Many Navy Veterans, Including Seabees, Were Exposed to Asbestos-Containing Materials During Military Service and Have Developed Asbestos Disease

Until the 1960s, many asbestos-containing products were used on U.S. Navy ships and in the construction of buildings at military bases throughout the world. The experienced construction workers that served as Navy Seabees were exposed to asbestos on an almost daily basis. Now, many decades later, many Seabee Vets have been diagnosed with serious asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma cancer, asbestos-related lung cancer or asbestosis.

In WWII, the U.S. military was in need of specialized construction workers who would be able to build military bases, airfields and other needed facilities to support the war effort. This group of specialized Navy servicemen came to be known as the Seabees (taken from the pronunciation of the initials for their division—the Construction Battalion).

These men were recruited not only to serve in battle, but to construct airstrips, bridges, roads, warehouses, hospitals, housing facilities, airplane hangars and power facilities at military bases and other sites on six continents and over 300 Pacific region islands.

In the 1950s, the Seabees took on a new mission: helping to rebuild after a 1953 earthquake ravaged Greece, and later, to provide construction expertise and training to men and women in underdeveloped countries. Thanks to the dedicated service of the Seabees, hundreds of roads, schools, hospitals and orphanages were built in remote areas of the world, and their work in utility construction provided many remote regions with electricity, telephones and running water.

Seabees Exposed to Asbestos Develop Serious Illnesses Many Years Later
The contributions the Seabees made to the nation and the world during this period are now overshadowed by the outcome of their almost daily exposure to the invisible hazard of asbestos.  The Seabees, as well as civilian construction workers, routinely worked with countless asbestos-containing materials (ACM) and products, and breathed in asbestos dust virtually every day on the job.

Tragically, thousands of Seabees and other Navy veterans that that were exposed to the dangerous carcinogen (cancer-causing substance) during their military service were ultimately diagnosed with an asbestos disease several decades after completing their military service.

Asbestos disease has a latency period (the time between exposure to the dangerous cancer-causing substance and when an asbestos disease is first diagnosed) of 30-40 or more years long.

When asbestos dust is inhaled, the jagged edges on the microscopic dusts stick to lung tissue. Unlike other irritating substances that are breathed in, asbestos cannot be expelled by coughing, sneezing or blowing ones nose.

Asbestos remains in the lungs, where it can eventually cause scarring in lung tissue. This scarring can lead to chronic lung diseases such as pleural plaques disease or asbestosis. In other cases, the asbestos causes the lungs to produce abnormal cells, resulting in the development of tumors (lung cancer or mesothelioma).

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