For fifty years the U.S. government has been using the metal beryllium in the defense of our country. From the first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, to the ICBMs that protect our borders today, beryllium has played a major role in this country's freedom. For most of those fifty years the government has been ignoring the health problems of the workers who mill and shape the beryllium into the parts that fly on the space shuttle and are used in nuclear weapons. When beryllium dust is breathed into the lungs of workers it causes a condition called chronic beryllium disease (CBD). CBD causes the lungs to close down and diminishes their capacity to get oxygen into the blood system. CBD eventually leads to a slow, painful death. Marilyn Miller died last Easter weekend of CBD. She suffered from the symptoms for many years. Marilyn's son, Dave Miller, also worked in the Elmore plant, and also has been diagnosed with CBD.