JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new report finds more veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are developing cancer.
An investigation published by McClatchy, found veterans saw a spike in urinary, prostate, liver and blood cancers during almost 20 years of war.
Walk into Bob Dinkins' home in St. Johns County and you can tell he's proud of his service in the Air Force.
At just 19-years-old when he enlisted during the Vietnam War, and served as a crew chief aboard C-130 transports.
"We hauled 55-gallon barrels of the toxin agent orange," said Dinkins.
And it's that very cargo, Dinkins said, that made him sick. He developed cancer years after his service ended.
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"I started getting really tired, fatigued, my urine was foaming a lot," said Dinkins.
When Dinkins hears about cancer rates among younger veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, it hits close to home.
"History is repeating itself," said Dinkins.
According to McClatchy, which analyzed medical billing data from 2000 to 2018, the rate of cancer treatments for veterans at the VA increased 61 percent for urinary cancers.
Dinkins and thousands of other local Vietnam era vets still get care from the VA. He believes the system is overwhelmed.
"It's the bureaucrats that cause all this problem because they had to vote for this and vote for that," said Dinkins.
Dinkins says not much is known about how the toxins our military men and women encounter during war and how they affect their lives in the long run.
According to McClatchy, the VA disagreed with its approach in analyzing medical billing data, but the publication stands by its reporting.
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Cox Media Group
