CANCER DEATHS AMONG VETERANS ARE RISING – WHAT’S BEING DONE TO PREVENT IT?
June 9, 2023Chelsey Simoni, APRN, MSN, Ph.D.(c), HunterSeven Foundation
At the far end of Arlington Cemetery, in Section 60 — the gravesites closest to Marshall Drive — are fresh burial plots. There’s a standing list of service members waiting to be buried in what has been America’s most sacred ground since the Civil War.
But America’s wars, for the moment, are over — if we are no longer fighting on foreign soil after two decades of the Global War on Terror, why are we still burying so many service members?
These combat-related deaths are not being inflicted by an enemy attacking service members; they’re the result of something born in them during their time of service that grew and consumed them from the inside. These service members died from cancer.
ron shurer cancer
In this Oct. 1, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump awards the Medal of Honor to former Army Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer II for actions in Afghanistan, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Miranda Shurer said her husband, who was diagnosed with cancer three years ago, died Thursday, May 14, 2020, in a Washington, DC, hospital at age 41. AP file photo by Evan Vucci.
As I walked down the line, I saw two graves side by side. Green Beret and Medal of Honor Recipient Ronald Shurer II, who died from lung cancer, and U.S. Navy SEAL Scott Stout, who died from brain cancer. A few graves down are U.S. Air Force veteran Kelly Murray and Navy SEAL Zachary Miller II; both also killed by brain cancer.
https://coffeeordie.com/cancer-deaths-veterans