My National Guard unit and I arrived at LSA Anaconda (Balad Air Base), Iraq on 6 May 2003, having made the long, hot and dusty convoy from Camp Virginia, Kuwait. Some of us worked only outdoors. Some didn't hardly ever step outside. Some only ventured out to go to the Post Exchange. I noticed the thick, ugly and heavy plumes of smoke on my first day there. I never gave a single thought regarding the medical consequences of inhaling, as well as ingesting, PM2.5, or PM10, toxic fumes and other toxins. The very best medical source for Particulate Matter is found on the American Lung Association Website. Make no mistake about it - Particulate Matter can and often does lead to long-term adverse health effects in those who have inhaled or ingested it. These medical truths, as well as numerous research studies, are widely know within the entire medical community. In addition, the American Lung Association states that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has their own scientific studies and research on Particulate Matter. With all the different types of items being burned in the Balad Burn Pit, the best reference for comprehending exactly what pollutants may be produced in an open pit, is the U.S. Air Force "OPEN PIT BURNING" General Facts and Information Sheet. These pollutants include:

Again, I must, for best accuracy, refer back to the American Lung Association for the correct known health affects:

The finer Particulate Matter (called PM 2.5) is considered a serious health threat. These finer particulates often slip past the respiratory system's natural defenses, and penetrate deeply into the lungs, where they do the most harm. In the past ten (10) years, more than two dozen health studies have linked high concentration of particulate matter to cardiovascular problems, as well as to premature death. Make no mistake - it is not just about having occasional "bronchitis" forever. The studies and research prove that there is serious long-term effects from significant Particulate Matter inhalation/ingestion.

I worked outdoors the entire deployment, with the exception of about 8 weeks of work in the Al-Asad Base Operations Center (Mayor's Cell), where I had a mix  of inside and outside duties.  I had a very interesting time in between my three sick call visits in Iraq - all for Bronchitis - 2/3 I also was diagnosed with dehydration. My duties were quite varied, and most every week presented a new and exciting challenge. I was an assistant dump truck driver, and we made so many runs to the Burn Pit, hauling off our tree trimmings, and later hauling load after load of debris from the newest housing area being set up.   Because my initial Army training in 1985 was as a military paralegal, I gladly mentored all who asked for my help that were facing punishments, and I  dutifully assisted those who asked for my help who were facing Courts Martial -  those are the two reasons I was unofficially, and mockingly, referred to as "the back door lawyer" by some of the leaders in my Chain of Command during this deployment. At one point, I even received a harsh warning from our Captain to:  "cease dispensing legal advice."  However, a Base Legal Officer instructed me to continue helping my fellow soldiers, as that was the right thing to do.  (An Example:  I counseled my Platoon Sergeant to appeal his impending punishment - he wanted to go along with "them"; however,  he followed all my advice to the letter and emerged with his rank and pay intact, and very light punishment.)  My unit moved across the base one day while I was on a 12-hr Guard Duty, and when I made the long walk back to our dark area, it was completely deserted. I continued walking a lot further until I located them.  Sadly, they had forgotten to tell me that we were moving.  That was my funniest memory of this cracked and ill-run deployment.

Often, I listened sympathetically, and impartially, to those with news of problems from home.  I, and many of the others, walked everywhere we went. For the first couple of months, it was quite common to have to stand in line for hours (once for 6 hours) waiting to get into the Post Exchange. Being a very trusting person, I never was concerned about pollution or air quality; I had no choice, in any case. I even walked the 1 ½ miles to each sick call with Bronchitis and Dehydration, coughing all the way. Our Hummer for "medical runs" was rarely around.

There were enormous unnecessary deployment-related difficulties - some related to health; however, it was only after I returned back home that I fully understood the depth of degradation which many of us (over half of our unit) endured unscathed, and why.  Only HE (see verse below) knew the despicable plans, as well as the outcome.

It was seeing this very simple verse on a checkbook cover in a Baptist Book Store that the realty of it all hit home. 

"FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU,

      PLANS TO PROSPER YOU,  AND

            NOT TO HARM YOU,

 PLANS TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND A FUTURE."

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

Awesome!  

I was very proud to get back to my desk at the armory, where one is safe from those horrendous sand fleas. 

I retired from the military almost 2 years after we returned back to the U.S.

Back home again, I was diagnosed with COPD - hearing loss and tinnitus - my health began to slowly decline. Wide-spread muscle aches and pains w/stiffness gradually settled in, as did neuralgia of my left thigh. My diagnosis was Fibromyalgia. Later, my doctor sent me to have a sleep study done. I failed it twice and was told I have Sleep Apnea, and MUST use the Positive Airways Pressure breathing machine at night. I had already reported to my doctor that my short-term memory and my ability to concentrate on specific tasks, lacked something.

I kept up my own medical studies, and eventually, I found that every one of my medical symptoms, to include the latest Fibromyalgia and Sleep Apnea, all could have been caused by the burn pit toxins:

I found lots of medical research, some from other, more advanced (or simply, more "open") countries, and from medical school researches that all listed industrial toxins as a possible cause for all of my symptoms.

Imagine that.

I can only imagine that Jesus is smiling these days: what with all the money spent by DOD on Healthcare - not to exclude all the "impartial panel" research and books on Gulf War health and exposures,  I find it amazingly astonishing that a small group of UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers are the first to pinpoint damage inside the brains of veterans suffering from Gulf War Syndrome. This very welcome discovery was published in the March issue of the journal Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, which enables visualization of the exact brain structures affected by toxic chemicals. This small group of researchers, no doubt, are truly the first to have gone above and beyond the "call of duty" in support of sickened, and wounded, war veterans! Imagine that.

CHEERS TO ALL!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

31 March 2009