Some Information Readers Rquestd

Readers have been asking me a number of questions of late that really have more to do with me as a person than with the material I write.  Perhaps this note will provide some of the answers.

Are you interested in knowing what writers feel is their toughest assignment?  Well, I’ll tell you anyway.  The hardest thing for any of them to do is generate copy about themselves.

I can dash off a news item or a column in a matter of minutes.  It should be easy for me; I have been doing it for more than 50 years.  Now you have the picture, I am one of the ole duffer clan.

I grew up, spent my youth and reached middle age in the United States Marine Corps.  There isn’t anything outside my family more important to me than being a Marine.  Wearing Marine Green made me everything that I am, as a man, a husband, a father...and a grandfather.  It taught me pride in accomplishment and instilled in me the everlasting belief that service to one’s country and others is among the most praiseworthy of accomplishments.  Above all it taught me to believe in God, Duty, Honor, Corps and Country.

Following my retirement from the Marine Corps, I served on the staff of the Marine Military Academy and later the University of Texas-Pan American. This work led me to completing a career in the health services field. I found myself working with those most fragile of individuals, the patients suffering from mental illness and those who are impacted by the condition of mental retardation.

No one has ever credited working in the mental health community as being part of a profession, which attracts unlimited numbers of people.  There is still strong stigma associated with those who must endure these maladies.  But, working in the field has rewards of its own.  You find that those who are in need of your care and understanding are truly worthy of all efforts made on their behalf.

At the same time you find yourself part of a professional community that is dedicated to providing the best possible care.  They help bring people who feel lost back into the brotherhood of man...and the love they project is something to treasure.

So, that is the world that has made me what I am today.  I am still a fiscal conservative, but, to a degree, a social moderate.  I have strong passions about our country and its future.

But, I guess, most of all I am really just “Papo”, a grandfather that writes stories for two beautiful little girls.  A guy, who teaches them computer games, watches endless “Disney” type movies and with the new addition of a grandson, must now start a strong campaign to make sure he becomes a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan.  The most serious failure of my life, was allowing my son to stray and become a Washington Redskins fanatic. That should never be allowed to happen again.

...And Where Are The Media Cries To Find The Leaker?

Harlingen, Texas, December 19, 2005: The December 15 disclosure by The New York Times that President Bush had authorized eavesdropping on suspected terrorist connected telephone conversations inside the United States has developed into a national debate about the legality of such an intelligence operation.

There have been allegations of overstepping presidential authority and even criminal action being taken by the administration.  Seldom is it mentioned that Congress was given a detailed briefing on the special program.

Even the New York Times hid that element of the story, placing it in the 22nd paragraph of its very lengthy article, writing, “After the special program started, Congressional leaders from both political parties were brought to Vice President Dick Cheney’s office in the White House.  The leaders, who included the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House intelligence committees, learned of the N.S.A. operation from Mr. Cheney, General Michael V. Hayden of the Air Force, who was then the agency’s director and is now the principal deputy director of national intelligence, and George J. Tenet, then director of the C.I.A., officials said.”

What is missing from the Times article and most media reports since the story unfolded, is an urgent call to immediately discover and prosecute the parties who leaked the information.  In fact, the Times article states, “Nearly a dozen current and former officials, who were granted anonymity because of the classified nature of the program, discussed it with reporters.”

Even these individuals should be made party to a serious investigation, because such disclosures during a time of war could be considered treason.

The President has pointed out how the enemy was aided when it was disclosed that Al Qaeda cell phone conversations were being monitored.  The enemy quit using cell phones at that point and vital intelligence information was lost.

It is quite telling to note, that the New York Times and all the mainstream media that cried out thousands upon thousands of times demanding the identity of the person who leaked the former status of Valerie Plane are silent on the same demand for identity disclosure in the N.S.A. leak story.

Plane, who had once been an undercover C.I.A. agent, was not harmed because she was no longer a covert agent.  But, the media demanded the name of the leaker in that case and is not making the same demands concerning the National Security Agency eavesdropping leak.

It is far more serious to have disclosed the fact that overseas telephone calls to suspected terrorist sympathizers in the United States are being monitored.  This is information that the enemy can now use to its advantage, adding to American difficulties in the War on Terror.  The disclosure assuredly aids the enemy...but, where are the media cries to find the leaker?

