GET THE FACTS
Victims include Marines, Sailors and civilians who were exposed to toxic chemicals in the base’s water supply for over three decades.
Who are the victims of Camp Lejeune?
Who was exposed to the toxic water and for how long?
Everyone at Camp Lejeune for 34 years, over one million people.
Marines, sailors and civilians were exposed to toxic chemicals in the base’s water supply for over three decades.
In 1982, the U.S. Marine Corps learned that members of the U.S. military, their families, and civilians were exposed to toxic chemicals in the base’s water supply over a 34-year period from 1953-1987.
Sources:
View Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Report ➤
Were adults the only ones impacted?
No, babies and children suffered or died. Many of the lives lost were of babies and young children. Mike Magner, a journalist, reporting on the Camp Lejeune water crisis in 2014, referred to parts of cemeteries near Camp Lejeune with the graves of babies and children – often two or three bodies per grave – as “Baby Heaven.”
One Camp Lejeune survivor conducting independent research confirmed over 200 small graves in at least two local cemeteries. There are likely other babies and children buried at those cemeteries or possibly at other nearby sites. Still, many of the names on grave markers are illegible and city records are incomplete.
Left: A baby boy’s tombstone, 1959. Right: Overhead view of a corner of “Baby Heaven”
Sources:
Civilian Exposure, The Forgotten Babies ➤
The Washington Post, A Trust Betrayed: The Untold Story of Camp Lejeune ➤
What about stillborn babies and miscarriages?
Sadly, many babies died before birth, when they were born, or only lived a few days are years. Not only were these individuals victims, so are their families. If you lost a child during or after time, please make sure you file. The pain of losing a child is incomprehensible to most people.