LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Retired Air Force Sgt. Dave Crete can list his medical problems with amazing specificity.
Diminished lung function. Lymphomas throughout his body. A lung tumor. Thyroid tumors. A brain cyst. Tremors. Left-brain atrophy. Balance problems.
He traces them all to the four years he spent guarding the facility now known as the Nevada National Security Site during the tail end of the Cold War.
WATCH | Steve Sebelius talks to Las Vegas native whose family was exposed to radiation as a result of working at test site
Crete and his fellow veterans "are very proud of our service," he says: "We truly did the cool kids stuff at the cool kids place, playing with the cool kids toys. We did everything and it was great work, and none of us regret it."
But there's a caveat: He believes that same service left him with those medical problems, which he says spring from radiation exposure at what's commonly known as the most nuked site on planet Earth.
"We knew about the nuclear testing, and that took place south of us," he said. "The first assumption was the government isn't going to send you somewhere where just putting your head on a pillow is going to make you sick."
Complicating the matter was that Crete held a top-secret security clearance because his work was classified. So much so that he can't demonstrate to Veterans Administration doctors that his health problems are service-connected, and therefore eligible for benefits.
Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., has signed on to a new bill that would establish a presumption that certain veterans were exposed to radiation and other toxins at the test site, and get them benefits as a result.
The measure is sponsored by Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., and has nine co-sponsors, including Lee, and fellow Nevada Democratic Reps. Dina Titus and Steven Horsford.
For Crete, a burly man with a bushy white goatee, the measure would make a difference, not only for himself and his medical care, but for his family as well.
"One, I'll be able to service-connect my disabilities," he said. "It helps our rating so we can get more services and financial compensation, the same as any other veteran. And the most important thing is service-connecting it. If I die from one of these conditions, there are benefits to surviving family members, because this was something experienced on active duty.
"If I can't service-connect, my family's cut off, my wife will get nothing. And that's just wrong, you know? And the reason being is because I had a top secret security clearance? It makes no sense," he says.
The effect on family is very much a concern for people such as Las Vegas native Jennifer Callahan Page, whose family all worked at the test site. Her grandfather was head of security at the Area 51 air base following World War II. Her father helped clear the sites of aircraft that crashed at the site, and her mother oversaw the private security responsible for guarding it.
She said exposure to radiation was something everyone knew about; they wore meters to gauge how much radiation they'd been exposed to. But what they didn't know was how the contamination could spread.
"We had no clue that she was bringing it home on her clothes and on her shoes, in her hair and on her skin," said Page, who still lives in the house she grew up in. "So I don't think the thought process of it can be carried and transported into the home and then it gets into the carpet and it just infiltrates the home, I don't think that thought ever came across her brain."
Page says she just wants information so her doctors can treat the health problems that she is experiencing. At least then, she says, doctors will know how to treat her.
Like Crete, Page says her parents were patriots who were proud to be taking part in the Cold War.
"I honestly cannot tell you how much my mother bragged about her job. She loved what she did," Page said.
For Lee, whose own father fought in the Korean War, the bill is a matter of duty.
"Our men and women in uniform made countless sacrifices for our country to keep our nation safe," Lee said. "So it is our duty, and especially as a member of Congress and the daughter of a veteran, to do everything we can to protect them, especially from invisible enemies such as toxic radiation exposure."
The House version of the bill contains a CBO score, estimating it will cost $11.5 million over the next decade. The score is required under spending rules, but can be waived by House Speaker Mike Johnson, allowing the bill to pass and be included in the big year-end defense spending bill.
And Crete is calling on the speaker to do it.
"There's one person's support that we need," he said. "Speaker Johnson has the ability with a single waiver that can fix this. And all these veterans and [Defense Department] employees and contractors can apply for their benefit, the benefit that legislation already provides for, and we're blocked at the door. And I'm not picking on them, it's just the truth."
