J

oan Zakrocki served in the Army during the Cold War Era. She trained at Fort McClellan, Alabama for Basic and Military Police School starting in January of 1976 and graduated in May. She served as a tactical MP and became her company's NBC-NCO. That training brought with it realizations how precious and fragile life is. It changed her perspective and she took the responsibility of NBC defense seriously.

Upon leaving the service, Joan worked the Arctic oilfields of Alaska in emergency services for more than a decade. She also worked as a licensed realtor for a time but migrated to the mortgage industry in an attempt to help people behind the scenes. She then spent time as a government contractor for a national training program which helped to find employment for low income seniors. This experience told her it was again time to change direction.

Motivated by the desire to bring useful information to people suffering with health problems Joan returned to school. She finished her degree at Oregon State University and graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor's of Science in Public Health Education with concentrations in chronic disease prevention, patient advocacy, and health care delivery systems. She then assisted behaviorally challenged children and adolescents in a residential mental health facility while working as a state contractor facilitating family reunification meetings.

Joan now spends her time researching the issues surrounding the toxic exposure at Fort McClellan and helps her community with issues affecting quality of life, health, and well-being. She is one of the hundreds of thousands of Fort McClellan veterans who were never notified that their health may be at risk for developing diseases associated with exposure to environmental toxins.

Joan states:

"Ever since I learned that the casualties from toxic exposure at Fort McClellan were not investigated I knew I would eventually help connect the association between those toxins, which were present for decades, and the long term health effects they pose. I feel a responsibility to help the DOD, the VA and Congress recognize they still have time to save lives. The CERCLA of 1980 and 1986 directed at risk populations of environmental contamination and toxic exposure be notified, this included acute or chronic exposure. The contamination and toxic exposure happened between 1917 and 1999."

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To read more on the issues and evidence of Fort McClellan, Anniston, Alabama toxic exposure visit Joan's community page on Facebook called Ft McClellan Toxic Exposure Right To Know located HERE.