The current 10-year time limit on GI benefits needs to be lifted, as more and more veterans can't go back to school immediately after leaving the service because they face lengthy recovery from war wounds or family obligations, a Washington lawmaker said Thursday.
"Veterans should not be limited to an arbitrary timeline that prevents them from getting the education and job training they need when they need it," Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., told a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee in prepared testimony.
Larsen, who was unable to attend the subcommittee hearing, has introduced legislation that would remove the existing limit on active-service veterans using their GI benefits within 10 years of being discharged. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has introduced similar legislation in the Senate.
Nearly 60 percent of all veterans apply for educational and training benefits under the GI Bill, which was established in 1944.
About 80 percent had contributed to the GI program while serving.
"The debt we owe our nation's veterans doesn't come with an expiration date and neither should their GI Bill benefits," Larsen said.
Larsen's bill had strong support from veterans organizations and veterans in Washington state. There are about 670,000 veterans in Washington.
"I can tell you it is always difficult when we encounter a veteran who is ready to make a positive change in his or her life by going back to school, but is stopped short because the education entitlement (GI Bill benefit) has expired," John Lee, director of the Washington state Department of Veterans Affairs, said in written testimony to the subcommittee.
Linda McGuiness, an Army veteran from Bellingham, Wash., said it was a "frightening transition" from military to civilian life. Many veterans are more focused on securing their immediate financial future than planning for the longer term, she said.
"Just getting back on your feet after your military career takes years and soon the 10-year deadline for using the GI Bill has passed," McGuiness wrote the committee.
Dave Fernandez, a Marine veteran from Bow, Wash., agreed.
"On paper, 10 years appears to be ample time to complete a two-year or even a four-year degree," Fernandez wrote the subcommittee.
"However, most veterans, like me, are not prepared to go to school directly after exiting the military."
Tim Nelson, president of Chapter 3 of the Veterans of Modern Warfare in Bellingham, said many of his organization's members are college or university students.
"Allowing veterans an indefinite period of time to utilize their benefits earned through service to their country is vitally beneficial to those veterans who may not have adequate health or opportunity to gain a college degree within the current 10 year time limit restriction," Nelson wrote.
Modernveterans.com, also known as Veterans of Modern Warfare (VMW), is a comprehensive resource center for recent war veterans. According to the website their purpose is to support war veterans and their families by providing education and information about benefits earned and assistance in obtaining those benefits.
The site has several sections, from a job board for vets and information on events, hearings and legislation, to separate sections for women, families and children. The site appears to be updated frequently and has information about local and national chapters, weekend retreats and resources for a variety of issues facing the veterans of today. Their newsletter is available online and can be obtained by subscribing.
The site also offers applications for membership for current active duty service members and any veteran of the United States Armed Forces who has served since August 2, 1990. These individual memberships are $25 a year. They also offer memberships for friends, families and supporters. Family memberships are $65 a year.
January 2, 2008 New veterans group to meet MondayHerald Times Reporter
MANITOWOC — The Veterans of Modern Warfare is holding its first meeting in Wisconsin at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan.14 at the Drews Bleser American Legion Post No. 88 in Manitowoc, according to an announcement from Jamie Aulik.
The post is located at 811 Jay St., Manitowoc.
The meeting will be attended by Anthony Hardie, national VMW treasurer, Mike Demske, state president of the Vietnam Veterans of America and Jane Babcock, county veterans service officer.
A Manitowoc chapter may be home to the first VMW chapter in the state, according to Aulik. A minimum of 10 eligible members must sign a charter petition to form a local chapter, he said.
The VMW is a veteran’s advocacy group that provides information about benefits, assistance in obtaining benefits, camaraderie with other local veterans and legislative advocacy for the newest generation of veterans, according to Aulik.
Membership to VMW is open to current active duty service members, National Guard, Army Reserve and Coast Guard service members, and any veteran of the U.S. armed forces who has served since Aug. 2, 1990, or the beginning of Operation Desert Shield. Members are not required to have served on foreign soil.
Veterans interested in joining are asked to bring a copy of their DD-214 to complete membership paperwork. The VMW is offering free membership through June.
Future meetings will be held on second Monday of the month, at the time and location mentioned above.
For more information, call Aulik at (920) 973-0992 or go online to www.modernveterans.com
The Pacific Northwest Inlander Online: Modern Wars, Modern Woes
by KEVIN TAYLOR December 17, 2007
Brandon Freitas, a 35-year-old Pullman resident, has experienced war in a fashion that would be the stuff of Tom Clancy novels to soldiers of previous generations.
The former Air Force captain, an energetic and cheerful talker, is forming a Palouse chapter of a new nationwide group for soldiers — Veterans of Modern Warfare. Nothing against existing organizations that serve veterans, Freitas says, but there are significant new realities shared by modern soldiers.
A new organization hopes to help veterans of recent wars transition back into civilian life and cope with the unique challenges they face today.
Staff Sergeant Jamie Aulik served in Iraq for one year, just after the invasion, in 2003. Aulik remembers waiting to come home, but once he arrived in Manitowoc it wasn't easy. "It was very different."
Even shopping. In Iraq it was picking from a few goods in a double-wide trailer. At home he stopped by a Wal-Mart SuperCenter.
"It was a very different experience. I only got as far as the sliding doors of the front entrance, turned around, and walked back out because I was just so overwhelmed, so nervous by that experience," he said.
It's those types of experiences that make veterans who served since the first Gulf War different than veterans of older wars like Vietnam.
"We know what we have been through. We have been through a war in the middle of the desert, whereas they were in the middle of a jungle and they have their own experiences."
Now Aulik is taking action. He started Wisconsin's first chapter of Veterans of Modern Warfare to provide emotional support and advocate for things like education and job training.
"The survival rate is much higher, so it's also a matter of making sure the health care system carries through for these veterans as well," Aulik said.
The group will meet once a month starting sometime before the end of the year.
Aulik's chapter will be in Manitowoc but he says one in Green Bay is also in the works.
