WSU to Study Iraq Toxins' Effect
Spokesman-Review
by Bert Caldwell
Research to examine how exposure might damage offspring of soldiers
Washington State University scientists will use a $1.7 million grant to study what multi-generation genetic damage might be done by toxins U.S. troops could encounter in Iraq.
The research using laboratory rats, not humans, will be the first for the military to examine the epigenetic effects of pesticides, herbicides and other compounds, said lead scientist Michael Skinner, director of the university's Center for Reproductive Biology.
Previous studies have looked at the health effects of other substances, notably the Agent Orange used to defoliate jungles in Vietnam, on the soldiers directly exposed, he said, not on their children or grandchildren.
"The science really had not caught up with the trans-generational stuff," said Skinner, one of several WSU pioneers in the field of epigenetic, or multi-generational, inheritance.
Besides herbicides and pesticides – which and in what combinations has not been determined – the study also will look at the effects of explosives residues, he said.
The four-year study will allow researchers to see how any changes in genetic chemistry that develop are passed along through two subsequent generations of rats, he said, noting that only the first two years of research have been funded.
Among the problems that might develop are kidney disease, or changes in the male and female reproductive organs, he said.
If any genetic markers are identified in rats, Skinner said, follow-up research could look at whether they might show up among members of the military as well.
That would be of particular interest to Dave Holmes, interim chief operating officer of the Institute for Systems Medicine, which was awarded the U.S. Department of Defense grant passed through to Skinner.
Holmes' son, Tim Hammond, did two tours in Iraq with the U.S. Marine Corps.
"They sprayed all kinds of stuff on them," Holmes said.
Although the grant money, the first awarded ISM, will fund work in Pullman, he said the organization's supporters hope any subsequent clinical studies will be done in Spokane.
"There's a lot of excitement about making it happen," he said.
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Who does our Commander In Chief Obama really take care of ?
My father, Lucien W. Gentes, like many veterans, was shamefully let down by the government and Administration of this country. He was unable to obtain benefits to which he was entitled. He died while I was working diligently to get those benefits for him. With a few exceptions, I do not want anyone to go through what my family did. Hopefully publishing this information is a step in the direction of getting help for the survivors. I realize this is long, but it is the only way I could give you the most accurate picture of my father's honorable service and the most dishonorable disservice to him by our government.
My father was not shot and killed in service to his country, but he was injured, poisoned, maimed and otherwise sickened because of his service to our country. Those injuries and conditions lead to a one- hundred percent (100%) disability, excruciating pain, suffering, paralysis and his death.
My father's parents immigrated here. They didn't know English. There were no signs in every building or translations on every document in their native language, no "number 1" to press for their native language and "2" if they wanted English. Schools were not required to have teachers speak their native language.
My father, a natural born citizen, learned English in First Grade and helped teach his parents. They worked hard to learn the language of America, the country where they chose to live. As my father got older, he helped his parents study to become citizens. They were all extremely proud to be citizens of this country.
My father's family was poor and every member worked for money or gardened/hunted/fished to pay for or get basic needs. My father grew up fighting poverty and the prejudice that brings. When he was old enough, he enlisted in the United States Armed Forces. He sent money home to his mother, and later to his wife. He was a Private, with no wealthy or political connections, who earned every rank he obtained and medal he received by his own effort, blood and sweat. On his way to becoming a Lieutenant Colonel, he made immeasurable sacrifices for our country.
During his twenty-eight (28) years of service to this country, he fought enemy combatants on the ground in both Vietnam and Korea. He never "bragged" about his wartime service or medals. He thought it was wrong to glorify war. Talking about it brought sad and disturbing memories, so he just didn’t. He said anyone who wanted war for its own sake or claimed not to be afraid to die, was a fool. He fought and served so his children and country, and other countries, could be free from further war and governmental oppression. When he finally retired, along with the good of knowing he did a job well and feeling honored to serve with others that did too, came the disabilities and illnesses.
