thedrifter
11-18-02, 10:07 AM
http://www.ctnow.com/news/custom/topnews/hc-gulfvets1110.artnov10.story
For Gulf War Veterans, A Conflict Within
By BILL LEUKHARDT
Courant Staff Writer
November 10 2002
The baffling illness that cripples Scott Lovely several days a month, without
warning, now has a name: gulf war syndrome.
"It's like the worst flu. I have no energy, bad headaches and chronic
fatigue," said Lovely, a 33-year-old South Windsor machinist. "One day I'm
fine and can go out and play football, then next day it's like I'm 60 years
old. I was angry about it at first. Now I've learned to live with it. I get
$103 a month in disability from the VA. I'd much rather have my health back."
On Monday, the Army veteran has to work, so he'll miss the day's parades and
ceremonies that will honor him and all the nation's veterans.
But work won't prevent Lovely, and Persian Gulf War vets across the state and
nation, from thinking of their Desert Storm service and the very real
possibility of another war with Iraq.
"If we're going to do it, do it right this time," Lovely said Friday from CMP
Machine Co. Inc., where he works. "I would defend this country in a
heartbeat. I think we should go back if we have the evidence. And no more
screwing around. None of these games of you punch me, then I punch you and
you punch me back."
Talk of a new conflict with Iraq has heated up since the U.N. Security
Council's unanimous approval Friday of a tough resolution calling on Saddam
Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences" that would almost certainly
bring military action.
President Bush threatened Hussein with "the severest consequences" if he
fails to disarm.
Hussein has until Friday to accept the resolution. If he does not, it could
mean a war with Iraq, and the possibility of chemical and biological warfare.
It also could mean far heavier American casualties than in the lightning-fast
Operation Desert Storm.
Those possibilities have gulf war veterans, and other Americans, feeling
conflicted, wanting to finally get Hussein out of the way while worrying that
a lot of American lives could be lost in the process.
"I honestly believe we have to go back," said Robert J. Luminati of Sharon,
who was just out of his teens when he served in the gulf war as a mechanic
with an Army infantry division. "It needs to be done. There's no other way.
[Hussein] is not going to leave on his own.
"If we go over again, it'll probably be a lot of fighting in cities, not just
out cruising in the desert," said Luminati, who is now a husband and father
and works as an electrician.
At the time, the war in the desert was viewed as a smashing victory, gained
cheaply. With the passage of time, the full cost is becoming better known.
Of the approximately 700,000 gulf war veterans across the nation, including
7,000 in Connecticut, the Department of Veterans Affairs has reported that
198,716, or 28 percent, have filed heath-related compensation claims. Of
those, 156,000 have been approved.
Almost 300 American servicemen and women died during Desert Storm from combat
or other causes, such as accidents. Of those dead, seven men and one woman
either lived here or had strong ties to Connecticut. Over the past 11 years,
about 8,000 others have died from injuries and health problems associated
with their wartime service.
Bruce Miller, a retired Marine in Putnam who served in Vietnam and in Desert
Storm, said the combat he saw in Vietnam was much worse than what he
experienced in Iraq.
"Desert Storm was a cakewalk compared to the Tet offensive," Miller said. "I
didn't see much combat in Iraq. Everybody there was giving up to us.
"Of late, I've been worrying about the men and women who might be sent back
over there," he said. "We'll have to use saturation bombing. Remember, Saddam
has chemical weapons and he has the means of delivery. The guy is clever. I
remember he had his tanks buried in the sands off the sides of the road. We
missed them."
Maureen Knibloe, a nurse in the Air Force Reserve during Desert Storm, is a
parent now, like many other gulf war veterans. "My feeling then was that it
was something the U.S. had to take part in," said the East Windsor resident,
who hasn't been in the military for five years. "This time scares me a bit.
It could be an all-out war."
Not all gulf war veterans see the need for another conflict.
Some Desert Storm veterans, such as Air Force reservist Forte Ruscito, say
the talk of war again with Iraq brings back memories - and makes him nervous.
"I think we should stay out of that business and take care of ourselves,"
said Ruscito, a former Hartford police officer now retired on disability. "We
can't always go sticking our nose overseas in things we cannot fix. We don't
take enough care of our own over here as it is."
