Gulf War Illness:
A look at the Veterans and the Issues
Surrounding American and Allied Veterans
of The Gulf War.
The intent of this packet is to make you aware of the problems faced By Persian Gulf Veterans. It is NOT meant to be comprehensive, rather a more personal look at the victims of this War. American citizens, and Veterans who have proudly served this country and are now suffering due to the apathy of the public, the lack of media attention similar to the POW and Agent Orange issues faced by our predecessors, and inadequate and inappropriate medical care.
The goal of this packet is to make you aware of the realityof the life of our Veterans since the war, Included are the publicly available statistics, and the number to call for current statistics, excerpts of documents on major contributing factors, and Personal stories from the Veterans themselves.
Thank you for your consideration of this issue, and for more information please contact:
E-mail:
The stories contained herein are the stories written by the Veterans themselves, or their spouses. One is a Life magazine article about a group of Veterans and the issues faced by their children.
This packet also contains a few excerpts from some of the many documents available for your reading pleasure on things like the safety of Depleted Uranium, the anthrax vaccine, and the agents that the US government knew the Iraqi’s possessed because WE sold them.
I would like to publicly thank each person that has contributed to this effort through the sharing of their story, the passing of the word that I was working on this, or simply for sending up prayers that this has some impact or makes some kind of difference. I would also like to thank each of you, those reading this, for your time and interest in the lives of our Veterans.
For more complete information on this issue, here are a few of the sites available for answers to any questions you might have:
American Gulf War Veterans Association
National Gulf War Resource Center:
Desert Storm.Com:
New Hampshire Gulf War Syndrome Association:
Lots of documents
The Reigle Report: What veterans have been exposed to and a look at the U.S. government’s involvement:
A few personal looks at this issue:
Tom Colosimo:
Candy Lovett:
The Mandatory Anthrax Vaccine and why it is a problem for All Gulf War Veterans, and All Veterans who have served since that time:
Major Sonny Bates:
Anthrax Vaccine Home Page:
Also, you can search Squalene, Gulf War, Gulf War Illnesses, Illnesses in Gulf war Veterans, Birth defects in Gulf War Veterans Children, or any variation of these topics and come up with thousands of links.
To begin, I will outline the issues, outline only due to the extensive nature of the information available on each of these on line. I will also state that I am not a doctor or any form of medical personnel, I am not a researcher, and I am not attempting to do anything other than make you aware of the FACTS that the media and government seem to chose to discount. My story is included herein and when you read it and the others, I hope that they will in some way motivate you to start asking some serious questions of our elected officials. We are but a few of those suffering.
The Issues:
- Exposures
- Chemical weapons like nerve agents, mustard gas, etc.
- Depleted Uranium- from the tank armor to the spent rounds, to the destroyed Iraqi equipment.
- Experimental vaccines and drugs:
- Anthrax vaccine
- Botulism toxin vaccine
- Pyridostigmine Bromide (anti nerve agent pills)
- Biological weapons and viral agents engineered by man
- Environmental Exposures:
- Diesel fuel
- Diesel fumes
- Pesticides/insecticides
- Chemical agent resistant coating (CARC)Paint
- DEET
- Indigenous diseases
- Leishmaniasis
- Brucellosis
- Cholera
- Medical Care
- Denied claims
- Inability to prove service connection due to missing records.
- Inability to understand claims process due to lack of support from service organizations.
- Denial of appeals due to missing deadlines due to not understanding the forms.
- Denial of claims due to improperly submitted evidence.
- Claims denied on the basis of being “not well grounded”
- Claims approved on illnesses not requested for, or approved with no compensation.
- Medical Treatment
- Lack of care all together
- Lack of appropriate care for illnesses presented
- Lack of appropriate diagnostic tests being run
- Denial or omission of positive test results
- Treatment for psychological problems, unnecessarily, in the presence of heart, liver, or kidney problems.
- Improper or limited diagnoses.
- Being told by VA doctors that they, and I quote, “WE DO NOT TREAT GULF WAR RELATED ILLNESSES, BUT WE CAN REFER YOU TO PSYCHOLOGY.”
- Refusal by both civilian and VA doctors to recommend diagnostic tests- VA based on the statement above, civilian due to the fact that they say go to the VA.
- Family Issues:
- Birth defects in our children
- Learning disabilities in our children
- Infection of our spouses and children with indigenous diseases and genetically engineered things.
- Exposure of our families to our chronic illness, financial hardship, and in some cases even homelessness.
- Inability to find causes if illnesses and issues in our children/ lack of medical care for them as well.
I am sure that I have omitted some of the things we face on a daily basis, but this is a fairly reasonable overview. The illnesses and problems faced are unique to each person. It seems as though no two people present exactly the same way. Each family faces different challenges and concerns, and the bottom line is that many are dying or already dead.
We are VETERANS, and the families of Veterans, we do not want your pity, or sorrow at our loss. We want your action.
