Attorney Buckley's Personal Connection to Camp Lejeune

Find out about Attorney Buckley's personal connection to Camp Lejeune by reading below or by watching this Youtube video in which he speaks on his connection to Camp Lejeune.

My father was a highly decorated career marine. He served his country honorably. He

joined the Marine Corp when he was 17 years old. He went in as a private and retired as

a captain. He served in China before the fall. Korea at the Chosin Reservoir, and

Da Nang, Vietnam in 68. Always proud. Always faithful. Semper Fi.

But it turns out the biggest threat to his family wasn't the spread of communism. The

biggest threat to his family were the lies and the arrogance and the indifference of HIS

United States Marine Corps when it failed to step up and take responsibility for the

grievous harm it caused to its own.

From 1953 to 1987 more than a million people who lived and worked at

Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, the Marine Corps’ largest base on the East Coast, were

exposed to contaminated groundwater of which the Marine Corps was aware but did

nothing about.

For more than 30 years it allowed its residents and employees to drink and wash in the

poison coming out of nearly every tap on the base.

As a result of being exposed to groundwater contaminants at levels up to 3400 times

higher than what is considered safe, chemicals such as such as benzene and Trichloro-

ethylene and toluene from the waste of dry-cleaning processing plants and waste from

gun ranges and leaking fuel storage tanks and God knows whatever else they just

carelessly dumped into the ground, over a million people suffered permanent

physiological and neuro-psychological harm.

Miscarriages at rates higher than normal. Infant mortality at rates higher than normal.

Childhood cancer at rates higher than normal. Adult cancer at rates higher than normal.

Learning disabilities at rates higher than normal. Birth defects at rates higher than

normal.

All of this suffering, this avoidable tragedy, happened because of an institution too

narcissistic to take responsibility. Too proud to admit it was wrong. Too indifferent to

admit its negligence.

The arrogance of thinking it was beyond being held accountable and failing to take

action to fix the problem, when it became known, may have caused as many casualties

as any war the Marine Corps ever fought.

People suffered.

Mothers and women who wanted to be mothers grieved and wept and blamed

themselves when they couldn’t carry their fetus to term, or when their child died shortly

after birth, or developed child-onset cancer, or their child was born with birth defects that

would affect that child for the rest of its life.

Fathers suffered. Men who were trained in battle. Trained for the worst that man could

inflict on each other, openly cried when they were left helpless to protect their own

families inflicted by what at the time, just seemed to be random bad luck.

Husbands widowed. Wives widowed. Children… buried.

The children who survived, physically and emotionally scarred for life.

My parents were stationed at Camp Lejeune Twice. Once in the late fifties and again in

the mid-sixties. They were young, kids themselves really, and looking forward to starting

a family. Little did they know that in a few short years my mother, my father, my sisters,

my brother, and I would all be affected by the groundwater contamination at Camp

Lejeune.

My mother suffered a miscarriage on base. My father died of cancer. My siblings have

their struggles and I have mine. Not one of us were left untouched.

We all could have very easily said Why me? Why did I have miscarriages? Why did I

get cancer? Why do I have birth defects? Why me?

But the funny thing is, we never saw ourselves as victims. We never bought into that

mentality. We were the sons and daughters of a Marine after all. If your father’s a

Marine, you’re a marine. It’s a life you're born into. We remained optimistic in the face of

whatever life threw at us. Tragic optimists. That’s us.

But then, in the mid 80’s, it was finally made public that the groundwater at Lejeune was

contaminated. That’s when it all started to make sense for my family and me and the

million-plus other people suffering in silence AND dealing with their own perceived string

of bad luck.

Common to most big institutions, when their wrongdoing is exposed, the United States

Marine Corps denied causing any harm and refused, ABSOLUTELY REFUSED, to be

held accountable.

It was only after the mounting pressure of a million raised voices demanding an

investigation that Congress finally stepped in and questioned the Corps as to why this

was allowed to happen and wanted answers and a resolution.

After years of delaying and denying and releasing questionable scientific studies,

a bill was signed into law by President Obama where a LIMITED number of people

having CERTAIN medical conditions specified on a SHORT list who think they MIGHT

have a claim COULD make a claim against the United States Marine Corps, but it was

ultimately up to the Corps to decide if a claim had merit.

Through that law, a little more than 100 people had been able to make a successful

claim against the Marines for the poisoning of over a million men, women, and children.

A million people.

Just think of that.

All the consequences that resulted from drinking and BATHING in contaminated water.

The exponential number of lives affected by the Marine Corps’ ignorance, negligence,

and arrogance and only less than a fraction of 1% of the people harmed ever received

justice.

That’s not being held accountable.

Marine Corps Families are a special breed. We are a community connected by tradition.

We correct anyone who say’s “EX” Marine. Once a Marine Always a Marine. Every

single one of us can sing the Marine Corps hymn. We celebrated the Marine Corps

birthday like another holiday on the calendar. And whenever we saw our father in his

dress blues, oh man, we just absorbed that pride.