Today, similar sentiments will be aired in New Haven when Doug Rokke, a
retired Army major in charge of removing depleted uranium munitions from gulf
battlefields, speaks from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Dwight Hall at Yale University.
Rokke's stop is one of many anti-war meetings in New England this weekend.
John Palmieri of Monroe, a Navy veteran of the gulf war and a self-professed
"George Bush Republican," probably won't go to any such gathering. But he
isn't convinced the nation needs another war with Iraq.
"I think the U.S. needs to stop being the world's policeman," said Palmieri,
now married, the father of a 14-month-old son and the co-owner of a computer
business in Bridgeport. "We had our opportunity in the gulf. I don't think we
should be going in unless the United Nations is involved."
Palmieri, 31, is now suffering from symptoms of gulf war syndrome but so far
has not been approved for military disability benefits.
"I get severe joint pain. My symptoms come and go. After I came back, I was
in my early 20s and I felt like an old man. Sometimes I don't pick up my son
because I'm afraid I'll drop him," he said.
Palmieri, who remembers "the chemical alarms going off on our ship
sometimes," said a new war with Iraq probably would be worse.
"Saddam has a nuclear program. If he uses the weapons he has ... mustard
gases and other stuff... they'd have a very tough ground war. You could have
square miles of people dead in an instant."
John T. Dunn, 33, of Old Saybrook, served in the gulf war as a civilian
volunteer with the American Red Cross. He was a 20-year-old police dispatcher
in Clinton when he signed up for Desert Storm. "The war came up and I felt I
should do something," he said.
Now, he's unsure if a new war with Iraq is what America should do.
"It'll be a whole different war this time. Saddam would unleash worse
weapons. The cost would be unreal. And we'd have to stay in Iraq six, seven,
eight years after the war to rebuild it, like we did in Japan," he said. "I'm
happy I'm not the person in position to have to make this decision."
Claire Salerno of Southington, whose son, Robert, served in the gulf war and
is still in the Army, has some simple advice to any family with a member in
the service: "Pray. It's the best you can do."
Copyright 2002, Hartford Courant
Sempers,
Roger
For Gulf War Veterans, A Conflict Within
By BILL LEUKHARDT
Courant Staff Writer
November 10 2002
The baffling illness that cripples Scott Lovely several days a month, without
warning, now has a name: gulf war syndrome.
"It's like the worst flu. I have no energy, bad headaches and chronic
fatigue," said Lovely, a 33-year-old South Windsor machinist. "One day I'm
fine and can go out and play football, then next day it's like I'm 60 years
old. I was angry about it at first. Now I've learned to live with it. I get
$103 a month in disability from the VA. I'd much rather have my health back."
On Monday, the Army veteran has to work, so he'll miss the day's parades and
ceremonies that will honor him and all the nation's veterans.
But work won't prevent Lovely, and Persian Gulf War vets across the state and
nation, from thinking of their Desert Storm service and the very real
possibility of another war with Iraq.
"If we're going to do it, do it right this time," Lovely said Friday from CMP
Machine Co. Inc., where he works. "I would defend this country in a
heartbeat. I think we should go back if we have the evidence. And no more
screwing around. None of these games of you punch me, then I punch you and
you punch me back."
Talk of a new conflict with Iraq has heated up since the U.N. Security
Council's unanimous approval Friday of a tough resolution calling on Saddam
Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences" that would almost certainly
bring military action.
President Bush threatened Hussein with "the severest consequences" if he
fails to disarm.
Hussein has until Friday to accept the resolution. If he does not, it could
mean a war with Iraq, and the possibility of chemical and biological warfare.
It also could mean far heavier American casualties than in the lightning-fast
Operation Desert Storm.
Those possibilities have gulf war veterans, and other Americans, feeling
conflicted, wanting to finally get Hussein out of the way while worrying that
a lot of American lives could be lost in the process.
"I honestly believe we have to go back," said Robert J. Luminati of Sharon,
who was just out of his teens when he served in the gulf war as a mechanic
with an Army infantry division. "It needs to be done. There's no other way.
[Hussein] is not going to leave on his own.
