Capt. May…A True Iconoclast!
Eric May was one of the most talented, creative, courageous, and intelligent people I have ever met. He was a genius and then some. He quite frequently wrote essays and news reports for The Lone Star Iconoclast and as one of his editors, I was amazed at his clean text, his persuasiveness, his vast command of multiple languages, and beyond that, his extraordinary ability to accurately dismantle reports from the mainstream media and, reading between the lines, grasp the truth and unveil cover-ups.
His creation of Ghost Troop was a huge achievement, not only because it honored past soldiers, but also it provided a method of questioning dubious military tactics during a time when the world was at a critical juncture. As a former intelligence officer, he understood how military policy was developed, along with its imperfections. His analysis was always accurate.
Usually we visited by phone or e-mail, but I met him and some of his family members in person on a few occasions, which was a rewarding experience I will never forget. Once, I interviewed him at the Crawford Peace House, at which he performed for me his Ghost Troop Dirge, provided biographical information, and spoke in-depth about the state of the nation. His insight proved invaluable to Iconoclast readers and through his writings influenced national policy.
I was always amazed to learn from him what had just occurred and what was about to happen based on numerological dates that tended to follow a preconceived outline. He could predict disasters before they happened and was precise at attributing events to false flags.
Probably the most impressive element that Eric May brought to the world, however, was his courage. He stood up to the powers that be on many occasions and sought to shine a light on truth even when his personal safety was at stake, and it often was. In a way, Ghost Troop operated in the shadows and he was its commander, in touch with deceased soldiers, retirees, current soldiers, and a precise affiliation with history and how it relates to today.
I considered him a personal friend and miss him profoundly. His friendship to mankind was immense, as well, which was demonstrated time and again with his desire to improve the world, make it safer, and end wars. He was very much one of a kind.
Death Of Eric H. May Mourned
Long-time essayist for The Lone Star Iconoclast Eric Holmes May died Oct. 14, 2014 after a courageous nine-year fight against service‐connected ALS, with Gretchen holding his hand. He gave his life for his country.
Born January 9, 1960, May was a native Houstonian who enjoyed people, classical and classic vinyl music, Texas football, hiking, camping, and cycling. He was a second-degree black belt in Tae KwonDo.
May joined the U.S. Army in 1977. He achieved the rank of Captain and perfected skills in linguistics, public affairs, and military intelligence.
He graduated Cum Laude from the University of Houston in 1985 with a B.A. in classical studies. He spoke Russian, Spanish, Greek, and Latin.
He taught high school for a while, where he astonished students by playing several games of chess, simultaneously. He was awarded Teacher of the Year and received a certificate of appreciation from the City of Houston for stopping a gang from terrorizing students.
His true passion was writing. He wrote editorials for KPRC news. He published numerous op-eds in the Houston Post, Houston Chronicle, The Wall Street Journal, The Lone Star Iconoclast, and Veterans Today.
He was also a poet and showered Gretchen with his poetry.
He loved politics and debate. He founded Ghosttroop.net, a collaboration of civilians and servicemen who argued and wrote about military and national issues.
To mourn him, Eric May is survived by his wife and devoted caregiver, Gretchen; his mother, Carolyn; his children, Caroline and Andrew; son in law, Chris; siblings, April, Melody and Philip; and numerous other loved family and friends.
His beloved father, Harry Holmes May preceded him in death in 2012.
Eric and Gretchen are forever grateful to the many caregivers, doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists who educated, cared, and supported them throughout his illness, particularly his niece, Victoria White, and the medical staff of 3D at the V.A. Hospital.
In lieu of flowers, it is requested that donations be made an ALS Charity or to the Wounded Warrior Project. It is asked that Eric be remembered on May Day by showing appreciation to a nurse or caregiver in his memory. “Take a walk today, feel the sun on your face, the Texas wind in your hair and know that Eric is in God’s loving hands and he is at peace.”
A 9 a.m. visitation, 10 a.m. rosary, and 10:30 a.m. funeral mass were held on Oct. 21, 2014, at St. Helen’s Catholic Church in Pearland, Texas.
