U.S. finally does right by sick soldiers
Source: Norwich Bulletin
Article published Jul 8, 2005
U.S. finally does right by sick soldiers
With several legal holidays invoking those who have put their lives at risk
in defense of their country -- Memorial Day, Veterans Day and, just past,
Independence Day -- the United States might seem to be a country with
special respect for those who serve and have served in the military.
If that appearance came closer to reality, the life of Air Force Maj.
Michael W. Donnelly of South Windsor, who died last week at 46, would not
have had to be so heroic.
As a career F-16 fighter pilot and instructor, Donnelly represented the U.S.
military's highest discipline, skill and precision. Indeed, the
multi-million-dollar cost of a U.S. jet fighter, by far the best in the
world and probably the most important and practical weapon in the country's
arsenal, is substantially less than the military's investment in the pilot
who flies it. Replacing the machines is a lot easier than replacing pilots.
But flying 44 combat missions in the first war against Iraq in 1991 turned
out to be the easy part for Donnelly. In early 1996 he fell ill while
training pilots at an Air Force base in Texas and months later was diagnosed
with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, which gradually
shuts down the nervous system and paralyzes the body while leaving the mind
intact, the cruelest imprisonment.
Since he was on active duty when he became ill, Donnelly qualified for
medical treatment and disability pay from the Air Force. But many Gulf War
veterans seemed to be coming down with ALS and similar illnesses of the
nervous system, like multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, and most of
them already had left the service and so, in fighting their diseases, were
pretty much on their own.
The government was not there to help them since no connection between their
illnesses and their service in the military had been proven.
So Donnelly flew into action a second time. With the help of his
extraordinary family, he amassed the evidence that something more than bad
luck was afflicting Gulf War veterans. He wrote a book, "Falcon's Cry," and,
even as his body deteriorated, campaigned among other veterans, the local
and national news media, and the government in support of research into the
problem and a change of policy to provide medical and disability benefits to
Gulf War veterans with nervous-system diseases.
Of course, the government can't be expected to accept and cover every claim
that comes its way. It can be expected to be concerned about claims involving
the health of present and former military personnel. Instead, for years the
government resisted issues raised by Maj. Donnelly and others, uncooperative
with research, and occasionally even contemptuous.
But slowly Donnelly and his family got through to responsible people,
including members of Congress, one by one, and began opening minds. Hearings
were held and studies were commissioned. And in 2001, the U.S. Veterans
Affairs Department, admitting the statistical evidence that Gulf War
veterans are twice as likely as other people in the military to come down
with ALS, changed its policy; henceforth ALS in Gulf War veterans, whenever
it occurred, would be considered a service-related disability, and the
government would conduct more research on the problem.
Principi cited Donnelly
In making the announcement, Secretary Anthony Principi cited Donnelly's
work. Advocates for disabled veterans said government policy never would
have changed without it.
A causal link between the Gulf War and nervous system diseases is yet to be
discovered. To explain the greater incidence of ALS among those who fought
in that war, there is only speculation that it might have something to do
with their exposure to certain toxic elements believed to have been
disproportionately present in the war zone, like nerve gases, oil smoke, and
depleted uranium.
More compelling question
But the more compelling question may be why Maj. Donnelly's second round of
heroism should have been so necessary -- why it should have been so
important to prove a link between someone's catastrophic illness and his
military service before the government would underwrite the cost of his
medical treatment and a decent disability pension, or, indeed, why military
service should even have to figure in the matter in the first place.
Either a community -- a country -- acknowledges that dealing with such
overwhelming troubles is precisely what community is for, or it tells people
-- war veterans even -- to fend for themselves, in the often capricious maws
of the private insurance and welfare systems.
Government delights in bestowing trivial and often unnecessary and
unrequested honors upon military veterans -- property tax breaks, vanity
license plates, and such -- but, as Maj. Donnelly discovered, the government
cannot always be found when veterans and their families are in serious need.
If, instead of looking for ways of curtailing the public health and social
insurance systems, the government ever again looks for ways of expanding
them for people with catastrophic illness, increasing medical insurance and
disability and regular pension benefits for those who have served in the
military might be a good place to start. They could name such a program for
the fighter pilot from South Windsor who was twice a hero.