Testimony of Healing August 25, 1997 Issue

In March of 1982 I was a first lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps...

Keith F. Simon

In March of 1982 I was a first lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps and had been charged with testing a new method of locating hostile artillery. A twenty-man platoon had been assigned to assist me. The men had all been volunteered from other units that had been only too happy to get rid of them because most of them had been discipline problems. None of us had any formal training in the equipment we were testing, and as more and more problems surfaced I felt more and more overwhelmed by the responsibilities. While I was returning from a staff meeting one afternoon, a thick cloud of smoke from burning brush wafted over me. What I didn't know at the time was that the brush contained large quantities of poison sumac.

When I woke the following morning, my right eye was swollen shut and the skin on my face swollen and sore to the touch. It looked like a severe case of poison ivy rash. My right hand was also affected. When my men saw the state I was in, they became quite concerned and notified my commanding officer. He ordered me to report to the surgeon.

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