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American
Gulf War Veterans Association
Joyce Riley vonKleist, RN,BSN spokesperson
P.O. Box 85, Versailles, Missouri 65084
(573) 378-6049 (573) 378-5998 fax
www.gulfwarvets.com,
gulfwar@dam.net
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 8, 2003
NEW REVELATION SURFACES
ABOUT
GULF WAR II “MYSTERY ILLNESS”
The American Gulf War
Veterans Association (AGWVA), an independent Gulf War
Veterans’ support organization, has long searched
for answers to explain why nearly half of the 697,000
Gulf War I Veterans are now ill and why over 200,000 of
those servicemen/women have requested disability, but
have received no adequate diagnosis or treatment, from
either the Department of Defense (DOD), or Veteran’s
Affairs. Though there have been over 125 studies done by
the government at the cost of over $300,000,000 to the
taxpayer, we still have no answers as to what caused so
many of our soldiers to become ill. Meanwhile, the
suffering veterans are receiving little, if any, medical
treatment for this illness. It seems that whenever
veterans become ill, the term “mystery illness”
seems to be the first and often the only diagnosis that
is ever made. Veterans are then left to fend for
themselves, sick and unable to work, with little hope of
a normal life again.
The AGWVA is now
again asking questions, this time, about the newest
“mystery illness” to hit the military.
After being pressured by a few independent news reporters
who have not permitted this “mystery” to
continue unabated, The DOD recently has been forced to
announce the “mystery” deaths of Gulf War II
soldiers and that at least 100 other men and women have
become ill. Again, however, there were no adequate
answers, but, only that the “mystery illness”
diagnosis had reared its ugly head again. According
to a family member of one of the military victims, the
DOD recently, has changed its label of the illness and is
now calling it “pneumonia” in sharp contrast to
what a physician on the scene reported. Due to
continuing pressure for sound answers, the DOD was again
forced to send an investigative team to Iraq, however the
convenient, repeated lack of diagnosis, unfortunately
translates into lack of treatment, and lack of
compensation for the veteran. The jury is still
out, however, if the DOD will be forthcoming with the
truth this time.
Contrary to the
“pneumonia” and “mystery illness”
labels, enlightening information surfaced today on “THE
POWER HOUR” radio show (www.thepowerhour.com)
in an interview with Mark Neusche, father of Josh
Neusche, one of the GW II troops to lose his life from
the “mystery illness” while serving in
Iraq. The father stated that his 20-year-old
healthy son, a former track star and non-smoker, had
written home on June 26th explaining that he
would be going on a 30-hour “hauling” mission,
but that he could not disclose what they would be
hauling. The son had stated that he had been to the
Palace of Sadaam Hussein, and it was later learned that
he was “hauling” at the Baghdad Airport.
Marsha Paxson also
appeared on the show, as she is the journalist who broke
the U.S. story for the Lake Sun Leader (www.lakesunleader.com).
Although the “facts” behind this story are
continually changing, Ms. Paxson is one of the few
journalists who is remaining true to the facts of the
original story. Ms. Paxson revealed in her articles that
the father reported that his son was not the only ill
soldier. Neusche stated that while his son was in a
coma at Landstuhl Hospital, the father overheard the
nurses say that they were expecting numerous sick troops
to be brought in all at one time. In fact, the
father actually witnessed approximately 55 other
troops being received by the hospital after they were
transported by a military ambulance (bus).
According to the father, the transported troops were
exhibiting varying degrees of the illness. Some walked,
some were in wheelchairs and others were on
respirators. In the commotion, a doctor reported to
the father that his son was suffering from a “toxin.”
No mention of pneumonia was ever made to him, nor was it
ever reported in the medical record.
Paxson and the AGWVA
now question the diagnosis, the actual number of troops
that were reported ill, and when the DOD first became
aware of this incident.
One of the most
surprising statements to come from The Power Hour
interview conducted on “The Genesis Network”
was that while the son, Josh Neusche, was a healthy
young soldier on June 26, 2003, when he reported that he
was going to serve on the secret hauling mission, by July
1, 2003, he was in a coma, and that day was suddenly
classified by the military, as medically retired from the
Army without Josh or his family’s consent.
Josh did not die until July 12, 2003. Among other
problems that this new classification created was that
the DOD was no longer obligated to assist the family in
getting to Germany to be with their son as he lay in a
coma. Because the DOD would not provide even so much as
plane or taxi fare for the Neusche family, all 650
members of the 203 Engineer Battalion each contributed
$10.00 to make the family’s final visit
possible.
The AGWVA is
demanding answers in a timely fashion and according to
spokesperson Joyce Riley, “We will not tolerate
another whitewashing of a tragedy against our veterans.
It has happened too many times before with our failure to
safeguard our troops, adequately diagnose and effectively
treat the victims of Agent Orange spraying, Project Shad
shipboard-experimentation, and Gulf War Illness I.
This time someone has to be held accountable.”
Ms. Riley closed by saying, “Speaking out for our
past and present sick veterans is the best way for
Americans to support our troops!”
The interview with
Mark Neusche and Marsha Paxson can be heard at: www.thepowerhour.com
click on the “GWII mystery illness interview.”
For more
information on Gulf War illnesses, go to www.gulfwarvets.com
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