Dear Jon Stewart, meet Dr. Kate Hendricks!

To Honor of Dr. Kate Hendricks, please read!

This was written by Kate's best friend and sister Marine Corps Veteran Mindy Beyer.

Dear Mr. Stewart-

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My name is Mindy Beyer.?I’m a mom and a Marine Corps officer, and I’m writing today on behalf of my best friend--another Marine, Dr. Kate Hendricks Thomas.?

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Her name may ring a bell for you, as you were just in a panel call recently with Kate. Specifically,?you were discussing the burn pit legislation that you have both been so adamantly and selflessly helping push through Congress.?Like you, Kate has been dedicating an inordinate amount of her time to ensuring Veterans have the ability to receive services for their military-related illnesses.

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I’ve seen you speak, and I've witnessed your passion for our Veterans' health.?You're an insightful commentator and a scholar, but you have a warrior’s heart and mind; I believe that Kate's story is one that you will appreciate.

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Dr. Kate Hendricks Thomas was born into service.?She began as a Marine brat, with a Marine Colonel for a father, living on bases all over the world.?She is the oldest of four kids, and has two sisters and an energetic, supportive mom (also named Kate!), as well as a Marine brother who also served back in the Aughts.?They all grew up together doing the Marine Corps “daily 7” as PT (physical training) as soon as Kate could toddle.?Kate was a star-student, and she attended UVA for her undergraduate degree starting in 1998. On July 6, 2001, Kate and I met for the first time at Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, VA, in a culture unknown to military women now.?It was in an era when our drill sergeant could still roam the barracks, R. Lee Ermey-style, expounding wisdom such as “Well ladies, when you're Marines, you'll get to choose between three options:?Bitch, Dyke, or Ho. Pick your poison."?Pretty sure they're not allowed to say that anymore, for very obvious and valid reasons.??

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Hell, it was even still peace time.?It would be the last time we would know peace in our budding careers, in hindsight. We all graduated OCS in late August, 2001--the last class of female officers to join the Marine Corps before we entered a war for the next 20 years.

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That was the beginning, and Kate and I have been friends—and then best friends—every day since.?It wasn’t just Kate and I, either.?There were several women--8 of us--in our OCS class who came together tighter than a snare drum, and we were an inseparable lot.?Our friendship was built upon shared physical duress, and then grew throughout war, deployments, death of our brothers/sisters-in-arms, marriage, divorce, children, and sickness.??

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An anecdote:?Back in 2004, three years after we had all met, when we were young and single, determined wannbe badasses making our way around Southern California on the dating scene...one evening, we met a man from France.?He looked our group up and down, and with a heavy accent, asked us what female Marines were called.?Not missing a beat, we answered, “We are called Marines.”?(This was a question and a prejudice we faced fairly regularly.?We expected this kind of banter.)?What we weren't expecting was his admiration and awe.?He raised his eyebrows, and replied, in a very French way with a very French accent, a hint of condescension mixed with a compliment:?“Oh no," he gasped, with faux surprise. "There must be a special name for you!?You women are like, uh, how do you say...sexual warriors? I think you should be called...eh...." He cocked his head to the side and thought to himself.?"Je pense que...ah oui, c'est parfait!?Clitorian!?Yes, you are Clitorians.”

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I mean, what can I say???

It was clever.??

The name stuck. We referred to ourselves from that point on, rather jokingly, as Clitorians.?Female Marine warriors.??

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I can say, now, 15 years on, that we were much more than that.?We were a physicist from MIT, and a mathematician from Northwestern, and a poet from North Carolina.?We were a Native American cowgirl from Wyoming and a hippie from Texas. In hindsight, I see that we were a new breed of intellectual fighters: women warriors that were strong and smart and female (and still feminine...which, as as noted above, had been a bit of a detour from the usual stereotypes).?We knew we were doing something different, but due to the war and the zeitgeist of society, our generation of Marine women became trailblazers setting the stage for a new wave of female revolution in the military in ways we couldn't foresee.

