[NVIC] In Memory of Anthrax Vaccine Activist

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http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-dingle0909.artsep09,0,177142.story? & tra

ck=rss

Hartford Courant

September 9 2005

R. Dingle Dies; Fought Anthrax-Vaccine Policy

By THOMAS D. WILLIAMS

Courant Staff Writer

Retired Air Force Reserve Lt. Col. E. Dingle, who for the past eight

years opposed the Pentagon's mandatory use of the controversial anthrax

vaccine, died Sunday of cancer.

Dingle had been appointed by the Connecticut Air National Guard to

investigate the vaccine. He concluded that the vaccine was unsafe and

ineffective against biological airborne anthrax spores and that cost him his

job in the Connecticut Air National Guard.

He immediately, however, joined the Air Force Reserve, was promoted, and

ultimately was considered an expert on the vaccine by fellow pilots and crew

members who sought his advice.

Dingle, 49, of East Hartford, flew more than 2,000 hours in the A-10

Thunderbolt II on active duty, and served as an instructor pilot and a

flight commander for the Connecticut Air National Guard. He retired as a

recruiter for the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2003, culminating more than 21

years of military service. His double career included more than 16 years of

service as a pilot and captain for American Airlines in the Boeing 767, 737,

and the McDonnell- S-80.

" His family, as well as his fellow citizens and soldiers, will miss

dearly, but will eternally benefit from his life's accomplishments, courage,

service, leadership, and most importantly, his honor, " said Air Force

Reserve Major " Buzz " Rempfer. He was Dingle's close friend and

likewise fought against the mandatory vaccine. He served with Dingle as a

military pilot for 11 years in the Guard and the Reserve.

Rempfer, 40, a Suffield resident, said it was inspiring and typical of

Dingle's generosity, public service and dedicated research ambitions that he

donated his body to assist medical students with their own skills and

research for the next year. Dingle will be buried at Arlington National

Cemetery in 2006, with full military honors.

Dingle and Rempfer had recently been pursuing a U.S. Court of Claims action,

saying they were " coerced " out of the Guard in 1999. Col. Walter Burns, a

former Air National Guard commander, pressed them into retirement, they

said, after the vaccine inquiry Burns requested showed the vaccine to be

unsafe and improperly licensed.

After they left the Guard, the two worked thousands of hours lobbying,

testifying and serving as anthrax vaccine experts for the U.S. Government

Accountability Office and the Connecticut attorney general's office.

Their efforts helped inspire a federal lawsuit by six anonymous military

employees that eventually led to a federal court injunction halting the

military's mandatory inoculation program. Dingle was also distressed by the

military's punishment that included dismissal of vaccine dissenters.

In May 2001, Dingle wrote to three congressmen seeking their intervention in

the court-martial of then-Air Force Capt. Buck, a medical doctor, who

refused to take the vaccine.

" When the U.S. military no longer allows for professional dissent within its

ranks; when the U.S. military mandates that any and all orders be obeyed

regardless of their moral or legal basis; when the U.S. military allows its

members to defend themselves with `I was just following orders'; then the

U.S. military will cease to attract men and women of principal and honor.

.... It will end up resembling the military organizations that we have fought

for the last 60 years, " Dingle wrote.

Buck was sentenced to 60 days of base restriction and fined $21,000. He was

also reprimanded.

Despite the intensity of Dingle's work as a pilot and his advocacy, he had a

keen sense of humor, and established casual relationships with many in and

out of the military and the aviation industry.

He is survived by his wife, Jane; two daughters, and Emma; and his

mother, Barbara.

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