Army Told Units to Destroy Gulf War Troops Records

[Ichingcarpenter]

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.

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/02/12/army-told-units-to-destroy-gulf-war-troops-records/

[old mark]

1. Interesting-we Vietnam era soldiers were told that there was a "big fire" at the records

center near Indianapolis, and that many records were lost then, preventing them from filing claims for VA benefits for service connected injuries...

Sounds very familiar, huh?

mark

[eppur_se_muova]

11. Reminds me of some dialogue from "Yes, Prime Minister" ...

Jim: How am I going to explain the missing documents to the
Mail?

Sir Humphrey: Well, this is what we normally do in
circumstances like these. [hands over a file]

Jim: [reading] This file contains the complete set of papers,
except for a number of secret documents, a few others which
are part of still active files, a few others lost in the flood
of 1967. [to Humphrey] Was 1967 a particularly bad winter?

Sir Humphrey: No, a marvellous winter, we lost no end of
embarrassing files.

Jim: [reading] Some records which went astray in the move to
London, and others when the War Office was incorporated in the
Ministry of Defence, and the normal withdrawal of papers whose
publication could give grounds for an action for libel or
breach of confidence, or cause embarrassment to friendly
governments. [to Humphrey] Well, that's pretty comprehensive.
How many does that normally leave for them to look at? 

[Humphrey says nothing] 

Jim: How many does that actually leave? About a hundred?
Fifty? Ten? Five? Four? Three? Two? One? Zero?

Sir Humphrey: Yes, Minister.

- from episode "The Skeleton in the Cupboard"




edited because of some [invisible stuff in brackets]

[Waiting For Everyman]

2. The same thing was done to VN vets, this stonewalling is no accident.

It took my late husband (100% disabled, service-connected) from 1969 to 1987 to locate so much as one page of his field record for his VA claim. We were told repeatedly that there were no such records at all. No records meant no access to treatment. All those years up until 1987 the Army called him a liar and said that he was never in VN. He was rated 0% non-service-connected. In 1987 when we finally did get his records (a long story as to how) it was a stack of paper a foot high (how was that much paper overlooked I wonder, did it fall behind a file cabinet somewhere). It took until 1990 for the VA to finally admit to his full rating -- which even a layman could see was plainly obvious.

He was certified then for Agent Orange too (which was a separate claim - class action). In 1984 at the age of 36 his bones had started melting. First his jaw, then his spine. No doctors could figure out why. Dozens of operations. Later on in the early 2000s (in his early 50s), his organs started to fail (liver, kidneys, pancreas, gall bladder), along with leukemia and extreme diabetes (failing vision and on the brink of losing a foot when he died). The last 5 years he was even paralyzed, which he fought so hard. He died at 57. By the end it was known that all of that was Agent Orange Syndrome. But none of it was known until these guys went through it, and all had the same symptoms occur. In their earlier years which were bad enough, they had no idea that all of those additional illnesses were ahead of them in middle age, as the second stage of the syndrome. As I understand it, Gulf Syndrome is similar to Agent Orange.

In the years before his bones started melting, he had unbelievable PTSD which lasted the rest of his life. I could tell you some stories. All of this was because he was in some places we wouldn't admit to being in - therefore his records had to be "lost". Most of the heavy combat vets were treated like this, and most had medical issues that were extreme. Many had no disability rating at all, and no treatment, because of the "records issue". Many were homeless, off and on, as most of their families broke up. There were quite a few suicides, and some of them weren't very believable (if you know what I mean). They were inconvenient witnesses to TPTB.

In the early 80s at the very same time that he had no treatment or benefits because there was "no record of his service", the Army had the nerve to try to reactivate him and force him (and others he knew) to go and do covert ops in Iran (Ollie North era). But that's a long side-story off the topic. It just shows what amazing arrogance the military has in its lies - he wasn't a vet (according to them), but yet he was being reactivated.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski is VERY GOOD about getting vets help, even if they aren't from MD, and when the government's treatment of vets is really out of line she is very effective at straightening them out in a hurry. You don't want to see Senator Barb mad. She is a mighty-mite (that's what we call her). In all the years I had to deal with the Balto. VA, if I mentioned her name faces went pale - and attitudes changed fast. I could tell you some stories too, about what she's done for my husband, but suffice to say she gets the job done. She's a guardian angel to vets (and she never talks about what she does, I wish she would).

Any Gulf vets who are in this situation, as in the OP, look at the VN Agent Orange case precendents to base your claims on. It's just the same. Btw, so are claims related to handling jet fuel in the AF. (I have a friend with a claim like that, but there's no med literature on it, it's not being tracked.)

Heck, in 1984 PTSD wasn't even in the DSMIII. Civil and military shrinks both were denying it existed - that's the kind of thing that has been going on. This is S.O.P., standard operating procedure for the military. Not an exception.

(My husband had bullet wound scars, and the VA said to his face that he wasn't in VN so he probably shot himself! Saying that, while turning him away from any treatment at all. And they wonder why these guys snap. I was ready to jump that jerk myself.)

[Agony]

3. "places we wouldn't admit to being in"

"All of this was because he was in some places we wouldn't admit to being in - therefore his records had to be "lost"."

I have a friend who only recently got benefits he was in serious need of because of "foreign policy embarrassments". Do what your country asks of you and suffer the consequences all on your own. Just one more reason why secret government is wrong.

Take care.
Agony

[Waiting For Everyman]

5. Secret government is very wrong, I agree

and it's a shame to treat our troops like this. I used to think it was just because VN was a "bad war", but it's always been the same since then. That has been depressing to see.

