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Hi all,
its amazing what you find on chat rooms on the internet.
Who would think that Gulf War Vets actually publish letters to their congress men/women in the USA.
I think you will find this of interest,
best wishes,
Hussein Al-alak
"The following is a letter I am going to send out to my congressional
representative and Senators. We all need to work at getting these illnesses
listed as presumption of service-connection. We need to get the word out
and to help them".
Dear Congressman,
My name is Jim Bunker, and I am a Gulf War veteran that is a member of the
National Gulf War Veterans Resource Center, along with many of the other
veteran service originations.
With most everyone looking at what is causing Gulf War Illness, it seams
that they are over looking the high rates of illness that veterans are
getting diagnosed with.
Table 3 of the 'Kansas Study' that was printed in American Journal of
Epidemiology (vol.152.no10), shows some of the illnesses and the rates they
occur over non-gulf war vets. I have enclosed a copy for you to read.
One of the illnesses that I would like to draw your attention to is the
seizures. At over 4 times the rate of non-PGW veterans can lead to a
complete life style change. With active seizures one can lose out on being
able to drive a car.
The other illnesses that we need to get by presumption of service-connection
for are:
Illness
Rate over non Veteran
Chronic fatigue syndrome
8.70
Lung disease
4.77
Posttraumatic stress disorder
4.74
Skin condition(s) (other than skin cancer)
3.83
Fibromyalgia
3.69
Bronchitis
2.61
Thyroid condition
2.32
Migraine headaches
2.25
Stomach or intestinal condition(s)
2.13
Asthma
2.08
Arthritis
1.99
The Secretary of Veterans Affair, two years ago, added ALS as presumption
of service-connection for gulf war veterans. He did this with the rate of
ALS being at 2 time the rate of non gulf war veterans. As you have seen
there are some illnesses here that are at if not higher than the ALS rate.
This is need now for many of the veterans are getting their clams denied
for many of these illnesses that are running at a higher rate in PGW
veterans. We need your help to change PL103-446.
The Secretary of Veterans Affair can add them him self and that is one other
route we could take.
Some of the illness, like bronchitis, asthma, and lung disease, are closely
related and can also lead to less productive life for the veterans due to
their service. VA compensations is given to sick veterans for their loss of
earning power. With so many illnesses starting to show up in the veterans
we need to work at getting the VA to help them.
Look closely at the full study. From it you will see we do need not only to
get these illnesses on a list; but we also need to do more research into
this area.
Thank you,
James A. Bunker
Veteran Information Network
1703 SW 66th Street.
Pauline, KS 66619
<http://www.kansasvets.org>
We all went to war together, now we need to fight for our health care
together
Jim Bunker
Kansas Vet
Veteran Information Network
<http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?Pyt=Tmap&addr=1703+SW+66th+Street&csz=Tope
ka%2C+KS+66619-1356&country=us> 1703 SW 66th Street
Topeka, KS 66619-1356
<mailto:kansasvet@c...> kansasvet@c...
<http://www.plaxo.com/signature> Signature powered by Plaxo
<http://www.plaxo.com/signature> Want a signature like this?
<https://www.plaxo.com/add_me?u=186186&v0=369684&k0=1944213487> Add me to
your address book...
Jim Bunker
Gulf War road rally going to Washington DC in the spring of 2004. We will
want to be in DC by April 30th.
For more information go to there website and talk to Ed.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DC-Storm/
Planning site.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ngwrc-conference-planning/
Veteran Information Network
Veterans Serving Veterans
http://www.kansasvets.org <http://www.kansasvets.org/>
MS VETS
If you know a vet with MS, let him know about the group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MSVETS
Gulf War Bulletin Board
http://www.ngwrc.org/bboard/
Member of the National Gulf War Resource Center
http://www.ngwrc.org <http://www.ngwrc.org/>
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