1943–1973: Operation Whitecoat conducted at Ft. Detrick on 2,300 Seventh Day Adventist draftees who volunteered in lieu of active duty on the battlefield. They were subjected to 157 experiments testing deadly pathogens and disease-causing agents, and experimental vaccine safety trials. Among the disease studied: Q fever, yellow fever, encephalitis, plague, tularemia, and others. The purpose was to determine their use as biological weapons and to gain knowledge about effective protective interventions.