UK Study, Gulf War Syndrome being passed onto children

Veterans with debilitating Gulf War Syndrome may have passed it on to children

Mirror UK
By Grace Macaskill
JAN 2019

The American study, funded by the US Veterans Affairs department, will step up the pressure. Dr Michael Falvo, lead researcher at the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, said the findings were the “first direct biological evidence”

EXCLUSIVE: Stricken families say they want the Ministry of Defence to recognise the condition as the British Legion says it believes 30,000 may be suffering

Medical research has revealed troops who served in Iraq are more likely to have damage to DNA (Image: PA)

British forces veterans suffering Gulf War Syndrome may have given it to their children.

New medical research has revealed troops who served in Iraq are more likely to have damage to DNA that could be passed on during reproduction.

Experts in the US – where the illness is recognised – claim to have found the first proof of a biological link to debilitating symptoms suffered by servicemen involved in the 1990-1991 conflict.

Almost 75 per cent of the 53,000 UK soldiers there were given an anthrax vaccine. Many were also exposed to depleted uranium in some weapons.

Thousands reported a raft of disorders on their return home, including extreme fatigue, dizziness, strange rashes, nerve pain and memory loss – and the British Legion believes 30,000 may be suffering from the syndrome.

And more and more affected families are reporting that their children have developed terrifying symptoms of conditions that can be passed on genetically.

Now they are demanding the Ministry of Defence acts on the latest research and recognises Gulf War Syndrome.
read more here

Betrayal of Gulf War Veterans Continues

Waco Veterans Affairs office denies 92% of Gulf War claims
My Statesman
Jeremy Schwartz
American Statesman Staff
July 20, 2017

Waco VA office had the fourth-highest denial rate for Gulf War illness claims. Nationally, the VA denied 87 percent of Gulf War Illness related claims in 2015.

Persian Gulf War photo from the LBJ Library’s “American Soldier” exhibit.

Department of Veterans Affairs benefits officials in Waco have denied a whopping 92 percent of claims related to Gulf War illness, giving Central Texas veterans one of the highest denial rates in the nation, according to data in a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report.

The report found serious and persistent problems with how the VA handles the complicated Gulf War benefits claims, ranging from poorly trained examiners to inconsistent methods of handling claims in different regions of the country. For example, in the continental United States denial rates ranged from 47 percent in Boston to 95 percent in Roanoke, Va., according to an analysis by the advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense.

The VA estimates that 44 percent of the 700,000 service members who served in the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War have developed such symptoms as joint pain, chronic fatigue syndrome and neurological problems after returning home from war. The illnesses are believed to have been caused by exposure to toxic elements like smoke from burning oil wells, depleted uranium and chemical warfare agents such as mustard gas.
read more here

Seventeen Year Battle Ended When Gulf War Veteran Committed Suicide Outside Church

Veteran talked to KXLY4 about mental health issues years before suicide
KXLY News
Author: Ariana Cohen, Good Morning Northwest reporter
November 7, 2016

But, not enough to save Belieu, who 17 years ago began asking for help for this disease.

POST FALLS, Idaho - It was a shocking scene outside a large church in Post Falls Sunday as hundreds of worshipers were gathered at Real Life Ministries, when a Gulf War veteran took his own life right outside the church doors.

59-year-old Dale Belieu had suffered from debilitating illness for years and spoke out against the lack of help from the Veteran's Administration.

Back in the 90s, an Idaho congresswoman tried to help Belieu with his case against the VA.

He said he suffered from Gulf War syndrome and that he wasn't given the help he needed.

He shared that story with KXLY4 News, and Monday, we found the heartbreaking evidence that Belieu had long struggled to find help.

"I guess I'm not one of those weirded out crazed insane veterans sitting on some park looking wacked out," said Belieu in a 1999 interview with KXLY. He lived with physical and emotional pain for decades.

"So, they don't want to deal with it," he said. "Someone in Congress, the decision makers need to come in line."
read more here

More Than $500 Million Into Researching Gulf War Veterans, No Answers

Still sick 25 years after the Gulf War, a vet seeks answers — and the Minneapolis VA may have them.
Star Tribune
By Jeremy Olson
AUGUST 14, 2016

More than $500 million in research hasn’t found causes or cures for the illness, which the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs classifies as “unexplained illness” or “chronic multisymptom illness.”

Chad Donovan of Rochester is fighting for the Department of Veterans Affairs to acknowledge his pain and other symptoms as related to Gulf War Illness.

It’s been 25 years, and Chad Donovan still wonders which toxic hazard in the Gulf War might have caused the fatigue, stomach problems and rashes he has suffered ever since.

Maybe it was the nerve gas pills, which his unit took in Saudi Arabia while standing in formation so nobody refused.

Maybe one of the “false alarms” after a missile attack really did signal the presence of chemical weapons.

Maybe the mushroom-cloud detonation of unused Iraqi ordnance whooshed toxins into the air.

And then there were the sand fleas, pesticides, burning oil wells, dust storms and uranium-depleted bullets that made the Gulf War one of the most toxic conflicts in history.

