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The Power Hour
News Release
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
http://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 (
http://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 (
http://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:
http://www.thepowerhour.com click on the “GWII mystery illness
interview.”
For more information on Gulf War illnesses, go
to http://www.gulfwarvets.com
For more information on Project Shad, go to
http://www.projectshad.org
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