Beacon Journal staff writer
PLAIN TWP. Years after her granddaughter and great-grandson died of what she believes were Gulf War-related illnesses, Marie Robertson continues to think of them and miss them.
``Oh, Cheryl, Cheryl,'' she said at home one afternoon last week as she held a picture of granddaughter Cheryl Lynn Tucker Kochanowski.
Following the release last week of a federal report that said there is no such thing as Gulf War syndrome, the 84-year-old Plain Township woman remains convinced that the deaths of her two family members were caused by some type of exposure her granddaughter had in the first Gulf War in 1991.
Kochanowski served as a sergeant in the Air Force during the war and worked as an aircraft fuel system mechanic.
She was pregnant with her fourth child, Gavin, when she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in early 1995.
Gavin was born prematurely in February 1995 and was also diagnosed with cancer. Cancer cells were found in Kochanowski's placenta, Robertson said.
The 35-year-old, who served about 10 years in the Air Force and was living in Akron at the time, died in September 1995.
Gavin died in 1996 at the age of 17 months, Robertson said.
Robertson said her daughter, Ruth Kuhn, who died in 2001, and Kochanowski believed the illnesses were related to the war.
``Cheryl was the picture of health,'' Robertson said.
Charles ``Chuck'' Kochanowski, 41, now of Camden, N.Y., said he has no doubt that his wife and son died of a disease brought on by her service in the Gulf War.
And he said he is outraged at the latest government study.
``I think that's a bunch of garbage,'' he said.
Single father
Kochanowski, a foreman at a heating, ventilation and air conditioning firm, has raised his son, Saxon, now 12, as a single dad since his wife died.
His wife's two other children, Troy and Taylor, were from a previous marriage.
Kochanowski, who is engaged to be married next summer, spoke lovingly of his wife.
``She was a phenomenal mother,'' he said. ``She could carry on a conversation with anyone.''
The couple married in 1993 and moved to Akron in 1994 from New York, two years after she got out of the Air Force.
She began to get sick in late 1994 and was diagnosed early the next year.
He and Saxon moved to Camden a few months after the deaths of his wife and younger son, he said.
Kochanowski said he has struggled since her death but is doing better and is looking forward to his marriage next summer. ``You just go forward,'' he said.
Institute report
The Institute of Medicine report was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The institute, part of the National Academy of Sciences, said that although veterans of the first Gulf War reported significantly more symptoms of illness than soldiers of the same period who were not deployed, studies have found no cluster of symptoms that constitute a syndrome unique to Gulf War veterans.
The report acknowledged that service in the Persian Gulf in 1990-91 placed all veterans at greater risk for developing anxiety disorders, depression and substance abuse problems.
The report also said there was evidence to suggest that there could be a higher rate of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease among Gulf War veterans.
In addition, the report called for increased checking of exposure to contaminants in the field and said, ``There was almost no direct monitoring of Gulf War soldiers' exposures to contaminants, and therefore it might never be possible to pinpoint if an exposure during their service might be associated with an illness,'' the institute reported.
``Gulf War veterans consistently report experiencing a wide range of symptoms,'' said committee chair Lynn Goldman, professor of occupational and environmental health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, in the news release.
``But because the symptoms vary greatly among individuals, they do not point to a syndrome unique to these veterans. Unfortunately, because of the lack of objective predeployment health information, we do not have the baseline data needed to draw more definitive conclusions about many aspects of these veterans' long-term health.''
The report will help the VA decide whether Gulf War veterans are eligible for disability benefits if they are determined to have illnesses caused by their deployment in the war.
Robertson said she believed her granddaughter was exposed to jet fuel in her job.
``That child laid on her belly in a plane to inject fuel in planes,'' she said.
Kochanowski was her first grandchild, Robertson said.
When the girl was young, Robertson took her fishing and to local amusement parks.
When the cancer came, it came with a vengeance, Robertson said.
``She was just a mess,'' she said. ``It just ate her up in seven months is what it did to her.''
Last week, Robertson and her daughter, Penny Warrick, visited nearby North Lawn Cemetery and placed a flag at Kochanowski's grave.
As for the Institute of Science report, Robertson said she believes the conclusion is false.
Phil Budahn, a spokesman for the VA, said the agency cannot yet comment on the report.
``We want to study it before we comment,'' he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. © 2006 Beacon Journal and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.http://www.ohio.com