GULF WAR VETERANS DIE WAITING FOR ANSWERS

Gulf War Veterans Statistics for September 09 and Editorial
Posted on October 11, 2009 by DSNurse

GULF WAR VETERANS DIE WAITING FOR ANSWERS


DESERT STORM VETERANS ENDURE THE BATTLE AS VA CUTS OFF


CRITICAL UTSWMED FUNDING

In September of 2009, 19 years after the First Gulf War in 1990-91, Desert Storm Veterans death count by online obituaries hit a record of 64 in one month.

Ten deaths occurred in the 30 year old group, 38 in their fourties, 11 in their fifties, 3 in their 60's, and 2 in their seventies. This is upside down from what you might normally expect. This fact alone is reason for alarm bells to be going off for our fellow gulf war veterans and their families. Also to the survivors of those who have died in the past 19 years. To VA, Congress, and to the President alarm bells should be signailing ALERT RED. Our veterans of other wars, all Americans, and media journalist should be joining this fight to get answers NOW. These veterans are dying too young for having as was said the shortest war with the least casualities.

Some veterans even in the past said Operation Desert Storm was not a war but a Cake Walk and administrations, congress, and the media celebrated and called the first Gulf War a Victory that chased the Ghosts of Vietnam away. I am afraid they were all wrong, the Gulf War veterans knew and have stood up to do battle since shortly after they came home. They are sick and they are dying! Yet even those that are sick and need to conserve their energy are having to go to DC every year to beg for research funds. They are having to wage a war after the war!

Their hope and unity sometimes is the only thing that holds them together. Those hopes were broken when VA stopped funding the VA Research Collaborative Center at the UTSW Medical University at Dallas, Tx. How can VA or anyone in this administration be so blind to the Desert Storm Veterans needs.

Uniformed services lost 64 veterans! 27 were Army, 26 were Army Reservists, 2 were Army National Guard, 12 were Air Force, 6 were Marines, and 8 were Navy. How many of these had family members, employees, friends, and neighbors that have served since 911 in OIF and OEF(Iraq and Afghanistan). Shouldn't we be investigating why we have the death rate in the Navy or the Air Force that supposedly were not in the areas of Kamishea chemical exposure?

How many more of the Desert Storm Veterans, Gulf War I (90-91) will continue the tradition of military service in their offspring? How many of these had been family members of Vietnam Veterans that suffered thru the Agent Orange effects that followed the Vietnam War, or were offspring of the Atomic Veterans, or defense and civilian workers that worked in nuclear industry or chemical or medical industries that had knowledge and possible ill health affects also? How many had multiple family or extended family members affected by illnesses after each of these? Do you expect that this will impact the future for recruitment when promises of VA care and compensation are left as empty unfulfilled promises and empty words! Yet it is happening again and again leaders on the hill thump their chest and make empty promises that they, the VA, and the White House quickly forget! Yet again we hear the words we will get you VA care and compensation and LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED as they did just this past week with the Iraq Veterans that were exposed to a known deadly carcinogenic substance!

WE had one veteran that had served in WWII, Korean War, Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm die in September. We had one that had served in the Korean War and Desert Storm. We had one that had served Vietnam and Desert Storm, and Operation Iraqi Freedom and we had one that had served Vietnam, Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom die in September. We had 6 that had served Vietnam War and Desert Storm ie Gulf War I that died in September. We had two that had served in Gulf War 1, Kosovo, and Operation Iraqi Freedom and 2 that had served Gulf War 1 and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

14 Total Patriotic Americans that had served more than once in wars that had pledge to support the Constitution against foreign and domestic enemies! Were their service recognized by Purple Hearts from the unseen wounds of war and exposures to wartime hazardous exposures? Were their service and the others that served in the Gulf War that are now dead awarded service connection to these war time exposures? Or did they have to fight the VA and their country to their deaths? Were their survivors cared for and received their benefits as they would be if they had been service connected? Are their survivors and offspring recognized annually in DC as our OIF and OEF killed in battle are being recognized? The answer is NO.

