Dr. Mike Byron | 31.05.2004 21:21

On Feb 18 1996, LT Clark and CDR Lamoreaux died in an explosion caused by a GE engine defect the Navy brass knew about but chose to ignore. The Feres Doctrine prevented their widows from suing GE for wrongful death. Feres is a license to kill our own service members.

On this Memorial Day, our nation dedicates the new World War-II Memorial. It has taken us almost sixty years to erect this monument for our World War-II heroes. But the monument, beautiful and somber, is just bricks and mortar. And this is minor compared to the major task of caring for our active duty service members, veterans, and their families. We must also ensure that when our service members are sent into harm’s way, they will receive the best equipment in order to accomplish the mission and preserve their own lives and return home safely.

On February 18, 1996, 28-year-old Navy Lieutenant Terence L. Clark boarded his F-14 with CDR Scott Lamoreaux for a military exercise from the USS Carl Vinson. Clark was accompanied by a senior officer, because of Clark’s well-earned reputation as a crack pilot who was not a “hot-dogger.” While performing their mission, the F-14 exploded and both men instantly died. The engine of the aircraft, manufactured by General Electric, had exploded due to a known design defect which the Navy brass had been advised about and had chosen to ignore.

Because of the Feres Doctrine, the widows of the two service members who died so tragically and unnecessarily were not able to sue GE for wrongful death. The Feres Doctrine protects the military leadership, military medical providers, and defense contractors from liability for deaths resulting from their own negligence, incompetence, and/or malfeasance. The Feres Doctrine is essentially a license to kill our own service members.

In 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Feres vs. United States that “"The United States is not liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries to members of the armed forces sustained while on active duty and not on furlough and resulting from the negligence of others in the armed forces.[ pp. 136-146]." Members of the armed forces, their families and veterans are unable to sue for wrongful death and medical malpractice when it occurs while they are in a duty status, no matter how egregious or even criminal the circumstances may be.

We now have young service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, again suffering from the mysterious and deadly “Gulf War Syndrome.” This syndrome has been linked undeniably to the use of depleted uranium in ammunition. While these veterans and service members will receive medical treatment and some benefits, they will not be able to seek financial redress for the debilitating and painful condition that they will suffer the rest of their lives and will probably die of in only a few years. Already 12,000 of our Gulf War-I veterans have died of GWS, and another 200,000 have filed for treatment and disability benefits for GWS. Since the effect of DU as a killing agent of our own troops is widely known, these deaths and disabilities are inexcusable, and another instance of malfeasance of office on the part of the highest levels of the military command, all of whom are conveniently protected from liability by the Feres Doctrine.

The outdated and misguided Feres Doctrine places military members and veterans in a permanent status of second class citizens. If all women, African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics, or white males were being treated similarly --- wouldn't we take to the streets on their behalf? Shouldn’t basic fairness apply to our active duty military personnel, their families, and our veterans as well?

I, for one, will not allow even a week as your Congressional Representative go by without fighting for fairness for all veterans and military members. The harmful effects of the Feres Doctrine have been swept under the rug by the federal government for the last 55 years. And that's 55 years too many. I will introduce legislation amending the Federal Claims Tort Act to specifically allow for active duty service members, their families, and veterans, to sue the government whenever a jury finds that a reasonable person would believe that the government’s actions were criminally negligent. Stone memorials to the veterans of past wars are well and good, but we must also honor our commitments to our active duty military, their families, and our veterans if we are to be true to the spirit of America.

By the way, LT Clark was the husband of my step-daughter. Therefore, I do this also in memory of LT Clark and CDR Lamoreaux, both patriots who died unnecessarily due to criminally inept equipment design by a defense contractor, and malfeasance of office in the highest echelons of the Navy command.

Mike and Ramona Byron

Memorial Day 2004.

Posted by Kynn Bartlett, Online Campaign Manager, Byron for Congress

e-mail:: DrMike@byronforcongress.org
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