Did The Government Let Its Veterans Die?

Harlingen, Texas, December 8, 2005:  If the report is true, our government has some serious explaining to do.  According to a 2003 study, almost every person involved in a secret government test program is either dead or seriously ill.  What has Washington told you about this?  Absolutely nothing!

Even more surprising is, mainstream media has paid scant attention to the ongoing charges by veterans that they were used as test subjects.  These same veterans have been denied official recognition of their participation, medical treatment and disability compensation because the government keeps all information related to the tests classified.

It is an open secret that the Veterans Administration routinely denies treatment to former service personnel because their illnesses cannot be confirmed as being “service connected”.  What is seldom mentioned is another reason for denying any responsibility to provide medial care.  This is lack of confirmation due to classified records.  An Internet search for media coverage of this common practice will produce few documents on the subject.

NBC Television had a fictional presentation of the problem in the December 7, 2005 program E-Ring.  In that episode a retired military officer was dying of liver failure due to Hepatitis resulting from a tainted blood transfusion given to him by a government medical team.  He was denied VA treatment because his records were sealed due to his participation in classified missions.  Thus the VA could not document his illness as being ñservice connectedî.

As for mainstream media coverage of the problem, the latest article a Google search produces appearing in the Chicago Sun-Times on December 3, 2004. Written by Cheryl Reed. The article is on VA benefits for wounded veterans.  It addresses the difficulty they have obtaining documentation and getting VA claims approved.

One of the horror tales the article recounts concerns James Gates of Chicago.  He joined the Army in 1951 and fought in Korea.  He was later a test subject in secret nuclear tests conducted in Nevada.  During one such test he was blown out of an uncovered foxhole.  Later he lost his teeth and developed lung disease that doctors linked to radiation exposure.

Across the span of years since that time, Gates attempted to get medical treatment and disability payments from the VA.  The government answer was always that a review of his records showed he couldn’t prove he served in Korea or participated in the Nevada tests.  According the Sun-Times article, “Gates’ fight with the VA was hampered by the military’s own poor record-keeping.  Most of his records were destroyed in a 1973 fire at a St Louis VA records warehouse.”

Gates died last year without ever receiving a single penny from the government.

CBS News did a report in the spring of 2000 on 113 separate chemical and biological warfare tests, which were secretly conducted in the 1960s.  The Department of Defense responded to that television report saying everyone was fully briefed before those tests were conducted and that no personnel had been exposed to harmful substances.  Veteran’s organizations disagree, saying a few people may have been briefed, but the vast number of individuals involved claim they were never told a thing either before or after the tests.  These same veterans also have a variety of illnesses, which could be related to chemical or biological exposure.

More than 1,000 service personnel were eventually identified as test participants, but the government verification of these veterans’ claims and examination of documents to prove they meet VA treatment requirements is still ongoing.  Many veterans charge the government is purposely moving at a snails-pace on the matter, knowing these former military personnel are aging, in poor health and will go to their final reward before any liability is determined.

Though the government seems to avoid responsibility for the care of many veterans based upon the “secret” status of their records, some of its most questionable actions involve the denial of veteran claims based solely on complete distortion of facts, denial of hazards involved, no record of participation dates, or non-availability of records.

All of these things seem to be the rule, rather than the exception when it comes to documenting participation of veterans in the chemical weapons and drug research by the United States Army and the Central Intelligence Agency from 1955 until 1975 at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland.  During those years, 7120 soldiers ranging from 17 to about 20 years of age were participants in secret tests that involved a wide variety of chemicals and other agents ranging from DDT to LSD, along with the ingredients that make up mustard gas, Saran and other lethal products.

An Institute of Medicine report published in 2003 by Dr. William Page stated that the only long term health problems that test veterans showed were higher rates of brain tumors and sleep disorders.  This conflicts with a 1994 report by the National Institute of Health that shows long term health effects from exposure to Chemical Warfare agents GA, GB and VX include pulmonary problems, gastrointestinal ailments and delayed onset cardiac disease.

But, even these two reports to not touch all of the health problems faced by the Test Veterans.  Of those 7120 soldiers, a 1985 report shows 385 deceased.  By the year 2000, just 15 years later, that death figure appears to have multiplied to 3098 veterans.  Forty percent of the Test Veterans were dead before reaching age 65.  Another 2200 of these participants, or 54% of the Test Veterans are in very poor health or totally disabled.  Still, more than 30 years after the tests were concluded, the United States Government has not released the names of the personnel involved or admitted to the health damage this test program caused.

