(NewsNation) — The message came on a Sunday night: Section 1066 of the Defense Bill was gone, quietly killed by U.S. House leadership behind closed doors.
For the veterans who served at the Nevada Test and Training Range — which encompasses the restricted site known globally as Area 51 — the news hit like a blunt force. The provision, folded into the Senate’s bipartisan defense bill after NewsNation’s original reporting earlier this year, had been a tangible lifeline.
Section 1066 would have forced the Pentagon to finally acknowledge contamination on portions of the range and set in motion a process to identify the men and women who served there since 1951 — something that, for many, would be the only way to prove their service and access medical care.
Instead, in the final closed-door negotiations of the National Defense Authorization Act, Section 1066 was quietly stripped out, without public hearing, vote or explanation.
For veterans already fighting serious illnesses and cancers they believe are tied to exposures on the range, it felt like confirmation of a fear they don’t say lightly.
“Our government is waiting for us to die,” said Dave Crete, Air Force veteran and chairman of the Invisible Enemy.
‘We don’t deserve being ignored by saying we don’t exist’
Earlier this year, NewsNation exposed how secrecy inside the NTTR doesn’t end when service members leave the desert. Because the Pentagon still keeps much of their service classified, or “data-masked,” many veterans say they discovered the VA could not verify where they served and service-connect their illnesses.
The consequences have been devastating. A growing number of NTTR veterans are battling serious illnesses and fast-moving cancers without access to the care and benefits they say they need — from brain tumors to blood cancers and gastrointestinal cancers.
Natasha Zouves met with a group of these veterans who served in the Nevada desert. One of them, veteran Mike Nemcic, endured four bouts with cancer (throat, salivary gland, bladder and colon) starting at just 38 years old. He says his biggest fear was leaving his young family behind without a father or provider.
“I was to the point where I felt forsaken. I thought, ‘My God has forsaken me,’” Nemcic said.
Hundreds of nuclear weapons tests were conducted in the area of the range from the 1950s to the early 1990s. In the 1970s, the government began exploring the idea of building a military installation there to house classified projects. This group of veterans say they were stationed on the range in the 1980s and 1990s.
A 1975 Environmental Report from the U.S. Energy Research & Development Administration acknowledges nuclear contamination — depleted uranium, beryllium and plutonium — present before these men and women were sent by the government to the range. But the report adds, “Discontinuing the work done … would be against the national interest.”
“It’s like a kick in the gut. It’s just a matter of betrayal,” Nemcic said. “These folks knew, and they purposefully kept it quiet because it was more beneficial to them not to tell us.”
Robert Krouse is a former DOD contractor who worked alongside these veterans. He endured two cancers, having 80% of his tongue removed along with his vocal cords and all of his teeth. He can’t speak and can’t eat. Despite this, he says he feels blessed to be alive.
“I have a feeding tube, but I saw friends who passed away or are paralyzed and can’t walk,” Krouse said. “I’m just blessed I’m functional but not as handy. I feel blessed. I’m much better off than some.”
Before Pomp Braswell became a pro golfer and a Harlem Globetrotter, he served.
“You’re hand-picked, you know, you’re the top of the top,” Braswell said. “It felt very special, especially at a young age. My mom knew absolutely zero about what I was doing. She knew there was a phone number if she needed to get ahold of me, that’s it.”
The Air Force vet is now fighting thyroid cancer.
“Our government knew that the area was contaminated. So, knowing that, and they willfully put us there, that’s giving somebody a death sentence,” said Braswell.
A medical expert told NewsNation these illnesses occurring at these rates points to a common exposure.
“It’s pretty straightforward that there was a common exposure because the numbers of cancers and the numbers of illnesses and the number of deaths in this cohort is much, much higher than you’d expect, given normal circumstances,” said Dr. David Montgomery, a NewsNation medical contributor.
Families believe there has been a ripple effect and describe generational health problems. The veterans report that miscarriages were common on the range. Crete’s own son was born with a brain tumor. Widows say their spouses died without ever receiving acknowledgment for their service.
