Cancer in Camoflage

Courtesy: buckedupapparel.com

      As I walk through the Salisbury community this month, it is hard not to notice the sea of pink paraphernalia surrounding me. After further investigation, I realized it's all to raise awarness of a disease that takes the life of thousands of people each year. This disease, breast cancer, is a silent killer that can go undetected before the symptoms and side effects become too much to handle. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which, yes, means seeing a sea of pink everywhere we go, but it's something much bigger than that. Breast cancer knows no one type of person or personality; not even military personnel. In fact, cases of breast cancer in particular are among the rise in both women and men in the armed forces, and it doesn't seem to be getting much better.
      According to an article I ran across by Natural News, military personnel are actually counted among the lowest in statistics when it comes to most cancers such as cervical or lung cancer. This is not the case when it comes to breast cancer, though. Each day, there are more and more cases of breast cancer rising in the military. From current officers to veterans, no one is immune.When it comes to gender, women are contracting the disease at an incresing rate. Believe it or not, women in the military are about 20-40 percent more likely to contract breast cancer than a normal civilian female. According to researchers, this is most likely because women in the force are bound to hold some type of industrial job, thus exposing them to many more harmful chemicals than the normal person.
      What about MEN, you ask? Well, just because there is a stigma of women being directly related to breast cancer, the disease is also prevalent amongst their male counterpart. According to an article in the Guardian Express, only one percent of the male population suffers from breast cancer, but that's still a significant number of about 2,000 cases each year. With the disease being prevalent in males from about 60 to 70 years of age, many military vets are at risk of developing the cancer. Just as the women, the disease is most likely brought upon by chemical reactors in the air, which come from active duty.
      You're probably asking yourself the question, "Why don't military personnel take action if they are being unrightfully exposed to these chemicals?" Well, take the case of Boswell, a 20-year old Army Vietnam helicopter pilot. After attending a reunion with his unit, he discovered that 6 of the 70 women deployed developed breast cancer along with about six others who had suspicious lumps in their breasts. This prompted Boswell to urge officials to rule breast cancer in the military as a service-related disability. This would give victims some benifits during treatment from the Veterans Administration.
      What do you think? Do you believe it's the right of the military to take responsibility for a disease they may be making their members succeptible to? It's definitely a topic to be discussed, especially when most problems within the military tend to fade away. Most of them getting lost in translation like the camoflage clothing on their backs.