At 88 he was sharp enough to recall the memories of the war time. According to Chlapowski, on the day of attack as he was getting in to his bunk he saw the roof on Hickam Field hangar go up and it looked like a bomb had dropped and blew it off , it was followed by firing of airplane with meatballs on the wings. According to Chlapowski a supervisor asked him to send a message that there was no drill. “Pearl Harbor is being attacked by the forces of the Imperial government of Japan. This is no drill.”

Chlapowski was honorably discharged from the Navy after four years of his service. He and his wife Betty moved to Montana in 1946 where they raised seven children. Chlapowski cherished his time speaking with others about his war experience in the hope that his message of sacrifice and service to his country will live on through others and this behavior of Chlapowski was just opposite to the other people who survived Pearl Harbor who diminished slowly.

In December he quoted that “You’ll never forget it no matter what and at this age, not going to be too many memories. This may be one of my last little spiels I’m going to give to anyone,” he had got seven children, 10 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

The visitation was scheduled from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 20 at Smith’s Downtown Funeral Chapel. The funeral Mass  took place at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 21 at Little Flower Catholic Church and interment will be at Yellowstone County Veterans Cemetery in Laurel. According to his family any donations may be sent to the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars or another veteran’s organization of the donor’s choice.

Ed Chlapowski died just a few weeks after being diagnosed with the horrible disease named mesothelioma cancer.

A company that used to supply asbestos based insulation and other products has been held 20 percent responsible in this case. The rest of the defendants, as mentioned above, were 17 people that have had professional relationships with the deceased were held accountable. However, an appeal was forwarded and a retrial will be held to determine the exact cause of Mr. Collins’ death. It is pretty clear that asbestos on navy ships has caused the disease, but the court wants to establish exactly who should be held responsible for the death. An asbestos risk representative for veterans association believes that the Navy should be held responsible because they didn’t provide with the necessary safety equipment. This just goes to show that even welders are exposed to asbestos, so it really is a great idea to wear protective gear.

Ulysses Collins died of mesothelioma five years ago. He had worked in naval shipyards from 1960-73 and 1976-94. 17 entities were ordered to share the damages in the asbestos lawsuit that obtained a jury verdict of $10 million. One of the entities that was allocated 20 percent of fault, Plant Insulation Company, appealed to the state First District Court of Appeals on the exclusion of the Navy from the list of those responsible.

In the words of the appellate court decision, “Plant argues the Navy’s immunity is essentially one from suit and does not mean the service owes no duty of care as to its enlisted personnel and civilian employees and thus cannot be characterized as a ‘tortfeasor’ for purposes of Proposition 51. Plaintiffs contend sovereign immunity is based on the historical adage ‘the King can do no wrong’ and therefore the Navy’s actions cannot be ‘wrongful’ and thus no ‘fault’ can be allocated to the service.”

The statement of the court that, “We agree with Plant and conclude the Navy is properly included among those entities to which fault may be apportioned in an asbestos case,” may have far-reaching consequences. Attorney Mark Behrens of Shook Hardy & Bacon calls the verdict “significant.”

The jury held the company’s asbestos-laden parts responsible for the plaintiff’s death as Hardick had worked as a shipfitter at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard where he used brushes and hammers to remove asbestos from ships, mainly sealants from pumps and valves. Hardick also served aboard the cruiser USS Newport News where he again came in contact with asbestos. The jury was quick to return a $5.98 million verdict that includes $2 million for Hardick’s pain and suffering; $1.15 million for the loss suffered by his widow; $2.5 million for lost future income; and $327,000 in medical and funeral expenses.

Hardick died within a year of discovering that he had mesothelioma, a disease that grows silently for decades before it manifests. John Crane Inc. will have to shell out $2.99 million of the verdict passed on April 13.

Smotherman served as a welder in the Air Force during the Korean War. He repaired aircraft at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois and in Newfoundland. Subsequently, he also worked in a similar capacity at various nuclear power plants, a shipyard in Toledo and several local foundries; in fact, he continued on various assignments from the Toledo Area Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 33 till he retired 1988.

