The Smell of Burning Flesh in the Morning
03 November 2008 | By admin in Iraq
I just read this fascinating story by Matt LaPlante in the Salt Lake Tribune. It’s about how one of the largest bases in Iraq burns all of its garbage and waste, which may even include amputated body parts, in an open pit.
When I read this, my first reaction was to start dry heaving. I was stationed at Camp Anaconda (or Balad Airbase) for one year. I’ve sucked down more of that smoke than I care to think about. I knew it was bad for my health, but I had no idea that there might be body parts burning in the pit.
The photo that accompanied LaPlante’s article shows an airman dropping in “unserviceable uniforms” into the burn pit. Most often, a uniform becomes unserviceable because it has blood or human parts on it. The Air Force runs one of the largest hospitals in Iraq at Camp Anaconda, so I’m pretty sure those uniforms would be considered a biohazard.
One day, near December, the smoke from the burn pit was so bad that I started to wonder if we were under some kind of a chemical attack. The familiar column of smoke that blew over the hospital and past the running track every day was annoying and disgusting, but this was something more. This was actually frightening. I stepped out of the PX to walk back to my housing area, which was only a few blocks away. The visibility was so poor I could barely make out other service members running for cover. My eyes watered up so much I had to bury my face in my sleeve. I pulled my T-shirt up over my nose and mouth, covered my eyes as much as I could with my hand, and started running to my building.
About a block later I was having serious doubts about whether I should continue. I was coughing so severely that I couldn’t catch my breath and my eyes were watering so severely that my vision was blurred. Eventually, however, I managed to stumble into my housing area. I went right to the bathroom and hacked and spit until I was sore. I can still taste the burnt plastic in my mouth.
After that night, I decided I was going to have to document the burn pit. I realized that thousands of soldiers were going to be having health problems as a result of this, and there needed to be some proof. During my first month in Iraq, a Lieutenant Colonel in charge of public affairs told us we could not photograph the burn pit or talk about it with the media. So, I saw it as entirely possible that nobody would ever find out about the burn pit if I didn’t do something.
The Air Force Public Affairs has an different chain of command, and they obviously have different rules. Otherwise, the Salt Lake Tribune wouldn’t have had the photo they ran. This makes what I did next all the more stupid.
Not knowing what could happen, I decided to sneak into the smoldering burn pit at night and photograph it. My friend dropped me off on a road that ran next to the pit and I jumped out with my camera and tripod. I had to pick my way through two sets of concertina wire and climb over a 30-foot tall earthen berm. Once I was over, I found myself in a different world.
I was in a low valley, which made up just one corner of
the sprawling burn pit. Tall orange flames covered the ridges of garbage and a wind blew the smoke away from me and back toward the main area of Camp Anaconda. As I quickly went to work setting up my tripod, I noticed a guard tower not too far away. To my horror, I was on the wrong side of it. That’s why there was concertina wire.
Suddenly, things were a lot more serious. If soldiers in the tower saw me, there was a very good chance I would be shot. My tripod could easily have been mistaken for a mortar tripod and it was too dark to distinguish my uniform.
By this time, however, I had everything set up and I wasn’t dead yet, so I thought I would at least get a few shots. Using a flash was out of the question so I was taking exposures that lasted five to ten seconds each.
As I waited for the shutter to do its work, I saw something move at the other end of the small valley. I instinctively grabbed my M-16 and peered into the dark recesses of the pit that were shrouded from the otherworldly orange glow of the fires. It wasn’t just one thing moving, it was at least a dozen things. As my eyes adjusted, I could barely make out a pack of wild dogs.
I prayed that the dogs would just go away. I had to get a few more shots to ensure that I would have something usable. During the next shot, however, one mangy wolf-like dog ran up to me and stopped about 25 feet away. If it moved any closer, I would have to do something. I couldn’t outrun it and I certainly couldn’t shoot it. One shot from me and the guard tower would definitely take me out. I thought my best chance would be to bludgeon it with my M-16. It stared at me for what felt like an eternity and then slowly turned and ran toward the rest of the pack.
At this point, I decided it was time to leave. I grabbed my equipment and crept back over the berm, through the concertina wire, and ran to the vehicle where my friend was patiently waiting.
Here are the pictures I almost died to get. The Air Force photo in the Salt Lake Tribune is by far more telling and more incriminating. On the other hand, my pictures are certainly creepier. Oh well, I thought I was doing something good. And it’s the thought that counts, right?
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05 November 2008 | Ms Sparky Said:
I just blogged about this myself. I would like to like to link to your post if that’s OK.