Georgia veteran Mike G. Bailey volunteered for the Edgewood test project.  He was classified a Level A test subject for the use of Psychochemical experiments.  On June 13, 1974 he was placed in a padded room at Madigan Army Hospital experiencing a “bad trip” from LSD.  Minor health concerns continued until 1992 when he experienced a stroke.  In 1994 he had his first heart attack.  In 1997 there was a blood clot, and later that year and artery collapsed, requiring bypass surgery.  In November of the same year another bypass was attempted and failed.  In February 1998 he was placed on a heart pump for four days.  That same year he had another heart attack.  By June 2002 a heart test was performed which revealed two collapsed bypasses.  No surgery could be done.  There was no transplant option.  Added to all of this he had autoimmune disorders, skin abnormalities, emphysema and other ailments.

For the past three years Mike Bailey has been battling the military establishment and the VA in an attempt to file claims related to his disability.  Though he has official records proving he was in the chemical test program from June 24 until August 22, 1974, the VA claims he did volunteer for the medical test program, but got sick and was sent home before it started.  All of his claims have been denied.

Like so many programs involving test volunteers, the government continues to claim records were destroyed, lost, or just cannot be located.  The Department of Defense refuses to release information or the names of test subjects and veterans continue to claim the VA lies about their case histories or endlessly delays responding to their requests.  In the case of those Edgewood tests, the government claims more than 3,000 of the volunteers cannot even be located.

The years are adding up as these veterans keep getting older and face more medical concerns.  Everyone knows the government is slow to react to anything, but to many veterans it seems as if the denials and delays are part of a plan for them to die before there is any resolution of their claims.

Is our government really as disorganized and bumbling as it appeared to be during recent disasters?  Or is it really attempting to purposely stall and let our own veterans die?

Attacks on Christmas Continue

Harlingen, Texas December 6, 2005:  As the Christmas season arrives and weather gets colder across the United States, Christian temperatures always heat up to the boiling point.  Across the country those who practice their Faith find themselves making written and verbal cries about the multitude of attacks on this treasured holiday.  This year, though the attacks on Christmas seem to have escalated, the pleadings of hurt voices have turned to roars of anger.

Television has been filled with pundits proclaiming, as in the case of Fox news Channel’s John Gibson, the “War on Christmas”.  The same channel’s Bill O’Reilly continues a nightly dialog on his observation of anti-Christian attacks. 

There was event a media commentator who equated the push toward removing religion from the season to geography. He made two very interesting observations.  The first was that those who live in “Jesusland” or the “flyover” red states of America are course, crass, and really not very bright. They need religious symbols to give them a sense of direction. His second observation was those in the blue states have more heart and have a greater caring nature.  He said this could be proven by the simple fact that those who live in the blue states have more “safety net programs” and pay far more taxes than those bumpkins in the red states who are tight with their dollars.

It could be argued that his first observation, particularly about “red staters” not being very bright, is belied by his second declaration that more taxes are paid by those blue state dwellers.  Could it be that in the red states, we are bright enough to reject higher taxes?

It is understood that many conservative minded people and those of deep faith live in the east and left coastal states of the country.  But, if they are being taxed beyond acceptable levels and their Christian values are so sharply under attack, perhaps they should consider moving to a place where their thrift is honored and their faith is lauded.

About our living in “Jesusland”, perhaps this television pontificator is right.  As I drive around this small Texas city I see huge signs in the parks that say “Merry Christmas”.  Some say “Feliz Navidad”.  I have lost count of the churches in town and we still have an Invocation at all public meetings.

Our school choirs and bands held Christmas concerts where they sang and played music about the birth of Christ.  The traditional “La Pasada” will be held in another of our city parks.  Local television and radio are filled with real Christmas music and quotations from the Bible.  Across the main street of town is a huge banner that advertises a “Festival of 800,000 Lights”, which is a display of Christ’s birth at a local church.

At the local Rotary Club we are having a program presented by Marines from our reserve unit just returned from Iraq.  These young men, who fought so bravely, are already engaged in a new campaign.  They are seeking “Toys For Tots” and plan on distributing the donations as Christmas gifts to thousands of needy children.

