Veterans poisoned by Camp Lejeune water may finally see justice

Washington Examiner
Written By Rachel Allgood
 

Grace and Peter Optekar's 1965 wedding
Courtesy Peter Optekar

 

In 1964, U.S. Marine Peter Optekar, stationed at Camp Lejeune military base in North Carolina, met the woman of his dreams.

“I said to the Marine lieutenant sitting next to me, ‘See that beautiful girl whirling on the dance floor? I'm going to marry her!’” Optekar said. “The chase was on. We were married at the Camp Lejeune Chapel and soon had a baby boy on the way. Love was in the air, and excitement was high.”

Both Peter and his wife Grace were in excellent health. He was a recent military academy graduate and accomplished athlete. Grace had two healthy young children from a previous marriage. Their idyllic world crashed the following year when their baby was born at 1.3 pounds and lived only a few hours.

Rachel Allgood

I have two decades of experience as an entrepreneur, as well as working as an executive for the Fortune 500, including Cablevision and Cox Media Group. I have launched new companies and brands, corrected courses with leadership teams, and reinvented businesses. My outside perspective enables me to objectively view obstacles, discover opportunities, and clarify messaging. Often times, the primary deliverable is a website and I am so grateful to Squarespace for creating a rapid development tool that scales and provides an e-commerce option at a reasonable cost.

https://rachelallgood.com/
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Taking care of veterans means getting justice for Camp Lejeune