New Book Details Asbestos as “Silent Killer”

July 10, 2006 - Columbus, Ohio native, Bill Burton, knows what it’s like to suffer.  The 80-year-old great-grandfather who served with the Navy’s Armed Guard during World War II has mesothelioma.  But Burton isn’t one to sit around and wallow in self-pity.  Instead, he’s written a 600-page book outlining the struggles of Navy veterans with asbestos-related diseases and their quest to be compensated fairly by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Burton says that it wasn’t until about a decade ago that he learned to what extent he and his fellow sailors were exposed to asbestos while serving their country in the 1940s.  Asbestos, Burton told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, was found ontroop transports, tankers and supply ships from enemy submarines and aircraft during World War II.

Its use was widespread as a fire-retardant insulation, covering pipes, boilers, and various other items found in wartime ships.  "We breathed the stuff every day. It was in the air and in our food, but we had no idea at the time it could kill us," Burton said.

Burton wrote the book, entitled "Asbestos -- the Silent Killer of Navy Veterans", not only to inform veterans of past dangers but also to help them file claims with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

He believes it may be too late for many sickened veterans to file these claims and collect the compensation due them, but hopes to warn others of the risks. 

"Sadly, many of those who inhaled asbestos fibers during World War II, as I did, are gone,” Burton noted. “So many have died... and they really never knew what they had. But the Navy didn't eliminate asbestos on its ships until 1985. So thousands more have probably been exposed."

The Ledger-Enquirer describes Burton’s book as “an atlas for soldiers and sailors who've tried to travel through the VA maze, in search of what they feel is just compensation for injuries or illnesses they've suffered while on active duty.”

“It takes you over some of the back roads a less experienced traveler would not know about,” says reporter Mike Walsh, “cutting through the paperwork and delays, taking you to the people you need to see.”