Thread by @MiamiHerald

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. veterans saw a large spike in urinary, prostate, liver and blood cancers in nearly two decades of war, according to a new McClatchy investigation.

Now, some families think exposure to toxic environments are to blame. (THREAD) hrld.us/31UQOkl

There have been increases in specific cancer treatments across each branch of the military.

The rate of prostate cancer treatment in the Air Force rose 44 percent; for Marine Corps veterans the increase was 60 percent.

One of the more alarming clusters of cancer deaths came from China Lake, a Naval Weapons Station in California.

From 2016 to 2018, four former commanding officers who served at China Lake died from cancer. hrld.us/2ptEASy

“When you have such a shocking set of coincidences, there’s got to be something behind them,” says retired Capt. Dave Kennedy, a Navy test pilot who served with Capt. James Seaman and Capt. Alexander Hnarakis, who both died in 2018.

What could have caused cancer rates to rise?

Veterans who are cancer survivors have a name for the environmental factors that may have made them sick: toxic exposure. hrld.us/34dplMh

Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have been exposed to firefighting foam, which the military is removing from service because of links to cancer. There are also concerns about open-air trash-burning pits, which thousands of veterans reported made them sick.

Unfortunately, many veterans are still struggling to have their illnesses treated at VA clinics.

“We were denied almost immediately,” says Doris Brock, whose husband, Chief Master Sgt. Kendall Brock, served for 35 years in the Air National Guard.

He died in 2017.

“I got cancer because of my service in the military,” says Veteran Marine Corps Sgt. Mark S. Villamac Ho, who enlisted following 9/11. He worries about those who joined the military after him.

“There could be hundreds, thousands of veterans behind me getting cancer.”

Our journalists received cancer-treatment billings data from the Veterans Health Administration using multiple Freedom of Information Act requests.

Here’s how we analyzed the data: hrld.us/2WoIY1g

These stories matter, and investigative reporters help hold government agencies accountable by bringing the facts to you.

Subscribe for more in-depth journalism from sources you can trust. hrld.us/2q65Syi #ReadLocal