The US Mustard Gas Testing on Soldiers

My mother had a specific name for the third drawer down. She called it the cabinet of clean hands. It was where she kept the documents that proved how easily a state can erase its own citizens from the ledger of its conscience. Tonight, I pulled the file labeled 1942 — Chemical Weapons Testing. The folder is heavy with photocopies of military orders, medical charts, and the testimonies of men who spent decades in forced silence.

In 1942, the United States military initiated a classified research program to study the effects of chemical warfare agents, primarily sulfur mustard and lewisite. Over the course of World War II, approximately 60,000 American service members were utilized in these secret trials. The program was designed to test the effectiveness of protective gear, such as gas masks and specialized clothing, alongside therapeutic ointments intended to treat severe chemical burns.

While the majority of these men were subjected to minor patch tests—small drops of the liquid agent applied directly to their skin—approximately 4,000 soldiers endured severe, full-body exposures. These tests took place inside closed gas chambers or during simulated chemical attacks in field exercises. Key testing facilities included the Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland and the Naval Research Laboratory in Anacostia, Washington, D.C. Many participants later testified that they were coerced or misled, often recruited with the promise of a two-week vacation, only to find themselves locked inside sealed chambers as a dark yellow oily mist began to hiss through the vents.

The experiments were deeply divided along racial lines. At least nine projects were designed specifically to investigate whether racial background influenced susceptibility to the chemical agents. Scientists operated under the unproven hypothesis that African American skin was thicker and therefore more resistant to mustard gas than the skin of white soldiers, who served as a control group. The studies also utilized Japanese American and Puerto Rican soldiers as test subjects.

To prevent exposure of the program, participants were sworn to secrecy under threat of imprisonment or dishonorable discharge. This enforced silence meant many could never explain the origin of their chronic respiratory or skin conditions to civilian doctors. Because the program remained classified until its formal declassification in 1993, and because many participants’ records were never officially entered into their military files, securing medical care or disability compensation through the Department of Veterans Affairs became a decades-long struggle.

In the margin of a photocopy of a 1942 test log from Edgewood, my mother wrote: They designed the masks to keep the poison out, but they designed the silence to keep the truth in. A soldier’s skin is always the first territory a state occupies.

It is 02:40 AM. The air in the study has grown noticeably cold, prompting me to pull my collar tight, though the September night outside is sweltering. I can hear a faint, rhythmic clicking in the quiet—perhaps just the house settling, or the fan cooling the desk lamp. I will return the file to the drawer now.

I am sending this to Lukas over the line. If it only exists here, it doesn’t exist.

>>> BEGIN CAPTURE
FILE GOVT_SECRETS/1942/US-124
SUBJECT: 1942 chemical weapons testing on US soldiers
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US military classified research program initiated 1942.
tested sulfur mustard and lewisite on American service members.
approximately 60000 soldiers utilized in secret trials.
tested protective gear, gas masks, and therapeutic ointments.
most underwent minor patch tests on skin.
approximately 4000 endured full-body exposure in gas chambers.
testing at Edgewood Arsenal and Naval Research Laboratory.
recruits promised two-week vacations, then locked in chambers.
nine projects designed to test racial susceptibility.
hypothesized African American skin was thicker than white skin.
Japanese American and Puerto Rican soldiers also utilized.
participants sworn to secrecy under threat of imprisonment.
program remained classified until formal declassification in 1993.
lack of official records blocked VA medical care.
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M. NOTE:
They designed the masks to keep the poison out, but they
designed the silence to keep the truth in. A soldier's
skin is always the first territory a state occupies.
>>> END CAPTURE