This is the Thanks of a Grateful Nation? To be ignored by US Representatives, Senators, Presidents, VA, the military services, and last but not least the media!

We lost 3 pilots, 2 submariners, 1 Doctor, 1 Medic, 1 Chaplain, 1 Navy Seal, 1 MP, 1 First CAV, 82nd Airborne, 1st Anglico Surveillance Reconnaissance Specialist and probably many more in the elite divisions. We lost 2 Navy LCDR, 1 Navy commander, 1 Command Sgt Major, 1 Chief Master Sgt, 3 LTCol., 1 Captain, 3 Master Sgts, and others undesignated by their ranks.

Highly experienced, trained, and educated veterans that could have served their communities more. Read their obituaries so many were outstanding Americans that were truly the best of the Best. WE heard of the greatest generation of WW2 and now the War on Terror (OIF and OEF) referred to as the Next Greatest Generation. I do wish that America would realize how the Gulf War Veterans of 90-91 had some of the highest educations and longest military service in years than of the previous eras/wars! WE are sick of being the so soon to be forgotten ones!

As far as causes of death for this month's 64 veterans what we do know is limited to what we can find mentioned in the obituaries. There was 1 Suicide, 3 automobile Accidents, 3 Cancers, 1 Brain Cancer, 1 ALS, 3 Cardiacs, 1 Diabetic, 1 Lung, 1 Kidney, 3 lengthy illnesses, one brief illness, 5 sudden deaths, 12 died at home, one died in his sleep, 10 died in a hospital, 1 died in a health care facilty, 8 at least with no known factors, and the overwhelming majority had no cause of death just that they died at home or hospital. Four female veterans of the Gulf War 1 died this month.

Certainly this calls for a response to the calls to set up a Death Registry on line at the VA website to list name, age, rank, duty code, unit and location in theater during the Gulf War 1, diagnoses, and cause of death. Certainly we need to also have a registry of diagnosed illnesses on Gulf War 1 veterans identify by a code number, unit assigned in Gulf War I, location in theater, age at diagnosis. I believe that is the least this government could do for the gulf war I veterans.

This data would help the veterans and their families, the surviving family members, the health care providers, and the researchers.

The Social Security and IRS data for those deceased could be readily accessed monthly to give monthly data on deaths.

And I think the US Senate VA Committee owes it to the Gulf War Veterans to hold full and complete hearings on the cancellation of the Gulf War Research that was entering its third of five years at Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. I think they owe it to all Americans! The VA Committees of both the House and Senate should be holding joint hearings on the Gulf War illness now and in the future to hear from the Researchers, the Gulf War Veterans Advocates(all), and many individual gulf war veterans and their families until VA compensation and care problems are truly resolved and until all research is completed and treatment is being received by these veterans!

WE just had a dog and pony show of a Gulf War Veterans VA Advisory Committee turn in their shamefully limited report to the Secretary of the VA. This report does not even include the recommendations made by veterans advocates or individual veterans and their family members that although sick and ill and a few survivors of some of the dead traveled to meetings, paying out of their pockets to represent the other hundreds of thousands that served during Desert Storm/Gulf War 1990-91. The veterans saw early on that this was not going to be truly a benefical endeavor and that again they were being brushed aside and ignored. And again they were right because again the recommendation to put them into a program that is developed and run by psychologist is not the right way to go. In addition to mixing apples and oranges and trying to put veterans of Gulf War 1 in with OIF and OEF veterans is not going to work. And most of all no mention is made of training doctors and health care providers on the PHYSIOLOGIC needs of the Gulf War I veterans and research that has been done in the last five to ten years. The Gulf War Veterans are not praising this effort at all.

The Gulf War Veterans want a Congressionally directed Advisory committee on Gulf War Veterans to deal with care, treatment, compensation, the needs of their family members and the needs of the survivors of the dead gulf war veterans since the gulf war that have experienced ill health since returning. WE want this as an open ended committment with no end date. WE want representatives of the gulf war veterans that are and have been true advocates to serve and not just those from service organizations that are nominated that have not had the historical background and knowledge of what has gone on for 19 years! So congress and the hill in DC get busy and get us a bill now!

