I wish to thank Mike Bailey (testvets.blogsource.com) for his e-mail about Edgewood Arsenal chemical and biological testing.

There is an old idiom when you join the military: "don't volunteer" for anything.

But, young recruits are often impressed by words such as "National Security," "God and Country," and "your fellow soldier," and often do the unthinkable and volunteer for some secret military test program as a human guinea pig and sign an oath that they'll never reveal what they did.

Such programs have been implemented since WWI and most likely still go on today. Some of the volunteer programs that we know about today are:

• World War II mustard gas test -- with 60,000 soldier volunteers;

• Edgewood Arsenal, chemical and biological testing from 1955 to 1975;

• SHAD chemical and biological testing from 1963 into the 70's;

• Operation Whitecoat, 1954-1973.

And the list goes on and on, as years ago the military was a cheap source of human test subjects.

These soldier volunteers have become known as "test vets" who now may suffer disabilities many years later because of their exposure to such things as syphilis, anthrax, pulmonary disease, keratitis, cancers, mood disorders and heart disease, as part of a service test program.

The V.A. in October, 2003 published a study titled "Health Effects from Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Weapons" -- both our's and their's). The 84-page study on the Internet is required reading and scary stuff.

So if you're a "Test Vet" with a disability you will need to do your research prior to filing your claim. These claims can be laborious and time consuming for the veteran and his family; this is because not all diseases are presumptive, personnel records become lost or misplaced, and sometimes the government is in denial.

• First: Get a firm medical diagnoses of the disease that the veteran suffers and a doctor's opinion that "it is likely as not related to the veterans exposure to _________ while in the military."

• Second: In all claims, the veteran needs to send for his service medical records and personnel records that should show duty stations, assignments, time periods of service.

• Third: find a dedicated veterans advocate, have them file the claim, be patient, expect delays. The military is not always quick on these types of requests from the V.A. for information. So, get health care from your VA health care provider and then live long enough to see your claim granted.

Also, being a "soldier volunteer" wasn't the only way to be exposed to conditions in war zones that generated potential health concerns, such as: the occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after WW II; Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam and Korean DMZ '69; Gulf War sarin gas exposure in Kamisayah, Iraq, in March 1991 and the Iraq War, DU (depleted uranium).

If you're one of those "soldier volunteers" or a widow of one, I urge you to talk to your veteran's advocate.

San Diego Veterans Representative Mike Schuster can be reached at (760) 643-2049 or email at mgs@cts.com.