"The Vietnam Veterans of America didn't organize until years after the Vietnam war. If we can organize earlier and get help for those who need it earlier, they will live a much healthier and happier life," he said.
A New Veterans Group Aims To Bridge Generation Gap
By E.B. SOLOMONT Staff Reporter of the Sun November 9, 2007
One Saturday afternoon in September, some 40 men and women gathered at the Fort Wadsworth military base in Staten Island to discuss their common bond as veterans of modern-day war.
Seated around a U-shaped table was a disabled Gulf War veteran, Keith Schafer; a New York City police officer who served in Iraq, Louis Maniscalco; a Navy veteran who served in the Persian Gulf, Jane DaCosta, and a veteran of the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars, Michael Porcaro, among others. As they snacked on light refreshments, the members of the eclectic group shared tips for obtaining veterans' benefits, then quickly began planning the next meeting. Unlike veterans groups that focus on a particular conflict, Veterans of Modern Warfare, which emerged within the past year, seeks to bridge the generational divide among veterans.
Older veterans said they understand what today's returning veterans went through.
"I served in the same theater they did. I went after the same enemy. I ate the same sand," Mr. Schafer, who is spearheading the Staten Island division of VMW, said. Mr. Schafer, a lance corporal in the Marines who served in the Middle East between October 1990 and May 1991, suffers war-related ailments, including respiratory problems, a seizure disorder, and post-traumatic stress.
"I remember what it was like coming back from deployment, and how difficult it was," the group's national president, Julie Mock, said. "How alone I felt, and how much it meant to find people who were experiencing the same thing." Ms. Mock served as an Army corporal during the Gulf War.
To date, the group has 600 members in seven states, including New York. Three weeks ago, a Queens chapter became incorporated and a Long Island branch is forming. There are 258,000 veterans living in New York City, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Queens and Brooklyn have the largest veteran populations, 73,000 and 64,000, respectively. Of the total veteran population, nearly 21,000 are women.
One photograph on the walls of the Silver Spring offices of the Vietnam Veterans of America elicits the most pause from its members. The image, which has been used by the organization in its promotional efforts, commemorates Nov. 11, 1992, the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall.
Since it was taken, two veterans whose faces are most prominent in the image have passed away. One of brain cancer related to exposure to toxins in Vietnam, the second, to suicide.
‘‘People say, ‘How come you can’t help out your boys? How come they’re not moving on?’ The fact is, we’re still losing our boys,” said Rick Weidman, a Silver Spring resident, while pointing to the black-and-white photograph.
Weidman, who volunteered to serve as a U.S. Army medic for one tour in Vietnam, was 24 when he returned home. He remembers his return as a young man forced to deal with not only what he encountered overseas, but also a group of friends who no longer wanted anything to do with him at this homecoming.
‘‘It was as if they thought I was unclean,” he said.
Upon his return, he also found himself approached by men in the same situation: nowhere to belong and in need of assistance that was lacking in even the most prominent veterans’ organizations. He shortly became involved in what was then an offshoot of the now national Vietnam Veterans of America, to create a countrywide voice for the veterans in what was then ‘‘not a good place to be,” he said.
The Vietnam veterans who join the group today believe in a mission that has little to do with the wars overseas, but more the battle at home. With the motto ‘‘Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another” the organization strives to ensure the newest class of veterans receives better treatment than that of Weidman and those who served with him.
‘‘It just was not right. ... It needs to be made right,” Weidman said of the mistreatment of veterans returning from Vietnam. Weidman is now the executive director for policy and government affairs for the county’s chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, work he called ‘‘the toughest job you’ll ever love.”
‘‘Putting a yellow ribbon on your SUV, that’s just not enough,” Weidman said.
After he returned from Vietnam at 22, John Rowan attended Queens College in New York, where he said he got involved on campus with the veterans there despite divisiveness among those returning from and protesting the war.
Rowan, now the national president of the Vietnam Veterans of America, is an anomaly, a ‘‘joiner” in a population that shies away from veterans groups. Many like him, he said, ‘‘got burned” on their return home by local chapters who wanted little to do with soldiers coming back from an unpopular war.
‘‘They didn’t get the glorious receptions of the World War II guys,” said Rowan, who volunteered to serve in the U.S. Air Force to avoid being drafted.
The Vietnam Veterans of America now works primarily for veterans who are disabled and in need of financial assistance from the government, or the new group of veterans transitioning back into the lives they left before one, two, three even four tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Mokie Pratt Porter, spokeswoman for the Silver Spring chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, said the new generation of veterans generally received ‘‘a welcome that’s much warmer than that of the Vietnam veterans, in part related to the fact that people can separate the war from the warrior.”
But an entirely new set of challenges meets the newest veterans. Communities find it difficult to keep up an enthusiasm for homecomings when those same soldiers are sent out again after only short time on U.S. soil. The new veterans also face health-related problems relatively unknown to the older veterans, said Donald Overton, who served with the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army during the first Gulf War.
‘‘With these kids today, the body armor is so advanced, that what would typically have killed us, these kids are surviving. They’re surviving these horrible accidents,” Overton said of the injuries he’s seen, especially head and brain traumas. It could take at least a decade to see the real effects of the chemicals and explosives Iraq War veterans deal with as well, said Overton, who works on filing claims for disabled veterans, and for the Veterans of Modern Warfare, for returning soldiers who don’t have a good fit with the traditional veterans organizations.
‘‘It’s incredibly frustrating knowing there’s something wrong with you, but everyone’s telling you there’s nothing wrong with you,” said Overton, of Greenville, N.C., who returned home from the Gulf War legally blind after an improvised explosive device detonated in front of him.
Gregory V. Hamilton, president of the Silver Spring-based chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, said few realize that veterans often need care for the rest of their lives after coming home. Hamilton, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, has been dealing with prostate cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, renal failure — the effects of Vietnam War-era herbicide — since his return.
Hamilton got involved in the leadership of the organization after meeting a group of middle school-aged children eight years ago, who didn’t have any understanding of what a Vietnam War veteran was, and ‘‘thought it was a bad word,” he said.