Today, researchers at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center are leading a wave of studies to solve the mystery of Gulf War Illness, a cluster of unexplained symptoms reported by 25 to 65 percent of the 700,000 soldiers deployed to the Gulf in 1990 and 1991. They have identified genetic markers that could improve tests and treatment, one of the most significant advances in years, and started a clinical trial on a promising prescription drug.
read more here

Four Out of Five Gulf War Veteran VA Claims Denied

Veteran with Gulf War syndrome: ‘I shouldn’t be like this’
Post Courier
by Derrek Asberry
Jun 7 2016

Hardie told the committee that 54,193 Gulf War syndrome claims had been filed with the VA as of March 2014. Of those claims, 42,977 of them, or four out of every five, were denied.

Gulf War veteran Justin Vosicky talks about his struggles with the VA.

Brad Nettles/Staff

Within two minutes of answering his door and sitting down for an interview, Army veteran Justin Vosicky removed his shirt, revealing the feeding tubes he had placed in his abdomen in 2013.

“Sorry, I can’t stop sweating,” said Vosicky, who was also shivering repeatedly after taking enough medication to briefly stifle his abdominal pain.

Following a 10-year stint in the Army, from 2000 to 2010, Vosicky was told by VA doctors that he had Gulf War syndrome, a sickness that the VA prefers to call “chronic multisymptom illness” or “undiagnosed illnesses,” since any number of issues could be plaguing a patient.

The VA cannot pinpoint a cause of Gulf War Syndrome, which may afflict tens of thousands of veterans from both Gulf Wars. Outside theories include exposure to nerve gas, post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric disorders.
read more here

UK Veterans Battle Gulf War Syndrome

Charity Urges Action Over Gulf War Syndrome 
SKY News UK
January 17, 2016

Suggested causes have included depleted uranium used in weapons, sarin gas, smoke from burning oil wells, vaccinations and combat stress.

Little is known about the causes of the syndrome but Gulf veterans report symptoms up to three times the rate of other veterans.

The Royal British Legion is calling for more help for veterans suffering from Gulf War Syndrome amid concerns that up to 33,000 could be affected.

The charity wants the Government to carry out more research into illnesses linked the 1991 Gulf War, in which 53,462 Britons served.

"We still do not know how to effectively treat Gulf War Illnesses," said the charity, which was speaking as the 25th anniversary of the start of the war is marked this weekend.

Acute and chronic fatigue, muscle pain, cognitive problems, rashes and diarrhoea are some of the symptoms of the syndrome.

The charity points to research that shows Gulf War veterans report such symptoms at two to three times the rate of other veterans, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more here

Veterans know how long has this been going on

While these studies were not very good and time proved many of what is claimed wrong, it shows how long these issues have been going on.

Vietnam Veterans and PTSD

Findings from the National Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Study
Jennifer L. Price, PhD
Introduction
The National Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Study (NVVRS) was conducted in response to a congressional mandate in 1983 for an investigation of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other postwar psychological problems among Vietnam Veterans (Kulka et al., 1990a, Kulka et al., 1990b). The purpose of the NVVRS was to obtain accurate prevalence rates of postwar psychological problems in order to serve the needs of the nation's Veterans. The NVVRS used a multimethod assessment approach (e.g., self-report, clinical interview) to study representative national samples of Vietnam Veterans and their peers. Participants were grouped according to their involvement in the Vietnam war, including Vietnam theater Veterans (i.e., men and women who served on active duty in Vietnam, Laos, or Cambodia), Vietnam era Veterans (i.e., men and women who served on active duty during the Vietnam era but not in the Vietnam theater), and non-Veterans or civilian counterparts (i.e., men and women who did not serve in the military during the Vietnam era).

Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange
Yet Vietnam veterans are still suffering, waiting for claims to be approved and proper help delivered and they are still taking their own lives.

Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange and other herbicides In 1979, Congress commissioned a large-scale epidemiological study of . Over the next four years, the VA examined about 200,000 Vietnam veterans for medical problems they claimed stemmed from Agent Orange and other herbicides.

Also in 1979, veterans filed a class-action lawsuit against the companies that had manufactured Agent Orange.

Many were not satisfied with their exams and medical care, and they felt the VA was ignoring their claims. In 1981, Congress expanded health-care coverage to Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. The next year, 1983, the Department of Health and Human Services released its first report showing a link between Agent Orange exposure and soft-tissue sarcoma.

In 1984, the class-action lawsuit was settled. Although the companies did not have to accept blame, they were ordered to pay $180 million to the veterans.

Gulf War Veterans and Gulf War Syndrome
Yet veterans are still suffering, waiting for claims to be approved and treatment delivered, and dying while waiting as they have for decades but no one remembers them or all their years of suffering.

Gulf War Veterans November 7, 1997 "Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 105th Congress"

Since the Gulf War ended in 1991, there has been a growing number of reports of chronic illnesses among the nearly 700,000 United States troops who served in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq. Although the illnesses are most common among reservists and National Guardsmen who served in the Gulf, full-time active-duty soldiers have also complained about various maladies.

