Vets urge more action on Gulf War syndrome

By Rick Maze - Staff writer


A group of Persian Gulf War veterans told House lawmakers they feel overlooked with all of the focus on benefits and treatment for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some veterans of Operation Desert Storm, the 1991 war to force Iraqi invaders out of Kuwait, have given up on the Department of Veterans Affairs and are seeking private care or not seeking treatment for what they believe are war-related disabilities.

“I have heard from countless other Gulf War veterans who, like many Vietnam veterans before them, have stopped going to the VA or have simply given up and have done their best to adapt to the substantial lifestyle changes required by their disabilities,” Army veteran Anthony Hardie said.

Hardie, who continues to suffer from the so-called “Kuwait cough” that started after he breathed in smoke from oil fires during the Gulf War, was one of the witnesses at a July 25 hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs health subcommittee.

He said VA is still seeing Gulf War veterans who have undiagnosed problems, but “being seen is not the same thing as being treated.”

Retired Air Force Reserve Maj. Montra Denise Nichols, a registered nurse who said she saw the beginning signs of the mysterious Gulf War syndrome while deployed with her aeromedical evacuation group along the border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, also said veterans are being overlooked.

Despite promises from VA to provide research, treatment, support groups and a patient registry, many veterans feel responsible for educating their own doctors.

Nichols called it “unacceptable for ill patients who look to their doctors for relief to have to bring in stacks of research that shows the direction the physicians should be examining.”

Another Gulf War veteran, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Mikolajcik, said the failure to do more could end up hurting new generations of veterans.

Mikolajcik was diagnosed in 2003 with the usually fatal amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, known as Lou Gerhrig’s disease. He said a 2001 study shows Gulf War veterans are twice as likely to have ALS as the general population, and a 2005 study found that all veterans, dating back to World War II, have an ALS rate 1.6 times that of the general population.

The cause and possible link to military service is unknown, he said, but he urged Congress to do more in terms of research and treatment.

“There will be young men, women and families celebrating a return from Iraq and Afghanistan alive who have no idea that they may soon be facing a certain death from ALS,” he said.

The chairman of VA’s advisory committee on research into Gulf War-related disabilities said veterans who think they are not getting enough attention may be right.

“Gulf War illnesses remain a major unmet veterans’ health problem,” said James Binns, chairman of VA’s research advisory committee on Gulf War veterans’ illnesses.

Sixteen years after operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Binns said serious health problems continue and most of the money spent on research has been wasted.

“One in four of those who served — 175,000 veterans — remain seriously ill, and there are currently no effective treatments,” he said, referring to the multisymptom illness known as Gulf War syndrome.


http://www.navytimes.com/benefits/he...drome_070731w/

Rolling to D.C. on an electric wheelchair
By GARY A. SCHLUETER
Sentinel-Standard writer
Published: Tuesday, August 7, 2007 12:09 AM CDT
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The “Rolling Dutchman” Robert VanVranken rolled his way through Ionia County over the weekend. He found a fork in the road near Ionia and decided to take it. Sentinel-Standard/GARY SCHLUETER
MUIR -Robert VanVranken, the Rolling Dutchman, is on a wheelchair mission.

The Minnesota native is on a solo roll from his home to Washington, D.C. to raise money for veterans.

Although he is not a veteran, he is an amputee - missing his left leg below the knee.


“I'm a government employee and a news junkie,” he said from his wheelchair somewhere west of Muir on Bluewater Highway.

He has a number of relatives who are veterans and was inspired to do something grand for their cause.

“I decided to take a leave of absence from work to roll across the country to raise money for vets, all vets, not just Iraq war vets,” he said.



Naturally, this is the adventure of his life.

Take Sunday for example. It rained. He was camping at the Ionia State Park.

“I wanted to go to church but because of the rain I couldn't,” he said. “Besides, I didn't have any idea of where the closest church was.”



VanVranken is quick with his religious slogan ‘Catch Christ. He's a keeper.'

He also drapes his rolling electric wheelchair and small, enclosed trailer with U.S. flags, which serve both to declare his colors and his presence.

Driving along M-21, he ran out of shoulder past Westbrook Road and had to hug the white line on the right as heavily laden trucks whizzed past his ear at upwards of 60 mph.



“I can make nine miles per hour,” he said. “I'm planning to spend the night in St. Johns. What's that about 20 miles from here?”

Since he is on disability, his checks are automatically deposited in his checking account and he can draw on it from anywhere. So money is not a problem.

“Here's my supply of beef jerky,” he said, holding up a 10-inch slab of dark red, dried meat.



He has a cell phone around his neck and keeps a daily log.

In addition, he laminates the news stories about him. The latest one was from the Grand Rapids Press.

He left Minnesota on June 1 and made it to Wisconsin on his first vehicle, a hand powered wheelchair.



There he was treated for blisters on his hands and foot.

He also traded the wheelchair in for an electric one, which got him down to Chicago where, he said, “I didn't like the vibe, so I turned back around and came up to Milwaukee.”

There some kindly vets in a wheelchair recycling facility took his old one and rigged up his present vehicle, which can take a charge in all the batteries at once. This is handy because of snakes.



“I was outside of Madison one day and had to charge my batteries,” he said. “So as I was down there unbolting the battery I got bit by a snake.”

It struck him near the knee of his amputated leg.

“It was swollen up for three days,” he said.



In Milwaukee, he caught the ferry across the big lake to Muskegon.

“But I sat in my chair the whole way so that counts, doesn't it?” he asked.

In Muskegon, he was treated royally and received a police escort out of town, he said.



He plans to cross the St. Clair River on the Blue Water Bridge into Sarnia, Ontario.

“I'll have to learn to talk like a Canadian,” the Minnesotan joked.

How does he like it so far?

“You'd be surprised, but even though I'm not peddling, it's still work,” he said. “I have to learn to sit in different positions.”

And about the other stuff?

“No rules. No time frame. If I see a sign that says ‘World's largest cucumber two miles,' I'm off to have a look,” he said.

He doesn't have a running total of how much money he has raised, but if you ask he'll give you a small yellow paper which says, “For the Veterans. Donations to . . . V.A. Medical Center, One Veterans Drive c/o 135.”

To keep up with his adventure try myspace.com/dutchmanrolling or www.dutchmanrolling.org.