[Peace-discuss] Gulf War 2 medical problems

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20031020-025820-5101r.htm

Doctors, dollars rushed to Fort Stewart


By Mark Benjamin
UPI Investigations Editor


WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- The Army said Monday it is sending
doctors to Fort Stewart, Ga., to help hundreds of sick and injured
soldiers, including Iraq veterans, who say they are waiting weeks and
months for proper medical help.

Many of the Army Reserve and National Guard personnel in "medical
hold" at the base are living in steamy cement training barracks that
they say are unacceptable for sick and injured soldiers.

The Army said in its statement that it would spend money to improve
those living conditions and is dispatching a team to look into the
soldiers' complaints.

"The Army does acknowledge that medical hold challenges exist --
across the Army as well as Fort Stewart," according to the statement.
The Army "is absolutely committed to taking care of our people."

At the Pentagon, Army Public Affairs Specialist Steven Stover said
officials would try to use findings about the problems at Fort Stewart
to improve conditions in the future.

"Is this happening? Yes, it is," said Stover. "What we learn from this
incident is going to help the Army when we have other major units
returning" from Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

Stover said Director of the Army Staff Lt. Gen. James L. Lovelace Jr.
dispatched the "assessment team" after a series of meetings among
high-level Army officials on Friday, Saturday and Monday.

On Friday, United Press International reported that the soldiers were
languishing in hot cement barracks here while they wait -- sometimes
for months -- to see doctors. They have to walk to a nearby latrine.

Steve Robinson, a veterans advocate with the National Gulf War
Resource Center who visited the barracks last week, said Monday he was
glad the Army acted.

"The NGWRC is pleased that the Army will address the soldiers'
concerns," Robinson said. "As a former non-commissioned officer who
retired after 20 years of faithful service, I was disturbed by the
reports from the soldiers in medical hold."

Missouri Republican Sen. Kit Bond, who heads a key veterans'
committee, is set to dispatch staff to Fort Stewart on Tuesday, said
his spokeswoman, Shana Stribling. 

Several of the National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers said the way
they are being treated makes them believe the Army is trying push them
out with reduced benefits for their ailments. They also said that
regular active duty personnel are getting far better treatment.

While soldiers are on hold, the Army decides how sick or disabled they
are and what benefits -- if any -- they should get as a result. One
document shown to UPI stated that no more doctor appointments were
available from Oct. 14 through Nov. 11 -- Veterans Day.

The soldiers estimate that around 40 percent of the nearly 600
personnel in medical hold were deployed to Iraq. Of those who went,
many described clusters of strange ailments, like heart and lung
problems, among previously healthy troops. They said the Army has
tried to refuse them benefits, claiming the injuries and illnesses
were due to a "pre-existing condition," prior to military service, a
charge the Army denied.

The Army said Monday it has "shifted professional staff from regional
medical facilities to Fort Stewart to help reduce the backlog where
appropriate."