Yet no one remembers the first veterans fighting or what they came home with as well as being forgotten by the press as if they never went. They are still waiting and dying. As much as it is easier for the general public to think all of this is new, it is far from it.

Congress is playing the commercial game of pretending they were not part of the problem but as we know, when veterans are getting the run around, they call their congressman or woman to complain. For any of these members of congress to pretend they had no clue all along is sinful. There is no excuse for any of it.

Brief history lesson on VA Budget

Brief history lesson on VA Budget
Left over from the Clinton Administration we had this
Before Afghanistan and Iraq we had Gulf War veterans not being taken care of as well as Vietnam veterans. The American Legion was fighting for the Gulf War veterans.

The Legion has also been fighting for increased funding for so-called “undiagnosed illnesses,” such as “Gulf War Syndrome” and other unexplained sicknesses that plague military veterans.

There were 9,000 Gulf War veterans suffering.

Later on in 2005 with Afghanistan and Iraq producing more wounded veterans, we had this report.
THE IMPACT OF PRESIDENT BUSH’S BUDGET ON VETERANS’ HEALTH CARE just for an idea of how bad it was.

CNN Reported this.

Democrats slam budget cuts for veterans' services
Pa. governor: Bush budget cuts for critical programs 'unconscionable'

Saturday, March 19, 2005

(CNN) -- The governor of Pennsylvania on Saturday said the federal government must do a better job helping America's war veterans and criticized proposed budget cuts affecting them.

"During this time of war, it is absolutely the wrong time for our federal government to step back from any of its commitments to our veterans. To do so would be penny wise but pound foolish," said Gov. Ed Rendell in the weekly Democratic radio address.

"In today's parlance, the cost of health care for these vets may be half a billion dollars but their sacrifice for our nation, priceless," he said.

His remarks followed the weekly radio address of President Bush, who defended the Iraqi invasion and operation and marked its second anniversary. Rendell said that Pennsylvania and other states have programs helping veterans and their families.

"While we the governors do all we can for our vets and our returning soldiers, our federal government still has the primary responsibility for meeting the needs of our veterans. And that's why I find the president's budget cuts for critical veteran services to be unconscionable."

He maintained that budget cuts include "a $350 million reduction in veterans home funding, which wipes out at least 5,000 veterans' nursing home beds."

"If the president's proposed budget cuts are enacted, nearly 60 percent of the 1,600 veterans will lose their daily stipend that allows them to stay in our state's nursing homes, literally forcing them out into the cold."
read more here

Do you think we can finally cut the crap out of our conversations about how bad it is for our veterans by finally acknowledging we've heard it all before and it has gotten worse?

Maybe congress will finally get serious about fixing the VA once and for all the right way so we don't repeat all the mistakes of the past all over again.

VA Gulf War panel members walk out to protest changes

VA Gulf War panel members walk out to protest changes
Army Times
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Jun. 18, 2013

Three members of a Veterans Affairs Department advisory committee on Persian Gulf War illnesses walked out of a meeting in Washington, D.C., on Monday to protest planned changes to the board’s makeup — alterations they say are designed to neuter the often outspoken panel.

During a meeting of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses, VA interim chief of staff Jose Riojas announced changes to the panel’s charter, including replacing half the board members and cutting its budget.

According to panel member Anthony Hardie, Riojas “made clear that the [committee] had overstepped its charter” and needed to be steered in a different direction.
read more here

Gulf War veterans brain scans begin to offer hope

Brain scans lead to discovery of two types of veterans suffering from Gulf War syndrome
By Alan Zarembo
Los Angeles Times
Published: June 16, 2013

LOS ANGELES - Using brain scans and exercise stress tests, researchers have identified two biologically distinct subgroups of veterans suffering from "Gulf War illness."

Their bodies reacted differently to physical exertion, and their brains had atrophied in different regions.

None of the patterns were seen in a control group of healthy subjects.

The findings, published online Friday in the journal PLOS One, are part of a growing body of work that the authors said could eventually lead to biological markers for the mysterious condition, which is still defined by its hodgepodge of symptoms.

"That's the hope," said Georgetown University researcher Rakib Rayhan, lead author of the study.

Still, the importance of the differences his team identified is far from clear, said Dr. Beatrice Golomb, an expert on Gulf War illness at UC San Diego, who was not involved in the research. There are many ways to parse any population of patients with a condition that is so variable and diverse, she said.

After the 1991 Gulf War, veterans began complaining of various problems, including pain, fatigue, headaches and cognitive impairment. The symptoms ranged from mild to debilitating.

Up to 30 percent of the 700,000 troops who served in the war are thought to be affected.
read more here

Bernie Sanders on frontline for veterans

Bernie Sanders on frontline for veterans
Washington Post
By Steve Vogel
Published: April 14

As an antiwar activist who never served in the military and the first self-proclaimed socialist in the U.S. Senate, Bernard Sanders is at initial glance an unusual choice to chair the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

But Sanders, the tousled-haired 71-year-old Vermont independent who took over the committee in January, has embraced the role with a populist gusto that has won him staunch backing from veterans groups.

