My name is Staff Sergeant William R. Mastro. I was stationed at George AFB from 1976 through 1979 and was assigned to the 561st Tactical Fighter Squadron, 563rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, and the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing. My Air Force Specialty Code was 70250B. I was assigned to and worked in several buildings on the flight-line. I lived in the base barracks for several months before moving to Adelanto, where I resided when I was discharged in 1979.
My duties included, among other things, courier services to offices, hangars, and other buildings all along the flight-line. I was regularly exposed to jet exhaust fumes, and the smell of solvents was common around the tarmac. I experienced frequent irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat with headaches. Some days the burning in my eyes was so severe that I couldn’t see clearly for hours because of the tears.
I remember one day in 1978, my supervisor, SSG Ray Koenig, 561st TFS, was talking about a problem with insecticides or toxins at base housing. He also mentioned something about asbestos and about, houses being cordoned off renovated, and signs being placed informing people to stay out because of hazardous materials.
When I was not on duty, I could be found almost any day of the week at The Way Inn, a Christian coffee house on base. I was among a group of volunteers in 1976 that renovated an old WWII barrack into a coffee house under the supervision of the base chaplain. We gutted the barrack, pulled out old lumber and lead-painted walls, installed new plumbing, replaced the roof, and more, without masks, gloves, or any information regarding the toxic nature of the materials we were dealing with. When the building was completed, my wife and I, along with others, volunteered to run the facility. We drank lots of coffee. And on one or two occasions, the building was sprayed with insecticide.
I ate many meals at the base chow hall. But occasionally, I would eat at the restaurant at the West Winds Golf Course on base. I remember going there to eat in 1978, and there were placards on the tables with huge handwritten notes saying… DO NOT DRINK THE WATER. I asked the Vietnamese woman working there what was going on, and she said, “Water no good. Water no good.” It was quite alarming.
Then one day, tragedy struck. I had to rush my wife to the base hospital. She had a miscarriage. I believe she was in her 2nd trimester. Other women had miscarriages too. People were talking at The Way Inn and saying that a nurse at the hospital had been advising women not to get pregnant. The conversation came up frequently.
In 1980 my firstborn child was born and later diagnosed with a heart condition; atrial septal defect. After another miscarriage, we had our second daughter in 1982, who was later diagnosed with severe mental health issues. My wife later died from heart failure. And I have been diagnosed with essential tremors of unknown cause, Meniere’s disease, tinnitus, and I am having kidney and bladder issues.
To this date, the DOD, Air Force, and the Dept. of Veterans Affairs have not notified me of possible toxic exposure at George AFB.
Wow, your story is meaningful to readers like myself who were resident of base housing at GAFB. We had an apartment unit in 1980 for 2 years when I was married to a staff sergeant. Even though I walked away without any health problems that were brought on from living there (problems that I know of- that stem from exposure ) I’m so sorry to hear about the unfortunate results it has left for you and your late wife.
-Jaime Lynn
I was stationed at George AFB from 1982 until my retirement in 1990.
We lived in base housing the first year we were there while waiting for our house off base to be built. When we first arrived on base, we were told by many people to not drink the water from base. We didn’t pay much attention to it but we did notice that the water at base housing tasted terrible, so we had to buy a water dispenser from 5-gallon jugs. During the first year, I developed polycythemia vera. My wife had a miscarriage within 3 years of arrival. Unfortunately, we got divorced 2 years after I retired. She developed stomach cancer, liver cancer, and lung cancer after we got a divorce, and she lived only 30 days after finding out about her cancer. I am now 100% VA disabled. I strongly believe our decline of our health was related to the contamination at George AFB.