Troops marched to the Buckner Physical Fitness Center on Fort Richardson. (Photo by Bill Roth / Anchorage Daily News)

Published: October 24, 2003

Troops marched to the Buckner Physical Fitness Center on Fort Richardson for an activation ceremony Thursday of the Task Force, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment and the unit's upcoming departure for duty in Afghanistan.

The 800-plus member unit is the largest deployment by U.S. Army Alaska since the Vietnam War.

E-mail to the Anchorage Daily News:

What a nice photo of the troops from Alaska on your Aug 24 paper!  I hope the military will inventory all of their products with 2-butoxyethanol ... from July, 1989 to the present ... and limit exposure to this very harmful chemical.  It is good at 'cleaning' and is a degreaser, and has symptoms of too much exposure much like gulf war syndrome symptoms.  Chad of IN had too much exposure by just cleaning his rifle daily on his lap during the 1990-1991 war.  http://www.valdezlink.com/chad.htm

Too much exposure when cleaning their guns? *

Please check into this *

Margaret

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