His burial with military honors were held at 1:15 p.m. at the Houston National Cemetery.
Fracking: First, Do No Harm
Our country is addicted to oil and gas. In recent years the technique of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, or fracking, has gotten greater attention, both positive and negative. It is a Trojan horse, sold to us as a way to become energy independent, provide local jobs, and stimulate the economy. As an MD, I need to note that the disease, death and destruction of fracking outweighs its appeal.
Fracking is a process where a large amount of water is mixed with sand and/or chemicals that are then injected deep underground into rock formations, fracturing the geologic formations to release petroleum, natural gas, or other substances for extraction. With today’s technologies horizontal bores can be drilled for miles away from the well.
While the precursor to modern fracking has gone on for decades, the potential health and environmental risks associated with today’s fracking methodologies are significant. Since federal laws have failed to prevent fracking pollution and groundwater contamination so severe that some rural wells are now producing flammable water that literally burns, states like Illinois have been faced with attempting to regulate it.
Modern fracking across the country is so water-intensive it uses some seven billion gallons of water annually in just four western states—North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado—mixed with massive amounts of a “chemical cocktail,” many of which are known cancer-causing agents, in addition to other kidney, liver, neurologic and respiratory toxins. The industry has refused to provide the identity of many of these agents under a “trade secret” law, though studies have identified more than 600 chemicals used. This lack of transparency and inherent “trust us” attitude is suspect at best in an industry that has brought us oil spills, pipeline breaks, and environmental degradation with their associated health impacts the world over.
This process is also premised on the assumption that there will be no cross-contamination of groundwater aquifers, demonstrably false. This assumes a leak-proof “plumbing” pipeline without mention of the potential for surface ground and air quality toxin contamination. It also fails to deal with the handling and detoxification of the millions of gallons of contaminated fracking water that result.
This new fracking is happening around the country and currently is being planned for California’s rich underground petroleum deposits. The California legislature is currently developing the oversight laws to regulate this industry. Senate Bill 4 authored by Sen. Fran Pavely passed the California Senate on Wednesday. Unfortunately this law does not protect the health and wellbeing of our citizens from the chemicals being used in fracking and even has the potential to gag physicians from revealing the impacts of fracking chemicals to their effected patients and consulting medical colleagues under threat of being sued by the oil and gas industry as their “trade secret” gets out. This gift to the oil and gas industry is unethical and forces physicians to break their Hippocratic oath. Yet this already is the law in states like Pennsylvania.
When it comes to safeguarding the public health, anyone who has the potential to impact it would be well served to abide by the medical dictum of “first, do no harm.” As a family physician my responsibility is to protect the health of my patients and community. What is to be an acceptable risk for cancer and health risks of these toxins? Is it 1 in 10,000, 1 in 100,000? Who will decide? The oil and gas industry? In addressing incurable illnesses it is better to prevent what we cannot cure.
At the same time that we pursue fracking, our efforts are diverted from the bigger picture and the more pressing need to move away from our dependency on fossil fuel and toward the development of renewable forms of energy. Scientists tell us that of the existing carbon-based fuel in oil, gas and coal global reserves we can only consume ~20% before we reach the tipping point for catastrophic climate change and its resultant health implications. Without shifting the paradigm in energy sourcing, it is not a question of energy independence or whose fracking project is more favorable but more realistically a question of whose match will light the final fuse.
We have a limited time to get ahead of this process and work for real solutions to our energy needs while simultaneously protecting our health and environment. This is a time for the people to lead and the leaders to follow.
Robert F. Dodge, M.D., serves on the boards of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Beyond War, Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles, and Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions, and writes for PeaceVoice.
A-Bomb On Nagasaki Termed War Crime
In his 2011 book Atomic Cover-Up, Greg Mitchell says, “If Hiroshima suggests how cheap life had become in the atomic age, Nagasaki shows that it could be judged to have no value whatsoever.” Mitchell notes that the US writer Dwight MacDonald cited in 1945 America’s “decline to barbarism” for dropping “half-understood poisons” on a civilian population. The New York Herald Tribune editorialized there was “no satisfaction in the thought that an American air crew had produced what must without doubt be the greatest simultaneous slaughter in the whole history of mankind.”
