VA: 1991 Gulf War vets must not be ignored

[thedrifter]

VA: 1991 Gulf War vets must not be ignored
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 26, 2007 18:34:29 EDT

Veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War are not getting the treatment they deserve from the federal government, according to the chairman of a Veterans Affairs Department research advisory committee.

“Gulf War illnesses remain a major unmet veterans’ health problem,” said James Binns, chairman of the VA’s research advisory committee on Gulf War veterans’ illnesses.

He testified along with several Gulf War veterans before the House Veterans’ Affairs health subcommittee.

Binns said Gulf War veterans who feel they are being ignored may have a point. “Hundreds of millions of dollars have been appropriated to address the health problems of currently returning veterans, and rightly so,” he said. “But it is now time, in fact long past time, to address the serious health problems of 175,000 veterans of the last war who remain ill as a result of their service.”

Sixteen years after Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, Binns said serious health problems continue, and most of the money spent on research has been wasted.

“One in four of those who served — 175,000 veterans — remain seriously ill, and there are currently no effective treatments,” he said, referring to the multi-symptom illness commonly known as Gulf War syndrome.

About $300 million has been spent on research, but much of that research has focused on whether illnesses were the result of psychological stress, he said. “Very little money was invested in treatment research,” Binns said.

Lea Steele, the research advisory committee’s scientific director, said studies have found no link between combat stress and Gulf War illnesses and, more troubling, studies have found that those suffering are not getting better.

“Few veterans with Gulf War illnesses have recovered or even substantially improved over time,” Steele said. “As a result, many Gulf War veterans have been sick for as long as 16 years.”

Army veteran Anthony Hardie, who says he continues to suffer from the so-called “Kuwait cough” that started after he breathed in the smoke from oil fires during the Gulf War, said many veterans are giving up on VA.

“I have heard from countless other Gulf War veterans who, like many Vietnam veterans before them, have stopped going to the VA or have simply given up and have done their best to adapt to the substantial lifestyle changes required by their disabilities,” Hardie said.

Hardie said VA is still seeing Gulf War veterans who have undiagnosed problems, but “being seen is not the same thing as being treated.”

Ellie

[Messenger]

I have struggled for many years with problems from the gulf war. I was one of many that spent time in the smoke of 744 oil well fires. One commonly misunderstood item regarding the “Smoke” is that it wasn’t just smoke. It was an oily ash commonly half an inch long and soaked in oil.

After only a few hours in this “smoke” my uniform was drenched in oil. There was no hiding from it. All of us used the arm slings from our first aid kits to cover our faces but soon it to was soaked in oil. My uniform was black and wet by the first night of the ground invasion.

The second you opened a MRE to eat something it was all in your food no matter what you did to try to cover it. The second you took the cap off to take a drink it was in your water so we all ate and drank it. It was soaking in to our skin the whole time. Luckily I didn’t have to dawn my gas mask in that because I am sure the filters would have been plugged within a few short minutes.

A side note about that smoke was that it was blocking the sun out and much of the time not only couldn’t you see more then a few meters but it was cold, very cold. That ground hadn’t seen sunlight in weeks and we were shivering because of the cold. Once it started to get dark you couldn’t see anything, not even your hand in front of your face. Vehicles didn’t faire any better in the smoke as we had to stop frequently to pound the ash out of the air filters.

I am no oil well expert but I know some oil wells have dangerous and deadly gasses and while some probably think any gases was burnt off with the fires I disagree because if that was true then all of the oil would have been burnt off too and it wasn’t because all the ash was oily.

Since 1991 I have suffered from skin problems. I have large patches of psoriasis on my legs and in my scalp. My arms breakout then scar. I have felt like I have a stomach flu most of the time since the war and have ever since had sinus problems.

After fighting and trying to deal with these problems since the war I finally went in last week and filed some VA claims. The VA services officer helped me with all of the paper work and besides some other claims I also claimed PTSD and “Multiple Undiagnosed Illnesses” (Gulf War Illness).

It will be interesting to see how my claims work out. I have hear nothing but horror stories about the VA and as I understand it the VA’s normal case load of claims is 200,000 but this year it is over 600,000 so I expect a long wait.

Simper fi