Foundation Seeks Long-Denied Healthcare, Compensation
LAS VEGAS, April 24, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Air Force veteran Sergeant Dave Crete told a painful story of duty, betrayal, denial and injustice at a recent congressional hearing hosted by Representative Mark Takano (D-CA), ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. During Crete's remarks, attendees, including Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), sat in stunned silence. Several were moved to tears.
Crete is Chairman of The Invisible Enemy, a non-profit foundation that represents military personnel who were exposed to dangerous radiation and toxic substances while serving on the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). From 1951 to1992, more than 1,000 nuclear detonations took place on the NTTR. Crete was stationed there from 1983 to 1987.
"In 1975, the federal government did an environmental assessment of where I worked," Crete said in the hearing. "They said nobody should be there. They said if somebody does go there, they should only be allowed limited access to limit exposure. In 1979, they built my base. They said the benefit to national security outweighed the future environmental liabilities.
"In our service, we never knew what we were being exposed to," Crete continued. "Our commanders didn't know. My dormitory was 2.3 miles from a nuclear test. The front gate of my base was 5 miles away from a nuclear test. Our soil was contaminated. The water that my food was cooked in was contaminated. The water that I showered in every day was contaminated."
Years later, Crete began to reconnect with members of his unit and discovered many of them suffered from serious medical conditions, including tumors.
"I had one the size of a grapefruit removed from my back," Crete revealed. "There's about 20 more around my body. I have a brain cyst. I have brain atrophy. The left side of my brain is shrinking and dying. I'm one of the healthy ones.
"Worse," he added, choking back tears. "Worse is the fact that my wife had three miscarriages. All four of my children were born with birth defects or significant health problems. One was corrected surgically. The other three will never be corrected. And they live with it. It's not their fault. I'm not saying it's mine, but I brought it home. It was my DNA that was permanently altered from low-dose, long-term ionizing radiation exposure."
Once Crete founded The Invisible Enemy he heard from hundreds of NTTR veterans facing similar hardships. Like Crete, the Veterans Administration (VA) denied them critical healthcare and benefits that were granted to other veterans who were exposed at other contaminated sites, benefits that could have saved lives. To date, the foundation knows of 463 NTTR veterans who have died.
"The Department of Energy, in 2000, was able to have a bill signed by President Clinton called the EEOICPA (Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act)," Crete explained. "That bill took care of the person who cooked my cheeseburger at my chow hall, but refuses to take care of me, the guy who ate it. Just think about that."
The reason NTTR veterans continue to be ignored is because, according to the Department of Defense (DoD), they never served there. Due to their highly classified missions, the DoD categorically denies they even exist. There are no records to prove to the VA that NTTR veterans actually are veterans who were injured in the line of duty and, therefore, are eligible for the same care and benefits all other veterans receive.
The Invisible Enemy is working with members of Congress to pass legislation to right this wrong. Representative Mark Amodei (R-NV) has introduced H.R. 1400 that forces the federal government to acknowledge NTTR veterans and their injuries, and provide the comprehensive healthcare they need and the just financial compensation they deserve.
Crete and others are actively promoting the bill to congressional staff, and lining-up bi-partisan support and co-sponsors in the House and Senate.
"I am asking that Congress please allow us to get the benefits that every other veteran has earned," Crete said, concluding his testimony. "We're not asking to be special. We're asking to be equal."
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About The Invisible Enemy Foundation
Our mission is to enact legislation that guarantees comprehensive medical treatment and just financial compensation for military personnel and their families who were exposed to environmental contamination while working at the Nevada Test & Training Range (NTTR).
U.S. Representative Mark Amodei of Nevada is leading an initiative to write new federal legislation that guarantees medical treatment and financial compensation to all military personnel who suffered illnesses from exposure to toxic radiation and materials released by nuclear testing on the NTTR.
Due the highly sensitive, top-secret classification of their deployments, the federal government has refused to be held accountable, claiming those personnel "were never there." As a result, most of the military personnel who served on the NTTR, and their families, have been unjustly and deliberately denied these benefits. The goal of our mission is to right this wrong.
The Invisible Enemy Foundation is a registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization,
EIN # 92-3486613. Donations are 100% tax deductible. TheInvisibleEnemy.org.
Media Contact
Virginia Martino, Brand Ltd, 1 702-591-9183, [email protected], TheInvisibleEnemy.org
SOURCE Brand Ltd
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