Report: 600-plus U.S. troops say they were exposed to chemical weapons [View all]

http://archive.navytimes.com/article/20141106/NEWS/311060066/Report-600-plus-U-S-troops-say-they-were-exposed-chemical-weapons

Report: 600-plus U.S. troops say they were exposed to chemical weapons
Nov. 6, 2014 - 09:17PM
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — More than 600 U.S. service members told military medical staff that they believe they were exposed to chemical warfare agents in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, The New York Times reported Thursday. Pentagon officials said the department will now expand its outreach to veterans and establish a toll-free hotline for reporting potential exposures and seeking medical evaluation or care, the newspaper said.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered an internal review of military records after the Times reported in October that U.S. troops encountered degraded chemical weapons from the 1980s that had been hidden or used in makeshift bombs.
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The review ordered by Hagel showed that 629 people answered “yes” to that question and also filled in a block with information indicating chemical agent exposure, Col. Jerome Buller, a spokesman for the Army surgeon general, told the newspaper. Each person who answered the questionnaire would have received a medical consultation at the end of their combat tour, Buller said.
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