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" The way the anthrax vaccine was presented to our unit, was that we would lead by example and we'd be the tip of the spear, we'd be the first guard unit to take the anthrax vaccine.

And that stirred up a little bit of dissent in the unit, people didn't really think it was necessary to leap forward and be so aggressive and take the vaccine when we all knew that there were folks whom we had served with in the past suffered symptoms of Gulf War Illness.

There were certainly questions about the unresolved maladies subsequent to Gulf War Service and anthrax vaccination. "

" I believe that even our commander had serious concerns, and that was expressed to us by some of his subordinate officers. as to the reaction he got from the Pentagon. And essentially we were told the same thing that he and his subordinates were told, that   there are no answers to our questions and that we were all going to line up and take the shot. That didn't settle well with anyone in the unit."

" I took three vaccinations, my first one was in December of '98, my second January of '99 and my third was May of '99.

I started off at 154 pounds and went down to ninety-something. So now I just have to come to grips with how I am and how I have to live. Every day, because it's not much of a life, and I don't deserve it. ...I was a soldier and an officer, and even though aviation was my love, the military was my life. "

" I was forced out of the guard based on my refusal to take the anthrax vaccine. I could not ask any of my men to do something I was not willing to do and I was certainly not willing to take the vaccine based on my belief that the order was illegal and immoral."

" There was so much of an outcry over it the commander formed what's know in the military as a 'Tiger-Team', a small group of people to investigate a situation and find answers. The atmosphere soon turned hostile and that's when we knew that something was wrong."

" If a study shows that something is good, well then two studies must mean it's better, right? So now we have thirteen studies since 1997, when in the first thirty years or so only three studies have been done."

" After testifying before congress, I was viewed with suspicion, in some circles ostracized. There was a time when I was pulled out of the clinic to work at a flu-shot line. As a skilled qualified Lieutenant I had no problem performing extra duty if it was for the good of the mission. But I was removed from my clinic duties and was to administer flu-shots for twenty-some odd days.

Then I found out that they had brought out the anthrax vaccine and even though I did not have to give it, the vaccine was still going to be administered on the flu-shot line.

I had some concerns and I said 'If we're administering this vaccine, which is currently controversial, we should be collecting good data on people who are receiving it.'

So we were giving multiple vaccinations including those who were due for their anthrax vaccine on the flu-shot line.

Now how in the world can you determine, if a vaccine had caused an illness or adverse reaction, when you're giving it simultaneously with other vaccines ?"

" After I received the vaccine, some rather unusual things started happening to my health. My ears started ringing the morning after my third shot.

That hasn't stopped since, after some 40 odd months later there's still non-stop screaming in my ears..."

" Mid April of '99, a couple of months after my third anthrax vaccine, I was sitting on my sofa one Sunday morning, next thing I know I'm heading for the floor - coffee cup and everything.

About thirty or forty minutes later I was able to crawl to the bottom of the stairs of my farmhouse, to get my wife's attention, to tell her something's wrong.

That attack lasted for about six hours that day."

" The bad thing about it is that these attacks start happening every other day, for about a year and a half. My wife, kids and friends tell me I look as though I'm eighty years old, my head's up against the wall, rapid breathing, rapid swallowing and my jaw hangs open because I can't close my mouth."

" The next day after these 'gray-outs' as I call them, I'm just trash physically, I'm physically done - I couldn't get off the sofa if the house was on fire."

" In September of '99 President Clinton signed Executive Order 13139 that allows DoD to experiment on us without our consent and knowledge, if they deem it in the interest of our national security."

" It got very hectic in the squadron because of the fear around us.

The crew was pulled aside and told to march into this tent, were they were told they would be given a shot that was classified, that had to do with livestock and they were not to talk about it. There were supposed to be no side effects from the shot and that the shot would not be annotated in their shot records.

So my friend and one other person on the crew slid out the door, unseen by anybody. They figured if it ain't going to be on the record, they can't prove they didn't take it."

" After having been given the shot, I started seeing the doctors at Walter Reed, arthritis had started to spread, they gave me a waver, and by that time they had done some blood-work.

I tested positive for ANA, which is 'Anti Nuclear Anti-Bodies', caused by an auto-immune system flair-up.

Then I started developing short-term memory problems; forgetting the smallest of things, not normal everyday forgetfulness that you would think of, but just from one minute to the next I would completely loose track of any discussion that I'd had or whatever I had just done.

Then I started having dizzy spells and had fatigue to the point were I couldn't get off the couch except to eat and get to the restroom."

" I'm still in the military at this point, I was just recently as of one month ago permanently grounded, no longer allowed to fly."

" On September 24'th 1999, we had a mobility formation, to get all our shots updated, well we only got one shot updated and that was thyphoid. I didn't realize that tyhphoid had to be updated, I thought it was good for a duration of years."

" This technician, whom I remember distinctly, who had no rank or name-tag or anything and wasn't in compliance with any uniform code, she pulled me over and gave me shot. I asked her what it was, and she just shook her head and didn't say a thing.

Almost out of reflex, I handed her her my shot record, but she handed it back to me un-annotated.

I was getting upset, and I asked her what was given to me because number one, I had to know this in case somebody asked me, and number two I wanted to know for my own good. I mean I'm board-certified in internal medicine, I know what I'm supposed to be doing."

" So I asked her what it was she gave me and she just waved me back into the line, in essence telling me to get lost."

" Each man or woman would say ' I was perfectly healthy and when I took the anthrax vaccine, I immediately became ill - I had vertigo, headaches, severe fatigue and now I have an auto-immune disorder'.

Some [of these men and women] would say ' I have Multiple Sclerosis symptoms,' or ' I have a thyroid problem,' or some of them would say ' I have Lupus symptoms'. "

" They were going to the hospital, and the hospital would tell them ' Oh, you might have had a reaction to the Anthrax Vaccine', which they knew they did, only to be told later on -

' Oh, it wasn't the anthrax vaccine - we don't know what's

 wrong with you, but it wasn't the Anthrax Vaccine'. "

" So these people, as a last resort, were going to the highest command on base and saying ' Look, ...I'm hurting - and the medical community is making a mockery of it '. "