. >> three american soldiers, tim josephs, frank rochelle, bill blazinski. called to arms nearly a half a century ago, from different backgrounds, but about to share an experience that would change each of their lives at edgewood arsenal military base in maryland. >> a couple of doctors from arsenal came and gave a presentation. >> they presented it as not everyone would be chosen. >> there would be a guaranteed three-day pass every weekend. >> three-day passes are the rule. >> no duties, no guard duty, no kitchen police. >> this is what we filled out. they ask you about your criminal background, they asked you if you drank, they asked you about your parents, they asked you about your brothers and your sisters. silly questions like, did you like your mother better than you did your father? >> well, i took the test and got chosen and you got a couple days off at home and then reported to edgewood for two months. >> when you got chosen, were you excited? >> yes, i was glad to go. it was like a plum assignment. you would get all the weekends off and the idea wa

. >> frank rochelle tested a similar drug in aerosol form. >> i leaned over into a facemask, inhaled and exhaled, inhaled and exhaled. >> a low dose of agent was fed into the mixing bowl. >> this army film shows a soldier at edgewood named carpenter undergoing the same type of test. >> within an hour, carpenter's hands will feel cold, his face, hot. borderline hallucinations will come late in the experiment. >> like the soldier in the film, frank rochelle experienced hallucinations. >> people were calling my name and there was nobody around. there were animals coming out of the walls. it appeared that all my freckles were bugs on my skin. and i took a razor and i tried to cut some of them out. >> what is this business over here in the corner, the lying down and the looking at the wall? >> in all, some 7,000 military volunteers or more were part of chemical tests at edgewood from 1955 to 1975. the military tested at least 250 chemical and biological agents during the cold war, including potentially lethal nerve agents like vx and sarin. incapacitating drugs like bz, tear gas, barbitur

frank rochelle also has health issues. >> i have breathing problems.e nightmares, you know, that i still remember and think about the tests. >> reporter: tim josephs has parkinson's disease. a condition that forced him to retire early. >> the whole thing stinks. i'll tell you, americans, if they knew about it, would not tolerate it, this kind of behavior toward our veterans. they would not allow it to happen. >> reporter: this attorney is suing the department of defense and the department of veteran affairs on behalf of edgewood veterans. what do you hope to get for them in an ideal situation? >> they're going to get nothing for themselves out of this case other than perhaps medical care. they're not going to get any money. they want to get proper notice of the substances they received, the doses, and the health effects. many of them had never been notified of anything. they were mistreated. and they don't want this to be swept under the rug and have everyone die and never see the light of day. that's why they're doing it. >> reporter: we wanted to tal

frank rochelle also has health issues. >> i have breathing problems.ightmares, you know, that i still remember and think about the tests. >> reporter: tim josephs has parkinson's disease. a condition that forced him to retire early. >> the whole thing stinks. i'll tell you, americans, if they knew about it, would not tolerate it, this kind of behavior toward our veterans. they would not allow it to happen. >> reporter: this attorney is suing the department of defense and the department of veteran affairs on behalf of edgewood veterans. what do you hope to get for them in an ideal situation? >> they're going to get nothing for themselves out of this case other than perhaps medical care. they're not going to get any money. they want to get proper notice of the substances they received, the doses, and the health effects. many of them had never been notified of anything. they were mistreated. and they don't want this to be swept under the rug and have everyone die and never see the light of day. that's why they're doing it. >> reporter: we wanted to talk a