One thing we don’t like is a store that refuses to advertise Christmas and replace the words with “Happy Holidays”.  We believe this is the Christmas season and we support all those who honor such celebrations.

There may be an attack on faith being conducted through the media and ACLU around the country, but none of their voices are being heard, nor are they welcome in this corner of the Lone Star State.  If they should decide they want to spew such hate filled rhetoric in our direction, they should think first about a saying we use to warn all polluters - “Don’t Mess With Texas!”

More Voices on the War

Harlingen, Texas, November 23, 2005: The military community is made up of active duty personnel, veterans, retire military and their families.  While it is a constitutional truth that every American has the right of free speech, there is no segment of our population that is more deserving of that right than the men, women and family members who sacrificed themselves through separation, immense hardship, pain, blood and loss of lives on our behalf.  These are some of their words about the War on Terror and the conduct of those at home.

Lieutenant General E.G. ñBuckî Shuler, Jr. commanded the Strategic Air Command’s Eighth Air Force for three years and two months.  He participated in Operation Just Cause in Panama, plus Desert Shield and Desert Strom in the Persian Gulf.  His 32-year military career included 23 years in SAC.  The general is now retired and lives in Lake Martin, Alabama.

Taking a quote from the old comic strip Pogo, General Shuler says, “We have seen the enemy and it is us!” He continues his remarks about the anti-war activists and congressional naysayers by observing, ñThese people might as well be card-carrying jihadist.  The net results of their actions are just as effective as if they were personally serving on Bin Laden’s staff or on the street actively conducting terrorist operations.  Do I question their patriotism and motives - absolutely!  They cannot have it both ways.  If we don’t turn this situation around now, we lose again, Lord help us!”

Another voice on the war is attributed, but not confirmed, to be that of retired Air Force Major General Vernon Chong.  The surgeon, who commanded Wilfred Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas is said to have written a strong article titled “The War is Real”.  Dozens of veterans have quoted excerpts from that commentary in their messages to me.  Says General Chong, “To get out of difficulty, one usually must go through it.  Our country is now facing the most serious threat to its existence, as we know it, that we have faced in your lifetime and mine.”

He later points out that the threat against America did not start on September 11, 2001, but 22 years earlier.  There were the Iran hostages in 1979, the Lebanon embassy bombing in 1983, the deadly attack on the Lebanon Marine barracks in 1983, the Lockerbie, Scotland Pan-Am flight in 1988, the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, the Khobar Towers attack in 1996, the attack on the Kenya embassy in 1998, the attack on the USS Cole in 2001 and the attacks we all call 9/11 which destroyed the World Trade Center towers and smashed into the Pentagon.  Chong further notes there have been 7,581 attacks worldwide between 1981 and 2001ƒall made by Muslim terrorists.

With all of that information at our fingertips, Americans still forget just about everything except last Sunday’s pro football scores and what happened on the latest installment of Desperate Housewives. 
We have elected officials continuing to opine on national television such as Representative John Murtha, on last SundayÍs NBC Meet The Press.  He continued his call for troop withdrawal saying, according to Reuters News Service, “U.S. Forces would leave Iraq before next year’s congressional elections”.  Reuters also said Murtha “expected more people to come around to his views and that U.S. troops should be withdrawn in 2006.”

Major Michael S. Oshiki is an active duty Army officer stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington.  He served in Desert Storm as a calvary officer, but is now a physician preparing to deploy for his fourth tour in the war zone.  His view is, “Some politicians seem to be serving their higher political goals at the cost of our troops and the mission in the War on Terror.  I believe that many politicians who oppose the President and his party on political issues are using the war in Iraq as a means to defeat their political opponents.  I see this as a calculated move on their part feeling that losing the war is worth winning on the political front.” He also notes “their right to express themselves doesn’t lessen the benefit that our enemies derive from the perception that America will falter in the face of internal dissent.”

Retired Navy Commander Jordan Bolton of Harlingen, Texas has feelings, which mirror some of the congressional thinking, but with a much deadlier result.  “Almost without exception the prime requisite of a politician is the ability to straddle fences successfully. Absent their guts to fight the war there, we will have no choice except to fight it here and it shall be much bloodier and costlier to fight it here, with a higher probability of losing.  True fanatics that are eager to give their worldly life in exchange for an express trip to paradise can wreak a tremendous amount of damage on that trip.  9-11 awakened our nation to things the could and do happen.  Unfortunately so many in our congress refuse to look at the probable future and instead just enjoy their perks of the moment.”

