Gulf War Syndrome-Recent Hearings-Is The VA Listening Yet?

HEARING SHOWS VETERANS ARE STILL BEING IGNORED BY VA

On Tuesday, May 19, 2009, the House Veterans’ Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, led by Chairman Harry Mitchell (D-AZ), conducted the first of a series of hearings on Gulf War Illness research. This hearing demonstrates that Gulf War Veterans suffering symptoms from their service in the Gulf War are still being ignored or told that "it's all in your head".

As veterans, we need to stay informed on what is being done to help us dealing with these symptoms. You can watch the full hearings for yourself by visiting http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx?newsid=394 and clicking on "multimedia link".

ONE VETERAN'S STORY

The testimony of Jim Bunker, Gulf War Veteran and President, National Gulf War Resource Center, illustrates what many of us Gulf War Veterans have experienced,

"I deployed to the Persian Gulf with the Fourth Battalion – Fifth Field Artillery Regiment of the First Infantry Division commonly called “The Big Red One”. While in the war zone and right after the air war began, the M8 chemical alarms sounded. We were told it was a false alarm, an equipment malfunction. At the end of February, the Big Red One blew up a large Iraqi ammunition storage area in Safwah, about 30 kilometers from Basrah. Not long after this I became very ill. I was having problems breathing, muscle twitches, and cramps in my legs, vomiting up everything, and them convulsing. I was treated for all of the now classic symptoms of nerve agent poisoning, including convulsions. Then, I was given the antidote for the nerve agent and medically evacuated to the 410^th EVAC hospital.."

You can read all of Mr. Bunker's testimony here: http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/Testimony.aspx?TID=39763&Newsid=394&Name=%20James%20A.%20Bunker

Mr. Bunker also went on to relate how he has had symptoms of numbness, weakness, tingling, mouth sores, headaches, skin rashes, and more.

I can relate.

MY STORY

^{While serving in the Gulf my Marines and I were in the oil fields at El Wafra, where the oil smoke made mid day as black as night, And yet they tell us this smoke we lived in and breathed in was not harmful. And what about the chemical munitions that were destroyed by artillery, air support and naval gunfire. The remains stayed in the sand only to be kicked up in the form of dust and breathed in by my Marines and I and yet we are told it would not hurt us. We were told then and now (IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEADS!!) Well guess what it's not!!}

After returning from the Persian Gulf I started noticing some health issues, starting with headaches, and fatigue, I was constantly getting respiratory infections,I was passing blood, I consistantly felt drained with a constant hurting in my joints and tingling in my face and hands and arms and feet. At times I would have numbness in my extremeities. After my discharge in 1992 I went to the V.A. and was told that there wasn;t anything wrong that it was in my head or it will pass here take these pills.

These problems continued to plague me and no one seemed to care. I would look on line daily and would see growing numbers of men and women like me, combat veterans that our government was turnng their backs on. I continued to struggle with these problems until recently . I've had some good relief from my symptoms; you can contact me at sgtbowcop@yahoo.com to learn what is working for me.

On November 17, 2008, the federally mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses produced a 452-page report indicating that roughly 1 in 4 of the 697,000 veterans who served in the first Persian Gulf War are afflicted with the disorder. Exposure to toxic chemicals was identified as the cause of the illness. The report states that "scientific evidence leaves no question that Persian Gulf War illness is a real condition with real causes and serious consequences for affected veterans."

Hopefully, these hearings will create the needed change for helping our Gulf War Veterans, who were willing to give it all for their country which has since ignored.