For accurate up to date information contact: The Special Assistant
Four Skyline Place, Suite 901
5113 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22041
Our e-mail address is:
or call: (800) 497-6261
Statistics:
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, as of March 1, 2001
- 696,661 U.S. troops served in the Gulf War between August 2, 1990 and July 31, 1991 -- these are considered "Gulf War Conflict" veterans by the VA;
- Of the 696,628, 504,047 are separated from service and eligible for benefits through the VA;
- As of December 1999, more than 263,000 sought medical care at the VA;
- Of the 504,047 eligible veterans, 185,780 (36%) filed claims against the VA for service-related medical disabilities;
- Of the 171,878 VA claims actually processed, 149,094 (80%) were approved in part (note -- most claims are made up of multiple issues, if any one issue is granted, VA considers it approved);
- Of the 504,047 eligible for VA benefits, 149,094 (29%) are now considered disabled by the VA eleven since the start of the Gulf War; and
- Another 13,902 claims against the VA still pending.
- More than 9,600 Gulf War veterans have died.
- Conflict veterans are 51% more likely to have their claims denied than "theater" veterans (those who served in the Gulf since August 1, 1991)
- Veterans who served at Khamisiyah and Al Jubayl are 37% more likely to have one or more service connected conditions than era veterans.Conflict veterans are 8% more likely than era veterans to have one or more service connected conditions. Theater veterans – those who served in the region since August 1, 1991 – are 16% less likely than era veterans to have service connected conditions.
According to the Department of Defense, by 1999, the military revealed
- As many as 100,000 U.S. troops were exposed to repeated low-levels of chemical warfare agents, including sarin, cyclosarin, and mustard gases;
- More than 250,000 received the investigational new drug pyridostigmine bromide (PB pills) the Pentagon "cannot rule out" as linked to Gulf War illnesses;
- 8,000 received the investigational new botulinum toxoid (Bot Tox) vaccine;
- 150,000 received the hotly debated anthrax vaccine;
- 436,000 entered into or lived for months within areas contaminated by more than 315 tons of depleted uranium radioactive toxic waste possibly laced with trace amounts of highly radioactive Plutonium and Neptunium, almost all without any awareness, training, protective equipment, or medical evaluations; and
- Hundreds of thousands lived outdoors for months near more than 700 burning oil well fires belching fumes and particulate matter without any protective equipment.
-Each of these exposures took place while troops were either engaged in combat, serving in a war zone, or stationed in the volatile region for a number of months.
The Veterans:
Paulie
My brother was a happy guy with out a mean thing to say bout anyone.
He always smiled & joked with all that he met.
He was the oldest of 5 children born in our family.
He always got along with everyone.
He decided to join the Army & was in the Paratrooper & was in Special Forces.
When the fights began for what was later called Desert Storm & Desert Shield,
He was called to go over there. He went willingly to help our Government.
He was one of the first sent out & one of the last to return.
The brother that came back was not the same one that had left.
For on the outside he still did all the things that he did before but his heart wasn’t there.
Only his family could see the changes that had taken place.
Though there wasn’t anything that we could do to lessen the pain or the horror that he witnessed. He was one of the many that were given clean up duty.
Such a ridiculous name for such a ghastly duty.
They were sent to check out those that had fallen to be sure whether or not they were dead.
They also collected the dead bodies of both our soldier’s & the fallen enemy. Many were in parts that had to be collected. Many of the enemy bodies were booby trapped so care had to be taken. Not a job that anyone would want to have to do.
When he came back, he was like many other soldiers that had been there.
Loud noised would put him on alert, he couldn’t stay inside for to long for he was used to being outside, he felt better being outside.
He was still fighting those that he was sent to fight; the war was not over for him.
Many soldiers never recover from this, nightmares continue to plague them, & they never cease to have them. They come in the daylight hours & when they least expect them.
My brother was one of the lucky few that was better able to cope with the things that he had to do. The sadness remained even though he went on with getting his life together.
His life was cut short only a few years after returning to us.
He died on May 16, 1998.
Though the Lord called for him, he remains in our hearts & on our minds with every passing day.
© Annette Thornburgh
Robert and Sheila
My name is Sheila Allen. My husband, Robert Allen, of just 8 months
came down with Primary CNS Lymphoma. This was in the brain only. He was diagnosed on April 22, 1999. After extensive treatment, he still went home be with the Lord on Feb. 19, 2001.
He served in Gulf war, and was in the service from 1977-1997. He was
on the U.S.S. O'Brien over there floating around in the waters right off the gulf. Fortunately he did get a full service disability status. If you need more info, please feel free to write me, and ask. I would be happy to share with you. Also, I came down with thyroid disease in March of 99. Hashimotos disease, which is an autoimmune thyroid condition.
Art
Tinker
I read what they said on the fibromyalgia/ cfs. It pretty well describes me I have been to doctor after doctor. Yesterday I was dx with fibromyalgia imaging that.
I was laid off last year in February. The year before I was taking off more work due to sickness than I ever have. When I was laid off it was a God sin because they were going to rid me because of my attendance.
Below is the letter I mailed to Congress last October and to several of our Hierarchy.