Mitchell reports that the novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. — who experienced the firebombing of Dresden first hand and described it in Slaughterhouse Five — said, “The most racist, nastiest act by this country, after human slavery, was the bombing of Nagasaki.”
On Aug. 17, 1945, David Lawrence, the conservative columnist and editor of US News, put it this way: “Last week we destroyed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Japanese cities with the new atomic bomb. …we shall not soon purge ourselves of the feeling of guilt. …we…did not hesitate to employ the most destructive weapon of all times indiscriminately against men, women and children. … Surely we cannot be proud of what we have done. If we state our inner thoughts honestly, we are ashamed of it.”
If shame is the natural response to Hiroshima, how is one to respond to Nagasaki, especially in view of all the declassified government papers on the subject? According to Dr. Joseph Gerson’s With Hiroshima Eye, some 74,000 were killed instantly at Nagasaki, another 75,000 were injured and 120,000 were poisoned.
If Hiroshima was unnecessary, how to justify Nagasaki?
The saving of thousands of US lives is held up as the official justification for the two atomic bombings. Leaving aside the ethical and legal question of slaughtering civilians to protect soldiers, what can be made of the Nagasaki bomb if Hiroshima’s incineration was not necessary?
The most amazingly under-reported statement in this context is that of Truman’s Secretary of State James Byrnes, quoted on the front page of the August 29, 1945 New York Times with the headline, “Japan Beaten Before Atom Bomb, Byrnes Says, Citing Peace Bids.” Byrnes cited what he called “proof that the Japanese knew that they were beaten before the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.”
On Sept. 20, 1945, Gen. Curtis LeMay, the famous bombing commander, told a press conference, “The war would have been over in two weeks without the Russians entering and without the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb had nothing to do with the end of the war at all.”
According to Robert Lifton’s and Greg Mitchel’s Hiroshima in America: 50 Years of Denial (1995), only weeks after August 6 and 9, President Truman himself publicly declared that the bomb “did not win the war.”
The US Strategic Bombing Survey, conducted by Paul Nitze less than a year after the atom bombings, concluded that “certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and ever if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.”
Likewise, the Intelligence Group of the US War Department’s Military Intelligence Division conducted a study from January to April 1946 and declared that the bombs had not been needed to end the war, according to reports Gar Alperovitz in his massive The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb. The IG said it is “almost a certainty that the Japanese would have capitulated upon the entry of Russia into the war.”
Russia did so, Aug. 8, 1945, and as Ward Wilson reports in his Five Myths about Nuclear Weapons, six hours after news of Russia’s invasion of Sakhalin Island reached Tokyo — and before Nagasaki was bombed — the Supreme Council met to discuss unconditional surrender.
Experiments with hell fire?
Nagasaki was attacked with a bomb made of plutonium, named after Pluto, god of the underworld earlier known as Hades, in what some believe to have been a ghastly trial. The most toxic substance known to science, developed for mass destruction, plutonium is so lethal it contaminates everything nearby forever, every isotope a little bit of hell fire.
According to Atomic Cover-Up, Hitoshi Motoshima, mayor of Nagasaki from 1979 to 1995, said, “The reason for Nagasaki was to experiment with the plutonium bomb.” Mitchell notes that “hard evidence to support this ‘experiment’ as the major reason for the bombing remains sketchy.” But according to a wire service report in Newsweek, Aug. 20, 1945, by a journalist traveling with the president aboard the USS Augusta, Truman reportedly announced to his shipmates, “The experiment has been an overwhelming success.”
US investigators visiting Hiroshima Sept. 8, 1945 met with Japan’s leading radiation expert, Professor Masao Tsuzuki. One was given a 1926 paper on Tsuzuki’s famous radiation experiments on rabbits. “Ah, but the Americans, they are wonderful,” Tsuzuki told the group. “It has remained for them to conduct the human experiment!”
John LaForge is a Co-director of Nukewatch, a nuclear watchdog and environmental justice group in Wisconsin, edits its quarterly newsletter, and writes for PeaceVoice.