Weidman said he would continue working with the group as long as it remained committed to its mission.
‘‘Even now, when my spirits flag, I get angry all over again,” he said.
Parade information
The Vietnam Veterans of America is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial with a parade near the National Mall Saturday. The parade, which will include Montgomery County’s Chapter 641, will kick off 11 a.m. on 7th Street between Jefferson and Madison Drives. Opening ceremonies begin 10 a.m.
The Macomb Daily: online Edition
PUBLISHED: Saturday, November 3, 2007
Honor Flight sends veterans to view WWII memorial
By Linda May
Columnist
Sacred ceremonies handed down over thousands of years make the activities of the Native American Veterans Association of Southeastern Michigan unique among veterans groups.
To be a full member, one has to prove, with a tribal card, that he or she has at least one-quarter Native American blood. Powwows (social gatherings or meetings) and sweat lodges (sacred ceremonies) are integral activities.
The American Legion Department of Michigan initiated the event in honor of those who have and are serving. Participating organizations include the Michigan Veterans Foundation, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 9 and Chapter 154, Veterans of Modern Warfare Chapter 4, The Young Marines, Veterans of Foreign Wars posts and the Vietnamese-American veterans community.
Published: November 02, 2007 12:31 pm
Spaghetti dinner set at Masonic hall
Greater Niagara Newspapers
TONAWANDA
Spaghetti dinner set at Masonic hall
An all you can eat spaghetti dinner will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Tonawanda Masonic Lodge No. 247, 190 Minerva St., City of Tonawanda.
Dinner includes a salad bar, spaghetti and meatballs, bread, beverage and dessert. Tickets are $6 for adults, $3 for children.
Recent veterans sought for VMW group
Veterans of Modern Warfare, a new veterans’ service organization dedicated to serving the nation’s most recent veterans, is offering free membership until Jan. 1.
The group shares space with the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 77, 57 Main St., City of Tonawanda.
Membership is open to current active duty service members, National Guard, reserve and Coast Guard members and any veteran of the armed forces who has served since Aug. 2, 1990.
Service members need not have been mobilized or deployed to be eligible.
For more information, call 888-445-9891 or visit www.ModernVeterans.com.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Officer earns Purple Heart
By Sharon Taylor Conway
Stripe Staff Writer
Photo by Sharon Taylor Conway
First Lt. Juan Guerrero prepares to receive the Purple Heart with his son Mark.
‘‘You represent American heroes. We are here to honor you in our small way,” said Brig. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, deputy commander of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command, to 1st Lt. Juan Guerrero upon awarding him the Purple Heart during a ceremony Sept. 28 in the Heaton Pavilion’s Joel Auditorium at Walter Reed.
Just three months earlier in Babel Province, Iraq, Guerrero, a 37-year-old quartermaster and former Marine with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, was riding in a M1114 Humvee with his gunner and driver on midday combat patrol. With the flip of a switch, a lone insurgent detonated an explosively formed penetrator (EFP) hidden alongside the road.
Only Guerrero sustained injuries in the blast. The combat veteran of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm suffered a left heel fracture, tibia and fibula fractures and muscle damage in the right leg. The insurgent was captured.
After two surgeries in Iraq and a day and a half at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the father of four arrived at Walter Reed Army Medical Center Aug. 31. The logistics officer endured five more surgeries here.
‘‘I am looking forward to returning to duty,” said the Bronze Star recipient, currently staying at the Mologne House. His prognosis is good; he expects to be able to walk in a few months.
‘‘My treatment [at Walter Reed] has been the best. Excellent care, excellent doctors and nurses — their dedication to their patients is unsurpassed.”
Wrought with emotion during the ceremony, Guerrero thanked the Walter Reed medical staff, his family and medic Spc. Michael I. Kim.
‘‘Without him I probably would’ve lost my legs.”
Guerrero is joined at Walter Reed by his wife Pamela and their 12-year-old daughter Jessica, and 9-year-old twins, son Mark and daughter Vivian.
During his stay with his dad, Mark had an opportunity to meet Washington Wizards forwards Caron Butler and Andray Blatche.
‘He’s the tallest guy I ever saw,” Mark said of the 6-11 Blatche.
The 9-year-old received more than an autographed picture during the Wizards’ visit to Walter Reed’s physical therapy department — he got a chance to interview the NBA players on camera. The budding reporter is seen with microphone in hand on YouTube in the Washington Wizards Magazine Online.
Mark beamed with pride moments after his dad received his Purple Heart Medal. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
‘‘He’s famous now.”
Gulf War Illness Experts Testify at Hearing
By Suzanne Gamboa - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Sep 26, 2007 11:57:22 EDT
A 5-year-old VA pamphlet providing guidance to doctors on Gulf War illnesses still emphasizes stress as a cause, said Jim Binns, chairman of the VA Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illnesses.
Binns said 175,000, or one in four of those who served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, suffers some form of multisymptom illnesses.
Julie Mock, a 1991 veteran and president of Veterans of Modern Warfare, testified that she believes her problems stem from vaccines she received at the time, as well as exposure to chemicals while she was deployed with the Army’s 87th Medical Detachment.
She pressed for more research, telling the panel she experienced debilitating headaches, respiratory illnesses and skin that grew hot with red rashes. In 2003, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Her children also have severe medical problems. One son has a connective tissue disease, learning disabilities, bipolar disorder and Tourette’s syndrome.
“We believe it is vital to the health of our most recent veterans that you continue to study the long-term health of Persian Gulf War veterans and our children,” Mock said. “We won’t let you forget. We won’t let you leave us behind. Please help us and our families.”
The U.S. has spent about $300 million researching Gulf War illnesses.
“Yet we still don’t have an answer,” said Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the committee’s top Republican. “While I’m frustrated by the lack of progress, I remain heartened by the fact that we know more now than we did when we started. I’m also heartened by what I see as an emerging consensus.”
That consensus, he said, is that Gulf War illnesses are seen as real problems.