My parents raised my siblings and me to know and value the sacrifices made for our freedoms. We understand and appreciate the words to the Star Spangled Banner and the Pledge of Allegiance. Growing up, we were taught how important it is to be a good (not just proud) American, a good Christian, do volunteer work and set examples for others around you. The Administration of this country also expects good qualities from its citizens, especially its military, but does not reciprocate. Instead, I believe the government rewards people based on who they know or for whom they have done favors. Benefits and jobs are often doled out to those who don't deserve them and are not qualified for them, to the detriment of those who rely upon such "workers". Systems then get put in place that make no sense and that hinder instead of help those that deserve it. This leads to things like a struggling Veterans Administration and other government agencies, limping along with stupid rules and regulations--and the rest of my story.
In December, 2009, my father was an inpatient at the VA Medical Center in White River Junction, Vermont (WRJ VAMC). He had many health issues, but most pressing at the time was his need for heart surgery, which could not be performed at the WRJ VAMC. He was taken by ambulance to a nearby civilian hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Following
his heart surgery, he suffered a stroke. He was unable to move most all of his body, but his left arm/hand and he didn't have great control of those. He understood what was said to him and recognized people. He was unable to talk, but it was clear he was suffering and in severe pain. He was trapped in a body he could not control.
Once he was "medically stable", I was asked where I wanted him discharged for rehabilitation. Of course he would have to go as soon as possible, because he wouldn't be allowed to stay at the hospital. The WRJ VAMC did not offer the type of rehabilitation he needed. I contacted the WRJ VAMC social worker and was told Dad was eligible for VA Contracted Skilled Nursing Care based on his official rating of sixty percent (60%) service connected disabilities. She faxed me a list of facilities to check out in NH and VT.
I also had a list from DHMC. After calling and visiting many facilities, I learned that some did not even accept patients with my Dad's medical issues. I also learned my Dad actually was not eligible for VA Contracted Skilled Nursing Care. He needed an officially increased disability rating to be eligible. I tried to apply for this on his behalf, using the General Durable Power of Attorney given me by my father. But, my legal Power of Attorney was useless for Veterans Administration purposes. I was told I had to petition the probate court to get Guardianship of my father as an "Incapacitated Adult" to apply for increased benefits on his behalf to get the VA Contracted Skilled Nursing Care. This was a necessary "to protect my father's rights", would be interpreted as a "detriment to the veteran", and would take months.
My father didn't need protection from me proactively trying to get benefits as quickly as possible for him. He needed protection from whatever policy it was that took months for him to get those benefits! I had authority to make decisions under a Health Care Power of Attorney that was accepted by the VAMC and DHMC, and a Durable General Power of Attorney that was accepted by most all other agencies. The Durable General Power of Attorney included authority to do everything imaginable, even specifically file claims on Dad's behalf with federal agencies. It made no sense to me that I should have to get a Guardianship, especially when I couldn't get it in time to do any good. So, I talked to more people at the WRJ Veterans Administration, who gave me more wrong information and cost me more time.
The next few days my father's condition deteriorated so DHMC allowed him to stay. I had more time to try to get his benefits and find an appropriate rehabilitation facility for him. This meant less time to personally spend with him in his worsened condition.
As a last resort, I decided to contact a political representative for help. I was not real hopeful, as my life experiences lead me to believe more in government/judicial corruption and nepotism than anything positive. Nonetheless, I searched the internet for politicians with favorable votes on Veterans’ issues and e-mailed Congressman Paul Hodes. To my surprise, Gail Russell of his office responded and tried to help me right away. In the meantime, a family friend relayed the situation to Senator Judd Gregg's office. Ginnie Demers of his staff quickly responded and tried to help me. A relative relayed the situation to Governor Lynch's office and asked to have him call me. Governor Lynch never called, but someone from his office did e-mail the NH State Veteran's Council, giving them my name and number. Carter Higginbotham from the State Veterans' Council was a big help. I was also referred to the Manchester NH VA and Disabled American Veterans' National Service Office. Cookie Cole, Sherry Gianitsis, and Charles Vadnais of the Manchester VA were helpful and so was Denise DeBlois, DAV National Service Officer.
A relative also wrote the current President asking for help with the situation. Apparently she had written to Ronald Reagan during his presidency and received a personal, handwritten response, directly addressing her particular concerns and signed by President Reagan. President Obama and members of his Administration, and their staff, however, could not be bothered to respond on any level to this issue involving a retired United States serviceman needing immediate help.
