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butthurt [soylentnews.org] writes:

NPR [npr.org] reports the death, on 25 May, of Charles Lindy Cavell at age 89. At the age of 19 while enrolled in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Mr. Cavell had been invited by the Navy to participate in trials of mustard gas, regarding which he was sworn to secrecy. Offered "two-weeks' vacation and an award," he let government scientists lock him up, for two hours, in a chamber containing mustard gas [wikipedia.org], after which he was asked to continue wearing his contaminated uniform. More than 60,000 other service-members volunteered for similar experiments.

Later, Cavell suffered from physical and psychological conditions that may have been related to the testing. After decades, the Veterans' Administration [wikipedia.org] agreed to pay for his medical expenses.

In 1990, Cavell and other participants in the studies came forth and were relieved of their secrecy oaths; the programme was declassified.

further information:

• story about the experiments [npr.org]
• obituary [blileyfuneralhomes.com]

Original Submission