“That is odd,” said Peter Gaytan, executive director of the American Legion, whose members gave Sanders a warm reception at the organization’s Washington conference in February. “If you look at his leanings, you wouldn’t think he could care so much about veterans, but he does.”

“He’s very passionate about the issues,” said Bob Wallace, executive director of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “I think he’s going to be very good for veterans.”

Angered that the 2014 budget proposed by the Obama adminstration includes changes in how annual cost-of-living adjustments are calculated, potentially reducing future compensation payments for 3.2 million disabled veterans, Sanders joined in a demonstration Tuesday outside the White House and denounced the plan as “nuts.”
read more here
If you want to know that truth about all of this you can read the shocking truth here.

THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR

Since 2007, Wounded Times has brought you the news from all around the country. This book answers the questions of where we are, how we got here and what can be done to actually live up to what we keep saying we want to do.

Gulf War Illness May Be Due To Toxic Environments

Gulf War Syndrome, Other Illnesses Among Veterans May Be Due To Toxic Environments
Huffington Post
Lynne Peeples
February 7, 2013

In 1991, as part of Operation Desert Storm, former U.S. Army Spc. Candy Lovett arrived in Kuwait a healthy 29-year-old eager to serve her country. Two decades later, she's accumulated a stack of medical records over five feet high -- none of which relates to injuries inflicted by bullets or shrapnel.

"It's just been one thing after another," said the veteran, who now resides in Miami and whose ailments run the gamut from lung disease and sleep apnea to, most recently, terminal breast cancer. "At one point," she said, "I was on over 50 pills."

Former Air Force Tech. Sgt. Tim Wymore, who was deployed to Iraq in 2004, suffers from an array of health problems that mirror Lovett's. "Everyone has the same things," said Wymore, who has inexplicably shed 40 pounds in the last few months. "It's just weird."

Wymore and Lovett -- and countless others who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the desert region over the past three decades -- have struggled to understand this, but they share one nagging conviction: These ailments are tied to service in a war zone.

Their suspicions -- long rebuffed by insurance companies -- are now getting support from some doctors and environmental health researchers, who suspect that American soldiers are being unnecessarily exposed to heavily contaminated environments while serving overseas. Even when not engaged directly in combat, they say, servicemen and women -- typically without protective masks or other simple precautions -- live and work amid clouds of Middle Eastern dust laden with toxic metals, bacteria and viruses, and surrounded by plumes of smoke rising from burn pits, a common U.S. military practice of burning feces, plastic bottles and other solid waste in open pits, often with jet fuel.

Research published in December 2012 raises the possibility that in some instances, soldiers may have been exposed to airborne cocktails that included low levels of a deadly chemical warfare agent, the nerve gas sarin, which wafted hundreds of miles from U.S.-bombed Iraqi facilities.
read more here

OEF OIF veterans show Gulf War Illness

Report: New vets show Gulf War illness symptoms
By Kelly Kennedy
USA Today
Posted : Wednesday Jan 23, 2013

About one-third of Gulf War veterans — or 175,000 to 250,000 people — have Gulf War illness.

WASHINGTON — Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be suffering from the 20-year-old set of symptoms known as Gulf War Illness, according to a new report released Wednesday by the federal Institute of Medicine.

“Preliminary data suggest that (chronic multisymptom illness) is occurring in veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well,” the report says.

This may be the first time that the symptoms suffered by veterans of the 1991 Gulf War have been linked to veterans of the current wars, which started in 2001 and 2003, said Paul Rieckhoff, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

It also means the Department of Veterans Affairs’ definition of who qualifies for Gulf War veterans’ benefits should include those who served in Afghanistan, said Paul Sullivan, a 1991 Gulf War veteran and founder of Veterans for Common Sense.

Because Wednesday’s report associates the symptoms with deployment, Sullivan said, the VA “should expand the geographical definition of the current Gulf War to include the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The researchers were to investigate treatments for Gulf War illness, including any existing research, to see what worked for veterans. Their research included traumatic brain injury, which is caused by blunt force to the head or proximity to an explosion; post-traumatic stress disorder, which must involve exposure to trauma; respiratory problems, fibromyalgia; and chronic pain.

Chronic multisymptom illness was formerly called Gulf War Syndrome, the Institute of Medicine report said. It includes symptoms in at least two of six categories: fatigue, mood and cognition issues, musculoskeletal problems, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory difficulties, and neurologic issues that last for at least six months.
read more here

Study provides more clues to Gulf War illness - and hope

Study provides more clues to Gulf War illness - and hope
Kelly Kennedy
USA TODAY

A study finds that Gulf War Illness, or the series of symptoms that plagues 1 out of 4 veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf war, is due to damage to the autonomic nervous system.

November 26. 2012

WASHINGTON — Gulf War illness, the series of symptoms ranging from headaches to memory loss to chronic fatigue that plagues one of four veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf war, is due to damage to the autonomic nervous system, a study released Monday shows.

