NEW REVELATION SURFACES ABOUT GULF WAR II MYSTERY ILLNESS

[Guest guest]

> 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/>www.gulfwarvets.com,

> <gulfwargulfwar

>

> 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

> Veteranssupport 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 Veterans 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 illnessseems 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 illnessto hit the military. After being pressured by a few

> independent news reporters who have not permitted this mysteryto continue

> unabated, The DOD recently has been forced to announce the mysterydeaths

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 illnessdiagnosis 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 pneumoniain 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 pneumoniaand mystery illnesslabels, enlightening

> information surfaced today on THE POWER HOURradio show

> (<http://www.thepowerhour.com/>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 illnesswhile 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

> haulingmission, 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 haulingat 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/>www.lakesunleader.com). Although the

> factsbehind 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 Networkwas 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 familys 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

> familys 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/>www.thepowerhour.com click on the GWII

> mystery illness interview.

>

> For more information on Gulf War illnesses, go to

> <http://www.gulfwarvets.com/>www.gulfwarvets.com

>

> For more information on Project Shad, go to

> <http://www.projectshad.org/>www.projectshad.org

>

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