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Of course, at the time--we were just all trying to make it through.?We were in that pace of constant deployments and trauma of Iraq and Afghanistan, and we shrugged off the fact that it was served up with a hearty side of inappropriate comments, occasional unwanted ass-slaps, or that our service would affect our future health when we became mothers.?We were Marines like everyone else, and we were fighting a war to protect America.?

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Kate had answered her call to service as a Military Police officer in our beloved Corps.?She deployed to Iraq, and led her security team with resilience and strength.?For months she lived, patrolled--even jogged--around one of the burn pits in Fallujah.?There were only so many places one could train when at war, and that thick black smoke filled her living space on the regular.?As you know, jet fuel has an impact on the health of our bone marrow.?US Air Force studies have found that repeated exposure to jet fuel causes bone marrow damage to be cumulative and permanent, even after only a few hours.?Kate spent months sleeping, working, and running around one.???

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Kate returned home after her deployment (visibly) unscathed.?We all saw this as a blessing, as her brother had suffered a debilitating injury from an IED while he was also serving there simultaneously, and injuries and death had become common amongst our Marine brethren.

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After 6 years of service, including a stint training young women (Marines-to-be!) at Parris Island, Kate left the Corps. She wanted to continue to help Veterans, and she pursued a doctorate in Public Health at the University of Alabama.?During her studies, Kate began to advocate for Veteran's mental health as they returned from the front lines.?Kate used her knowledge to write four books on Veteran health and resilience, always living her mantra of "Leaders have a responsibility to inspire." She wrote, she researched, she fundraised, and she testified to Congress about Veteran’s health issues. She continued to push the needs of military folks everywhere to the forefront of American awareness.??

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The irony kicked in early in 2018.?All of the knowledge and all the King's men couldn't keep Kate from America's sin...the toxicity of burn pits that our nation, our military, and our government had allowed.?

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When Kate was 38 years old, she went in for a regular checkup.?

She was married now, with a four-year-old son, Matthew, and a husband, Shane.

Still young and with the Marine's sense of impenetrability, Kate told me later that she was feeling annoyed at the inconvenience--even mildly insolent--that day when the physician's assistant insisted on more tests.

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“Let’s run some scans,” the PA said.?“You’ve, um...been around burn pits.?You’ve deployed, and lived on bases.?You have risk factors.?Better to be conservative and do screenings a little early.”?

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“Oh, I’m fine,” Kate guffawed. But she trusted the medical professional's instincts, and she scheduled an early mammogram.??

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The physicians told Kate it looked as if she had been dipped in something. Every single one of her bones contained metastases.?What had started as a silent breast cancer had progressed into each bone of her body without her knowledge, without pain, and without much hope for mitigation.

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No warnings. No symptoms.?The silent killer that approached on our sqaud leader's six, and we--her fire team leaders---we never saw it coming.

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And so...Kate’s life shifted.?Our lives shifted.?She fought even harder for Veterans and their rights. She fought the VA for her own health care.?And, of course, she did this while also fighting cancer.?For almost four years, she has been living a routine…chemotherapy, doctor's appointments, injections, supplements, and radiation.?Nausea happens for the first several days of the week, and then there were a few good days before the cycle started over again. EVERY WEEK.?For four years.?She has been sick, and exhausted, and vomiting, and nauseous for the majority of those days.??

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Can you imagine having nausea almost every day for four years??Crying in pain on the regular, because your liver is failing, and it aches to an extent that you've never felt before, even in childbirth?

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Can you imagine going through this in front of your 6-year old???

I can’t. Because it seems insurmountable.??I watched in awe as she fought with grace and selflessness. I brought groceries and babysat Matthew and did her laundry while she lost everything--her groceries, her strength, her weight, her time...and finally, her liver--and with it, her ability to accept treatments...and I know, every moment that I spend with her, that I am in the presence of greatness.??

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Magnificent dedication and leadership, rarely seen except in the very best of humanity, and even then, only in times of existential struggle.?Her she was: vomiting yet inspirational.?That's my Kate.

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While losing all sense of dignity, she also lost all sense of privacy, and gracefully allowed documentary film crews and writers into her home and hospital rooms in order to witness the daily struggle: to convey the vileness of burn pits and to promote the initiative to help those Veterans who had been exposed.?She allowed the ugliness and injustice of her sickness to be filmed...all the wretching, her weight gain and loss, the puncture wounds and procedures, the tears of her family.?She has been so incredibly selfless in sharing her private moments, her pain, and her strength, for the good of those who will come after her.

