Afgh. & Iraq Toxic Dust vs RVN Agent Orange

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Now, more and more info. is coming out on "Gulf War Syndrome" and a few other ailments (from Iraq & Afghanistan) ... and it is pointing more to the "Toxic Dust". as one of the major factors.

This "Toxic Dust" might be the "Middle East's" version of "RVN's Agent Orange"..

One of the first breaks in this was during Iraq War 1 ... analyzing soil samples around loading areas of "A-10 Ordinance" (depleted uranium round dust particles).

This is not new info., it is just getting a lot stronger with some medical publications coming out next month. This is how AO started.

To all the men & women that served there ... make sure you have all of your medical problems documented in your DoD & VA medical records.
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check out "yellow sand"

 

Only thing I found was yellow sand in korea and have not been there yet so not worried. Im wondering what is in the sands of kuwait and iraq.

 

yea I was in korea and some days the yellow sand was so bad you couldnt see accross the street. it is suppose to be harmfull, have pesticides in it, cause asthma and other health problems.

 

New stuff comes out every day. Allergies, cardiovascular issues, tiredness...list goes on. Unregulated pollution and waste disposal in almost every country we deploy to.

Afgahn has worse findings then Iraq.

Document it and keep copies of your records for life. Something lots of young joes fail to do or undervalue in an age where you no longer hand carry your records to your next duty station.

 

Bump-

Those of you that have deployed, don't underestimate your symptoms. I thought I was just having a really hard time getting back in shape. Still able to maintain a 7-730 min pace for as far as I want but it is def not my norm and air always felt "thick". I got checked out and turns out I have now developed asthma.

Don't play down yours or your Soldiers symptoms.

Here are a few links worth looking at;

(Oct 2010, DoD Burn pit Report) http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1163.pdf

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/news/20080319/iraq-war-veterans-face-allergy-risks

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/20/health/webmd/main3953230.shtml

http://burnpitclaims.blogspot.com/

http://www.gelmans.com/ReadingRoom/...-Chemical-Exposure-Cancer-Disease-Claims.aspx

http://vmwusa.org/index.php/vetservices/vsarticles/46-veteranservices/864-burn-pits

 

Well I guess we will eventually find more and more stuff that makes us sick over the years. How about the water bottles that where left outside and we all at one time or another drank. I think the plastic cooking outside in 100 degree weather will probably end up making us sick in some way or the other.

 

Keep records of anything you do non-deployment related as well. I've got a good friend that painted equipment with CARC while in the military. It ended up causing a lot of health issues for him. Also took a VERY long time to get any assistance from the military for medical treatment

 

yeah I'm 15 years in, I'm glad they found a few things when I got out of active .

 

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The guys who really got shafted on "passive & active dangerous materials and combat areas" were the Air America guys who fought in Laos & Cambodia as "private contractors". But, we are working to now get them reclassified as "government employees" (US gov. owned A/A in reality) and I hope it happens before all of the A/A guys die off.

We are still fighting for their disabilities and now it is going all the way to special Congressional areas for review. A good friend of mine did 17 years with A/A and needs his bennies (and we will get them). He has a bad case of PTSD and is crazier than a "shit-house rat" and deserves his bennies as the regular military got them.
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On leatherneck in AFG, they had the burn pit set up right next to the billeting. They were burning 24/7 and when the wind was the wrong way, everyone inhaled the smoke the entire time. Not only that, when I was away from LNK, which was most of the time, the moon dust was unavoidable. Drank the water bottles that were cooking in 120 degree heat. Lots of unhealthy junk. I never had allergy or sinus problems until I went to AFG.

 

I was at Kandahar for 6 months and it took me 2 months to finally quit clearing my throat. That place was dusty as hell.

 

yeah I know that shit is gong to come back and bite us OEF/OIF vets.

 

OIF/OEF veterans make sure to checkin and complete the crap on the burn pit registry. Also the VFW will help you make sure your taken care of, paperwork wise.

Between burning our waste, medical waste and every other thing we can as well the nasty moon dust it took me months to breathe easy last time. Really seem to notice it this time around!

 

Where is the burn pit registry? Do I just go to the local VFW?

 

Funny I saw this, I actually met a guy, he was AF who ran a radar site in Laos. I forget what site it was. Very interesting talk I had with this gentlemen.

 

On top of all of this the new thing that lots of guys are sweating are the results of sitting next to the high power CREW anti-IED transmitters.

 

Colleague of Etchberger? :salute: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lima_Site_85
Don't know about the newer stuff.
But I know some of the old gear, you could feel and...'taste' the pulses if you were too close.
There were at least a few techs wound up blind or with weird 'high energy' type cancers.

 

I work for the VA, and am also a member of the GWS registry. Toxic metals in the burn pits stemming from things that should never have been burned is a greater factor. Initial testing has shown electronics and other items with rare toxic metals were burned in those pits, and those particles attach to the smoke. It's known that fungal spores also attach to smoke, and these also suspend in that funky, dirty fog that permeated everything within 50 miles of the Gulf. Toxic metals and horrible fungi are bad enough; add in the poisonous chemicals of war and still in some antibiotic-resistant bacteria and that's one vicious cocktail.

Both my dad and father-in-law are Vietnam veterans, and there at the same time. My dad was aircrew, flew above the defoliant sprays, and has had no problems. My father-in-law was on the ground, "accidentally" dusted regularly (clear vegetation around FOBs), and has been fighting diabetes and kidney disease (which does not run in his family) for the past 20 years.

I think there's been some collective guilt over how vets were treated in the 70s and 80s that has prompted the responses of late. They're trying to nip this thing in the bud before it grows an bad as the Agent Orange effects. I get an annual blood screening that is compared to the registry to see if any of the research markers appear. The clinical trial is EXTENSIVE, and transcends just VA medical facilities - hospitals around the country are participating. No veteran personal information is shared - the research program shares blood markers, symptoms, and conditional evidence. I don't have any other insight into the treatment side because I have thankfully turned up negative in all my tests. Thank goodness for good HVAC filters.

 

Apparently the USAF was using Agent Orange up until mid 70's at Howard AFB in Panama. That's where I was in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades running around in the jungle behind my backyard. Yeah for me!

And, I still get letters from the DOD from my time in Desert Storm. My unit was in close proximity where the engineers where destroying chemical munitions. I get my questionnaire asking about headaches, muscular twitching, etc.