I have not returned to work. Sometimes I can’t even move or I am just paralyzed to all the symptoms I have. My memory has been altered. I am being punished because I go beyond appellate dates. Well you know something I find it hard to concentrate and I actually forget things.
Letter
Thank you for using Congress.org to send your important message to your elected officials. Congress.org is a public service Web site operated by Capitol Advantage whose goal is to empower citizens to communicate and share their views with the nation's leaders.
Message sent to the following recipients:
Chief of Staff Card
Special Advisor to the President for Cyberspace Security Clarke
Message text follows:
Art Hickey
October 13, 2001
[recipient address was inserted here]
To whom it may concern
I know my letter is long but please at least read it and see if you can do something. Here is websites for desert storm and also feel free to browse it. Bottom line I need help now, not a year from now.
My life has been taken away from me because of this unknown disease. It has affected
my family, my career path and everything I have worked for.
I served my country I was not drafted. I volunteered and for almost 14 years you had nothing but dedication. Now I need support and I feel that everyone is out to get me. Pretty soon I will have no income yet I find it hard to seek employment as I live in a nightmare. Am I angry, suicidal, homicidal, emotional, upset with the system, anxious and/or depressed?
I am having problems and they have been worsening since my time spent in the gulf. I don't know whom to turn to because I'm having a problem focusing on the stuff in front of me. I am ok some days with moderate pain and able to function. Other times I am debilitated.
As I write this letter, I am hardly able to swallow. My tongue has some kind of virus that VA doctors can't identify. My eyes water, I'm sensitive to light, my joints are aching, I'm bitter, angry, depressed, I gasp for breath, I'm fatigued and I'm just at my wits end. I lay at
night, wondering, if I have given my family something.
I feel afflicted with a disease that has left me sick. I have suffered enough and reports show many have died. I am destitute and have depleted my savings in an unsuccessful search for an explanation for my ailment. I am a military veteran of the Gulf War. The only thing I am asking is for nothing more than the assistance I have earned. Refusal on my immediate assistance leads me to question the integrity of the nation I served.
I have cysts in my arms, and legs and also soars forming, headaches, chronic fatigue, upper respiratory problems and I feel like I am losing control sometimes because for the last 9 to 10 years I have been led to believe I was imagining all this. After Desert Storm, I went into the work force in Dec 94 and left Feb 2001, thank GOD I got a severance package
because Lord knows what I would be doing now. The last year I worked, I took off so much work because of symptoms.
I am being told I have to wait for a decision. The proof is in the pudding, I am living it. Instead of putting the burden of proof on us soldiers why can't the government open their eyes and prove we did not get a disease over there. Why must we have it documented while we were over there in medical records? As a matter of fact, I don't care if it was
anthrax, biological warfare or etc. Also, just because it might have not affected someone else in my unit or any other unit for that matter, they could have had a certain antibody for this anthrax and/or biochemical crap. It's not going to do me any good to pinpoint my location in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait. I just want it fixed so I can go on living a normal
life.
Am I angry, suicidal, homicidal, emotional, upset with the system, anxious and/or depressed?
I have recently gone to VFW, and I will try and get justice. I am concerned however that the law states a veteran only has a year from the decision of a disability to include the family for extra pay. I was awarded 30 per cent yet sometimes the things I endure are debilitating. I have recently found out that I should have been drawing just a little more
income for my spouse and son to help financially, however VFW told me the DAV didn't put in for this and I didn't know anything about it. Now that I know the law they say I cannot get back pay for something that was in fact owed to me, yet I didn't know about. I should have been receiving pay since 93 my award didn't start until 96. I am confused on how the system works because during my claim process, the DAV and the Appellate board knew I was married. My wife spoke in my behalf. Go figure. The law should be bent because DAV had my power of attorney. I should not be denied this.
The pain I experience is excruciating at times, I go into meditation as I was taught to endure pain via military, but I can only take so much at times so I have to rely on other resources when needed.
Sometimes I burst into tears for nothing at all because I feel worthless. I was so great and rising fast yet now I feel like my whole world has fallen. I was an account executive for a major firm, I served as an inspector for the 102nd Arcom, I was a maintenance sergeant and etc. I wiped a lot of noses in and out of service but I am having difficulty wiping my own.
What is it that we as veterans suppose to do with this disease of the unknown? VA can't pay you compensation because it takes months to be approved at the appellate board if it is approved at all, and social security takes months if it is not denied. What are we to do in the meantime? Why isn't there something set up for the obvious?
I don't go to the VA every time I have a headache, nor do I when all my other ailments occur yet I must provide proof via a doctor these things are happening. So here I have severe apnea, which is one of the signs and it took me to go to a private doctor to finally discover this. I have chronic fatigue, upper respiratory problems, in which my chest hurts and the doc wants to maybe take a piece of tissue from my lung, I have rashes, cysts, soars that inflame and become unbearable to touch, my back aches yet I try and exercise and do normal things, and I always try to stay positive. For if all of this is in my mind please help me remove it so I can live and press on.
I wished you people were in our shoes; no I don't because you wouldn't be in the same position, and you would get something done, because you have power. Well why can't you use your power for us.
Sgt Hickey