Peace Agony, and to your friend
WFE

[1monster]

9. You should write a book. The same crap that was done to Viet vets is still

being done today.

Myra MacPherson's book Long Time Passing: Vietnam and the Haunted Generation is the definitive book to consult on the abuses by the government against the Vietnam veterans. (I wouldn't expect, if you wrote your husband's and your story, it to be such a comprehensive history of the Gulf War (1), but it would give you some background on the recent history of the treatment of treatment of those who heeded the call of our government to go to war....

My soft-cover version of this book (first edition) has a taped spine and pages close to falling out from too much reading. It is a fascinating and informative book. It has been years since I read it, but I still remember the disbelieving anger I felt toward TPTB, and the treatment they dished out to the young veterans suffering from a multitude of issues and health problmes, when I read it the first time. And the second time.

Thoughtful & Absorbing Look At The Vietnam War Come Home!, August 5, 2000
By Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States)

On the other side, we hear from the young men and women who paid such a life's ransom for their patriotism, adventurism, and curiosity in serving in the military and many of them volunteering for Vietnam. So many fine young people were lost, and in turned lost so much, either through death or permanent disability that many of their fellow baby boomers began to think that ours, like the generation of the First World War, was a "lost generation". Often homecoming soldiers coming home in uniform were spit upon by cruel and stupid people, civilians who should have understood that most of these men served nobly and proudly on behalf of their generation. I once personally witnessed an enlisted buddy angrily attack such a provocateur. Yet, on the other hand, many of the veterans became quite vocal opponents of the war they had just come home from. It was this kind of activity that did so much to educate the rest of the population.

In truth, there were so many casualties on both sides of the fence, so many veterans and anti-war activists who had their lives ruined by the turmoil that aged around them that it is still difficult to recollect. This is a haunting and memorable book, a well written, compassionately framed study in the mischief the war did to everyone it touched; the young men, their wives and lovers, their brothers and sisters, their parents, and the community at large. Although the book is not currently in print, I am sure you can get a copy through Amazon's used book service, or by asking your local bookstore to do a search for you. I hope you find it as worthwhile a reading experience as I did. (snip)

what the experts say, January 22, 2002
By A Customer

Joseph Heller, author of Catch 22, said of "Long Time Passing: Vietnam and the Haunted Generation" "There has been no better body of war literature that I know of." Arnold R. Isaacs, noted autority on Vietnam, author of "Vietnam Shadows" writes "Any approach to the subject of Vietnam's aftermath must begin with Myra MacPherson's ground breaking book. Her book, among the first to break the long national silence on the war, remains one of the most moving and important works on the Vietnam bookshelf."


http://www.amazon.com/Long-Time-Passing-Vietnam-Generation/dp/0253214955

[Waiting For Everyman]

16. Thanks so much, 1monster.

I will look for that book - thanks for the excerpt. :)

It sounds like something I'd relate to. I was a protester and my husband being a vet of course. Turns out, I was the only he was ever able to talk to about it - go figure. Maybe that was why though, who knows.

WFE

[Norrin Radd]

4. kr

[BlueIris]

6. One standard for us, different (lesser) one for the military.

Awful.

[RedCloud]

7. our heroes in action! yeah! Sworn to uphold the Consitution!

[NuclearDem]

8. Of course they would, GWS was a myth anyway!

And all those vets trying to get benefits were just freeloaders

:sarcasm:

[w8liftinglady]

10. gee,that's what I've been told.by the shitheads I meet. Time to refresh their collective lost memori

[KT2000]

12. Not just military

Please understand that it is not just military who face these lies. Have you heard of people who are chemically sensitive? They are people permanently injured by exposure to chemicals - workplace, home, local environment.

They are denied treatment, workers comp, and end up losing everything.

The "floodgates would open" if ANY environmental illness is recognized (that is the phrase industry uses). That is why first responders from 9/11 had such a hard time. The fact they are even now getting care is monumental.

Chemical, oil, pharmaceutical, manufacturers, property owners, governments do not want this recognized.

[Lurks Often]

13. The odd thing is that not everybody exposed got sick

In late 1992 I joined a National Guard unit that had been in charge of a EPW camp during Desert Storm.
The strange thing is that while some of those that were there did get sick and/or die or had children with birth defects, others did not. The thing was that illnesses, causes of death and birth defects were NOT all the same kind.

Keeping in mind that it has been almost 20 years since I was part of that unit, the impression I got was that MAYBE 5-10% became sick, died or had children with birth defects and that there was no particular pattern to what they came down with, died of and nor was there a pattern with the birth defects.

My guess, although I have nothing firm to support it with, is that yes, some units were in fact exposed to nerve gases, but in such low concentrations that those with a weak immune system became ill, died or passed it on via a birth defect, while those with a strong immune system were not affected.*

*Another, less politically correct way to say it, is that there are those (regardless of race or gender) that come from the deeper end of the gene pool. The ones that come from the deepest end of the gene pool are the same ones who smoke a pack of unfiltered cigarettes a day, drink a fifth of bourbon or vodka a week, eat red meat and don't exercise, but still live to be 95 while having few or no medical issues.

[w8liftinglady]

14. The true ratio was approximately 250,000 of the 697,000 veterans

... and they are seeing a similar disease process in OIF/OEF vets.

over 1/3 of vets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War_syndrome

[Lurks Often]

18. My post was never meant

to apply to everybody. I was quite careful to say that these were based on my recollections of 20 years ago for a specific unit that I was a member of after they got back from Desert Storm.

[butterfly77]

15. Kicked&Recommended...

[pinboy3niner]

17. K&R

[Mojeoux]

19. K n RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR