Looking into the future the Pelican feeding its young from a self-induced wound in its own breast (as depicted, mysteriously, on the state flag of Louisiana) is accepted as an appropriate symbol of both self-sacrifice and rebirth. Through his selfless efforts, man is raised from the slavery of ignorance to the condition of freedom conferred by wisdom. Given the current state of affairs in Louisiana, one hopes that the understanding of the Pelican as a symbol shall point the way towards a new consciousness of ourselves as a whole, and lead us to face our futures with strength, grace, wisdom and faith, to learn from our mistakes and carry our successes and zest for living to future generations.

---

After the Shock Wave Passes...Comes Leukemia

Ellis Gaspard passed a security test when he was in the Army in 1954, and it may have been the worst thing that ever happened to him. It may be the reason he has leukemia now, at the age of 51.

Gaspard was stationed in California when members of his unit were subjected to security checks, and those who where cleared shipped out to Desert Rock, Nevada, to an area where, “They were blowing off atomic bombs at the rate of two a week.”

The men camped and waited about 50 miles from the test site, until their turn came, and then they were driven by bus to a line of open trenches two miles from Ground Zero, the center of an A-bomb blast. They were told to kneel down and cover their eyes, and the bomb was exploded.

After the shock wave passed, the men were ordered to march up to within half a mile of the bombsite, and remained there for about five hours. Now, some 25 years later, an unusually high percentage of those men are afflicted with diseases - including cancer - that are associated with excessive exposure to radiation.

In some cases - involving men who were present at the cleanup after the A-bomb blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki - the U.S. Army has even refused ordinary veterans’ medical benefits, refusing to admit that the ailments are caused by service-connected radiation exposure. But in Gaspard’s case the government was quick to admit him to a VA hospital and to pick up the tab for his treatment.

That may be, according to his attorney, Frank Silvestri, because if the illnesses are service-connected the government cannot be sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act. But Silvestri is suing anyway, in an action he says will be filed today in Federal District Court, claiming that the exercise Gaspard was put through “was not a legitimate military duty.”

“As far as I can see,” says Silvestri, “these men were used as human guinea pigs, forced subjects in a test, an experiment. They were treated as laboratory animals, not as soldiers.”

Gaspard is living in New Orleans now, and undergoing extensive treatment for leukemia. The lawsuit will ask for “a substantial sum” in damages, according to Silvestri.