Lea Steele, scientific director for the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illness, said by far the biggest problem is a number of symptoms that tend to be grouped under the blanket term “Gulf War Illness”: severe headaches, profound fatigue, memory problems and persistent body pain. Skin lesions, respiratory and other problems also fall into this category, she said.
“We know veterans who have had diarrhea for 16 years,” Steele said.
But there are other problems, too, she said. Her committee is recommending more testing on other diagnosed conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and Lou Gehrig’s disease, which one large VA study suggested has occurred in twice as many Gulf War veterans as non-Gulf veterans. And troops downwind of a large weapons depot destroyed in 1991 in Iraq have died of brain cancer at twice the rate of veterans who served in other areas, she said.
“We must all work together to make this a reality so that what happened to our troops in the first Persian Gulf War is not repeated,” said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii.
Binns said the Defense Department historically has funded two-thirds of Gulf War illness research, about $30 million annually. But he said the Defense Department did not request funding for the program in its 2008 budget.
Michael Kilpatrick, the Pentagon’s deputy director for force health protection and readiness, said the Defense Department has renamed Gulf War research as force deployment research.
In written testimony, Kilpatrick said more than 80 percent of Gulf War veterans have well-known health problems and receive conventional diagnoses and treatment. He said veterans who have health problems are definitely ill but have to be treated individually.
“Assumptions based on participation in the 1991 Gulf War cannot be made about the health of a veteran,” he stated.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she and others would try to get funding for the Defense Department program, but it may not come this budget cycle. But progress on research on Gulf War illnesses has come from earmarks, she added.
VMW President, Julie Mock
New Service Center To Assist Veterans Throughout The Borough
by Annmarie Fertoli, Assistant Editor
08/16/2007
(Michael O’Kane) Veterans Service Officer Ken Wales takes information from Don Lomerno, the first client at the new Veterans Service Center, as president Pat Toro looks on.
A new Veterans Service Center is up and running in Middle Village. Last Thursday, Chapter 32 of the Vietnam Veterans of America celebrated the official opening of the center, located at the chapter’s headquarters on Metropolitan Avenue. The center will provide outreach and offer assistance to veterans in need.
Chapter President Pat Toro said after years of working with the city to try to establish veterans service centers in each of the five boroughs, the chapter decided to move forward with its own. Service Officer Ken Wales assists veterans with their claims, and directs them to the proper agencies when necessary. He said too often, veterans are sent back and forth between agencies. “We need a one-stop shopping center type of program,” he said, where veterans can go to one place to deal with all their needs — from housing, to food stamps, to filing claims — instead of being sent all over the city. “We want to have all these locations (in every borough), where you can go from room A to room B to room C.” In the meantime, Wales is providing what he can to veterans throughout Queens, saying that “there’s nothing like a veteran helping a veteran,” and adds that any vet is welcome to stop by the service center for help with any of their needs. Both Wales and Toro expressed concern for the new wave of veterans returning home from war. Toro hopes the new service center will eventually be able to have an Iraqi veteran on staff to assist returning soldiers. “The majority of times, it appears we have to fight for what we need,” said Toro, himself a Vietnam veteran. “And it’s been that way since we came back.” Toro added that new veterans will have to do the same, and that veterans organizations in existence now should step up and make their needs known. Wales said that while Vietnam-era veterans will provide what they can for returning soldiers, new veterans will eventually have to carry on their own fight. “VVA is a last man standing organization,” added Toro — one that the Veterans of Modern Warfare will eventually follow. For Toro, the mission remains the same. “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another,” he said, repeating VVA’s motto. “We’re not going to allow what happened to us to happen again.” The new Veterans Service Center is located at the chapter’s headquarters at 74-06 Metropolitan Ave. Operating hours are from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesdays, 1 to 6 p.m on Wednesdays, and 2:30 to 7 p.m. on Fridays. For more information, call Ken Wales at 718-326-2964.
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF THE MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS
Pullman man hopes to organize local VMW chapter
By Hillary Hamm, Daily News staff writer
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Brandon Freitas never thought he would be a military veteran at age 35.
"But here I am," said the Pullman resident. "I have a veteran's ID card. I have a veteran's license plate. It's weird."
Freitas entered the U.S. Air Force in 1994 and was trained in space and missile operations. At one time, he supervised missile warning zones in Qatar - a small country in the Persian Gulf - for more than 190,000 troops stationed in Southwest Asia as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He also served as part of missile sensor crews in Colorado and North Dakota, and most recently served as an assistant professor for an ROTC unit on the East Coast before voluntarily resigning at the rank of captain in May.
Freitas then moved to Pullman to begin his life as a civilian. He is one of thousands of American men and women who are the new generation of veterans - a group he said needs a voice.
The former University of Idaho student is chairman of a committee that is planning to charter a Pullman chapter of the Veterans of Modern Warfare.
VMW, established in 2006, is the country's newest national veterans service organization. It focuses on assistance to veterans who served in the military from 1990 - the time of the Persian Gulf War - to the present.
VMW membership is open to active-duty service members, National Guard, Reserve and Coast Guard service members, and any veteran who has served since Aug. 2, 1990.
With a handful of chapters across the country, the VMW is slowly gaining momentum. The closest chapter to Pullman is in Bellingham, Wash.
Though Freitas has had little luck recruiting in the Pullman area so far, he believes there is a need for a local VMW chapter, especially with the universities and diverse surrounding counties.
"I know there are a lot of people in this community ... that are just like me," he said, adding that he expects things to pick up when university students return to campus.
Just as World War II and Vietnam War veterans are advocated for by groups such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, Freitas said the modern day soldier can be served by the VMW. With increased warfare weaponry, military tactics, and technology - along with the fact that many soldiers are deployed multiple times and that women have active roles in combat - soldiers today work under different conditions than their predecessors.
The goal of the VMW is not to overpower well-established veterans groups, but to provide a new option for soldiers returning home from war in the modern age.
"War is different today," he said. "This is the new generation of the VFW."
A main focus of the VMW is to advocate for veterans who are in need of health care, Freitas said. The group can provide veterans with the information they need to receive U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health coverage, which is especially important with modern warfare.
