“They were talking about ATSDR, the public health assessment, that they wanted to do more studies on the children that were exposed at Camp Lejeune in utero. And they primarily wanted to do studies on those kids for birth defects and childhood cancers, and they said primarily leukemia,” he said, “I had a plate of spaghetti in my hand and when they said that I dropped it on my living room floor.”

On Oct. 27 and 28, victims of the largest, most lethal drinking water contamination in U.S. history will join Brockovich and other advocates with Camp Lejeune Legal in two Jacksonville town halls, according to a news release from the group.

“My master’s thesis focused on our work with Camp Lejeune,” says Partain. “I used the timeline and the narrative to illustrate what we did as a social justice movement, the steps we took to get control over the narrative about what happened. Having this memorialized — how we did what we did — will help other communities facing similar situations.”

Included in the PACT Act is the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, which will allow veterans, families and other individuals who worked or lived for at least 30 days on the base from Aug. 1, 1953, to Dec. 31, 1987, to sue for harm and exposure to contaminated water.

Partain said he and his friend, Jerry Ensminger, an ex-Marine whose 9-year-old daughter died of leukemia in 1985 while the family lived at Camp Lejeune, "have fought tooth and nail" on the issue for 15 and 25-plus years, respectively.

“It was a bittersweet moment to see President Biden sign this bill into law, to witness history,” said Partin, who attended the event. “As he signed, I thought about those who didn’t make it and are no longer with us. I wondered will the Navy finally come clean and do the right thing for our Navy and Marine service members and their families? We have reached our final chapter in this 25-plus year fight for justice.”

It was the most direct link the president has publicly drawn between Beau’s fatal brain cancer and burn pits. The president made addressing the problem one of his priorities during his State of the Union address in March.

The PACT Act wouldn’t undo that damage, but it could help salve lingering effects. Ensminger looked on last week as senators debated the bill, which would provide health care benefits for members of the military exposed to toxins while serving. It would also permit Marines and their families who had been exposed to Camp Lejeune’s water to sue the federal government.

I served in the Marine Corps for nearly 25 years, training thousands of new recruits. I lived for almost 12 years at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where my daughter Janey was conceived and her mother unknowingly consumed water contaminated with known carcinogens — such as trichloroethylene, or TCE, and perchloroethylene, or PCE — during her pregnancy.

WKYT Investigates first reported in March 2021 on the efforts of Brian Amburgey of Winchester, who made it his mission to help his fellow veterans who, like him, served at the base and were exposed to the toxic water. He took part in protests, held signs to raise awareness and gathered signatures for a petition for a health registry. He made several trips to Washington, D.C. with other veterans to urge lawmakers to pass legislation to help.

When elected officials need veterans’ votes, they’ll say anything to win us over. But when it comes down to us needing their vote — when our lives and livelihood depend on it — they fail us. Actions always speak louder than words.

Daniels now believes that the deaths of her only children were not just acts of God. Instead, they may have a government cause — the toxic chemicals that for decades contaminated the Camp Lejeune military base’s water supply that she drank during her pregnancies.

According to the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry, Camp Lejeune had toxins contaminating the drinking water from the 1950s through 1987. The chemicals are known to cause several cancers as well as miscarriages.

I dedicated my life to the Marine Corps. For almost 25 years, I served this country and trained thousands of recruits. I spent nearly 12 years at Camp Lejeune, where my youngest daughter Janey was conceived. For the entirety of her first trimester—a crucial period for development—Janey’s mother unknowingly consumed water filled with known carcinogens such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE).

North Carolina’s veterans in Greensboro and Charlotte have called Budd out on his double-dealing, saying that his actions are a “slap in the face” and he is “not the type of leader” needed in the U.S. Senate.

Veterans try to convince the Veterans Administration that their post-service illnesses were linked to their time in the military.

For decades, veterans, their families, and civilian staff stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina have sought justice for the unlawful exposure to toxic water.