86 segments
In a news-nation exclusive, we gather a group of veterans in the Nevada desert who all
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believe they were exposed to radiation during classified missions near area 51 in the
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mid-80s to early 90s.
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Their work was so top secret the Department of Defense still won't acknowledge their
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service in the desert.
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And they say that's a big problem.
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News-nations Natasha Zuvaz was the first to break the story and went to the Las Vegas
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desert as these veterans are getting sick and pleading for the government to help.
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They keep us classified to protect themselves.
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A group of Air Force veterans and a DOD contractor say they have been sick and even disfigured
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after being stationed in the desert in the mid-80s to early 90s.
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Did you have any idea what you were being exposed to?
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These veterans say they served at the Nevada Test and Training Range, which encompasses
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the infamous area 51.
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A remote spot that hosted nuclear testing both underground and atmospheric.
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Since the 1950s, their work so secret there would be no record that the men ever served
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in the windswept desert.
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It was the technology behind it.
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That's what we were there to make sure nobody got.
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They still can't talk about most of their work on the range, but the one mission they
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can now disclose, guarding the F-117 Nighthawk, America's first stealth bomber.
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We ended the Cold War, truly.
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The story begins with a reunion barbecue back in 2016 at veteran Dave Creeetz Las Vegas
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Air Force buddies who hadn't seen each other in decades make a startling discovery.
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I said, I had one of those.
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It was the size of a grapefruit.
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Six out of the eight vets had benign tumors called lipomas.
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The 7th said, I don't have any, but my son was born with one.
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I just kind of confirmed it.
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There is an issue where we were.
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That's the one common denominator as we were all there.
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A DOD contractor who worked at the base at the same time as these vets, sickened.
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They just keep that bird today.
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They just scrape out a lot of cancer.
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Two cancers, 80% of his tongue removed along with his vocal cords, all of his teeth.
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He lives on a feeding tube.
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The veterans tell news nation their medical claims are being denied by veterans affairs.
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The work's so top secret, their records are what's called data masked, as if they were
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It's like a kick in the gut.
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It's just a matter of betrayal.
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After learning of the serious health conditions, his Air Force brothers were suffering from.
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Dave did some research on the Nevada test site.
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Hundreds of nuclear weapons tests were conducted in the area from the 50s until the early 90s.
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In the 1970s, the government began exploring the idea of building a military installation
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there to house classified projects.
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A 1975 Department of Defense Environmental Report of the area acknowledges nuclear contamination,
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depleted uranium, burilium, and plutonium present before the men were sent by the government
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But the report says, quote, discontinuing the work done would be against the national interest.
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It's one thing to be ignorant, would be naive, to not know, but they've understood for a long time.
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Dave's discoveries led him to create the invisible enemy, an advocacy group where he says
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he's connected with more than 1,000 veterans who served at the Nevada test site.
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Hundreds of them report being sick.
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We were in the dirt all the time.
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I can recall the times when we'd perspire that our uniforms would turn kind of a yellowish orange.
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Our government knew that that area was contaminated.
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So knowing that, and they willfully put us there, that's given some of my death sentence.
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We did something important.
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Wait, we did good work.
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We don't deserve being ignored by saying we don't exist.
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It was a bit after the DOD had no comment and the Air Force said they don't have information
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available for that time frame.
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News Nation went to the VA and the VA told us there's no presumption of exposure for
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these veterans who served at the range.
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These vets will need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to prove their illness is related
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Of course, the vets tell us this is difficult when their data is masked.
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And time is of the essence, Elizabeth.
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More than 400 names are already on this memorial list.
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On Saturday night, we are delving deeper into the ripple effects, the families who are also
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One daughter is exclusively giving news nation the photographs and the documents her dying
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mother worked to declassify.
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After her mom said she knew she was exposed.
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That Saturday, 7 p.m. Eastern on News Nation.
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Thanks so much for watching.
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Go to joinnn.com to find news nation on your television provider.
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