Freitas said soldiers are returning home from combat with conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury - a condition caused by the head being hit by something or shaken violently, which can change how the person acts, moves, and thinks - and need to be aware of their health-care options.
As the VMW gains membership, Freitas said there will be strength in numbers to improve the administrative issues at Veterans Affairs that affect veteran's awareness of the programs.
"Some vets don't take advantage of" the VA, he said. "Take what's yours. You served your country."
Leonard Streva, a former commander and life member of American Legion Maynard-Price Post 52 in Pullman, said veterans should get all the help they need, especially in the area of health care.
Streva said he isn't familiar with the VMW and would have to know more about the organization to have a formal opinion, but added that "if their basic foundation is to help veterans ... I'm all for it."
"The more (veterans groups) we have, the better it is," Streva said.
Freitas said the VMW can play an active role in the community by promoting social programs, providing entertainment, care and assistance to hospitalized veterans or members of the military, conducting programs for religious, charitable, scientific or educational purposes and providing insurance benefits to members or their dependents.
"We are a part of the community," Freitas said.
Above all, the VMW will act as an advocate for veterans and provides a place to vent, recollect and be around people who have endured similar military experiences.
"Even if I don't know you, but you've been deployed, we have things in common. We have a camaraderie," Freitas said.
By ROSALIE WESTENSKOW UPI Correspondent WASHINGTON, July 26 (UPI) -- Many U.S. Gulf War veterans continue to suffer from mysterious illnesses more than 16 years after the conflict ended, several witnesses testified this week before a congressional committee.
"One in four of those who served -- 175,000 veterans -- remains seriously ill," James Binns, chairman of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, said at a House of Representatives Health subcommittee hearing.
Gulf War syndrome or illness manifests itself through a plethora of symptoms, including dizziness, fatigue, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems, severe headaches, respiratory problems, stiffness and difficulty concentrating. Veterans began displaying these symptoms before the war ended in 1991, but a decade and a half later, many physicians feel unsure of how to treat these patients
"There remains no effective treatment," Binns said.
In the absence of any cure, many doctors resort to treating each individual symptom with different medications, such as sleeping pills and diarrhea medication, said Meryl Nass from Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor, Maine, who has conducted a specialty clinic to treat patients with Gulf War syndrome for eight years.
"It's a piecemeal approach," Nass said at the hearing. "You can improve their functioning maybe 30 or 40 percent, but they certainly don't get cured."
One of the difficulties in treating the illness lies in general confusion over the exact causes of the illness and a lack of effective research on treatments, witnesses said. Although research has not proven definitive causes, the high level of toxins military personnel were exposed to probably caused most of the damage, said Lea Steele, scientific director of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses.
"The most consistent and extensive amount of available evidence implicates a group of chemicals to which veterans were exposed that can have toxic effects on the brain," Steele said. "These chemicals include pills -- NAPP pills or pyridostigmine -- given to protect troops from the effects of nerve agents, excessive use of pesticides and low levels of nerve gas."
Other toxins include smoke from more than 600 burning Kuwaiti oil wells, military vaccines and low-level doses of chemical weapons, Steele said.
While the symptoms of Gulf War syndrome overlap with those of many other illnesses, they manifest themselves much more heavily in Gulf War veterans than those from other eras, suggesting something specific in the Gulf War triggered this new syndrome, Steele said.
"It's not what we see in the general population and it's not what we see in any other veterans group this age," she said.
This hodgepodge of health problems seen in Gulf War veterans is not simply a manifestation of psychological problems either, Steele said.
"Comprehensive studies have found no connection between Gulf War illness and combat experiences in the war," she said. "This stands to reason since, in contrast to current deployments, severe stress and trauma were relatively uncommon in the 1991 Gulf War."
The war itself lasted for less than six months, with only four days of ground combat.
The $260 million spent on Gulf War illness research by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs has resulted in few breakthroughs, Nass said. One reason for this lies in an a focus on psychiatric causes, instead of toxins or vaccines and research that did look at these factors often had faulty methodology, leading to useless results, she said.
"Failed research does not happen by itself," Nass said.
In many studies, the wrong questions were asked, dubious research methods were used or sample sizes were too small to yield statistically significant data.
Much of this research resulted from an effort to discount veterans' claims that their sickness resulted from their military service, said Anthony Hardie, legislative chair and national treasurer for Veterans of Modern Warfare, a veterans advocacy organization.
"Years were squandered disputing whether Gulf War veterans were really ill, studying stress (and) reporting that what was wrong with Gulf War veterans was the same as after every war," Hardie said. "An incredible amount of effort was put into disproving the claims of countless veterans testifying before Congress about chemical and other exposures."
However, Veterans Affairs officials said the department has continuously worked to respond to the unique symptoms of Gulf War veterans.
"Even before the 1991 Gulf War ceasefire, VA had concerns that returning veterans might have certain unique health problems, including respiratory effects from exposure to the intense oil fire smoke," said Lawrence Deyton, chief public health and environmental hazards officer for the Veterans Health Administration. "VA quickly established a clinical registry to screen for this possibility."
But the data collected from the registry does not prove that Gulf War veterans suffer from any unique illness, Deyton said.
"After 15 years, the principal finding from VA's systematic clinical registry examination of about 14 percent of 1991 Gulf War veterans is that they are suffering from a wide variety of common, recognized illnesses," he said. "However, no new or unique syndrome has been identified."
The department did ask Congress for the authority to provide disability coverage, though, to veterans with difficult-to diagnose or undiagnosed illnesses who claimed the problem stemmed from military service.
"This statute as amended authorizes VA to pay compensation for disabilities that cannot be diagnosed as a specific disease or injury, or for certain illnesses with unknown cause including chronic fatigue syndrome ... and irritable bowel syndrome," Deyton said.
However, the government should take greater responsibility for conducting research on how to treat these veterans, said Brig. Gen. Thomas Mikolajcik, a Gulf War veteran diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, a rare condition that causes a progressive degeneration of the nerve cells in the brain and occurs twice as much in military personnel as among the rest of the population and two times as often among Gulf War veterans as other veterans.
