This story is part of the 2024 special report, “Ending the Wait for Toxic-Exposed Veterans,” by DAV and MOAA (Military Officers Association of America). Backed by original research and historic analysis, the report shows that toxic-exposed veterans—many of them suffering life-threatening diseases—often have to wait decades to receive access to the full range of health care and benefits they earned and so urgently need. DAV and MOAA offer a blueprint for reforming how our government handles service-related toxic exposures in a way that ensures timely, equitable access to life-saving care and benefits. Learn more at endingthewait.org.

 

Six years ago, retired Army Lt. Col. Gary Sauer was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. He had no family history of cancer of any kind, and testing confirmed he wasn’t genetically predisposed.

But over his 22-year military career, Sauer—who was also diagnosed with a rare kidney disease—served at numerous installations known to have the presence of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

These synthetic “forever chemicals” are found in everything from clothing to cookware. With enough exposure, PFAS have been shown to cause cancer, thyroid disease, reproductive problems and other health issues.

Although the DOD recognizes more than 700 U.S. military sites known or likely to be contaminated with PFAS, the Department of Veterans Affairs does not concede PFAS exposure to those who served at any of those locations, nor does it acknowledge a 2022 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) noting diseases associated with PFAS exposure. That means veterans must prove their individual exposures and convince the VA there is a connection between their illnesses and that exposure in order to receive benefits.

On military bases, the primary source of PFAS—and one that can be particularly invasive—is the use of firefighting foam in training exercises. That foam can find its way into drinking water.

“We’re using that [water] to prepare food. We were drinking it straight from the water fountains. … We were showering in it, brushing our teeth,” Sauer said. “So, the exposure of that was pretty significant.”

Sauer spent the first four years of his career at Fort Ord, California, a base that has since tested particularly high for PFAS. In 2017, according to Department of Defense data, the groundwater at Fort Ord contained PFAS chemicals at 334 parts per trillion—more than 80 times the maximum allowable amount set by the most recent federal rule limiting PFAS in drinking water.

Armed with extensive research, medical testing that shows PFAS in his blood and a letter from an oncologist that says PFAS cannot be ruled out as a cause of his cancer, Sauer is optimistic he’ll be successful with his own claim. But he knows too many veterans who don’t have the resources, or whose illnesses are too acute, to fight what can be a long, trying fight.

That’s why Sauer has dedicated much of his time—even setting aside a career—to advocate for PFAS-exposed veterans.

“I believe I have the obligation to the veterans and my fellow service members, that if there’s anything I can do, I want to help them,” Sauer said.

Adopting the recommendations in this report would remove many of the evidentiary, financial, and political obstacles that prevent VA and Congress from creating presumptives for PFAS and other toxic exposures.