Ride For Life: Gulf War health probe finds fresh support

In the 11 years since the end of Gulf War I, thousands of veterans who suffer from a puzzling variety of illnesses say they feel betrayed by a government they faithfully served.

But now that Gulf War II is looming on the horizon, the government has begun to address some of those health complaints, which have become known collectively as Gulf War Illness.

Whether the government's recent response is an honest attempt to help those who are ill or a move designed to shore up public support for another war against Iraq is an issue expected to be debated when Gulf War vets convene today in Atlanta for their sixth annual conference.

Steve Robinson, executive director of the Washington-based National Gulf War Resource Center, which is putting on the conference, said he was not sure which was true. But in the last six months, Robinson said, government agencies, especially the Department of Veterans Affairs, have pushed harder to find out what is ailing Gulf War vets. "The bigger issue of Gulf War Illness is about fulfilling the promise to the soldiers to take care of them," said Robinson, an Army Special Forces soldier who recently retired after 20 years' service. "They believe the government has let them down, and it has."

The belief among some veterans --- that the government fails to take care of its troops after a war ends --- flourished after Vietnam, as studies on the effects of the herbicide Agent Orange dragged on and the government repeatedly denied that it caused health problems.

Gulf War vets, who were exposed to a wide array of toxic substances, possibly including chemical and biological agents, are just as skeptical as their Vietnam-era predecessors. And how they are treated, they say, could have an impact on how willingly the next generation of young Americans step forward to fight in the war on terrorism.

Charles Sheehan-Miles, an Atlanta native who wrote a book on the Gulf War after serving with the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized), said many of his fellow veterans are viewing recent steps with skepticism.

"People are discouraged with how they dealt with the issue," Sheehan-Miles said. "It's been skepticism and anger and a great deal of bitterness from most of the vets."

But progress has been made, he said. Among steps in the right direction, as veterans see it, all of which will be covered during the conference, are that: After years of denying any link between illnesses and service in the Gulf War, the VA and the Pentagon announced in December that veterans of that conflict were twice as likely to suffer amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The VA has ordered further studies of death rates for soldiers who might have been exposed to deadly nerve gases after the demolition of an Iraqi weapons depot. The Pentagon, after initially denying there were any chemical or biological weapons in the theater of operations, now says that as many as 140,000 soldiers might have been exposed. Some of them are dying at a rate 10 times higher than others who served in the region. VA Secretary Anthony Principi has put together a new advisory committee to help the agency oversee research into the medical problems of Gulf War vets. This latest of several such panels includes, for the first time, Gulf War vets, Robinson among them, and their advocates.

"There is, absolutely, a move to raise the level of importance of finding out what's going on with Gulf War vets," Robinson said.

Mike Woods, president of the National Gulf War Resource Center, said he has been unable to hold a full-time job since 1996, when he began having the first symptoms of what might be amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

Hair loss, weight loss, difficulty swallowing and paralysis in his legs are among the symptoms he said led the VA to give him 100 percent disability for what it calls an "undiagnosed neurological condition."

"I have a whole lot of symptoms that mimic ALS," said Woods, who served with a support group for the 101st Airborne Division.

He said he is encouraged by recent developments and that Gulf War vets finally might be seeing an end to government foot-dragging.

Woods said, "I think the current administration at the VA is trying to turn that around."