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On their first official joint trip, First Lady Melania Trump and Second Lady Usha Vance visited Camp Lejeune. For those of us who fell victim to the poisoned water on base and have spent years feeling ignored, their visit offered something we haven’t felt in a long time: hope.
For decades, Camp Lejeune has been treated as a tragic chapter in our nation’s history. But for the Marines, families and civilians who lived there, it wasn’t a headline – it was our everyday reality. It was the place we built our lives, unaware that the water we drank and cooked with was silently poisoning us.
My father, a Marine Corps veteran, moved our family onto the base in 1959. Years later, I married a Marine who was also stationed there, and I worked on base as a civilian for 25 years. Camp Lejeune was home — to me, to my family, and to countless others. None of us knew that we were being poisoned – and the government did nothing to stop it.
The Camp Lejeune water contamination crisis is one of the worst cases of government negligence in our nation’s history. From 1953-1987, over one million people came into contact with contaminated water on base. Families like mine drank, bathed in, and cooked with it for decades.
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Army scientists first detected contamination in 1980, yet officials failed to act or warn us. The government didn’t begin notifying former residents until 1999. By then, the damage was done.
I received my first cancer diagnosis in 1978 – leukemia. I beat it, got married, and tried to move forward. Then, my daughter was born with a spinal tumor. Later, she was diagnosed with bladder cancer, had surgery, and was in remission for 10 months before she passed at age 32.
I developed cervical cancer in 1989, colon cancer in 2010, then breast cancer. In 2023, I was diagnosed with cancer in my breast, kidney, and liver. After a liver transplant in 2024, I have now been cancer-free for nearly two years.
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Amid these health battles, I also experienced unimaginable loss. My father died of Parkinson’s – a condition linked to the toxins found in Lejeune’s water– and in 2014, I lost my husband to lung cancer and melanoma. Five months later, we lost our daughter.
My story is painful, but it is not unique. My family’s story is just one of many. Thousands who lived and served at Camp Lejeune have died waiting for justice.
For years, even basic medical care was out of reach. I was initially denied care by the Department of Veterans Affairs because I was a civilian. My father and husband were marines, and I lived and worked on base, surrounded by toxic chemicals, for decades. But to the VA, that didn’t matter.
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It wasn’t until 2012 that Congress passed a law allowing veterans and their families who spent time at Lejeune to receive care through the VA. But for many, it came too late.
Then, in 2022, Congress took an even more important step: it passed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, which gave those exposed to the contaminated water the right to sue the federal government for damages. It was a long-overdue acknowledgment of responsibility and a bipartisan commitment to accountability.
Three years later, that promise remains largely unfulfilled.
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More than 400,000 claims have been filed under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. Fewer than 900 have been resolved.
The same government that poisoned us, ignored warnings, and withheld the truth is now delaying settlements and failing to meet the standard of accountability that Congress set.
This isn’t just a legal failure. It’s a moral one.
Many Lejeune veterans are elderly or terminally ill – many more have already died. While no amount of money can bring back our loved one, fair settlements can help with medical costs and offer long-awaited closure.
Congress passed this law because it recognized that government negligence led to the poisoning of nearly one million Americans. Lawmakers understood that we were owed compensation for our suffering and the right to hold our government accountable.
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President Trump has long been a friend to our troops and to our veterans. By encouraging the Department of Justice to fulfill the promises of the 2022 law, he could bring real relief to the families who have suffered for decades.
The law has already been passed with bipartisan support and signed into law. Now, we need this administration to direct the Department of Justice and the Department of the Navy to move quickly, review cases fairly, and offer just settlements.
The government failed us at every step – ignoring red flags, withholding information, denying care, and covering up the truth.
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The recent visit by First Lady Melania Trump and Second Lady Usha Vance gave us hope that our voices are finally being heard. For those of us who have spent decades fighting just to be acknowledged, gestures like this matter. They remind us that justice — after so many years — may finally be within reach. But hope alone is not enough.
Too many Lejeune veterans have already died waiting for justice to be served, and we cannot afford to wait any longer. The government has a real chance to make things right — and now is the time to act.
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