Stricken Veterans Blame the Military for Health Hazards : Illnesses: Group includes Gulf War soldiers who link their ailments to vaccines intended to protect them.

In often-poignant testimony, veterans--including some from the Persian Gulf War and some from as long ago as World War II--told Congress on Friday that they are suffering from an array of medical ailments as a result of service in a military that has since abandoned them.

Speaking before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, the veterans described a wide range of illnesses and other health problems that they blamed on secret experiments, preventive drugs or vaccines they were given, or exposure to environmental chemicals or other possible hazards.

Veterans of the Gulf War, in particular, charged that experimental drugs and vaccines intended to protect them against chemical and biological weapons were administered without adequate warnings about possible damaging side effects.

“All we were told was that the pills would protect us against chemical and biological weapons,” said the Rev. Barry Walker, a chaplain during the Gulf War, referring to the drug pyridostigmine bromide, which was distributed as a shield against lethal nerve gas. “We were told to take the pills and not given a choice, though some soldiers did not take them.”

The issue of soldiers’ exposure to health, environmental and other hazards has long been a persistent and difficult problem. Particularly in the case of the Gulf War--when the armed forces were responding to what was seen as a military emergency and were facing an enemy that had used chemical and biological weapons in the past--there may have been no good alternative to whatever protective drugs were available, regardless of possible side effects.

And no one substance or organism has been identified as the sole cause of the multiple health problems experienced by the men and women who served in the Persian Gulf or elsewhere. Nor is there agreement as to how widespread the problems are.

But veterans testified Friday that, since the problems developed, the health care system of the Department of Veterans Affairs has either ignored them or been slow to address their complaints.

Moreover, such stories have taken on a special resonance because of the government’s well-documented history of indifference or carelessness about exposing troops to risks, and of its laxity in acknowledging links between such exposures and the development of disorders.

“How many more lessons do we have to learn?” asked Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), one of Capitol Hill’s leading advocates for veterans. “We’ve gone through it decade after decade, and here we are again in 1994.”

It was many years after the end of the Vietnam War before the federal government recognized that a range of physical disorders--from mild to life-threatening--was associated with exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange during the Southeast Asian war. Similarly, the government was sluggish in responding to the growing numbers of combat-related cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.

World War II Navy veteran Rudolph Mills of Fredericksburg, Va., speaking barely above a whisper, told of being used as a human guinea pig during mustard gas experiments 50 years ago. He said he participated unhesitatingly because he had been “willing to do anything to help my country.”

“In spite of all the agony the VA has put me through, I would step into a gas chamber again today if it would help preserve this great country for my grandchildren,” he said, his already weak voice cracking.

Mills said he suffered burns on his face during the experiments and later was diagnosed with larynx cancer, a condition that he believes was caused by the exposure. So far, he said, he has received no compensation from the government, despite years of trying to secure service-related benefits.

Air Force Lt. Col. Neil Tetzlaff, a Gulf War veteran, told the committee that he endured uncontrollable vomiting--and still suffers pain and other disabling conditions--after taking pyridostigmine bromide while on the way to Saudi Arabia, as he was instructed to do.

Tetzlaff said he has encountered other soldiers who suffered similar drug reactions. He said they were treated badly by the VA when they sought help for their ailments because they were unable to prove that the medications were responsible.

American soldiers fought for their country in the Persian Gulf, he said, but received no economic or rehabilitative assistance because “they can’t prove in what ways or how badly they were injured.”

An estimated 20,000 or more of the nearly 700,000 troops who served in the Persian Gulf theater during 1990 and 1991 have reported an array of debilitating symptoms, including fatigue, skin rashes, muscle and joint pain, headaches, memory loss, shortness of breath and gastrointestinal problems.

Such symptoms could stem from problems unrelated to military service, but many of the troops were exposed to a variety of potentially toxic chemicals, such as fumes and smoke from oil well fires, diesel fumes, toxic paints, pesticides and depleted uranium used in munitions and armor.

They were also given at least three drugs under special circumstances in which the military and the Food and Drug Administration waived the usual informed-consent procedures because of expected battlefield conditions.

The drugs included pyridostigmine bromide, which is licensed only for the treatment of myasthenia gravis, a chronic muscle weakness disorder; an as yet unapproved vaccine to combat botulism and a licensed vaccine to protect against anthrax.

R.J. Vogel, the Veterans Affairs undersecretary for benefits, told the committee that he believes the department is “seriously attempting to understand and find answers to the causes of health problems some Persian Gulf War veterans are experiencing.

“We continue to review our policies to expedite claims processing and are providing medical services to veterans suffering from various health problems that may have been incurred in the Gulf,” he said.

Vogel’s remarks provoked an angry rebuke from Daschle, who chastised the VA official for giving a “bureaucratic answer” after the “emotional outpouring” of the previous witnesses.

These men “deserve better than that,” Daschle said, adding: “I think the VA has failed miserably. It’s very important for us to listen to what we heard this morning with more empathy than your answer of the last few minutes.”

“Senator, I’ve got good ears, and I’ve got a good heart,” Vogel replied. “I think the VA is doing what it can.”

Vogel said that immediately following Mills’ moving testimony he directed a member of his staff to call the department’s Roanoke, Va., office to determine why Mills was having such difficulty.

That angered Daschle even further. “He shouldn’t have to come to a hearing of the U.S. Senate to get redress of a problem he’s had for years,” he said.