"This is the linchpin," said the study's lead author, Robert Haley, chief of epidemiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

"The disease itself is so difficult to express and to understand," Haley said, explaining that veterans described simply that they "don't feel well" or "can't function," without being able to further explain a disease that affects the automatic functions of their bodies, such as heat regulation, sleep or even their heartbeats. read more here

VA Accused of Spinning Gulf War Veterans’ Health

VA Accused of Spinning Gulf War Veterans’ Health
Posted on August 20, 2012 by VCS
From 91outcomes.com and Friend of VCS and Gulf War Veteran Anthony Hardie

NEWSMAX The Wire, Aug. 15, 2012 – Members of a federal committee created by Congress say the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) … isn’t telling the truth about its treatment of America’s veterans, and the department’s latest public statements are more spin than substance.

The VA recently issued a lengthy press release touting its alleged accomplishments regarding Gulf War Illness.

But several members of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans (RAC) — created by Congress in 1998 to advise the VA on Gulf War health issues — say the press release is filled with misleading and inaccurate statements. Some members of RAC, which is comprised of physicians, scientists, and veterans, tell Newsmax they are outraged by the press release — and …. neglect of men and women who served in the 1990-1991 war against Iraq.

Anthony Hardie, a Gulf War Army Special Ops veteran and RAC member since 2005, tells Newsmax… the VA “totally ignored” a RAC report released in late June that gave the department a unanimous vote of “no confidence” for its “failure to develop treatments for the estimated 250,000 veterans suffering from Gulf War Illness.”

In a landmark 2010 report, Gulf War Illness was ruled a legitimate disease — not a psychological ailment— by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), a nonprofit organization that provides nonpartisan advice to decision-makers and the public.

But the VA now seems determined to reverse that historic decision and downplay the problem, committee members say.
read more here

All states do not treat this nation's veterans the same

All states do not treat this nation's veterans the same.
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
July 17, 2012

How well a veteran is cared for after they served this one nation should never be left up to the judgment of the governors year to year. Texas has problems with claims and taking care of their veterans and so does Florida. Too many states are not living up to the debt they owe veterans but the majority of the citizens remain silent on what is being done to them instead of demanding what needs to be done for veterans.

The American public in general should take a dim view on any politician treating veterans like this.

Politicians keep talking about the deficit but never seem able to understand this is a bill the country owes veterans. Some even dare to consider the VA as a "welfare" program.

Backlog of benefits claims for Texas veterans has doubled in two years
By Jeremy Schwartz
July 16, 2012

TEMPLE — Pending benefits claims for Texas veterans have doubled in two years, the most visible indicator of what state officials on Monday described as a mounting crisis at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"It's a monumental problem," James Richman, the director of claims representation and counseling for the Texas Veterans Commission, told a Texas Senate committee reviewing the state's massive backlog. "It's an implosion, a perfect storm."

According to the VA, pending claims in Texas have mushroomed from just more than 46,000 in July 2010 to nearly 90,000 this month. More than 76 percent of pending claims in Texas have been sitting for more than 125 days, significantly more than the national average of 66 percent.

State officials painted a picture of a bureaucracy overwhelmed by an influx of aging World War II veterans, Vietnam-era service member claims based on exposure to Agent Orange, and Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, who are filing disability claims at rates higher than their predecessors. The hearing Monday, held at the William R. Courtney Texas State Veterans Home in Temple, was a chance for legislators to gather information ahead of next year's legislative session, when officials probably will ask for more money to hire additional claims counselors.
read more here

Every state is different. This is an example of it. A study was done after Chicago Sun Times did an article on the issue in 2004. This is the result of the investigation. Review of State Variances in VA Disability Compensation Payments

Veterans Affairs Regional Office List is where you can find information on your own state.

STEP 3 – Learn about VA Services and Benefits
VA provides health care and other benefits to OEF/OIF veterans returning from the armed services.

Here are some of the benefits VA provides:
Access this Web site for more information on specific VA benefits available: http://www.oefoif. va.gov.

• Five Years of Enhanced Health Care. Your service member/veteran is eligible to receive enhanced VA health care benefits for five years following his or her military separation date. Whether or not your family member chooses to use VA health care after separation, he or she must enroll with VA within five years to get health care benefits later on.

• Dental Benefits. He or she may be eligible for one-time dental care but must apply for a dental exam within 180 days of his or her separation date.

• OEF/OIF Program. Every VA Medical Center has a team standing ready to welcome OIF/OEF service members and help coordinate their care. Check the home page of your local VA Medical Center.

• Primary Health Care for Veterans. VA provides general and specialized health care services to meet the unique needs of veterans returning from combat deployments.

• Non-Health Benefits. Other benefits available from the Veterans Benefits Administration may include: financial benefits, home loans, vocational rehabilitation, education, and more. Access http://www.vba.va.gov/VBA for information on these benefits.

• Benefits for Family Members. VA offers limited medical benefits for family members of eligible veterans. These include the following programs: Civilian Health and Medical Program of VA (CHAMPVA), caregiver support groups, counseling, and bereavement counseling.

