Death Takes No Holiday– Price of “Deny, Delay, and Die”

“You could find them face down and face up in the mangroves. The biggest bunch of the dead were in the tangled, always green but now brown, mangroves behind the tanks cars and the water towers… Who Murdered the Vets? – Ernest Hemingway

The Great Labor Day Hurricane of September 2, 1935 and the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina of August 19, 2005 are a stark reminder of the price paid by undesirables. Land of American Dreams has a lot in common with the Titanic, the “Ship of Dreams.”

“Deny, Delay, and Die” appears to be a mantra shared by US Local, State, Federal agencies. In the case of Department of Defense (DOD), “Delay, Deny, Wait Till They Die.”

Of that dark holiday in September 1935, Melissah J. Pawlikowski of History News Network shares her view.

“Between 400 and 600 people perished. What made this storm all the more tragic was that among the dead were 265 World War I veterans. At the height of the Great Depression these veterans had been sent to build a road on the low lying islands of the Florida Keys as a part of the Public Works for Veterans programs. While working, they were housed in inadequate tent-like structures provided by the Roosevelt administration. When the National Weather Bureau issued warnings for a hurricane they were not evacuated.”

“Nothing to fear but fear itself,” said a past President. And yet, fear is what Democracies like US continue to count on to control the masses. Instability and uncertainty caused by man-made wars, pandemics, and disasters. 

Thousands are killed in hurricanes, storms, floods, tornadoes, fires, and earthquakes.  Still, governments and climate change experts continue to fault the usual suspects. Responsible bastards who put people in harms’ way with little to no warning “pass the buck” to their God, or in the case of Katrina the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

Sure, the USACEs designs and construction of the levees can be described as ‘flawed’ or quick, cheap and dirty. Yet, in the end, the dead were failed by their government – denying people were at risk and delaying urgent response.

Mendacity lies in the “Acts of Man” and by the liable claiming immunity. Attributing deaths in natural disasters to “Acts of God” adds insult to injury. Unlike man and God, Death takes no holiday.

But liken to Death, creations of man have a “Deadly Reputation.”  Recall the Air Disaster of 2007 TAM Airlines Flight 3054 in Brazil? It appears the infamous 35L Runway of less than 6500 feet was partly to blame. Critics compared the runway to the landing on an aircraft carrier. US Navy, sound familiar? As the story goes, not every “Top Gun” makes it out alive.

Right, it’s not always about aircraft mechanical or human error but in the design and construction.

“Dirty Dozen” Warning to Recruits: Soldiers Enter at Your Own Risk

Warning labels are found on just about any household or industrial product – especially those containing toxic chemicals. “Do not use near flame. Fumes. Wear mask. If swallowed, call Poison Control.”

ATTENTION! So it begs the question: Why would a soldier not avoid an environment which included the “dirty dozen” toxic products and hazardous waste (rubber, paint, contaminated medical supplies, corpses, etc.)?

Because as a recent recruit ad for the US military appears to allude, she is there to fight bullies, not toxins. But as the FEW Veterans still alive have exposed, the victims of the real bully are you, your family, and the people you invade and shoot dead. PROUD to be a MARINE?   

When soldiers say ‘war is dirty’ they may now be referring to the burn pits in the Middle East. But the business of war has also been happening in your backyards. DDT spraying seems minor compared to the toxic pits and water runoffs in your home states.

Exposed to asbestos, but your sense of loyalty does not permit you to sue your employer, Navy or Army? Well, chances are you won’t need to make that tough decision. As your lawyer may tell you certain entities’ immunity protects them from financial responsibility so she ain’t gonna get a dime.

Sure you could sue as a matter of principle but unless your attorney is working pro bono, isn’t it gonna cost you? What of holding a third party responsible – the contractor? This way possibly no one “feels bad” and lawyer gets her one third cut. But in the back of your mind and in those sleepless nights will you face the ugly truth of who hired the contactor – Defense?

Interestingly, a doctor working in Obstetrics and on staff at Camp LeJeune was said to be a five year survivor of Acute Myeloid Leukemia thanks to a cord blood and cord tissue stem cell blood bank.  Hmm, what did he know that the rest of the soldiers didn’t? Or, who did he know?

Yes, war isn’t pretty. But if one were to give soldiers the benefit of the doubt – that they were unaware of the dangers – it stands to reason that those up the ladder of the chain of command did know or had the responsibility to know.

Look, if the son of the highest official in command reportedly fell victim to the dangers of a toxic environment during his deployment, what can a poor son of bitch expect? Joe, not “holding to the fire” those responsible? Sir, “if not you, who? If not now, when?” Mr. President, do you realize you will never have such power again?

Civilian or army, it readily appears that no one is immune to corrupt operations. The ‘powers that be’, governments and corporations, see undesirables as collateral damage. No accident that the majority of army recruits are of society’s disadvantaged financially or poorly educated. 

If Defense and Congress are sending our Brothers and Sisters, who are praised as the few and the proud into harm’s way what can we expect? Given low recruit numbers, fewer and less proud.