Even without the current Administration's help, through the work and kindness of Gail Russell,
Congressman Paul Hodes, Ginnie Demers, Senator Judd Gregg, Carter Higginbotham of the NH State Veterans Council, Manchester VA employees (Cookie Cole, Sherry Gianitsis, and Charles Vadnais) and DAV National Service Officer Denise DeBlois; at least I now had the accurate and complete information I needed to forge ahead. But, I still needed to get the actual forms filled out, signed, witnessed, filed and processed!
1. I needed an official determination that my father was "unemployable" due to his service connected disabilities.
2. I needed an official disability rating total of sixty percent (60%), with at least one condition in that totality being forty percent (40%) in and of itself, or an official disability rating of one condition being sixty percent (60%) itself.
4. My father had to mark all these forms with an "X" for his signature indicating he was applying for himself, with witnesses to that marking.
5. And, I needed medical documentation from health care providers. Any idiot could see my father was unemployable and one-hundred percent (100%) disabled based upon
service-connected conditions. You would think getting an official unemployability designation and disability rating increase would be a “no brainer“, but noooooooooooooooooo:
1. One form required detailed information for "all employment including self-employment for the last five years you worked" (dates, pay, hours, time lost from illness), the date you last worked full-time, what was the most you ever earned in one year--what year, etc. My father was seventy-seven (77) years old. He retired from the military in 1978. I didn't even have his basic employment history fresh in my head. Even if he could speak, I doubt he had those precise details in his head. I decided to get his lifetime earnings history from the Social Security office to try to figure this out. Guess what?!
That is another federal office that doesn’t recognize a Durable General Power of Attorney, despite language in the document expressing authority to file claims specifically with the Social Security Office! Now, I had another form for my Dad to sign with an X, with witnesses, just so I could get information from the Social Security Office to try to ascertain the information I needed to put on one of the VA forms.
2. At some point trying to track down information, I found an October 13, 2009 press release, that “Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric K. Shinseki decided to establish a service-connection for Vietnam Veterans with . . . ischemic heart disease." I thought for sure this would be the way to get my Dad's official disability rating increased. But again, in the obscure wisdom of a high placed government official of the Obama Administration, it was useless. There was no system put into
place for VA employees to use to officially rate the percentage of disability allowed to veterans with ischemic heart disease. My Dad actually was one-hundred percent (100%) disabled by the ischemic heart disease and resulting stroke, but without a rating system in place, the VA couldn't officially figure this out.
3. Now I was left with the idea of increasing the disability rating of Dad's service-connected diabetes, which leads to ischemic heart disease, followed by stroke. (His diabetes was not caused by genetics or poor diet/exercise choices, but by that wonderful Agent Orange.) Diabetes does at least have a rating system in place, but I would need yet another form to be filled out by doctors and signed by my father with witnesses.
It's not as if medical staff were subject to my beck and call to fill out these forms, or as if my father was always able to “X” his mark on them. Doctors were around only as their schedules dictated or allowed, and my Dad was frequently exhausted, in pain or in some drug-induced rest. I went from trying to page and track down doctors at DHMC, or the WRJ VA Medical Center, to trying to find times when my Dad was unaffected and/or awake enough to process my explanations of the paperwork and make a physical mark on them for a "signature". Due to the nature of DHMC's system of care, it was time consuming to track down the right doctor, who was even willing to fill out the forms. I am grateful to those who did. Thankfully, Dr. Richard Mansfield at the WRJ VAMC went above and beyond to get the necessary information to me.
Finding all of this information, going to all of these offices in NH and VT, getting and submitting the right forms, and arranging for childcare (I am a single mom), took away time that I should have been able to spend with my father and my children. Although he was being monitored by electronic gadgets feeding information to central nurses’ stations, and doctors and nurses were checking on
him periodically, he could do nothing for himself. He could not push the call button for help if he
needed it. He could not holler for help. If he was lying in urine or stool, his pain was increasing, or
his wounds/infections needed cleaning--he could not move out of it or get someone's attention to get it taken care of. At least when I was physically there, I could keep constant vigil for these issues and get help for him. But, I couldn't be there and trying to get his VA benefits in place to get the best follow up care for when he was discharged.
