Desert Storm Veterans have the Highest Causality Rate of any Prior War to Date

In the military, you meet people who become a part of your life for the rest of your life. Even if you served your four years or a lifer most veterans have bonds that are unbreakable. Since we were not around our bio-families while stationed at different military bases or deployed, we developed families of choice.  We were there for marriages, divorces, births, deaths, through good times and bad. We are family! Dave and Paula was a part of my family, to explain their influence on all they touched would take a book. Dave and I went in the Air Force a month apart, we had the same Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC), or MOS in the Army, and we also retired a month apart and had allot of the same friends. Our careers took a similar path and we ended up at the same assignment our last four years, instructor duty.

Dave like I was a Desert Storm Veteran. He was also in Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia when their living quarters were attacked by terrorist in 1996. Nineteen were killed and Dave was one of the hundreds injured. He was told he had earned a purple heart, which he refused, others were killed or injured worse, he felt he did not deserve it. Dave dealt with those injuries for the rest of his life never complaining. Only those that new him well new about his injuries. The last time I saw Dave was when another friend, who was stationed with us, was killed in a car accident. Like usual he flew from Ohio to console the family of our friend. None of us knew he would be the next to leave us. Unfortunately we lost Dave to Pancreatic cancer on March 1, 2012. He was a good friend who is discussed every time I talk to anyone that knew him, to say we miss him is an understatement.

Many don’t realize that the largest causality rate of veterans are those from Desert Storm. One in four Desert Storm Veterans is on disability. In contrast WWII veterans are at 8.6% Korean Veterans are at 5% and Vietnam Veterans are at 9.6%. There presently are no real numbers available for the most recent OEF/OIF veterans since they are so fresh from theatre. There are wide-ranging beliefs from doctors and scientist as to what caused such a high causality rate but no one knows for sure, mainly because of poor record keeping during Desert Storm.   

In numerous studies the issue that keeps arising is the lack of decent record keeping during Desert Shield / Storm deployments. This raises allot of questions for many of us who were there. Because of the rapid deployment many rules went out the window, record keeping being one of them. When we were given vaccinations in theatre we gave the Doc our shot records to document the shots. We were told “we’re not doing that” so our shots went undocumented. There was a group of us who deployed together that questioned this tactic and vowed to stay in touch in case we needed validation of the “Undocumented Shots”. We protested and was told our options were to be sent back and receive an article 15 (non-judicial punishment) for failure to follow a direct order or take the vaccination, we chose to stay.

The lack of proper record keeping, for security reasons, keeping us in the dark, or just being intentionally sloppy or vague by design is a major reason many scientist and doctors can’t find a good cause for GWI (Gulf War Illness). There are no accurate records available to study concerning the drugs we were given or chemicals we were subjected to.  There seems to be a clear association specifically with anthrax vaccine and GWI symptoms in our British and Canadian veteran allies, but the VA does not accept their findings. There was also three-fold increased incidence of GWI in non-deployed veterans from Kansas who had been vaccinated in preparation for deployment, compared to non-deployed, non-vaccinated veterans.

There are signs that Desert Storm veterans and their families need to be on the lookout for. The most common complaints have been fatigue, skin rash, headache, and muscle and joint pain, forgetfulness, sleep disturbance, shortness of breath, and chest pains. These symptoms, which result in varying degrees of incapacitation, have not been localized to any one organ system, or any single specific disease. The bottom line is no one is sure of anything because of poor record keeping among other things.

I am not sure if Dave’s death is a part of Desert Storm or Khobar Towers. What I do know is there are six Desert Storm Veterans that I am aware of, that have died of cancer at a young age and a few more that have had cancer and beat it, so far. It might be a normal part of life and nothing to do with Military service. But there are tractable statistics that Desert Storm veterans have a higher causality rate than WWII, Korea, and Vietnam veterans combined. Why? That is a good question. Desert Storm Veterans are struggling more than any group before them, and most people are unaware. It feels to us we are being over looked because they really do not know what to do and don’t want to spend the money to find out or deal with it. A host of Desert Storm veterans feel this is an Agent Orange coverup all over again, including denial.  Time will tell if the IEF/OIF veterans have as many problems. My guess is they will because of the multiple deployments and increased knowledge of battlefield medicine which limits the number of deaths. The new vets will probably suffer more than we have because of the time they spent in theatre. The bottom line is all veterans need to address any situation if there is a remote possibility of a problem. The issues might not come around for years, don’t minimize it. Family members need to press the issue if need be. Most veterans will do it for their families and not themselves.

For questions or comments, I can be reached at bo@afterdutyvets.com or visit our website at afterdutyvets.com.