GenZs, boys and girls: If your passion to serve your country supersedes your fear of these dangers, have you considered aiming to be a Navy Seal where you can ‘fight a good fight’ against an enemy and not toxins. But compared to land, I can’t confirm or deny of how safe are the ocean waters or ships.

Adding insult to the injury of toxic military operations not taking preemptive measures, Veterans are left to fend for themselves health wise. That is, rely on the donations through organizations which some deem questionable if not corrupt.

It seems to me that if US tax dollars are paying for departments like the Office of Veterans Affairs to assist with healthcare among other provisions, then supplemental organizations are unnecessary. Let’s face it, there’s a fine line between philanthropists who donate funds and philanderers who make a “killing” by pocketing other people’s money.

Of course, some may argue, “Past victims are damaged goods. Let’s move on to new recruits.” Not surprisingly DOD has found recruiting challenging.

It seems war is not so attractive to younger generations, except of course mercenaries, aka the “dogs of war.” Yes, it’s a lucrative business and appealing to those who like it “quick and dirty.” May explain government agencies’ increasingly outsourcing and paying contractors. Yep, but they don’t come cheap. 

Playing God: United States Manmade Manslaughters

 

“It is not necessary to go into the deaths of the civilians and their families since they were on the Keys of their own free will; They made their living there, had property and knew the hazards involved. But the veterans had been sent there; they had no opportunity to leave, nor any protection against hurricanes; and they never had a chance for their lives. Who sent nearly a thousand war veterans, many of them husky, hard-working and simply out of luck, but many of them close to the border of pathological cases, to live in frame shacks on the Florida Keys in hurricane months?”

Hemingway’s words shine light on what he saw as the disparity between civilians and veterans living in the Keys. Yet, I find the parity between 1935 Keys’ veterans and 2005 Katrina civilians is both astounding and disheartening. But, very telling of the disdain held by the ‘powers that be’ and society for veterans and blacks. 

I, as Hemingway, could ask of the dead civilians in Louisiana as he did of the dead soldiers in Florida, “Who left you there? And what’s the punishment for manslaughter now?” But I’d likely get the same answer, “Act of God.” Seems these Men and their God who allowed the slaughter were too busy to prevent it.

Humiliation bordering on life endangerment was the case for veterans having been “housed in inadequate tent-like structures” and Katrina survivors put in trailers reportedly reeking of formaldehyde. 

Many years later, facing a pandemic, were you blinded by fear one again? In the Sting of “quick & dirty” vaccines, were you in “good hands”? Find out in Operation Scorpion Sting: Man-Made Cancers, mRNA and Stem Cells.

Proud to be an American? One may be fortunate to be born in a non-war-torn country, but it does not grant one the privileges of being accepted much less wanted. There is no ‘home sweet home.”

Is it any wonder that those who come home from war or children who grow up trying to combat the “anxiety of just living” find it reaches the highest mark “when I’m home.” It seems for children and soldiers the battle of “fight or flight” goes on facing a life of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

One thing is clear, government and society failed those who served their country. Native American Indians and members of a Black race they intend to keep down to serve the “Master Race.”  

Since 1935, there have been thousands of manmade and natural disasters followed by the deaths of millions where the majority could have been saved where it not for the slight of man’s hand. Logic behind this scheme? You see, as bad as it is here for you, it’s worse over there for them. Who do you think made it that way?

Distraction by US government and media focus on three moments in time to not forget: One military surprise attack by Japanese Navy in 1941 on Pearl Harbor followed by 1995 Oklahoma City bombing schemed by domestic terrorists and the 2001 attack orchestrated by foreign terrorists. Period.  

We are living in a time AFTER 9/11! A lot of shit has happened since. Thousands have been killed in Man-Made Disasters. Why aren’t the names of thousands of 2005 Hurricane Katrina victims being called out?

Puerto Ricans, being led by US progressives, how is it working for you? Given some of your options as that of your neighbors to the West, Cuba and Haiti, ever consider changing to a Republican led party. I mean what do you really have to lose? How bad does it have to get?

Instability swarms the world with new and returning natural disasters seen in Puerto Rico, Haiti, Taiwan, Japan, China and Mexico. One certainty. An imminent high-scale earthquake in a big coastal city, especially California, can and will lead to an economic disaster that will make the pandemic shutdown look like “a day at the beach.” How many will be alive to call your name?

Yes, most of us are facing one fucked up situation after another! Easy to critique younger generation, but GenZ is our future. Sure many won’t make it. For “in a world at war many sparrows must fall.”

But the strong and quick witted are thriving! So don’t try to pull a fast one. They know and don’t like the way you lie.  

In the documentary “Katrina Babies,” directed by Edward Buckles, Jr., we hear intimate stories and the impact on the youth. In their words, “It’s for me to say I’m resilient.” Listening to a memory from a young woman as a little girl we hear the words, “you could smell death.”

Yes, Death takes no holiday and leaves its memorable stench as another sparrow falls, and falls and falls…