At the time our initial report aired in February 2025, the veterans’ memorial list held 446 names.
Today, it stands at 527.
As veteran Crete put it at the end of NewsNation’s original investigation, “We did something important. We did good work. We changed things. We don’t deserve being ignored by saying we don’t exist.”
What Section 1066 would have done — and why it mattered
For the first time, Section 1066 in the NDAA would have created a clear path to recognition directing the Department of Defense to classify the Nevada Test and Training Range as a location where contamination occurred and requiring the Pentagon and Air Force to create a process to identify all service members stationed there since 1951.
The veterans say it amounted to the first acknowledgement on paper that something happened there, that people served there, and that the government has an obligation to confront both.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the measure would cost $11.5 million per year for 10 years — a figure Crete says wildly overstates the reality.
He argues that much of the work 1066 required has already been done. The Department of Energy, for example, has long designated dozens of NTTR sites as being contaminated from nuclear weapons testing. Indeed, DOE workers, sickened after being exposed on the exact same site as these Area 51 veterans, are already provided for.
Even if the estimate was accurate, Crete points out it amounts to roughly 0.000000013% of the defense budget.
‘Republican leadership just rolled over’
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, told Zouves the Pentagon did not want to surrender classified information related to the range and House Republican leadership capitulated.
“What I heard is that the Department of Defense did not want to hand over the classified information,” he said. “They didn’t want to compromise the so-called privacy of Area 51. And Republican leadership just rolled over.”
For veterans like Crete, a longtime conservative, that revelation was especially painful.
“You’re not that important,” Crete said, when asked what message House leadership sent to him and his fellow veterans. “I listen to the elected representatives of my party talk about how pro-military they are and pro-veteran they are. Well, it needs to be more than just words. Actions mean something. You didn’t act.”
In place of Section 1066, the final NDAA includes language directing the Pentagon to essentially study the issue and deliver a plan by Jan. 1, 2027 — a delay the veterans call little more than a “homework assignment.” Many say they have seen similar provisions come and go in previous defense bills, with no measurable action.
“We’re going to see a lot of men die between now and 2027. They’re dying. They’re dying now and many have already died, and more than that — they’re dying with the anxiety, angst and anguish that their loved ones and dependents will not be cared for. This is inexcusable,” Takano said.
Veteran Dave Crete agrees that for families watching the memorial list grow, 2027 may be too late.
“Too many believe we’ll all die off before they act,” Crete said.
When asked whether he thinks the government is trying to wait them out, Crete didn’t hesitate.
“One hundred percent. They know the average age on our [memorial] list is 62 years old. It’s gotten worse, not better. I turn 61 in two months — fourteen months away from the average.”
Turning to President Trump: ‘One beautiful signature’
With Congress failing to act, the veterans are now looking to President Trump as the only person who can unilaterally declassify the necessary records and compel the Pentagon to acknowledge what happened at NTTR.
“This problem could be fixed with one beautiful signature on a piece of paper,” Crete said. “Mr. President, we need your help. He’s the one that has the power to fix it. It’s an easy win. It’s not partisan. It’s just doing the right thing.”
NewsNation reached out to the White House. Spokeswoman Anna Kelly responded:
“ Trump cares deeply about our Veterans, which is why his Department of Veterans Affairs has reduced the backlog of those waiting for benefits, opened 20 new health care clinics, processed record numbers of disability claims, and more. We do not have further announcements on this topic at this time.”
What comes next
Veterans’ advocates say they are now preparing for a multipronged strategy — continuing outreach to lawmakers, pushing for standalone legislation, and hoping their plea reaches President Trump.
Each month, more names are added to the list. More funerals. More widows searching for documents that come back “data masked.” More veterans whose cancers advance while they feel their government just denied them their one clear path forward.
“We don’t even regret the job,” Crete said. “We’re more concerned about those we leave behind. We know our fate. You can’t unwind what’s happened. But at least allow us to help take care of our families.”
Read the original investigation into the Area 51 Veterans, including their top secret missions.