[GUEST ACCESS MODE: Data is scrambled or limited to provide examples. Make requests using your API key to unlock full data. Check https://lunarcrush.ai/auth for authentication information.]  Catherine Herridge [@C__Herridge](/creator/twitter/C__Herridge) on x 1M followers Created: 2025-07-21 16:31:47 UTC A Serious Redline Has Been Crossed: When the VA Denies Presumptive Service Cancers This is an injustice that you need to know about. In February, 48-year old Army veteran Jackson was diagnosed with stage X prostate cancer. “My doctor said ‘1000%.’ It’s related to toxic exposure in the Army,” Jackson explained. In June, the VA denied Jackson’s prostate cancer claim. Jackson said the VA was given electronic and physical copies of his prostate cancer diagnosis. The notion that no records were provided to the VA is demonstrably false. “I laughed,” Jackson said of receiving the VA denial of his cancer. “Of course they (the VA) denied it. That has been my entire experience. I fought for the PACT Act. Of course, they denied me. The system won.” Under the PACT Act, a law that expanded VA coverage for burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic exposures, Jackson’s prostate cancer should have been covered. It’s called a "presumptive service connection” which means the VA “automatically assume (or “presume”) that your service caused your condition.” DEEP DIVE Jackson and I met nearly six years ago when I was the senior investigative correspondent at CBS News reporting on toxic exposure illnesses among U.S. service members. Jackson has a nickname, the "accidental activist.” An Assistant Special Agent in Charge with Army Criminal Investigations, Jackson became an outspoken advocate for XXXXXX veterans who also served at the Karshi-Khanabad airbase in Uzbekistan after 9/11. Known as K2, the base supported highly classified counterterrorism missions into neighboring Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was also a dumping ground for toxic waste by the Russians. An Army whistleblower Nick Nicholls first came forward to me last year, with the 2001 environmental testing records from K2 that showed yellowcake uranium in the soil and air. The military environmental report said the air they breathed was the "pathway of greatest exposure concern," as well as "severe subsurface soil fuel contamination." The report concluded there was "a direct health threat if exposed." Jackson’s chronically weakened immune system, debilitating infections and osteoporosis are blamed on long term radiation exposure. At the K2 base, radiation particles in the air likely lodged in Jackson’s lungs, creating a decades-long radiation exposure. "Once you get uranium into your lung tissue, it remains there and causes continuous damage – and that damage being cancer." Robert Brounstein, a specialist in occupational health and safety told me. Last year, there was some progress on the issue when Rosie and retired Capt. Le Roy Torres of @Burnpit360 + @JonStewart stepped up without hesitation to support these veterans @SFF_K2 There was a lot of talking, a lot of reassurances, but results from the Biden administration fell short. “How many VA secretaries, members of congress do I have to meet, who said that it will be okay, for a VA bureaucrat to (then) look at my case and deny me,” Jackson explained. “At a veterans breakfast with President Biden, he held my hand and said ‘I got this.” Jackson paused, “I don’t got sh*t.” To his credit @SecDef Hegseth recently had a study done after @RepMarkGreen got involved. The report stopped short of linking illnesses to toxic conditions at the K2 base. The report said there was not enough data to work with. President Trump’s @SecVetAffairs Doug Collins has the authority to act. He can begin by reversing the VA denial of Jackson’s prostate cancer claim. “If it's happening to me, it’s happening to others who don’t have a voice,” Jackson emphasized. BOTTOM LINE In mid-August Jackson will undergo prostate surgery. Yet another surgery he believes is linked to toxic exposure from his military service. The burden should not be on the sick veteran. The VA should err on the side of the veteran. With Jackson’s permission we are posting th VA denial.  XXXXXXX engagements  [Post Link](https://x.com/C__Herridge/status/1947333694382834165)
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Catherine Herridge @C__Herridge on x 1M followers
Created: 2025-07-21 16:31:47 UTC
A Serious Redline Has Been Crossed: When the VA Denies Presumptive Service Cancers
This is an injustice that you need to know about.
In February, 48-year old Army veteran Jackson was diagnosed with stage X prostate cancer.
“My doctor said ‘1000%.’ It’s related to toxic exposure in the Army,” Jackson explained.
In June, the VA denied Jackson’s prostate cancer claim.
Jackson said the VA was given electronic and physical copies of his prostate cancer diagnosis. The notion that no records were provided to the VA is demonstrably false.
“I laughed,” Jackson said of receiving the VA denial of his cancer. “Of course they (the VA) denied it. That has been my entire experience. I fought for the PACT Act. Of course, they denied me. The system won.”
Under the PACT Act, a law that expanded VA coverage for burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic exposures, Jackson’s prostate cancer should have been covered.
It’s called a "presumptive service connection” which means the VA “automatically assume (or “presume”) that your service caused your condition.”
DEEP DIVE
Jackson and I met nearly six years ago when I was the senior investigative correspondent at CBS News reporting on toxic exposure illnesses among U.S. service members.
Jackson has a nickname, the "accidental activist.”
An Assistant Special Agent in Charge with Army Criminal Investigations, Jackson became an outspoken advocate for XXXXXX veterans who also served at the Karshi-Khanabad airbase in Uzbekistan after 9/11.
Known as K2, the base supported highly classified counterterrorism missions into neighboring Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was also a dumping ground for toxic waste by the Russians.
An Army whistleblower Nick Nicholls first came forward to me last year, with the 2001 environmental testing records from K2 that showed yellowcake uranium in the soil and air.
The military environmental report said the air they breathed was the "pathway of greatest exposure concern," as well as "severe subsurface soil fuel contamination."
The report concluded there was "a direct health threat if exposed."
Jackson’s chronically weakened immune system, debilitating infections and osteoporosis are blamed on long term radiation exposure.
At the K2 base, radiation particles in the air likely lodged in Jackson’s lungs, creating a decades-long radiation exposure.
"Once you get uranium into your lung tissue, it remains there and causes continuous damage – and that damage being cancer." Robert Brounstein, a specialist in occupational health and safety told me.
Last year, there was some progress on the issue when Rosie and retired Capt. Le Roy Torres of @Burnpit360 + @JonStewart stepped up without hesitation to support these veterans @SFF_K2
There was a lot of talking, a lot of reassurances, but results from the Biden administration fell short.
“How many VA secretaries, members of congress do I have to meet, who said that it will be okay, for a VA bureaucrat to (then) look at my case and deny me,” Jackson explained.
“At a veterans breakfast with President Biden, he held my hand and said ‘I got this.” Jackson paused, “I don’t got sh*t.”
To his credit @SecDef Hegseth recently had a study done after @RepMarkGreen got involved. The report stopped short of linking illnesses to toxic conditions at the K2 base. The report said there was not enough data to work with.
President Trump’s @SecVetAffairs Doug Collins has the authority to act. He can begin by reversing the VA denial of Jackson’s prostate cancer claim.
“If it's happening to me, it’s happening to others who don’t have a voice,” Jackson emphasized.
BOTTOM LINE
In mid-August Jackson will undergo prostate surgery. Yet another surgery he believes is linked to toxic exposure from his military service.
The burden should not be on the sick veteran. The VA should err on the side of the veteran.
With Jackson’s permission we are posting th VA denial.
XXXXXXX engagements
