She sought to prove her grandfather was poisoned at Camp Lejeune. Records she found could help thousands.
Leo Case survived the battle of Iwo Jima and risked his life to save his crew during a clash in the South Pacific — only to die of multiple cancers at 58.
Leo Case survived the battle of Iwo Jima and risked his life to save his crew during a clash in the South Pacific — only to die of multiple cancers at 58.
The World War II tank commander and recipient of the Navy Cross, the military’s second-highest recognition for valor, was one of the first service members exposed to a contaminated water supply at Camp Lejeune.
His granddaughter sought to prove he was sickened at the Marine Corps training facility in North Carolina. In the process, she amassed an archive of records that she said could help thousands of other veterans and their loved ones bolster their challenging water contamination cases.
“It’s become very personal,” said Jessie Hoerman, 55.
Hoerman, an attorney in St. Louis, has spent the last two years scouring eBay, antique stores and national archives to find muster rolls, phone directories, yearbooks and other materials that could substantiate her family’s claim.
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