(Harper’s Magazine) – Over dozens of phone calls, in rants that often strayed some distance from the subject at hand, Frank told me his story. Following his discharge from the Air Force, he was homeless for nearly twenty years, all while continuing to suffer from his symptoms. He filed claim after claim with the VA asserting that his incapacitation had resulted from his time in the service, seeking what the VA calls a 100 percent disability rating, which would entitle him to generous benefits, including a livable monthly stipend. Instead, the VA deemed that the majority of his disabilities were unrelated to his time in the military, and Frank was granted a mere 10 percent rating.

Then, in 1985, a friend showed Frank an article in the local newspaper with the headline low-level radioactive dump discovered at George AFB. (Read More)