I blog primarily about the soldier electrocutions and electrical safety in Iraq and Afghanistan and KBR fraud, waste and abuse. Feel free to link to any of those posts and help me us get the word out!
Thanks
06 November 2008 | Ms Sparky Said:
I have a question for you about the Burn Pits. Please email me.
Thanks
06 November 2008 | admin Said:
Thanks Ms. Sparky. Everyone should go to http://www.mssparky.com for a comprehensive list of articles and blogs about the burn pit.
06 November 2008 | Holly Said:
Wow. That is crazy. I’m glad you got the shots, and mostly I’m glad that you didn’t die. Way to go.
11 November 2008 | marshall Said:
Do you live in Utah? We would like to add to the blog roll but we mainly concentrate on sites in Utah. Thanks for serving our country and happy veterans day.
22 November 2008 | Jill Wilkins Said:
My husband, Major Kevin E. Wilkins, 920ASTS Patrick AFB Florida, was a nurse at the hospital in Balad, Iraq, summer of 2006. He spoke some of the “burn pit”. Six months after he returned the headaches started. He just turned 51 years on March 8, 2008 and died of a brain tumor on April 1, 2008. He was perfectly healthy before his tour in Balad.
25 November 2008 | admin Said:
Jill,
I’m so sorry to hear about your loss. The DOD really must come clean about all this. It is too important.
07 December 2008 | kp Said:
That is really scary to hear. I am 23 and was deployed to Balad also working at the Hospital May-Sep this year. About a month after I got back, I started having really bad headaches constantly. Dr finally ordered an MRI one month after they started. Currently awaiting results.
07 December 2008 | admin Said:
KP,
I’m sorry to hear about the headaches. I hope the MRI is helpful. Please keep us posted.
13 December 2008 | kp Said:
Still waiting to hear what, if anything, the MRI showed-that’s the military healthcare system for you, but I did get a referral to Neurology in Jan. We will see how that goes.
04 June 2009 | George Said:
Here’s my domestic burn pit story.
I once worked on a movie in Hollywood (Pasadena area actually) about funerals called The Last Word.
We had a scene near a grave and they fed us in a nearby parking lot. As often happened we got some grilled meat - ribs or steaks or something for lunch from the catering.
Later mid afternoon I smelled the lighter fluid and the caters grilling again except when we looked over they were breaking down the grills and packing the trucks.
That’s when we noticed the smoke coming from the chimney on the building which we were all seated next to outside with the parking lot we had eaten in all afternoon.
Pretty quick we realized it was the crematorium at the cemetery and that fuel oil grilled meat smell was a body getting cooked down.
Two of us who had noticed left and went around the other side of the building where the wind was clear before we had a pukefest.
I smelled that smell for a year. Still wonder who I breathed in that day. Creepy to think about breathing in someone through your lungs.
05 June 2009 | Ed Said:
You snuck into the burn pit? You’re a knucklehad. The continuing insurgent violence throughout all of Iraq, The continued IDF against American forces on JBB (Anaconda), tension between Iraqis and Turkish soldiers on American bases, the list of things you could be writing about goes on and on… But you chose to disobey orders and sneak into the burn pit. You’re an idiot. Next time you do something dumb like that, I hope they shoot you in the ass.
05 June 2009 | h3 Said:
Thank you for exposing that, it takes a lot of courage.
That *is* patriotism.
06 July 2009 | olegnep Said:
Can you post links to the high resolution versions of those pictures?
06 July 2009 | Justus Said:
Ha ha ha you are a crazy motherfucker! I can’t imagine ACCIDENTALLY sneaking over the wire … lol
06 July 2009 | LiquidOC Said:
Ed, you’re retarded. What he did was expose how the military doesn’t give a flying hoot about anyone they employ. What you do is a bit of armchair quarterbacking, so leave the guy alone for documenting a REAL PROBLEM. Geez….it’s not like he was sneaking into the women’s showers or something.
06 July 2009 | Neil Said:
I won’t go as far as Ed and say you’re a total idiot, but to put yourself in that much danger, and expose your comrades to the possibility of shooting one of their own, you could at least have done some thinking first and got some decent results. If for some reason your photos were needed in a trial or inquiry, they would be useless, they don’t show a damn thing!
But, I guess you already know all that. Regarding the pit itself, I guess it’s just another entry on the list of things the Army does to it’s own soliders without giving a shit. it’s already a pretty long list, so this isn’t adding much.
