, the company is among Mississippi’s largest private employer of veterans and civilians.

The devastating consequences of overuse of asbestos have intensified in the past few decades. The reason behind it is inhaled asbestos fibers that lurk in the body for 20 to 50 years before the disease they cause starts showing symptoms. In Mississippi, between 1999 and 2017, there were 2,365 asbestos-related deaths. Asbestos was and is still used by many industries, and the civilian population is affected by its adverse health risks, too, but not to such an extent as veterans. According to medical reports, about 30 percent of all mesothelioma patients are veterans.

Between 2012 and 2022, Mississippi’s veteran population decreased by more than 27 percent. While the decline in their number is because the overall veteran population is aging (most are 65 or above), and many pass away, illnesses, such as respiratory conditions and cancers, contribute to this process. In 2022, 146.793 veterans lived in the state, 37 percent of whom had a disability, almost double compared to the 21.50 percent of the nonveteran population with disability.

Veterans should apply for compensation for their service-related disability

Though it’s a rare form of cancer, mesothelioma is among the conditions that are claiming many of Mississippi’s veterans’ lives. Unfortunately, there is still no cure for this cancer that primarily attacks the lungs but also the tissues around the abdomen, heart, or reproductive organs. Doctors can only alleviate mesothelioma patients’ pain and prolong their life expectancy and quality with proper treatment. However, this is extremely challenging because, like most asbestos diseases, mesothelioma is often misdiagnosed or only diagnosed at an advanced stage when it is already too late.   

Going for regular clinical, radiographic, and ancillary tests like  X-rays, CT scans, PET scans, and biopsies to identify asbestos in the body can hugely improve the diagnosis of asbestos-related conditions. The VA, aware of the health crises, urges veterans with known and unknown asbestos exposure to attend regular health check-ups and to file claims with asbestos trust funds or apply for disability compensation and possibly free health care from the VA if they have been diagnosed with a malignant asbestos disease.

The disability compensation application process with the VA has been more straightforward since 2022, since the passage of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (PACT Act), and more than 1.4 million veterans have been approved for benefits nationwide.Veterans who sacrificed so much for our nation should claim what is rightfully theirs. More information is available at https://www.va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits/.

About the author

Cristina Johnson is a Navy veteran advocate for Asbestos Ships Organization, a nonprofit whose primary mission is to raise awareness and educate veterans about the dangers of asbestos exposure on Navy ships and assist them in navigating the VA claims process. For more information, please visit our page.