Former Staff Sergeant Richard E. Nygaard of Winchester, Oregon served in the Marine Corps from 1953 until 1963. He doesn’t mince words when addressing the actions taking place in Washington D.C.  “The self serving statements made by former Presidents and left leaning Democrats in Congress, and yes. even a decorated Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War who is now a member of Congress, are, as far as I am concerned over the top.  Their comments, in any other time and era would have been considered treasonous.  I do not consider them less treasonous because the Washington elite consider themselves more enlightened than those who fought in WW2 or us Korean War vets.  Their comments hurt the troops and our country by creating the illusion Congress does not support the President in the War on Terror.”

Writing from Kerrville, Texas retired Air Force Technical Sergeant Dan Decker says, “I support the troops by demanding our victory in the War on Terror.  Pulling out before the job is finished would be the first and only parallel between the Vietnam War and the WOT.  We can’t do it again and expect to ever be respected again on the world stage.  As a Vietnam veteran I think several members of the House and Senate, notably Democratic Party members, should be arrested for treason.  A traitor is a traitor, regardless of socio-politico economic status.”

Retired Navy Lieutenant Commander Don Bishop of Laurel, Mississippi says, “We, the American people didn’t learn a thing from the Vietnam mess.  Once again we are repeating our mistakes.  The Secretary of Defense is making many of the same mistakes that McNamara made and adding a few new wrinkles of his own.  I don’t think the President is up to the task of leading the country in such an endeavor.  He apparently doesn’t understand the situation very well either.  The lack of members of congress who were former military is now showing their true colors.”

Jay Adams who resides in the wine country of California, is a 20-year veteran of both the Air Force and Marine Corps, retiring as a Master Sergeant.  His words reflect the feelings of several hundred former service men and women who wrote emails on the anti war conduct of congressional members and most of the mainstream media. 

“My anger on this subject increases by the day. You would think that everyone in congress would understand that statements calling for immediate withdrawal and about the conduct of the war does nothing more than give our enemy the resolve to continue on.  There have been many statements over the years from North Vietnamese leaders saying they knew that if they could hold on long enough we would give up.  They knew the unrest in the US public and political leaders would let them win in the end.  I guess the naysayers have forgotten that old idiom ‘those who fail to learn from history will see it repeated.”

Adams also wrote of speaking with a number of active duty soldiers and Marines who have just returned from Iraq.  “Almost to the man they said overall that things were going much better than the media portrays in the news.  Their morale is good, but they felt they were always being let down by the press and politicians back in the United States.”

When the telephone rang yesterday I found myself speaking to Guy Gabaldon.  The Marine Corps veteran and recipient of this nation’s second highest award for valor, The Navy Cross, was talking to me from his home in Florida.  Guy Gabaldon earned multiple medals for repeated heroism during World War 11, during which, he single handedly captured more than 1,500 Japanese soldiers.

Guy is appalled at the media and left wing political attacks on the president.
“President Bush spent more than two hours with me and my wife.  He is a fine and dedicated man.  I just can’t understand the attacks against him concerning this war.  I also can’t understand Hispanics, who have always been among our most patriotic citizens, getting on this leftist bandwagon.”

He also expresses concern about our borders. “ I see extreme danger there.  If millions of illegals can cross the border undetected, common sense tells you there are terrorists among them.  I’ve read that terrorists have learned Spanish and have been given fake Mexican documents.  They are here now and I can’t understand how we can turn a blind eye to our danger again.”

And so the voices continue to call out on issues related to the war.  In the military/veteran community they are getting louder by the day.  Not all agree on the Administration position, but even the detractors show complete distain for the mainstream media bias and the double-speak of Congress.

Sergeant First Class Gerald P. Giggins retired from the Army and makes his home in Fuquay Varina, North Carolina.  His observation is fitting to end the voices of our military community for now.  “It is too bad members of Congress who have never served their country other than being politicians, do not live by the Duty-Honor-Country credo.  Hundreds of thousands of our citizens have given their lives while living up to that creed.  Fighting for one’s country is a duty and is fought with honor.  Its too bad Congress can’t govern following these same principles.”