As a welder, Smotherman was exposed to asbestos for many years as were so many other welders along with him. The professional hazard that he was oblivious to finally showed signs after the long latency inherent to the disease and another life was claimed by the disease on March 4.

The funeral was held at Reeb Funeral Home on March 9. The family of Melvin requests that tributes be made in his name to the Special Olympics Ohio chapter in Hilliard.

The Philippine government declares that the land and the water are still polluted, even if many years have passed since the military base has not worked on. The government declares that the area is polluted with heavy metals, fuel and asbestos. The base poured gallons of fuel and other chemicals into different areas, local fishing and swimming places which are now polluted with all those chemicals and people are exposed to health problems.

About 500 families refugee on the deserted military base, 76 people died and 63 more are suffering from diseases like mesothelioma cancer, asbestosis, lung cancer and other types of cancer caused by exposure to these dangerous chemicals founded at the deserted base.

The Philippine government and also the local resident have declared that the U.S military base is responsible of those people deaths and the suffering of others.

Private groups and environmentalists have tried to force a cleanup, but with no success. The area is still polluted with chemicals and asbestos and it almost impossible to clean it as new.

“An environmental clean up was scuttled by the two governments in the agreement that gave the Philippines billions of dollars in base infrastructure.” Sick locals are very unhappy about the situation and serious cases of mesothelioma and asbestosis are presented in reports, females and children with serious health issues.

Today, the land used in the past by the U.S. base is covered with hotels, parks, ranches and shops, but the area is still polluted and can threaten human health

Capitan John Marrak also volunteered for service in submarines in 1943, but he was sent again as a First Lieutenant to another destroyer called Vigilant. When working on the Vigilant he became aware about the asbestos danger. This vas shortly before the builders sprayed the inside of the vessel to combat the Artic cold. Later, Marrak was also trained in the Vindictive cruiser and he joined the battleship Nelson.

After he attended the postwar gunnery course in 1945 Capitan Marrak and Terry Lewin, one of his classmates, were selected for the “dagger” gunnery course and shortly after that they where selected for the most intellectually course initiated by the US Navy.

After a few years, Marrak continued by serving as a gunnery officer on different ships. In year 1955 he joined the Directorate of Naval Ordnance. He started to command the testing area at the Cardigan Bay time in which he realized that propellants liquids that tented to burn trough the propellants tubes are very dangerous. He was also the fist in duty to conduct for the first time tests shipboard on Seaslug shipboard  in the Girdleness trials.

He was named Capitan in 1962 and during the period trough the 1967-1969 he was a naval attaché in Bonn. Between 1970 and 1972 he served as a head of naval manpower future policy division.
He retired right after 1972, and in short time he become the administrative manager for Dawson, a firm of solicitors located in New Square. At the beautiful age of 88 years old, on November 7, 2009 Capitan John Marrak died.

He is known and remembered as a busy destroyer officer in the Second World War.

Asbestos mineral

Asbestos was widely used in the shipyard constructions, naval industries and many other industries. It was frequently used at the middle of the 20th Century. Asbestos is known to be a mineral, but a dangerous mineral, with great resistance to heat, fire and corrosion, and also as a very strong and resistance material. Asbestos was used as insulation for: car brakes, boilers, steam system, furnaces, electrical systems and many other locations.
The “miracle mineral”, like asbestos mineral is called, was banned in 1982, and after the studies elaborated by specialists that have shown that asbestos is very toxic and can cause different diseases like asbestosis or malignant mesothelioma.
If working with materials containing asbestos, risk to develop mesothelioma cancer is higher. Asbestos fibers released in the air, after damaging the materials containing the asbestos mineral can be inhaled or swallowed and this can cause damage to the pleura.
Asbestos is the main cause for developing pleural mesothelioma cancer. After it affects the lung the cancer continues affecting the abdominal cavity and the heart area.
People die every year of mesothelioma cancer. New cases are detected, but the patient’s stage of disease is very advanced and treatment does not respond. Symptoms of mesothelioma cancer can appear even after 40 years from the exposure, as they are nonspecific and can delay the diagnosis.