From: June Licence
Subject: Next Monday Night, July 21st
Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 9:07 AM

For immediate release.

For more information, contact: Charles Cobb, WNY Peace Center, 
(716) 894-2013



FORMER U.S. ARMY MAJOR DOUG ROKKE AND AREA ACTIVISTS TO ADDRESS 
THE HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR IN JULY 21 TALK AT 
HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Between August 1990 and May 2002, an estimated 262,586 American 
soldiers based in and around Kuwait have become "disabled veterans," 
and 10,617 have died. According to Dr. Doug Rokke, former Director 
of the U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Project, many of these casualties 
can be traced to uranium munitions and the defective equipment used 
to handle them. Moreover, Rokke says, "male soldiers who served in 
the Gulf War were almost twice as likely to have a child with a birth 
defect and female soldiers almost three times as likely."

Dr. Rokke joins local activists in a lecture and panel discussion 
on the consequences of military uses of radiation on Monday, July 21, 
2003 at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Auditorium 
(25 Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue). The event is sponsored by 
the Western New York Peace Center and the Historical Society as part 
of the ongoing series, "Visions for a Better World." Doors open at 
6:30 P.M. and the presentation begins at 7; admission is free, 
although a voluntary donation of $5 is suggested.

Dr. Rokke holds a PhD in Health Physics and originally trained as 
a forensic scientist before joining the army. He is a Vietnam War 
combat veteran who later served during the first Gulf War as a 
member of the 3rd U.S. Army Medical Command's Nuclear, Biological, 
and Chemical (NBC) Warfare special operations and teaching team. 
When Rokke's colleagues and large numbers of soldiers began exhibiting 
signs of radiation sickness, the doctor turned his energies toward 
revealing the policies of the army that exposed troops and civilians 
to depleted uranium (DU) and other toxic compounds without adequate 
protection or subsequent medical attention. Rokke himself became ill 
in June 1991, and when the U.S. Department of Energy examined him in 
1994, his body was found to possess 6 times the amount of uranium that 
usually requires continual medical care - a fact which was not revealed 
to him for 2 1/2 more years.

Joining Dr. Rokke for the July 21 event will be Jeff McKenzie of 
Brockport, co-founder of the international anti-war group Military 
Families Speak Out; Ralph Krieger of Tonawanda, Vice President of 
the Amalgamated Group of PACE Local 1-00277, who is part of a lawsuit 
by WWII uranium/radiation workers seeking compensation from the 
government; Carol Mongerson from West Valley Project. (An additional 
panelist may be confirmed shortly.) Buffalo-based poet and 
environmentalist Jonathan Skinner will moderate the discussion. 

"Every husband and wife, son and daughter, grandparent, aunt and 
uncle, needs to call their congressmen . and force the military to 
ensure that our troops have adequate equipment and adequate training," 
Dr. Rokke told an interviewer for Yes! Magazine. "It's a crime against 
humanity to use uranium munitions in a war, and it's devastating to 
ignore the consequences of war."

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