Former Army intelligence analyst Elba Barr has been trained to connect the dots – which she now uses to sift through a pile of medical records.
“There’s been something massive every year since 2013, medically,” Barr Catherine Herridge, senior correspondent for CBS News, said.
While Barr deployed across the Middle East and Africa after 9/11 to track down al-Qaeda, she says there is no doubt that the most toxic and dangerous place is Karshi-Khanabad, or K2, a former Soviet air base in Uzbekistan, a starting point for classified missions to Afghanistan.
“K2 was for me a base that should never have been a base … dangers, everywhere are signs of where your dangers were,” she said.
The 41-year-old mother of two blames the four months she spent on Q2 for her chronic issues of reproduction.
“I had cervical problems, still had severe pain, endometriosis. I had to undergo a partial hysterectomy. Last year I had both of my ovaries removed, and they had the first stage of cancer,” Barr said.
Barr is one of more than 200 female K2 veterans who flooded a Facebook page where members discuss pollution and health issues.
According to the non-profit organization that detects K2 cases, 40% of former women service members who were themselves at the base report at least one miscarriage, 8% report breast or uterine cancer and 30% report ovarian cancer or related problems. These data terrified Barr and brought her to tears.
A six months CBS News investigates soil saturated with jet fuel, oil and lubricants, radiation warnings, as well as prior use of chemicals.
Mike Lechlitner, defense department, was involved in the early testing of the base. He said new information revealed a lot about the base.
“We heard that the Soviets had a chemical weapons disinfection unit next to our camp.”
Images obtained by CBS News show that the base was also a landfill for used chemical weapons equipment, including protective equipment such as face masks used to block chemicals. Those face masks were found in ‘tent city’ where troops worked and slept.
Thanks to Phillip Sandell
Barr said the CBS News investigation is life-changing, giving her clarity on the cause of the medical problems she has been facing for years.
“I’ve been wondering for most of ten years, ‘Am I going crazy? … And so it’s what [the CBS News investigation] done. It has validated all the expenses of a decade. ‘
Barr is now opening up to her children about her toxic exposure.
“I doubt without a doubt I will die young. You assume I am not. I live 100% of borrowed time. It’s not about whether it’s going to be, it’s a matter of when,” Barr told Herridge said.
Despite the data, the Department of Veterans Affairs does not recognize a link between K2 and illness. Barr wants leadership to act, and despite her and other veterans’ suffering, she is confident they will serve again.
“And if you ask us, we will do it again with a heartbeat. All we ask for is that we have maintained the end of the agreement, and that it is on the VA and that it is the Department of Defense. to keep them. “
Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller drafted an executive order that would open the door for medical assistance and financial relief for K2 veterans. The executive order was in its final stages when the Capitol was overrun rioters last Wednesday. The group of K2 veterans are hopeful that it will still be signed by President Trump, although they are reaching out to the Biden government in case there is no action before the inauguration day.