Veterans of the first Gulf War can't get treatment; Army admits medical records were destroyed

[unhappycamper]

Veterans of the first Gulf War can't get treatment; Army admits medical records were destroyed
Mike Deeson 23 hrs ago

St. Petersburg , Florida -- Operation Desert Storm, which pushed Iraqi troops out of Kuwait but kept Saddam Hussein in power, took a huge toll on American servicemen and women.

159,705 veterans were injured or became ill, and 10,617 veterans have died of combat related injuries or illnesses since the initiation of the Gulf War during August 1990. Since the second Gulf War began, there have been another 5,884 casualties.

Most of the veterans we talked to for this story say they are aware when they sign their name on the dotted line, they might not come home or could be wounded. However, they say that is part of the job.

~snip~

One solider trying to get help from the Veterans Administration for combat-related injuries says he has been turned down, because his records are missing. He says he has all the medical records for the time he was in the states, but the records for everything that happened outside of the country are gone.

The VA has heard similar complaints before, but a letter from Department of the Army that has never been made public before says after Desert Storm ended, units were told to destroy their records since there was no room to ship the paperwork back to the states. The letter goes on to say it was in direct contradiction to existing Army Regulations.

[hobbit709]

1. Cover up from day one.

[Lasher]

2. There is something sinister afoot.

I don't buy this 'no room to ship the paperwork' bullshit.

[w8liftinglady]

3. ooohhhh -- don't get me started.

these vets have had to beg for scraps for 20 years...more bullshit added to the pile.

[w8liftinglady]

5. and a few resources for Gulf War vets

http://www.legion.org/documents/pdf/gulfrecs.pdf

http://www.gulfwarvets.com/contact.htm

And,allow me to add... the common thought among Gulf War advocates is that this is a cover-up for the MULTITUDE of Gulf war vets who have suffered because of multiple vaccine/sarin/physostigmine exposures.

[Sal Minella]

4. This is unspeakably sad, and infuriating.

As the sig line of one of our DU posters says,
Any country that refuses to take care of its veterans has absolutely no business making new ones.

[JohnyCanuck]

6. And remember Gulf War vets

that weird Gulf War syndrome you keep complaining about is "all in your head." There's absolutely nothing wrong with you that a little positive thinking won't fix, and the medical records we intentionally had destroyed would have done nothing to clear this issue up. Now quit your malingering and quit bugging us for benefits and help you don't deserve.