Joyce Riley was a Registered Nurse who served in the Gulf, and is now appalled at the range of runaway symptoms. From all the cognitive problems to all the digestive ones and beyond, to mycoplasma infections to overriding fatigue, not too mention the pattern of birth defects in children whose parents served in the Persian Gulf, the numbers have been overwhelming.
If Truth is the first casualty of war it stands to reason that all wars have their secrets hidden away in history, like a locked box in the far corner of an attic. Questions and answers for us to contemplate years later. Questions of loyalty and betrayal as the pressures of war cause shifting alliances. And key figures at the time, what did they know and when did they know it? Who had intelligence, never revealed, of what the enemy might be doing?
The Gulf War of the 1990’s may harbor all those rich historical uncertainties, but it contains a broader mystery, especially for the winning side, the American side. Namely, why did almost a third of the returning troops, over 200,000 men and women, return from the Gulf with unexplained symptoms, medical symptoms that may be with them for life?
It was much talked about at the time, the so-called Gulf War Syndrome. Complaints to the Veteran’s Administration health system were stacked high in it’s files, keeping the system clogged for months on end. Returning veterans complained of fatigue, pain in their joints, headaches, and mental distress such as trouble with memory and cognition, among other symptoms.
In the early years after the conflict, the Department of Defense was largely in denial. “Department of Defense physicians have found no clinical evidence of a unique illness,” was the standard press release until evidence mounted. The numbers of those showing symptoms from among a consistent menu finally overwhelmed the system and forced recognition that something had chronically affected the health of veterans.
Veteran’s Administration authorities still don’t know, they say, exactly what caused the cluster of symptoms. But as the years have gone by, it’s become harder and harder to pretend that the phenomenon has not been consistently real. “Proof Gulf War Illness Does Exist” stressed the title of an article from a few years back (begging the question of why anyone would question that it does). Even brain tissue volumes were affected in symptomatic individuals, the study concluded!