Using Nazi Science Data

It was interesting to read about the polarization in the scientific community about whether anything good can come of using data generated by the Nazis in abhorrent experiments. What was even more interesting was that even though many people are aware of the experiments performed by the Nazis at Dachau and other camps and are quick to decry the undeniable awfulness of these experiments, not so many seem to be aware that there is a parallel with certain experiments done by our government.

I am thinking specifically of experiments run by CIA agents in the 1960s in which they gave LSD to unsuspecting subjects and in whose wake several people ended up in insane asylums. I am thinking also of nuclear experiments performed by the military early in the arms race in the 1940s and 1950s. These experiments took several forms but in one type soldiers were ordered to march across ground zero only an hour or two after the blast with no protection or information about the possible effects of radiation and fallout. Many soldiers got cancer as a result of these experiments but the government has steadfastly refused to compensate the victims or their widows.

My intention is certainly not to absolve the Nazis of their crimes. However, we should also examine our own actions both individually and as a nation.

DOUGLAS J. BENDER

Hawthorne