While I admire the patriotism and selflessness of those who serve, I still think you’re all fools for letting yourself be used like worthless slaves.
06 July 2009 | uhoh Said:
The article you linked to is no longer available. Coincidence?
06 July 2009 | TV Spy Said:
wow that’s horrible, think of the pollution.
06 July 2009 | Draygon Said:
I was stationed at Balad 2 years ago, was only there for 2 months befor being injured due to a mortar attack. I was perfectly health before going over there but since being back (and again this is 2 years now) I have a hard time breathing when doing simple things like walking up stairs and I am tired quite often even after a full night of sleep.
Not sure if you all have noticed but a few months ago the company that runs/ran the burn pits was sued by military members stating that they were putting soldiers/airmen/marines even iraqi soldiers in harms way by burning all of those chemicals. The lawsuit has not gone through court yet, I am very interested in finding out the outcome of it. I have already contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs about my health issues and they say to just keep going to the doctor and having it documented, if nothing else you can get more disability for it when you get out. I am hoping though that they govt comes out and says yes there was a problem and not have it take as long as it did for those in Vietnam with Agent Orange.
06 July 2009 | scary Said:
That’s a pretty crazy story! Man, I hope you don’t see any ill effects from inhaling that stuff.
07 July 2009 | gus Said:
He exposed nothing, disobeyed direct orders and almost got himself killed. What a knucklehead. Everything in the burn pit is thrown in there by another serviceman, go ask around and you’ll learn what’s in there instead of assuming. The field manual will also tell you what’s thrown in there. The army is like that, they write stuff down and people do what’s written down.
07 July 2009 | Taylor Said:
A heroic piece of information. History thanks you!
07 July 2009 | admin Said:
To Gus,
I want to state unequivocally that I agree what I did was a knuckledheaded thing to do. The pictures, while ascetically pleasing, do not prove anything except that the burn pit existed and operated through the night. I will disagree with you that this burn pit was being operated according to the army field manual. We have a lot to learn about the pit and it won’t come from asking a buddy or two. It will come when we put decision makers on trial and hear what they have to say under oath.
07 July 2009 | Ms Sparky Said:
I’m afraid there is a majority of decision makers over there that would lie even under oath. The end justifies the means
Still an amazing article. Great job on keeping this story alive.
Ms Sparky
07 July 2009 | elusive Said:
I was stationed in balad for 2 years. We were the second unit to arrive on post after the take over and i went back for the 05-06 term. me and one of my best friends from the army used to talk abou thow bad the air must be to breath in from the burn pit becaused they dumped ANYTHING into it. at night if the wind was blowing in the direction of interior of the camp it looked like day light out from the base lights reflecting off of the smog, its very creepy looking. make a long story short, now i have horrible stomach issuse that makes me always fell full to the point i want to yack and the doc cant figure out what the problem is I also have a skin condition around my waste line and top of the back of my legs that just appeared during the second tour that doctors said was in my genes and that it would go away when i got older. i havent gone to the VA yet because i think military docs are full of it but im going to have to soon if things dont get better.
08 July 2009 | anonymous Said:
I was stationed in Iraq as well, for 6 months in Mosul, and I lived about 50 yards away from the burn pit on the base. It wasn’t run by US service members, but contractors for the military. I was totally healthy before my deployment, and now suffer from auto-immune problems that can’t be diagnosed. That pit burned continuously, 24-hrs a day, and everyday at 1600 hrs there was a loud “explosion” of sorts because they reignited the pit with benzene.
22 July 2009 | K Said:
I was stationed at Balad, worked at that hospital, and I know we burned bloody uniforms in there. Never heard of body parts being burned, but come to think of it, what else did they do with them? We had no incinerator, no other location in which to dispose of anything, and the burn pit was close by. Some people threw used mousetraps in there (i.e. with mice attached). I know for a fact we burned plastic. Fortunately I don’t think my health was affected in any way other than to increase my cancer risk, which is significant enough in itself, but it just goes to show those “environmental exposures” forms you fill out are nothing but CYA documents - a slimy attempt protect the military from liability.
Thanks for taking the effort to make this public. I’m out of the military now and disgusted with all the ways in which they lie, and skirt the truth.
18 December 2009 | Mosul Worker Said:
I was also in Mosul, Iraq working for about seven months and about six months to a year I started having coughing, throat blockage problems or grasping for air while lying down trying to sleep, and my lungs still have pain in them. I never had this problem before I started working for KBR in Iraq.
AIG is disputing me on this matter now.
Contractor employee