It seems that there was a lot of just plain hazardous stuff being burned every day all over the countryside. Most of the time, these burnings started out as simply destroying the day's trash and military papers and such. Then, as a lot of the war damage began to be cleared and cleaned out, something had to be done with all the rubble. That is when land fills popped up all over the place. After a while, true to the old Army saying, if it wasn't nailed down, it got burned. Unfortunately, the military wasn't the only one putting things in these burn pits, and it seemed that the things in there just burned forever. A lot of times, newer rubble would just be dumped on top of the old stuff, and this would prevent proper burning, resulting in smoldering, resulting in lots and lots of smoke. Ironically, the Iraqis would sometimes use this smoke to sight in their mortar fire and further add to the fires and burning. The smoke from 
these burn pits was very toxic, but no one really paid much attention to it because there were lots of more pressing issues at that time, like getting electricity going, and securing the roads so food and ammunition could get in to the bases. It shouldn't be that big of a deal, right. Well, the problem was that it seemed the winds always blew from the same direction, and troops were, in some cases, pretty stationary. Guards in towers, at gates and intersections, in their tents and mess halls -- all of these were pretty much stationary and pretty much had this stuff pumped into their lungs 24/7 for their whole tour.The health issues caused by this smoke are just now getting looked at by VA personnel. I'm sure this was the case in Vietnam, and the I know it was an issue in the first Gulf War. I have seen articles in the Army Times talking about this issue and telling how Vets are presenting their issues to the VA and Congress. I hope this doesn't get pushed to the background. While not as up front, immediate or tragic as deaths from violent means, Soldiers are still going to die from this, only in a slower but just as painful certainty. Perhaps our newly-revised and consciously-awakened Veterans' Administration will look at this just as it will for other kinds of battle losses and take the appropriate action. They treat wounds, counsel for suicide issues, screen for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder issues, and try to work thru the family support, legal and divorce issues when the Soldiers come back from tours. Maybe they will start looking at this issue too.
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. (World Health Organization, 1948)
Hooah
