20 Years Operation Desert Storm/Gulf War Veterans to Gather at Dallas Fort Worth Airport for Health Fair/Reunion

Health Fair and Reunion For Gulf War Veterans coming to Dallas Area- DFW Airport, Irving, Texas

The National Gulf War Resource Center is holding a Health Fair and Reunion for Gulf War Veterans and for OIF/OEF veterans in Dallas, Texas on Aug 5-8. See the agenda and exact location at www.NGWRC.org

The meeting is jammed packed with a Reception featuring Mr John Gingrich(a Gulf War Veteran himself), currently Chief of Staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Ross H Perot will be the Guest of Honor for the Dinner. Dr Robert Haley and Dr Lea Steele, civilian researchers, who have been with the Gulf War Illness investigation and Gulf War Illness researchers since early in the 90′s will also be speaking.

Mr Ross Perot met with Navy Seabees early after their return from Operation Desert Storm and he stepped forward with full support to find answers and help for the hundreds of thousands that have since been identified as ill since their service. This beacon of hope to all veterans stood more firm than any individual in this country to make a difference large and small. The NGWRC wanted to recognize his dedication and care for the Gulf War Veterans and all service members and veterans. This dedicated patriot stands and fights for Gulf War Veterans more than any group.

This agenda is packed with information for veterans and will offer veterans a chance to interact with Veterans Affairs officials and key civilian researchers that have been involved in Gulf War Illness since the early 90′s. The VA is bring staff from DC, WRIIS(War Related Illness Study Center) in Orange,New Jersey and claims personnel to serve the veterans. There is also a speaker on PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury, his presentation will be applicable to current OIF/OEF veterans as well as all veterans.

Time is short and all are encouraged to make their reservations. Go to www.ngwrc.org

We are asking that all veterans get involved and spread this announcement to other veterans, veteran organizations, and to their local press.

This is for you the veteran, so help yourselves and your fellow veterans by coming and offering your questions and suggestions for making change happen for the better. This is not a party but a working dynamic meeting of concerned individuals coming together to give information, receive information, receive suggestions for moving forward, and to give assistance to the veterans and their families. Come prepared to offer your suggestions to make a difference!

Only when we all come together can we help change to occur. The date of the meeting was chosen because it will occur in the first week of August and that signifies the 20 years since Kuwait was invaded by Iraq and a date that changed us all. We went and we did the job as directed by our country, a large number of us came home ill, we as a community spoke up and have been working the illness issue since we came home.

Since the first national and international gathering of Gulf War Veterans, The Gulf War Veteran Unity Conference occurred in Dallas, Texas in the early 90’s, it was appropriate to return to Dallas. DFW provides good logistics being in the center of the country and close to states that had large numbers of troops that were sent to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990-91.

We have made some headway despite tremendous opposition from our own government. We truly need to come together and work together to make bigger changes and to make it happen as soon as possible. We need more people to step forward to help and to work together.

People have to unite and listen to each other and all come to the table together. This is one of the first efforts to have the VA actively provide outreach, in order to see if they will be for a fact, true advocates for the Gulf War Veterans and this time make a difference. Change does take time and effort by all.

This conference is open to veterans, their family member, survivors of Gulf War Veterans, as well as civilians, doctors, health care providers, and researchers that have an interest to get to know what the problems are and want to reach out to their veterans to help. It is not just targeted to veterans, government officials, but also civilians that desperately want information and want to help. It is for the family members , friends, and employers of veterans. We also want to open the doors wide to family members that have lost their loved ones to illnesses after they came home!

There was no way to get everything covered that we could have covered but there will be plenty of chances to network and address other needs and to plan for future work and meetings.

We encourage the veterans of the Gulf War particularly to come, call it a test of a system that hopefully will respond and start to heal the wounds so obvious now to the public and most of all to the veterans and their families that have been ill served. As our Missouri Gulf War Army veteran who is coming says proof is in the action not in words. Mr Letterman is the veteran that had to resort to driving a tractor from Missouri to DC to show how desperate he and other gulf war veterans are to be appropriately seen, evaluated, tested, have appropriate care and treatment, and fair compensation.

His situation is a bit better from a year ago, after years of denials he was finally rated but his fellow veterans question if his rating is appropriate and complete. He is also being billed for the care he received at the VA in DC when he was hospitalized after he totally collapsed and had to be taken to the ER and this is being deducted from his benefits. During his hospitalization, he finally received a C and P exam which he had not had prior when his claim was initially submitted and the years that followed. He is just one of the hundreds of thousands of Gulf War Veterans who are ill following their service in 1990-91. His aim is also to leave no veteran behind. So Gulf War Veterans come to Dallas! See www.NGWRC.org