Once while I was there, a nurse joked with him about physical therapy and how we would have to get him a Jane Fonda exercise tape. He couldn't even tell her, as he had told his wife and children many times, that nothing to do with that "traitor" was allowed near him or his household. I later pulled the nurse aside and explained that wasn't an appropriate comment to make to any Vietnam Veteran.
Ironic, isn't it that people who put down our service people and/or country choose to stay here where they have the freedom to say and do many morally despicable things and get rich?Since they get the benefit of the freedom other people died or suffered to get for them, the least they could do is be grateful. I would like to see those people live in China or North Korea and openly support their enemies or put down those governments.
Dad died February 3, 2010, before I had time to even get his paperwork finalized and filed. He died knowing his service and sacrifice to this country didn't matter enough to the current Administration to help him. It is shameful enough that compensation penalties were imposed upon him as a military survivor and a retired disabled veteran. He was forced to fund his own VA benefits by sacrificing DoD payments. He needed those benefits, deserved them and paid for them, but could not get them.
My father always wanted his children and grandchildren to enlist in the US Armed Services. Given how he was repaid by his country, I might wish that on my worst enemy, but certainly not my children! Mr. President and Mr. and Mrs. Clinton--I think it would be poetic justice if you all were stripped of your privileges and then went to fight enemy combatants in the middle of a battle field and were severely wounded or made ill. Don't worry if your government decides to drench you with
poison dumped from the sky, or inject you with experimental drugs in the process. No one will even admit a small percentage of the damage caused to you for at least forty (40) or more years. And if you get put in a torturous prison camp, we'll just send Jane Fonda to make your life more of a Hell.
If you actually make it home after that, don't forget to subtract your disability pay from any retirement pay, so you can pay for your VA benefits. Even if you actually deserve and pay for VA benefits, I'll make sure to ask the administration to make them practically useless to you.
Dad always told us not to ask anyone to do anything you wouldn't do yourself. I think that is
excellent advice for a Commander In Chief to follow. I don't think he should require the service men and women of this country to have any less health care than he has. I think if any citizen does not get a cost of living increase in government compensation to which they are entitled (disability, military pay and retirement pay, etc.), then neither should he. If a service person has to sacrifice his or her retirement pay to get their disability pay and benefits, then so should he.
Instead of using taxpayers' money and military resources to fund trips for his personal pet projects--I understand his personal friends would have financially benefited if he was successful in his campaign to the international community to hold the Olympics where he wanted--and to transport noncitizens to this country for free/subsidized health care and other services; I suggest the Commander in Chief pay attention to the needs of his troops and military retirees. It may not make for as good photo opportunities, but it will make for a better country.
How about using resources to provide all VA Medical Centers and Benefits Offices with intelligent, properly-trained, knowledgeable staff? Or to provide all VA Medical Centers with the resources necessary to treat and care for all of a Veteran's service-connected health issues? If a veteran is shipped off to a civilian facility for a service-connected condition, it should be paid for through his/her veterans benefits. It is shameful that a veteran or his family members should have to painstakingly hunt down and navigate the maze of VA forms and regulations, then jump through all kinds of hoops to locate and research decade's worth of material to fill out the forms, and wait for a response before
getting the veteran's benefits. It is also shameful that a condition is eventually recognized as being
service-connected, but the veteran and the VA cannot implement that benefit because the
Administration hasn't bothered to set up a rating system to be used. How about not taking away
DoD compensation because someone had the misfortune of being injured/disabled serving this
country? What a slap in the face!
I hope every person who reads this honors a service person or veteran by letting our government know we expect better. We expect justice.
Supposedly you can contact President Obama by writing to:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Or e-mail him at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/ and get a response. At that website, you
can also read the promise: “With Secretary Shinseki, the President will make sure the VA provides
veterans the best possible care.” Even if they never intended to keep that promise, let them know the American people expect them to keep it!
Sincerely,
RoseAnn Gentes-Soulia
Please send as many e-mails/postcards as your organization can to President Obama with this
message:
Lucien W. Gentes died without getting the Veterans’ benefits he paid for. Don’t let that happen to any other service people, veterans and/or their families!
PS. I Vote!
Signed
P.O. Box 204
Concord, NH 03302
