“We’ve sworn an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. We didn’t join the Marine Corps to lurk in showers.”
- A Quantico, Va.-based major, who is gay, dismissing some Marines’ fears of showering with openly gay troops.
The health of 1991 Persian Gulf War veterans has worsened compared with military personnel who served during that time but did not deploy, a new Veterans Affairs Department study says. In their second decade after that conflict, Gulf War veterans were more likely than non-deploying peers to report persistent health problems and develop chronic ailments such as arthritis, high blood pressure, and heart disease, according to the study that compared survey results taken in 1995 and 2005.
While nearly 45 percent of war-zone veterans who said they suffered post-traumatic stress disorder in 1995 reported having recovered by 2005, 9 percent actually developed PTSD during that 10-year period, according to the VA report, published July 27, 2011 in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The study compared the results of a 1995 health survey of 30,000 veterans, roughly half of whom deployed, to results of a 2005 survey of the same people. Although only 9,000 veterans answered the second poll, the researchers said the low response was unlikely to have skewed the results.
The 2005 survey did not seek to determine why Gulf War veterans are sicker than their non-deploying brethren; it simply relayed whether Gulf War veterans were getting sicker and what types of diseases they have. The findings come as no surprise to Gulf War veterans, many of whom are experiencing the aches and pains of middle age, as well as maladies possibly related to military service.
From the Amazing but True File, I must report that the same spit-and-polish attention to detail Marines learned in boot camp could land them in hot water on the National Mall. That’s because the National Park Service has taken a hard line against Marines who visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and honor their brothers in arms by shining the base of the memorial’s flagpole. Some have been threatened with charges of destruction of government property, according to a recent blog post on Nextgov, an online news site covering government affairs. It’s treatment usually reserved for spray paint-wielding delinquents.
The NPS claims that constant use of Brasso, a common polishing agent, erodes the monument. However the head of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the organization that built and funded the memorial doesn’t think all the polishing is a bad idea. Jan Scruggs, the head of the memorial fund, told Nextgov that even with constant polishing the base plate would last another century.
Each year, the fourth Sunday of September is Gold Star Mother’s Day, honoring women whose children died in service to the U.S. During World War I, some families hung service flags, or banners, in windows to show their devotion to the nation. Blue stars on flags represented family members serving in the military, and gold stars signified members who died in the line of duty. Mothers of fallen troops eventually came to be known as “gold star mothers,” according to American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., a nonprofit organization formed in 1928 for mothers of fallen troops to comfort one another, help wounded veterans, and keep alive the memories of their loved ones.
Two men were convicted September 14 in connection with a Virginia truck stop robbery that left one Marine Corps veteran with four gunshot wounds, one to the head, one to the shoulder, one to the groin, and one to the buttocks, local media reported. Warren Brown, the robber, and Winston Oliver, the getaway driver, were convicted of all charges. They face life in prison.
On May 8, 2010, in Carolina County, Donal Edmund Jr., a 62-year-old Vietnam vet, was at the truck stop when he saw Brown attempt to rob the clerk. Edmund hit Brown with a beer bottle. In his escape, Brown shot Edmund four times. The vet recovered from his injuries.
A local newspaper mistakenly printed an obituary for the town’s oldest practicing lawyer. He called them immediately and threatened to sue unless they printed a correction.
The next day, the following notice appeared, “We regret that the report of Attorney Critchley’s death was in error.”
Police-Fire Post 456 is anxious for all veterans to join the post. The Sheriff’s Department is very under-represented, as are female veterans. Anyone interested in joining the American Legion, San Francisco Police-Fire Post, please contact me at Mission Station, or at gc1207@comcast.net. The Post meets on the second Tuesday of every month. Meetings start at 6:00 PM and are held at the Veteran’s War Memorial Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue, room 212.
