Credit:
Catherine Herridge/X
Recently leaked military memos have surfaced, revealing that U.S. service members stationed at Al Asad airbase during Iran’s 2020 retaliatory missile strike may have been exposed to hazardous and radioactive materials, according to a documentary by Catherine Herridge.
The strike, which occurred on January 8, 2020, was Iran’s retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani just days earlier, ordered by then-President Donald Trump.
Iran’s missile barrage on Al Asad airbase remains one of the deadliest strikes in modern military history, with eleven missiles, each weighing over 1,600 pounds, raining down on U.S. forces. Soldiers describe it as nothing short of a miracle that anyone survived.
Alan Johnson, a retired flight surgeon at Al Asad, recounts the overwhelming concussive force of the explosions, “It’s like falling off a four-story building onto your back and surviving.”
While initial reports focused on the traumatic brain injuries suffered by many soldiers, new evidence suggests that these brave men and women may have been exposed to toxic substances that pose long-term health risks.
A 2021 Army memorandum distributed to soldiers who were at Al Asad airbase confirms that military personnel may have been exposed to hazardous materials.