"Establish a congressionally directed ALS Task Force with specific milestones and a time line," Mikolajcik said.
NEWPORT NEWS, VA. — The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is keeping an eye on military veterans, especially those who served in the first Persian Gulf war and have since been diagnosed with the debilitating neurological disease.
“There appears to be an increased risk of MS in combat vets,” said Shawn O’Neail, the society’s vice president for federal government relations. “Are Gulf war veterans at an increased risk of developing MS? We have a long way to go to say that comfortably.”
But they want to find out.
The strongest evidence comes from a 2005 European Neurology study showing that from 1993 to 2000, the years following the first Gulf war, the rate of MS among Kuwaitis more than doubled.
“In a geographic area that was previously associated with low prevalence, local environmental factors may be responsible for these dramatic changes,” the study said.
If Gulf war vets do have an increased risk, it could lead researchers to a specific environmental trigger for the currently incurable disease. A trigger could lead to better treatment and “dare I say a cure,” according to O’Neail.
The society, with help from a nationwide grassroots effort, lobbied Congress this year to include MS in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program, which is administered by the Defense Department.
While diseases studied in the program don’t necessarily have a connection to military service, the society never pursued getting MS included before because “it never really made sense to us,” O’Neail said. “It makes sense now.”
More than 25,000 veterans from all wars have been diagnosed with MS, O’Neail said. More than 5,000 of those cases have been classified “service connected” by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The symptoms for Gulf war illness and MS can be very similar, said Julie Mock, a Gulf war veteran with MS who runs Veterans of Modern Warfare.
VA: 1991 Gulf War vets must not be ignored
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times, Marine Corps Times Posted : Thursday Jul 26, 2007 18:34:29 EDT
Veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War are not getting the treatment they deserve from the federal government, according to the chairman of a Veterans Affairs Department research advisory committee.
“Gulf War illnesses remain a major unmet veterans’ health problem,” said James Binns, chairman of the VA’s research advisory committee on Gulf War veterans’ illnesses.
He testified along with several Gulf War veterans before the House Veterans’ Affairs health subcommittee. Binns said Gulf War veterans who feel they are being ignored may have a point. “Hundreds of millions of dollars have been appropriated to address the health problems of currently returning veterans, and rightly so,” he said. “But it is now time, in fact long past time, to address the serious health problems of 175,000 veterans of the last war who remain ill as a result of their service.”
Sixteen years after Operation Desert Shield and Operation 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 multi-symptom illness commonly known as Gulf War syndrome. About $300 million has been spent on research, but much of that research has focused on whether illnesses were the result of psychological stress, he said. “Very little money was invested in treatment research,” Binns said.
Lea Steele, the research advisory committee’s scientific director, said studies have found no link between combat stress and Gulf War illnesses and, more troubling, studies have found that those suffering are not getting better. “Few veterans with Gulf War illnesses have recovered or even substantially improved over time,” Steele said. “As a result, many Gulf War veterans have been sick for as long as 16 years.”
Army veteran Anthony Hardie, who says he continues to suffer from the so-called “Kuwait cough” that started after he breathed in the smoke from oil fires during the Gulf War, said many veterans are giving up on VA.
“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,” Hardie said.
Hardie said VA is still seeing Gulf War veterans who have undiagnosed problems, but “being seen is not the same thing as being treated.”
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Veterans of Modern Warfare Chapter 4 - Macomb County Michigan
Brandy Baker / The Detroit News
"I have to fight through the pain every day because Tylenol and aspirin don't work," says Spc. Terry Shipps, left, with Veterans of Modern Warfare, Roseville chapter President Brad Cook. Shipps, who returned from Iraq in 2004, is waiting for his medical benefits to kick in.
A new chapter for the modern military
Macomb group reaches out to newest vets
Christina Stolarz / The Detroit News
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Sgt. Frances Faulk, a Desert Storm vet, talks with fellow vet Sgt. Jim Waldron as Faulk's daughter, Claudia, looks on at the Stars and Stripes Festival. Veterans of Modern Warfare aims to inform returning veterans of available benefits. See full image
How to get involved
The Roseville chapter of the Veterans of Modern Warfare shares an office with the Roseville chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America.
The office is at 16945 12 Mile, Roseville, MI 48066.
The group can also be reached at (586) 776-9810. Source: Veterans of Modern Warfare Web site
STERLING HEIGHTS -- Terry Shipps was proud to serve his country by fighting for nearly 11 months in Iraq.
On this Independence Day, he's hoping the country will show him and his fellow veterans the same appreciation by remembering what they've done once they come home.
Veterans are the reason "we're still living in freedom," Shipps said.
That's why he's working to spread the word about the first Michigan chapter of a newly formed national group called Veterans of Modern Warfare, which helps connect recent vets to medical, retirement and education benefits that are available to them.
"I think it's important to know that there's someone there and there's always going to be someone there to help them out," said Shipps, 24, of Clinton Township, who served as an infantryman with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.
The Roseville-based chapter's participants will celebrate the holiday today at the Macomb County Veterans Family Picnic at Freedom Hill County Park in Sterling Heights. They'll be on the lookout for new members.The group is a national service organization started in the summer of 2006 by an Army nurse in Kansas City, Mo. The Roseville chapter -- the fifth chapter nationwide -- was established in May. There are two more Michigan chapters in the works in Ann Arbor and Holly.
Membership is open to current active duty service members, National Guard, Reserve and Coast Guard service members, along with any veteran who served at least one day from Aug. 2, 1990, which was the start of Operation Desert Shield, to the present.
It's unclear exactly how many Michigan veterans would be eligible, but more than 1,500 soldiers statewide are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The national organization won't begin collecting dues until 2008, Cook said.
The group also is selling military merchandise and collecting donations at Freedom Hill.