Potential Co-Payments

Some veterans must make small co-payments for medical supplies and VA health care. Combat veterans are exempt from co-payments for the care of any condition potentially related to their service in a theater of combat operations. However, they may be charged co-payments for treatment clearly unrelated to their military experience, as identified by their VA provider.

Conditions not to be considered potentially related to the veteran’s combat service include, but are not limited to:

• care for common colds
• injuries from accidents that happened after discharge from active duty
• disorders that existed before joining the military.

This is a report on the Texas VA budget

Drastic cuts proposed in Texas Veterans Commission budget March 16, 2011
By RICARDO S. SANCHEZ LTG U.S. Army (Retired)

"NEVER LEAVE A FALLEN COMRADE" is part of the ethos embraced by America’s military. This commitment to our fellow warriors is embraced by every young man and woman in uniform and it exemplifies the commitment we make to defend our democratic values. Texas is on the verge of abandoning scores of Veterans if proposed budget cuts are approved.

The Texas Legislature is considering a 20 percent cut in the near $14 million in state funds which the TVC receives to provide veterans services across the state. This cut is, on average, disproportionate to the reductions other state agencies face. If approved, this will drastically reduce the TVC’s ability to provide services. With the proposed drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan over the next two years, our returning veterans will need considerable assistance to ensure they access the benefits they have earned. Now is not the time for Texas to curtail the funding for veterans services.

Every day, the counselors and staff at the Texas Veterans Commission work tirelessly as advocates on behalf of our state’s true heroes to ensure they are not left behind.

The TVC staff — 84 percent of whom are veterans themselves — has made astounding progress in the last year helping Texas Veterans access their benefits. Note the following direct impact of TVC efforts:

H 170,795 benefit cases filed, resulting in over $2 billion in monetary benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to Texas veterans and their families;

H 34,038 jobs found for veterans generating $1.8 billion in wages;

H 67,015 veterans approved for post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits totaling $397 million;

H $9 million in grants, funded mostly from the Veterans Cash lottery ticket, to 38 community and faith-based grantees offering a range of services to Texas veterans and their families.

read more here

Florida Gov. Scott wanted to cut the state VA Budget as well.

Scott Administration Offers Budget Details to House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee
Legislators from both sides of the aisle have questions and concerns about governor's proposals
By: KEVIN DERBY
Posted: February 9, 2011

A day after Gov. Rick Scott unveiled his budget, the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee met to hear how his proposed budget would impact state health facilities in the next two years.

Chaired by Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, the committee listened Tuesday to a presentation from Jane Johnson, a policy coordinator from the Office of Policy and Budget and, while Republicans remained firmly in control of the committee, they did have more than their share of questions about the proposed budget.

Noting that the health and human services appropriations consumed $18.4 billion in FY 2002-03, Johnson pointed out that they were more than $28.5 billion in FY 2010-11. Under Scott’s budget proposal, the costs would increase to $29.17 billion in FY 2011-12 before lowering to $28.01billion in FY 2012-13.

Of the $29.2 billion planned by the Scott administration for health agencies in FY 2011-12, more than $22 billion would go to the Agency for Health Care Administration, almost 76 percent of the entire amount allocated. Department of Children and Families would take 9.5 percent of the total with almost $2.8 billion, just ahead of the Department of Health which would have more than $2.75 billion. Persons with Disabilities would get almost 3 percent with $842 million while Elder Affairs would have 2.4 percent of the total with $690 million. The state Department of Veterans Affairs would end up with $45.5 million, around 16 percent of the total allocated. read more here

University of Colorado releases a report on Understanding Gulf War Syndrome

Researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder have made an important step in Understanding Gulf War Syndrome. Neuroscientist Donald Cooper, Ph.D. and his team found that a common organophosphate insecticide used in the Gulf War was capable of changing neuronal activity in a rodent brain region, known as the Locus Coeruleus, a brain region that is critical for attention, anxiety, and addiction. Their paper released in Nature Precedings is the first report
describing how exposure to the toxic metabolite of the insecticide, chlorpyrifos leads to lasting changes in neuronal activity that persist long after exposure.

These researchers have previously shown similar changes in neuronal signaling to be similar to those that follow withdrawal from heroin and morphine and would likely produce similar states of anxiety, discomfort and memory problems.

The paper is available in Nature Precedings and was funded, in part, by the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical center and the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Gulf War Syndrome: A role for organophosphate induced plasticity of locus coeruleus neurons
Jun-li Cao1, Andrew L. Varnell2 & Donald C. Cooper3



Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, China
Center for Neuroscience, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder Colorado
Institute for Behavioral Genetics, Center for Neuroscience, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience,University of Colorado,Boulder
PDF (295.9 KB)
Document Type:
Manuscript
Date:
Received 07 July 2011 21:50 UTC; Posted 08 July 2011
Subjects:
Neuroscience, Pharmacology
Tags:
Chlorpyrifos Gulf War Syndrome Neuroplasticity anxiety neuroscience PESTICIDES Insecticides. Neuro-cloud.net
Abstract:
Gulf War syndrome is a chronic multi-symptom illness that has affected about a quarter of the deployed veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. Exposure to prolonged low-level organophosphate insecticides and other toxic chemicals is now thought to be responsible. Chlorpyrifos was one commonly used insecticide. The metabolite of chlorpyrifos, chlorpyrifos oxon, is a potent irreversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, much like the nerve agent Sarin. To date, the target brain region(s) most susceptible to the neuroactive effects of chlorpyrifos oxon have yet to be identified. To address this we tested ability of chlorpyrifos oxon to influence neuronal excitability and induce lasting changes in the locus coeruleus, a brain region implicated in anxiety, substance use, attention and emotional response to stress. Here we used an ex vivo rodent model to identify a dramatic effect of chlorpyrifos oxon on locus coeruleus noradrenergic neuronal activity. Prolonged exposure to chlorpyrifos oxon caused acute inhibition and a lasting rebound excitatory state expressed after days of exposure and subsequent withdrawal. Our findings indicate that the locus coeruleus is a brain region vulnerable to chlorpyrifos oxon-induced neuroplastic changes possibly leading to the neurological symptoms affecting veterans of the Gulf War.

Gulf War Syndrome

Conspiracy Test Gulf War Illness

The Military Channel had a program on Gulf War Syndrome tonight.

Depleted Uranium and the lack of connection made between the military and the veterans was the first part of the program. Just when I thought they were going to admit what was done to our veterans of the Gulf War, they dragged in someone saying the media was behind it. If someone said the veterans are sick because of Gulf War Syndrome, then they would all say they were.

Mar 07, 9:00 pm

(60 minutes) Conspiracy Test
Gulf War Illness
TV-PG, CC

Conspiracy Test will run its own independent experiment on DU testing with blood samples obtained from up to five veterans of the first Gulf War and some more recent Iraq War vets.

Five veterans were tested for depleted uranium and sarin gas. Blood test checked the DNA of these veterans. 22 matched pairs of chromosome along with the sex codes were checked. Chromosomes were damaged and had breakage. Three of the veterans allowed their cases to be talked about. Pieces of their chromosomes attached to other ones. Like cancer patients and children with birth defects, this damage is out of the ordinary. Radiation exposure is one of the factors with the breakage. Two of the veterans that did not want their cases relased had more damage done. Alpha radiation is usually the cause of this kind of damage.

How can they fake chromosome damage? They ruled out sarin gas in these cases, so what else will they use to explain it away. Their health problems will not go away and they have not been able to cure it, but they have been able to make it better. They were twice as likely to be sick than others that did not deploy.

The program pointed out they needed to do wide spread testing in more veterans. The role the government plays in all of this is they need to release everything they know so that this is not repeated ever again.

The fact remains that after all these years, Gulf War veterans will probably be dying to find out what is wrong with them before they end up being treated or compensated for it. Much like the Vietnam Veterans waited 40 years for answers, they will die off before they see real justice or answers.

You can also check out what PBS has on this here http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/syndrome/

VA Releases New Gulf War Report

Veterans for Common Sense sent out an update on what is going on with Gulf War Veterans. The news isn't good but what is good is that VCS is staying on top of all of it.

VA Releases New Gulf War Report

On February 23, VA released the agency's most recent report on "Pre 9/11 Veterans". Huh !? That's VA's new term for troops who deployed to Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991.

VA neglected to provide totals on many pages, and many terms and definitions are very confusing, even to experts. The net result is another VA fiasco in urgent need of an editor. VCS offered to help, but VA never called us.

Not mentioned in the report is the billions of dollars spent on healthcare and benefits for hundreds of thousands of veterans disabled, injured, or ill after deploying to a war that should have never been fought.

This was included in the report from the VA. If you think you just forgot what happened, it isn't your fault. The media just ignored it.

Al Jubayl: On or about January 19, 1991, U.S. Servicemembers reported an incident involving a “loud noise,” “bright flash,” and possible “Iraqi chemical warfare agent attack” that occurred in and around Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia. DoD concluded that the chemical attack was “unlikely.” This and additional information regarding these events may be accessed by clicking on the following DoD website: http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=2835. Structure: It is composed of all unique deployed Veterans in the Desert Storm cohort who were identified by DoD as being present at Al Jubayl for the above incident. Both Al Jubayl and Non-AlJubayl are immediate subsets of the Desert Storm cohort. (page 13)

Khamisiyah: On March 4, 1991, and on March 10, 1991, U.S. Servicemembers destroyed Iraqi “chemical warfare agent rockets,” possibly exposing military personnel to very low levels of chemical warfare agents, at the Khamisiyiah Army Supply Depot, Iraq. This and additional information regarding these events may be accessed by clicking on the following DoD website: http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=3322. Structure: It is composed of all unique deployed Veterans in the Post-Desert Storm cohort who were identified by DoD as being present at Khamisiyah for the above incidents. Both Khamisiyah and non-Khamisiyah are immediate subsets of the Post-Desert Storm cohort.(page 14)

read more of this report here
VA Report Pre 9-11
Also from Veterans For Common Sense

CIA Still Hides Important Gulf War Documents

Twenty years ago this week, U.S. troops invaded Iraq and Kuwait. The offensive U.S. military action came in response to events in July 1990, when U.S. diplomats gave a green light to Iraq's Saddam Hussein signaling he could invade Kuwait without any political, military, or economic consequences.