"If we go over again, it'll probably be a lot of fighting in cities, not just
out cruising in the desert," said Luminati, who is now a husband and father
and works as an electrician.
At the time, the war in the desert was viewed as a smashing victory, gained
cheaply. With the passage of time, the full cost is becoming better known.
Of the approximately 700,000 gulf war veterans across the nation, including
7,000 in Connecticut, the Department of Veterans Affairs has reported that
198,716, or 28 percent, have filed heath-related compensation claims. Of
those, 156,000 have been approved.
Almost 300 American servicemen and women died during Desert Storm from combat
or other causes, such as accidents. Of those dead, seven men and one woman
either lived here or had strong ties to Connecticut. Over the past 11 years,
about 8,000 others have died from injuries and health problems associated
with their wartime service.
Bruce Miller, a retired Marine in Putnam who served in Vietnam and in Desert
Storm, said the combat he saw in Vietnam was much worse than what he
experienced in Iraq.
"Desert Storm was a cakewalk compared to the Tet offensive," Miller said. "I
didn't see much combat in Iraq. Everybody there was giving up to us.
"Of late, I've been worrying about the men and women who might be sent back
over there," he said. "We'll have to use saturation bombing. Remember, Saddam
has chemical weapons and he has the means of delivery. The guy is clever. I
remember he had his tanks buried in the sands off the sides of the road. We
missed them."
Maureen Knibloe, a nurse in the Air Force Reserve during Desert Storm, is a
parent now, like many other gulf war veterans. "My feeling then was that it
was something the U.S. had to take part in," said the East Windsor resident,
who hasn't been in the military for five years. "This time scares me a bit.
It could be an all-out war."
Not all gulf war veterans see the need for another conflict.
Some Desert Storm veterans, such as Air Force reservist Forte Ruscito, say
the talk of war again with Iraq brings back memories - and makes him nervous.
"I think we should stay out of that business and take care of ourselves,"
said Ruscito, a former Hartford police officer now retired on disability. "We
can't always go sticking our nose overseas in things we cannot fix. We don't
take enough care of our own over here as it is."
Today, similar sentiments will be aired in New Haven when Doug Rokke, a
retired Army major in charge of removing depleted uranium munitions from gulf
battlefields, speaks from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Dwight Hall at Yale University.
Rokke's stop is one of many anti-war meetings in New England this weekend.
John Palmieri of Monroe, a Navy veteran of the gulf war and a self-professed
"George Bush Republican," probably won't go to any such gathering. But he
isn't convinced the nation needs another war with Iraq.
"I think the U.S. needs to stop being the world's policeman," said Palmieri,
now married, the father of a 14-month-old son and the co-owner of a computer
business in Bridgeport. "We had our opportunity in the gulf. I don't think we
should be going in unless the United Nations is involved."
Palmieri, 31, is now suffering from symptoms of gulf war syndrome but so far
has not been approved for military disability benefits.
"I get severe joint pain. My symptoms come and go. After I came back, I was
in my early 20s and I felt like an old man. Sometimes I don't pick up my son
because I'm afraid I'll drop him," he said.
Palmieri, who remembers "the chemical alarms going off on our ship
sometimes," said a new war with Iraq probably would be worse.
"Saddam has a nuclear program. If he uses the weapons he has ... mustard
gases and other stuff... they'd have a very tough ground war. You could have
square miles of people dead in an instant."
John T. Dunn, 33, of Old Saybrook, served in the gulf war as a civilian
volunteer with the American Red Cross. He was a 20-year-old police dispatcher
in Clinton when he signed up for Desert Storm. "The war came up and I felt I
should do something," he said.
Now, he's unsure if a new war with Iraq is what America should do.
"It'll be a whole different war this time. Saddam would unleash worse
weapons. The cost would be unreal. And we'd have to stay in Iraq six, seven,
eight years after the war to rebuild it, like we did in Japan," he said. "I'm
happy I'm not the person in position to have to make this decision."
Claire Salerno of Southington, whose son, Robert, served in the gulf war and
is still in the Army, has some simple advice to any family with a member in
the service: "Pray. It's the best you can do."
Copyright 2002, Hartford Courant
Sempers,
Roger