My family was poisoned at Camp Lejeune, and the government must make it right

On their archetypal authoritative associated trip, First Lady Melania Trump and Second Lady Usha Vance visited Camp Lejeune. For those of america who fell unfortunate to the poisoned h2o connected basal and person spent years feeling ignored, their sojourn offered thing we haven’t felt successful a agelong time: hope.

For decades, Camp Lejeune has been treated arsenic a tragic section successful our nation’s history. But for the Marines, families and civilians who lived there, it wasn’t a header – it was our mundane reality. It was the spot we built our lives, unaware that the h2o we drank and cooked with was silently poisoning us.

First woman Melania Trump and 2nd woman Usha Vance conscionable with students arsenic they sojourn Lejeune High School astatine Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, successful Jacksonville, North Carolina, Nov. 19, 2025. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

My father, a Marine Corps veteran, moved our household onto the basal successful 1959. Years later, I joined a Marine who was besides stationed there, and I worked connected basal arsenic a civilian for 25 years. Camp Lejeune was location — to me, to my family, and to countless others. None of america knew that we were being poisoned – and the authorities did thing to halt it.

The Camp Lejeune h2o contamination situation is 1 of the worst cases of authorities negligence successful our nation’s history. From 1953-1987, implicit 1 cardinal radical came into interaction with contaminated h2o connected base. Families similar excavation drank, bathed in, and cooked with it for decades.

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Army scientists archetypal detected contamination successful 1980, yet officials failed to enactment oregon pass us. The authorities didn’t statesman notifying erstwhile residents until 1999. By then, the harm was done.

I received my archetypal crab diagnosis successful 1978 – leukemia. I bushed it, got married, and tried to determination forward. Then, my girl was calved with a spinal tumor. Later, she was diagnosed with bladder cancer, had surgery, and was successful remission for 10 months earlier she passed astatine property 32.

I developed cervical crab successful 1989, colon crab successful 2010, past bosom cancer. In 2023, I was diagnosed with crab successful my breast, kidney, and liver. After a liver transplant successful 2024, I person present been cancer-free for astir 2 years.

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Amid these wellness battles, I besides experienced unimaginable loss. My begetter died of Parkinson’s – a information linked to the toxins recovered successful Lejeune’s water– and successful 2014, I mislaid my hubby to lung crab and melanoma. Five months later, we mislaid our daughter.

Signage stands connected the main gross to Camp Lejeune Marine Base extracurricular Jacksonville, N.C., Friday, April 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

My communicative is painful, but it is not unique.  My family’s communicative is conscionable 1 of many. Thousands who lived and served astatine Camp Lejeune person died waiting for justice.

For years, adjacent basal aesculapian attraction was retired of reach.  I was initially denied attraction by the Department of Veterans Affairs due to the fact that I was a civilian. My begetter and hubby were marines, and I lived and worked connected base, surrounded by toxic chemicals, for decades. But to the VA, that didn’t matter.

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It wasn’t until 2012 that Congress passed a instrumentality allowing veterans and their families who spent clip astatine Lejeune to person attraction done the VA. But for many, it came excessively late.

Then, successful 2022, Congress took an adjacent much important step: it passed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, which gave those exposed to the contaminated h2o the close to writer the national authorities for damages. It was a long-overdue acknowledgment of work and a bipartisan committedness to accountability.

Three years later, that committedness remains mostly unfulfilled.

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More than 400,000 claims person been filed nether the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. Fewer than 900 person been resolved.

The aforesaid authorities that poisoned us, ignored warnings, and withheld the information is present delaying settlements and failing to conscionable the modular of accountability that Congress set.

This isn’t conscionable a ineligible failure. It’s a motivation one.

First woman Melania Trump and 2nd woman Usha Vance sojourn Lejeune High School astatine Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, successful Jacksonville, North Carolina, Nov. 19, 2025. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Many Lejeune veterans are aged oregon terminally sick – galore much person already died. While nary magnitude of wealth tin bring backmost our loved one, just settlements tin assistance with aesculapian costs and connection long-awaited closure.

Congress passed this instrumentality due to the fact that it recognized that authorities negligence led to the poisoning of astir 1 cardinal Americans. Lawmakers understood that we were owed compensation for our suffering and the close to clasp our authorities accountable.

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President Trump has agelong been a person to our troops and to our veterans. By encouraging the Department of Justice to fulfill the promises of the 2022 law, helium could bring existent alleviation to the families who person suffered for decades.

The instrumentality has already been passed with bipartisan enactment and signed into law. Now, we request this medication to nonstop the Department of Justice and the Department of the Navy to determination quickly, reappraisal cases fairly, and connection conscionable settlements.

The authorities failed america astatine each measurement – ignoring reddish flags, withholding information, denying care, and covering up the truth.

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The caller sojourn by First Lady Melania Trump and Second Lady Usha Vance gave america anticipation that our voices are yet being heard. For those of america who person spent decades warring conscionable to beryllium acknowledged, gestures similar this matter. They punctual america that justness — aft truthful galore years — whitethorn yet beryllium wrong reach. But anticipation unsocial is not enough.

Too galore Lejeune veterans person already died waiting for justness to beryllium served, and we cannot spend to hold immoderate longer. The authorities has a existent accidental to marque things close — and present is the clip to act.