Guest guest Posted February 26, 2000 Report Share Posted February 26, 2000 From the Fayetteville Observer - to read with inserted photo please use the below: http://www.fayettevillenc.com/foto/news/content/2000/tx00feb/n26jones.htm Hang in there Bob, Debi and kids. You know our number. Joe & Marilyn. Saturday, February 26, 2000 Sick soldier fights to stay in uniform By S. Biank Staff writer Staff Sgt. is too sick to work, but he is fighting to stay in the Army. He says a discharge would be a death sentence not only for him, but also for his family. Staff photo by Steve Hebert Staff Sgt. is fighting a medical discharge. is suffering from what he believes is Gulf War illness. He has severe headaches, chronic muscle and joint pain, and memory loss. He is 44, but walks like a man twice his age. His wife, Deborah, is sick, too. She never served in the Gulf War, but she, as well as some doctors, is convinced that the Gulf War is to blame for her own illnesses. The es say their 6-year-old daughter is also sick. During the next four to six weeks, a military physical evaluation board will decide if , who has served in the Army for 17 years, should remain on active duty. ‘‘They are cutting off my lifeline by separating me from the Army and not giving me treatment,’’ said. ‘‘And that’s why I’m fighting. For the survival of my family.’’ Military officials say it is time that be cared for like other injured or sick service members who can no longer perform their military mission: They are either medically separated from the military with severance pay or medically retired with disability retirement pay and benefits. If a service member is medically retired, family members are also entitled to medical care and benefits. Those options are unacceptable to , who believes his family will get better medical care and better access to care if he remains on active duty. Last appeal On Wednesday, the couple and their lawyer, Mark Waple, sent a letter with documents to the Army’s surgeon general, Lt. Gen. Blank, in Falls Church, Va., requesting that remain on active duty and that he and his family continue to receive private medical care and treatment from civilian doctors in California. ‘‘If he is separated from active duty, he’s not going to get that care,’’ said Waple, who specializes in military law. No one is arguing that Staff Sgt. is a very sick man. What is being debated is whether a soldier who is no longer medically fit for duty should remain in uniform. The es say in their case, yes. ‘‘I want to live,’’ said. ‘‘I want my family to live. They didn’t sign up to join the military. They are innocent victims and they deserve more than this.’’ His wife said, ‘‘I know we’re very sick and probably won’t live long.’’ She has had to quit her job as a teacher because of multiple ailments including chronic pain and fatigue, headaches, memory loss and jaw infections. ‘‘We have three children we are responsible for,’’ she said. The es were the first family to go through Phase 3 of the Department of Defense Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program on Gulf War Illnesses in July 1997 at Walter Army Medical Center. Their discharge diagnosis reads: ‘‘Persistent multiple physical symptoms that remain incompletely explained after exhaustive medical evaluation. Onset of symptoms related in time to Gulf War service.’’ Mystery Following the Gulf War more than 100,000 service members returned home with various ailments, including chronic pain, migraines, skin rashes, fatigue, memory loss, joint pain and digestive problems. The Pentagon has documented 20,000 with unexplained symptoms. ‘‘We know they are sick,’’ said Lt. Col. Diane Lawhon, the Pentagon’s director of public affairs for Gulf War illness. ‘‘In most cases, we don’t know why.’’ The number of family members who also show symptoms of Gulf War illness is not known. The Pentagon does not track those figures. ‘‘It’s not something we hear a lot,’’ said Lawhon, who travels across the country speaking with veterans suffering from Gulf War illness. Cases come up ‘‘periodically,’’ she said. ‘‘Could it be contagious? Sure,’’ Lawhon said. ‘‘Do we know for sure? No.’’ Decision ’ case will be decided by the Physical Evaluation Board at Walter Army Medical Center which is part of the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency. Final jurisdiction is with the Army Personnel Command. Officials would not comment on ’ case because of patient-privacy rules, but did say they have done everything they can for and it is time for the military to decide if he is medically fit for duty. For the past two years, has been in a medical holding company at Fort Bragg. The company is for sick or injured soldiers who stay in the unit until they are rehabilitated and sent back to active service or are deemed medically unfit for service and are medically separated from the Army. is so ill he must stay at home. He calls his commander once a day to check in. has been in the company, which is based at Womack Army Medical Center, twice as long as most soldiers. His commander, Capt. Fay, said that is because the Army has explored and exhausted all possibilities to help gain medical care so he can resume his Army career. ‘‘Regrettably, we can’t fix him,’’ Fay said. ‘‘Medical treatment is not going to make him well enough to be an artilleryman.’’ Fay said the Army has sent across the country to both military and civilian doctors. ‘‘We’re bending over a lot for Sgt. ,’’ Fay said. ‘‘We’ve sent him just about everywhere. I don’t think Sgt. has the short end of the stick.’’ Meanwhile, the es say they are living a daily nightmare. They have taken a second mortgage on their house for medical bills not covered by the Army. ‘‘Our credit is destroyed,’’ said. ‘‘I don’t want to be a welfare recipient,’’ he said. ‘‘There are doctors who said they can help us. With God’s will we can get back on our feet. But first I need to have the opportunity and that opportunity has not been afforded by the Department of Defense medical system.’’ would like to stay on active duty for two more years. That is the recommendation of his specialists in California, who want to try an expensive, experimental immune booster therapy treatment for two more years on the es. In documents sent to the Army surgeon general, the es’ doctor said the couple can expect to live another 20 years with his specialized treatment. Without it, they are likely to live ‘‘less than several years.’’ The treatments cost a minimum of $40,000 a year. Waple, the es’ lawyer, thinks that is why the military wants to separate from the service. ‘‘I just don’t know what to say to the children,’’ said Deborah , who is 42. ‘‘They have two very sick parents. As a mother I can’t do anything about that.’’ If her husband leaves the service, ‘‘it will be devastating to us,’’ she said. ‘‘Not only financially, but medically. 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