Cristina Johnson: Policy changes needed for NH vets, active-duty troops

May is dedicated to celebrating National Military Appreciation Month, a time when communities across the U.S. organize events and commemorations to honor the country’s 15.8 million veterans and 1.3 million active-duty members still serving in the U.S. military. Yet nothing shows more gratitude and appreciation to the brave men and women of this country than advocacy for their rights, and especially for their health and security. In service, many suffer from toxic exposure and are left with lifelong diseases afterwards, often with no possibility of making an income.

Up until 2022, before the implementation of the PACT Act, veterans, who were often financially burdened and suffering from illness, had to undergo a difficult legal process in demonstrating a causal link between exposure and disease. The impediment also concerned New Hampshire veterans, of whom almost half had served in World War II and the Vietnam War, a timeline that is aligned with heavy asbestos use by the U.S. military and the Navy in particular. Veterans working aboard these ships had a sixfold increased risk of developing mesothelioma, a rare but deadly form of cancer for which veterans would have received compensation only after tedious bureaucratic processes.