Members hope to raise enough money to build a permanent veterans monument at the county park and create a mobile wall to pay tribute to all Michigan soldiers who were casualties since Aug. 2, 1990, said Brad Cook, president of the Roseville chapter of Veterans of Modern Warfare.
"It's time to focus on the veterans for what they've done, what they've given," he said. "It's important to not let them forget what we've done."
The local Veterans of Modern Warfare chapter's biggest goal is to educate newer veterans about the benefits they've earned and assist them in obtaining them, Cook said. The group plans to advocate for modern veterans and continue support efforts made by the Vietnam Veterans of America. Similar veteran support groups include the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.
"The Vietnam Veterans of America are getting up in age and if we do not continue on, there really probably won't be many military organizations to carry on the work they do," Cook said.
The group's services are essential, he said, because veterans must climb a mountain of paperwork to receive any type of health care from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs once they return home. And that wait is expected to grow as more veterans come back from Iraq.
Shipps, who returned from Iraq in 2004 with knee, back and shoulder injuries, is one such soldier still waiting for his medical benefits. He said he frequently visits the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit to sort through the paperwork.
"It's pretty frustrating," Shipps said. "I have to fight through the pain every day because Tylenol and aspirin don't work."
St. Clair Shores resident Cheryl Springfield, 47, applauds the Veterans of Modern Warfare.
"Our guys are getting blasted over there," said Springfield, who donned patriotic apparel at the Stars and Stripes Festival last week in downtown Mount Clemens, where the group was recruiting members. "They deserve all the help they can get."
The Roseville veterans group has garnered support from the Vietnam Veterans of America.
"Much like we did, they need to support each other, they need to take care of each other," said Pat Daniels, 55, president of the Mount Clemens chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America. "It's very important because (Veterans Affairs) doesn't tell the veterans what benefits they've earned. They have to fight for those benefits when they get home."
Daniels, who also serves on the Macomb County Veterans Affairs Commission, will also be out at Freedom Hill today to meet and celebrate with other veterans.
"We need to take these holidays, like Memorial Day, Veterans Day and the Fourth of July, and reaffirm our commitment to the veterans who made this country what it is," Daniels said.
They say those who fought in earlier wars can’t fathom their needs.
By Edward Colimore Inquirer Staff Writer
Army Sgt. Pauric Devine was helping other troops unload a vehicle at a general's house in Baghdad's Green Zone in 2004 when a Katyusha rocket blew up nearby.
The blast knocked him to the ground, broke some teeth, and left his face bleeding. But hours later, he was stitched up and back on the job.
"The fast pace is alien to the veterans of past wars," said Devine, 43, of Philadelphia's Bella Vista section. "You can't get three days of R&R in Paris while a battle is fought 50 miles away. You're going 24/7."
Today's soldiers fight a high-tech urban war that never lets up, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans say. They have been exposed to depleted uranium, chemicals, and the smoke of oil fires. And with new body armor, they have survived gunfire and explosions, but can be left with brain-trauma injuries.
This new kind of warfare has led Devine and other vets to form the Philadelphia chapter of the Veterans of Modern Warfare (VMW), an emerging national organization much like the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion - but more attuned to today's soldiers.
This month, a handful of former soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan gathered at the Vietnam Veterans of America's Liberty Bell Post 266 in Northeast Philadelphia for the local VMW's first organizational meeting. Another meeting, expected to draw more veterans from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is scheduled for June 11.
"Our goal is to work to achieve a membership base of 1,500 members by the end of the year, with 20 incorporated chapters," said Julie Mock, VMW president and a disabled Persian Gulf War veteran. She also served as president of the National Gulf War Resource Center, a veterans' advocacy group.
"The VFW and American Legion may look at us as competition, but you can be a member of more than one veterans' group. We offer camaraderie with vets in our own generation. We know our issues and are best able to help those of our generation."
VFW and Legion officials say they are familiar with the issues of recent veterans and invite them to be members of their organizations, too. Five VMW chapters, totaling about 300 members, have been incorporated in Beaverton, Pa., Tonawanda, N.Y., Kansas City, Mo., Bellingham, Wash., and Macomb County, Mich.
Philadelphia's chapter is one of three now forming. Efforts to begin chapters in seven other states are also under way. By next year, the VMW plans to apply for certification from the Department of Veterans Affairs as a veterans-services organization.
The VMW wants to provide outreach officers to help returning troops navigate the many services and benefits offered by Veterans Affairs and other organizations, Devine said. Many have neurological problems that may be connected to their exposure to chemical agents.
If after serving in Iraq "a kid walks in off the street and tells me he's not feeling good, I can relate to that because we walked the same streets in Baghdad, and it's easier for them to relate," said Devine, an Irish-born U.S. citizen whose physical and psychological wounds have prevented him from working.
"We fought the same war, and moved 10 times faster than they did in past wars. . . . Experiences like post-traumatic stress disorder go back to the Greeks and Romans, but many of our issues are just different because modern warfare is different."
Devine, a former paratrooper, said he had tried to return to civilian life after his service but found that PTSD, back injuries, and other service-related problems prevented him. "I figured I could suck it up and drive on," he said. "I wasn't accustomed to quitting."
Devine said the veterans of other wars could not understand what he and other troops had gone through:
"I drive from point A to point B - under an overpass - and have memories. An overpass in Iraq is a place of extreme danger where you can get hit with a rocket-propelled grenade or improvised explosive device.
"I walk out of a building and I'm looking at the windows and roof. Vietnam vets didn't have to deal with this. Their war was in the jungle."
Tom Murtha, president of Post 266 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, said he understood how the new veterans felt.
"We don't blend in with them, nor do they blend in with us," said Murtha, 74, a wounded veteran of Vietnam and Korea who supports the Iraq war. "The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are so much different from Vietnam and Korea.
"But we are trying to help them get the chapter going. I think it will be a success. . . . Never again will one generation forget another generation and make them go through" what Vietnam veterans went through.
Timon Hagelin, who helped found Post 266 and is vice commander of American Legion Post 738 in the same building, said members realized that recent veterans "would be more comfortable having their own organizations."
