A thanks goes out to Congressman Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., and Congressman Mike Thompson, R-Calif., for keeping the Project Shad issue in the spotlight.

SHAD is an acronym for Shipboard Hazard and Defense. Basically the DoD used these tests to determine the vulnerabilities of our ships to chemical or biological warfare agents. The folks on board were used as guinea pigs. It happened in the 1960s. Reports say that around 4,300 sailors were involved in the tests.

According to this STORY, Rehberg and Thompson recently asked “the Institute of Medicine to reopen its previous investigation into the long-term health effects on veterans exposed during the operation of Project SHAD.”

Additionally, “Thompson and Rehberg stated that the recent study of Project SHAD health effects was deficient because it failed to include information on key test participants, despite the fact that the names of many such participants were available.”

Imagine that; not using valuable information from the actual people involved. Shameful.

Being a veteran myself, I’ve heard a few stories about Project Shad and met a few people who were involved. It’s the right thing to do to correct this injustice and Rehberg and Thompson appear to be trying to get to the bottom of this issue. Let’s hope other politicians will join them until there’s a full accounting of the harm the DoD caused these patriots.