That’s why this hurts. How could we have been betrayed like this? By OUR Marine

Corps? To be told for decades that nothing was wrong. To have been told that there was

nothing wrong with the water and that the taste and smell…well… we were told that was

just a natural phenomenon of the North Carolina groundwater system. And to be ordered

to re-tell that story to anyone who asked what was wrong with the water.

We, as Camp Lejeune alumni…the Marines, the husbands and wives of Marines, the

parents of Marines, and like me, the children of Marines… We’re all in this together

And we need to recognize that we have FINALLY been given the opportunity to obtain

the justice that for so long has been denied to us and that now is the time to act and hold

the Corps accountable for the grievous and unforgivable harm that they cast upon

generations of Marine Corps families like yours and mine.

We are one family. We have a special bond. The Marine Corps is woven into the fabric

of our lives and what hurts ONE of us hurts ALL of us.

I was conceived at Lejeune in 1959 and born in 1960 with birth defects. I spent DAYS at

a time alone in Naval hospitals having operations every year from infancy through my

20’s. I couldn’t speak well enough to be understood until I was six years old. I missed

critical early learning development lessons because I couldn’t hear. I missed a lot of

school. And because of that, I didn’t make friends until I was 8. Shout out to my best

friend, Pete. He’s still my buddy to this day.

And now…62 years later, I’m being told that I’m going deaf in my right ear and that

there’s nothing that I can do about it. And that it’s related to my birth defects.

But I want to be very clear about something. You can’t wish upon the past for something

different. All we have is what we have been given. I am grateful for my life. I am grateful

for the people in my life. I am grateful for the people I love. I am grateful for the people

that love me. I am grateful for my ability to walk and talk and think and act

independently. I am grateful for today. And because you can’t stop what’s coming,

I am hopeful for tomorrow.

I, Dave Buckley, want to represent you for your Camp Lejeune claim. But why choose

me? You’re being bombarded with ads from so many other attorneys, how do you even

decide? Here’s how…

I’ve been a practicing attorney for 30 years. And as an attorney I want to make a

difference in the lives around me. I work to help others in their time of need. And I’m

committed to my clients at a deep level. My clients are the purpose of my firm. My

clients are the reason why I do this. It’s all about them. I’ve handled nearly every type of

personal injury case there is. And as you’ve heard me say, THIS IS PERSONAL.

But why does that make me the right fit for your Camp Lejeune case? Because I'm

PISSED OFF that’s why. Pissed off that I have to tell my story that I never tell anyone

Pissed off that my privacy is being exposed for the world to see and hear and

judge. Pissed off at the Marine Corps for the harm that it caused my family and me.

Pissed off at the decades long denials that ANYTHING was wrong and failing to step up

and recognize and account for what was taken from my family and me. And pissed off

FOR EVERYONE ELSE that went through AND WILL GO THROUGH the same thing as

my family and me, because my story isn’t the only story.

Therefore… I have an ax to grind.

When you hire me to represent you to make your claim against the Marines that caused

you or your family member harm, I KNOW your story. I KNOW your pain. I KNOW the

years long struggles. I KNOW the harm they caused FIRSTHAND, and I KNOW what to

do to hold them accountable.

That’s my mission. That’s my purpose in life. I was quite LITERALLY born for this case.

Why me? That's why. Why choose me as your lawyer? Because I have a chip on my

shoulder. That’s why.

I'm mad as hell that my mother and my father, my sisters and brother were all

individually harmed. That I was harmed. That a million people in this country, and more,

did not get the satisfaction of the United States Marine Corps being held accountable to

the very people that makes it great. We didn’t even get an apology. Instead, we were

told to keep our mouths shut and fall in line.

I’ll make those who are responsible for your injuries, your loss, your pain and suffering to

be held accountable and they WILL pay for their arrogance, and they WILL pay for their

indifference, and they WILL pay for their negligence.

That's what separates me from the other attorneys who do this. That’s what makes the

difference. That’s why you choose me. Your wins are my wins. That's the difference.

You need a lawyer. You need me. And you need me now because time is running out.

I’m Dave Buckley. 

I’m a personal injury attorney. And I want to represent YOU for your

Camp Lejeune claim.

We are available to take your call 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. Call any time, toll

free, at 833-728-2553.

SEMPER FI

The Overholt Law Firm, PC, 2505 College Rd, Wilmington, NC 28412 in association with

OnderLaw, LLC and Buckley Law Offices, PC is responsible for this ad. OnderLaw

attorneys and Buckley Law Offices are not licensed to practice in North Carolina. Any and

all potential Camp Lejeune Justice Act claims and causes of action that OnderLaw, LLC

and Buckley Law Offices, PC may investigate and pursue are strictly limited to federal

law tort claims exclusively created under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, and OnderLaw,

LLC and Buckley Law Offices will not pursue any North Carolina state law claims or

causes of action. OnderLaw, LLC attorneys are licensed to practice law in the states of

Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Tennessee, Florida, and California. Buckley Law Offices, PC

attorneys are licensed in the state of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The choice of a

lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.

Past results afford no guarantee of future results. Every case is different and must be

judged on its own merits. OnderLaw, LLC, 110 E. Lockwood, St. Louis, MO 63119. Buckley

Law Offices, PC, 30 Temple Street, Suite 210, Nashua, NH 03060.