"There's no question that the old-timers . . . don't want to see new organizations forming," said Hagelin, who served in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. "That's more competition. I don't see it that way."
Jerry Newberry, a spokesman for the national VFW headquarters in Kansas City, said his group had been "on top of the issues" affecting recent veterans and had been "advocating for them in front of Congress."
"To say we're not familiar with these issues is not true," said Newberry, who said his group included veterans of all wars. ". . . If they want their own organization, they can do that, but don't discount other organizations working on the same issues."
Wade Habshey, a spokesman for the American Legion in Indianapolis, echoed that view and invited the new veterans to join the Legion and the VMW.
"As long as vets are helping vets, we salute it," Habshey said. "Our calling is to help veterans."
Devine said he hoped to provide the kind of help only veterans of his generation could give.
"The VFW and American Legion are helping quite a few, but we believe the best way to help ourselves is to help ourselves," he said.
Veterans of Modern Warfare
The Philadelphia chapter of the Veterans of Modern Warfare can be reached through Liberty Bell Post 266 of the Vietnam Veterans of America at 1517 E. Luzerne St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19124 or online at http://www.phillyvmw.com/
The VMW's national organization can be reached at Veterans of Modern Warfare, Inc. P.O. Box 96503 ECM33107 Washington, D.C., 20090-6503, or call 888-445-9891, or online at http://www.modernveterans.com/index.html
MAYOR BLOOMBERG WELCOMES NAVY AND MARINES TO NEW YORK'S 20th ANNUAL FLEET WEEK CELEBRATION
Mayor also kicks-off 2nd Annual Fleet Week Job, Education & Information Fair
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today welcomed members of the US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard to New York City's 20th Annual Fleet Week Celebration in a ceremony at Gracie Mansion. Fleet Week this year will run from May 23rd until May 30th. During this week, thousands of military service men and women come to New York, and this year, 6 ships have docked at various piers around the City. The Mayor also announced a modernization of Veterans' Memorial Hall, home of the Mayor's Office of Veterans' Affairs and a number of key veterans' organizations in the City representing veterans from every era back to World War I. In addition to Fleet Week activities planned citywide, the Mayor also kicked off the City's 2nd Annual Fleet Week Job, Education and Information Fair for military veterans and service members. The Mayor was joined today by Vice Admiral Evan M. Chanik Jr. of the US Navy, Chaplain Dale Parker of the US Navy and Clarice Joynes, Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Veterans' Affairs.
"Hosting the 20th Anniversary of Fleet Week is an opportunity for our City to show its longstanding support and gratitude to our service men and women throughout the world," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Throughout our history, our nation has relied on men and women in uniform to courageously defend our freedoms, and our way of life. That's why we want to ensure that when our service members come back home we welcome them - not just with words and medals - but with opportunities. We hope that our returning veterans will choose to follow their dreams right here in New York City."
"Fleet Week is always a special time for New York City," said Mayor's Office of Veterans' Affairs Executive Director Clarice Joynes. "We hope the service members and veterans take advantage of all the City has to offer including our 2nd Annual Fleet Week Job, Education, & Information Fair which is a great opportunity for veterans in the New York City area to come and apply for jobs and learn about their benefits."
The job, education and information fair, being held today at the Emigrant Savings Bank Building in Lower Manhattan, will include more than 60 potential employers, including many City agencies such as the New York City Police and Fire Department. The Fleet Week Job Fair gives veterans and service members an opportunity to receive information on jobs, benefits, and educational opportunities that are available through various programs offered by city agencies. The Mayor's Office of Veterans' Affairs works to assist veterans and returning service members in assessing their needs in housing, employment and healthcare and connecting them with helpful resources at the City, State and Federal levels.
Renovations have begun at Veterans' Memorial Hall in Lower Manhattan, which also celebrates its 20th Anniversary this year. The Mayor's Office of Veterans' Affairs' facility will be modernized to meet the needs of the next generation of veterans, and the organizations currently housed in Veterans' Memorial Hall will be receiving upgraded IT infrastructure and internet support. A new organization, Veterans of Modern Warfare, which serves veterans returning from the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will be moving into the Hall to ensure that veterans from all wars, past and present, are represented there along with the Mayor's Office of Veterans' Affairs.
This year's fleet of ships features the USS Wasp, USS Stephen W. Groves, USS Oscar Austin, USS Hue City, USS Winston S. Churchill, USS San Jacinto and the US Coast Guard Cutter Katherine Walker. As a part of the City's official welcome of the military, Mayor Bloomberg today presented the ships' Flag Officers with crystal globes and the Commanding Officers with silver cuff links. The Flag Officers in return presented the Mayor with a framed photo of the USS Wasp surrounded by command coins for each ship and the Commanding Officers presented the Mayor with challenge coins from their respective vessels. For more information please visit www.nyc.gov, or visit the Navy's Fleet Week Web site at www.fleetweek.navy.mil.
MEDIA CONTACT: Stu Loeser/Evelyn Erskine (212) 788 2958
"We felt it was time to create a voice of, by, and for veterans of the current wartime era, which began in 1990," says Mock, a disabled veteran of the 1991 Gulf War and a resource center leader. Any veteran or active-duty member with one or more days of active duty after Aug. 2, 1990, can join the service group. "We needed a direct voice for veterans of the current generation," says VMW Vice President Cheyne Worley, including those suffering wounds most common to Iraq—limb loss and brain trauma. A recent Fort Lewis study found one third of troops in Iraq suffer from migraine headaches; another study revealed a soaring rate of troop suicide there—at least 15 in recent months. Eighty-eight killed themselves in 2005, says the resource center.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., recently if belatedly pitched a helping hand on another front by introducing an amendment to study veteran health effects from depleted uranium used in Iraq. It's a companion measure to a House amendment submitted by a fellow state Democrat , U.S. Rep. Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle.
Veterans of Modern Warfare, Inc. #33107 PO Box 96503 Washington, DC 20090 888.445.9891 info@modernveterans.com
VMW is a registered c19 non-profit membership organization. Donations are tax-deductible.
