Lead by Representative Mike Honda, World War II veterans are seeking an apology for the “race-based chemical weapons experiments” conducted on African American, Puerto Rican, and Japanese American soldiers due to their racial makeup (White Americans were used as the control group to “see what was normal”).
According to NPR, Honda, joined by 12 other US representatives, ask that the official military records of test subjects reflect the service and participation of these men in the experiments. Prior to the official declassification of these experiments, the men were forced into silence under penalty of dishonorable discharge from the armed services and imprisonment.
“It is long past time to look these veterans in the eye,” the letter states, “and finally say on behalf of the American people that what the United States government did to them was shameful and wrong, and we are sorry.”
To learn more about the experimentation on WW2 veterans, visit NPR here.
