Lewisite Books

In WWII the US subjected around 60,000 US servicemen to chemical warfare experiments. The objectives of these experiments was two-fold: improve protection and defense against enemy CW, and comprehend the requirements necessary for an Allied CW retaliation.

BG Alden Waitt stated in WWII that what the US lacked was something authoratative on CW. These field trials led to the two part report "Tachnical Aspects of Chemical Warfare in the Field" (TACWIF, 1946), and the experience that may have been necessary in response to an Axis CW offensive.

Unfortunately, these 60,000 servicement were exposed to chemicals that are now known carcinogens at a time when such latent effects were not appreciated. That, on top of the intense security surrounding CW research has resulted in a large body of veterans that had suffered health consiquences without compensation or assistance.

Veteran's at Risk is a technical report on what those health consiquences are by reviewing the toxicology and medical knowledge on Mustard Gas and Lewisite. It also reviews the technical literature resulting from the WWII field trials and experiments. In the end, the NAS concluded that there was cause to believe that veterns had been adversely affected, and that all documentation from these experiments should be made publically available to assist these veterans.

The authors do an excellent job of covering the pathology of Mustard Gas and Lewisite. The details of WWII field trials and experiments are also still useful today in comprehending the disposition of vesicant casualties. This book is required reading for anyone anticipating treating vesicant casualties.

The only faults to the book that I could discern was poor military posology. The authors did not always calculate dosage correctly, and could have revealed more on unit cancer risk for these vesicants. These faults do not by any means take away from the importance of the book - this is just a word of caution on blindly accepting all the figures reported.

I found this an interesting book. I felt that the author could have held back some of his personal opinions on the more recent issues at American University but they did not significantly detract from his presentation of a significant research effort.

Joel Vilensky has written an extremely well researched book on the frantic development of Lewisite during the waning days of World War I. Although Lewisite was never used by the United States in any armed conflict including and after WW I, its legacy as a weapon of mass distruction continues to the present. At the conclusion of WW I, Lewisite was touted by the United States as the most significant weapon of the era. In this respect it is analogous to the Atomic Bomb of WW II. War history buffs, and the general reader, will be intrigued with this fascinating story.

Phil Reiss