"grounded for life"
She used to be a top gun, the only female helicopter pilot in her squad, but now Ronda Wilson finds life most comfortable in a fetal position. The reason, she says: biological friendly fire. In 1998, the Pentagon, fearful of germ warfare's growing threat, began to vaccinate all military personnel for anthrax. "Basically, we were told to 'shut up and stick your arm out,'" Ronda says. She stopped menstruating after the first shot, and by the third of the six-shot series had lost a third of her body weight due to stomach paralysis. As the vaccine's alleged casualties - including six deaths - mounted, soldiers began refusing it; 400 so far have either resigned of been court martialed. But with untreated inhalational anthrax almost invariably fatal, the vaccine may be a risk worth taking. In June the US government announced it would stockpile it for civilians.