The White House and the President needs to speak out and lead on this issue. There can be no excuses at all accepted. The Excuse of funding, geopolitical situations, reputations of past DOD, VA, and Presidents or other officials can not be protected when they have left their soldiers on the field after the war of 1990-91.

And it is well pass time that national media to include all television stations, radio stations, newspapers, and print media cover the story of the Veterans of Gulf War 1 (1990-91) Operation Desert Storm.

___________________From previous posting:

This is truly heartbreaking as we watch our fellow soldiers die from the Gulf War 90-91 monthly. They are dying too young! In the meantime the gulf war advocates battle on for 12 million dollars in the Defense appropriations for 2010 for continued research to find treatments for gulf war illness. The 12 million is a very small amount to be expended to help find answers for them! The 12 million dollars is for the DOD Congressional Mandated Research on Gulf War Illness ( DOD-CDMRP-GWI).

At the same time they are battling the VA to restore funding of a landmark VA Collaborative Center of Research between VA and UTSWM in Dallas which has been halted in this same time period. That Center was entering its third year of a 75 million dollar project to get answers to the neurological damage done in Gulf War 90-91. It was 15 million for each of 5 years. It was headed up by Dr Robert Haley who has been dedicated to the Gulf War Veterans fight since Ross Perot recruited the help from his local medical university following a meeting of Navy Seabees that approached Mr Perot in 1994 for help after they had experienced high levels of illness following their return in 1991 and saw that again their nation had not learned from the lessons of Agent Orange or the Atomic Veterans. Dr Hailey had recruited other researchers from multiple universities and is fighting gallantly to keep this dedicated group of researchers together to help the gulf war veterans.

He had accomplished several milestones including a reevaluation of the Seabees at the ten year point after their initial study with expanded diagnostic testing that took 7 full days for each to complete. This evaluation enabled him to do a review of their health changes over the last 10 years, to fine tune the evaluations of diagnostic test to refine it to the best testing into a four day period of tests for his next planned sudy of 2,000 veterans drawn from another part of the 5 year study that included a nation wide phone survey of gulf war veterans that took each of the veterans multiple phone interviews to complete the detailed phone interview survey. This phone survey took over a year to accomplish and was subcontracted out as part of the five year project.

The original survey used on the initial Seabee study had been expanded and further refined. ALL of that work is at a stand still and a stand off initiated by the VAOIG. It did not help that Senator Akaka, the chairman of the Senate VA Committee, took it on himself to send a letter to the VA to back up their VAOIG and decision to stop the funding without even holding a FULL AND COMPLETE SENATE VA COMMITTEE HEARING to have both sides come forward to testify to the FULL SENATE VA COMMITTEE. Is this how the Senate and our government is suppose to work and provide oversight and investigate departments within our government? And the White House and thus the President has yet to step into this situation and lead. Was this the Change we were expecting?

The Gulf War Veterans are asking for all Americans to step forward to send letters, fax, email and yes make calls to DC to the President and to their US Senators and call for this whole situation to be reviewed. While we just had hearings this past week of more chemical exposures on soldiers during the OIF war in Iraq and exposures on bases in the US and chest beating that the DOD had done poorly again and in light of Gulf War Illness that they should know better. We wonder where is the Senate and the White House on following up on the mess of Gulf War Illness from 1990-91 and Operation Desert Storm veterans who are dying too young and without VA care and Compensation and without answers to diagnostic tests to use and treatments to offer to help them.

The VA is without an active training and education program for VA doctors that concentrate on actual physical damage to these veterans. For way too long since they returned in 1991 these Desert Storm - Gulf War Veterans of 90-91 have been pushed to the psychologist and psychological care with funding that concentrated on PTSD and stress while the Congressionally Directed VA Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illness has stated in multiple reports starting in 2004 that the damage done was not PTSD and Stress. These veterans are dying too young and at an alarming rate. Their fellow veterans and survivors need help and answers now not standoffs, denials, delays, backstabing of researchers and other DOD, VA, political or medical research interruptions.