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She does this for the Veterans.?She also does this for her son, I know.?He is so young (7 years old currently), and she is fighting for him to live in a better world, even with her last bits of life.?He is watching.??

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Kate's fortitude is astounding to me.?I am amazed and humbled every day by her fight.?She has used everything she ever learned, every shred of intellect, and physical strength, and all of the leadership and respect she has earned...and she has used it to fight for those who need it most.??

Kate is the best of us; she has been the ultimate example of the new warrior generation that I mentioned above, and that she embodies: Bold, brilliant, female, and fearless.?

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I am so proud to be at her side.

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I asked her recently if she would approve of Matthew joining the military one day.?She paused, thoughtful, before answering.

"I love the Marine Corps," she said.?"But I would have to think about that some more.?I wouldn't wish this struggle upon even our greatest enemy."

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Kate has continued to write and advocate.?She was still testifying to Congress about burn pits two weeks ago: about their toxicity, and the service connection she was fighting for, and that the VA should support.?She has traveled to conventions and spoken to raise awareness, despite the fact that every time she traveled she often exhausted herself to the point of hospitalization and needing fluids.?She continued her research, showing that an inordinate amount of veterans exposed to burn pits will develop cancer. Female veterans will develop cancer at a rate of 20-40%...that's seven times higher than the general population.

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Veterans sacrifice in many ways.?Health, time, life expectancy, relationships, stable families. Kate served a long while ago, and she kept serving, and now she is viciously paying the price.??

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Kate went into hospice yesterday, after exhausting every possible treatment she could, with the cancer still advancing.?Her Spartan resilience in her own Battle of Thermopylae has been finally betrayed by her personal Ephialtes: her liver.?Kate has 2 or 3 weeks left, acorrding to her doctors.?She is at peace, and spending her last days with friend and famliy, reminiscing about good memories and recording messages for her son.??She won't be able to see him grow, but she has left a legacy that he can respect, and legislation that we are pushing through every chance we get.

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This is my best friend Kate!

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As someone who has served, and cares deeply for many who have served and continue to serve:?Thank you for reading this.??Thank you for your continued advocacy.??I cannot tell you how much Kate, and the rest of us (yes, the Clitorians!), appreciate your efforts and your fortitude.?Just three weeks ago, Kate was so ecstatic when she was on the phone with you, Mr. Stewart.?She said you referenced her comment in an "I agree with what Kate said..." moment at one point., and she lit up like a Christmas tree.?It made her week.??

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Kate's a big fan of your intellectual humor, but she's a bigger fan of your dedication to the cause, and your unrelenting push to make something happen. What you're doing, Sir, matters so greatly to all of us; to all of the Veterans, all of the Marines, and Kate's group of friends and family here supporting her at the end as she moves into--and through--this final phase of her fight.

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I have a big ask, Mr. Stewart--and I know you have competing priorities, with family and work and the larger movement of Veteran's advocacy.??

I want you to know Kate's name, most of all. I want you to remember her story.?And hopefully you can tell it at some point, and it will make a difference.??

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I was also hoping that, on your next visit to DC, you might consider a call or a visit with Kate.?She lives in Alexandria, VA, just 20 minutes outside of Washington, DC proper.??

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I won't sugarcoat it; she is in hospice, and her time is short.?She is in her home, at the moment, and her liver is failing fast, and she's being drained regularly due to her liver ascites causing fluid buildup in her abdomen. Today is March 15, 2022.?I can also keep your office apprised of her health.

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For Kate, getting the message of "burn-pit-ties-to-Veterans'-health" is what she is living--and dying--for right now.?It would really mean something to her. It would mean something to all of us.

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If a visit or contact is not possible for you at this time, then just know that we all appreciate what you are doing, and the mission you have accepted.?Your leadership in this realm is respected by all of us, and I am very grateful.

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I hope you can remember Kate's story. Please know that you have true warriors fighting at your side in this political battle.

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Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

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Semper Fi-

Mindy Beyer