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Veterans

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politicat

(9,810 posts)
Thu Jun 5, 2014, 12:10 PM Jun 2014

Are there any Gulf War I vets' advocacy and support organizations? [View all]

I'm married to a Desert Storm vet, who did get his VFW membership out of it, but they're not great for advocacy.

At this point, we don't need VA benefits, because we have insurance and are self-sufficient, but my spouse's service did joint and soft-tissue damage, he was downwind and at close range when the depot at Khamisiyah was burned, plus being downwind of several burning wells. He's got symptoms of something systemic as well as mild (and controlled) PTSD. So that's looming.

IAVA doesn't acknowledge Gulf War I vets, nor does IAVAW, despite the one million who served either in the war or in peacekeeping between 1991 and 2001. Locally, VFW is somewhat overwhelmed between the Vietnam vet bulge and the incoming Iraq and Afghanistan vets. The American Legion is not interested.

He needs a support structure and would like to contribute his voice to not doing this again. I need to point him at something.

Any hints?

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