Marines & ground water poisoning at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

Detachment Commandants/Officers,

The below information, is to be relayed (read/sent via email etc.) to your members. Many members are not getting the "WORD" - this is the only way the Dept has to get the "WORD" out, please comply. Please open, read and print out the attached pdf. Thank you for all you do for the MCL ~~

Semper Fidelis,

JC Marsh

Adjutant

Dept of FL, MCL 

#001 APRIL 2018

Dear MCL,

We were recently contacted by a group seeking legislation to allow Marines and others affected by the

, to sue the government for injuries sustained from this unfortunate incident that occurred over a period of many years. Normally, such lawsuits against the government are not permitted. I know that many of our members and their loved ones were affected by this unfortunate circumstance, and might like to see such legislation signed into law.

It is our natural reaction to want to assist other Marines, particularly those injured in combat or otherwise, in any way that we can. This is admirable. It is what makes us Marines.

But as leaders of the MCL, we must understand that the actions that we take can have unintended ramifications and potentially adverse consequences. Let me explain. The group that contacted us in this regard has requested to share their message with our membership at the upcoming Convention in Buffalo. And it would seem to be a good message, of interest to many of us. But as you know, we generally permit only veterans or affiliated nonprofit organizations to make presentations or have a booth at such events. If we allow a group like this to have such a platform, we would be going beyond our normal policy and this would establish a new precedent making it very hard for us to refuse future requests from unaffiliated organizations or for-profit entities.

Additionally, as much as this issue is of great concern and interest to all of us, this group proposing the presentations may or may not be the right group to take up this battle on our behalf. The point is, we don’t know them. If we give them our stage, it will appear that they have the endorsement and imprimatur of the MCL, when that is not the case.

I recently learned that this group had already arranged to speak with one of our detachments and was about to propose such a presentation to another. From my perspective, the same considerations noted above would apply and they should not be permitted to make presentations to our members during official functions or meetings or we risk setting the same precedent and could then find it legally difficult to decline such proposals from other groups, with perhaps less compelling goals, in the future.

Please contact me with any questions.

Semper Fidelis,

W3  Wendell W. Webb National Commandant and CEO

Marine Corps League

wwebb@mcleague.org Phone - 314-705-0595