Veterans of the first Gulf War can’t get treatment; Army admits medical records were destroyed

Veterans Today

St. Petersburg , Florida — Operation Desert Storm, which pushed Iraqi troops out of Kuwait but kept Saddam Hussein in power, took a huge toll on American servicemen and women.

159,705 veterans were injured or became ill, and 10,617 veterans have died of combat related injuries or illnesses since the initiation of the Gulf War during August 1990.

Since the second Gulf War began, there have been another 5,884 casualties. (Not including contractors, veteran contractors)

Most of the veterans we talked to for this story say they are aware when they sign their name on the dotted line, they might not come home or could be wounded. However, they say that is part of the job.  The Gulf War veterans were talked to also ask us not to identify them.

As one told us, it’s the government and he knows what the government is capable of doing and he doesn’t want his name out there.

One solider trying to get help from the Veterans Administration for combat-related injuries says he has been turned down, because his records are missing. He says he has all the medical records for the time he was in the states, but the records for everything that happened outside of the country are gone.

The VA has heard similar complaints before, but a letter from Department of the Army that has never been made public before says after Desert Storm ended, units were told to destroy their records since there was no room to ship the paperwork back to the states. The letter goes on to say it was in direct contradiction to existing Army Regulations.

Please read the entire post at Veteran Todays here