After two decades, there is still no accounting of the human and financial costs of this clearly preventable war. Our government still hides behind "secrecy," leaving too many Gulf War veterans without answers and without medical care.

Former CIA analyst Patrick G. Eddington's new book, "Long Strange Journey: An Intelligence Memoir" reveals how our CIA is "sitting on" millions of documents relating to widespread chemical exposure relating to Gulf War Illness. VCS thanks Mr. Eddington for his outstanding diligence in the face of so much opposition.

According to top scientists, as many as 250,000 Gulf War veterans remain ill and without treatments due, in part, to CIA, military, and VA stonewalling. Our strong message to the CIA Director Leon Panetta: Come clean now. With hundreds of thousands ill and disabled, have you no conscience for your fellow Americans, Mr. Panetta?

read more of this here
CIA Still Hides Important Gulf War Documents

Army told units to destroy Gulf War troops records

Army told units to destroy Gulf War troops records
February 12, 2011 posted by Chaplain Kathie
Gulf War veterans came home ill but no one knew why. The American people, thinking it was such a fast war, there would be hardly no new casualties to worry about or take care of. Hard to believe it has been 20 years but even harder to believe is that these veterans are still trying to have their claims approved for what their service did to them.
Impossible to believe is that the Army ordered units to destroy their records. Now we know how bad it has been for these veterans to have their claims approved and why it has been impossible, but we also now know that the DOD has admitted what they were exposed to.
The Defense Department did send a letter telling the same soldier that he and others in his unit were in an area where exposure to nerve agents saran and cycolosarin was possible, but they should not worry about any side effects.
“So we all got exposed to nerve agent as well, and according to the military, that is never going to affect us,” he said. “They just wanted to advise us that we’ve been exposed.”
Rep. C.W. Young, R-Fla., says he did not know of the Army’s letter until now. His office asking the Defense Department to look into the matter.
Here is a good place to start to understand what this is all about.
PBS Gulf War Syndrome
So they did their duty as yellow ribbons and support the troops were covering almost every business and flags were waving from most homes. Hey, they won and that was all we needed to know. It was over so fast that the images of bodies on the side of the road were replaced by Iraqis surrendering to US forces because they knew they would be treated better than Saddam would have treated them. After all, they lost.
Yet when our own POW’s filed a law suit against Saddam, the Bush Administration blocked it.

House Allows Gulf War POWs to Sue Iraq Over Torture
This is how it started
RETURNED PRISONERS OF WAR
FROM GULF WAR I –1991
NAME SERVICE DATE OF CAPTURE CARRIED AS RELEASE DATE
Acree, Clifford M. USMC Jan.18, 1991 POW 03/05/91
Andrews, William USAF — MIA 03/05/91
Berryman, Michael C. USMC — MIA 03/05/91
Cornum, Rhonda USA — * 03/05/91
Dunlap, Troy USA — * 03/05/91
Eberly, David W. USAF Jan. 17, 1991 POW 03/05/91
Fox, Jeffrey USAF Feb. 19, 1991 POW 03/05/91
Griffith, Thomas E. Jr. USAF Jan. 17, 1991 POW 03/04/91
Hunter, Guy L. Jr. USMC Jan. 18, 1991 POW 03/05/91
Lockett, David USA Jan. 20, 1991 MIA 03/04/91
Roberts, Harry M. USAF Jan. – 1991 POW 03/05/91
Rathbun-Nealy, Melissa USA Jan. 30, 1991 MIA 03/04/91
Slade, Lawrence R. USN Jan. 21, 19915,3 POW 03/04/91
Small, Joseph USMC Feb. 25, 1991 MIA 03/05/91
Sanborn, Russell A.C. USMC Feb. 09, 1991 MIA 03/05/91
Stamaris, Daniel USA — * 03/05/91
Storr, Richard Dale USAF — MIA 03/05/91
Sweet, Robert J. USAF Feb. – , 1991 MIA 03/05/91
Tice, Jeffrey Scott USAF Jan. -, 1991 POW 03/05/91
Wetzel, Robert USN Jan. 17, 1991 MIA 03/04/91
Zaun, Jeffrey Norton USN Jan. 17, 1991 POW 03/04/91

Archive for Tuesday, February 15, 2005
White House Turns Tables on Former American POWs
By David G. Savage
February 15, 2005 in print edition A-1
The latest chapter in the legal history of torture is being written by American pilots who were beaten and abused by Iraqis during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. And it has taken a strange twist.
The Bush administration is fighting the former prisoners of war in court, trying to prevent them from collecting nearly $1 billion from Iraq that a federal judge awarded them as compensation for their torture at the hands of Saddam Hussein’s regime.
The rationale: Today’s Iraqis are good guys, and they need the money.

click links for more