Gulf War Syndrome

* Your map Oct. 6 regarding Iraqi munitions sites raised an important issue that has not been addressed in coverage of the Gulf War syndrome. Each of the locations where chemical weapons were exploded was fairly close to sizable population centers.

Recent visitors to Iraq have reported dramatic increases in cancer and other illnesses. Is anyone talking with Iraqi medical providers to determine if their patients are also experiencing the Gulf War syndrome? This might assist medical researchers here to examine--even eliminate--some of the possible causes of the syndrome, such as the inoculations given to U.S. military personnel.

LINDA LOTZ

Hollywood

* I was a Bradley commander assigned to the 1st Squadron 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment during Operation Desert Shield/Storm.

I was unaware of any reports of a toxic cloud on Jan. 19, 1991; however, when the order came down to cross the border and commence offensive combat operations, all personnel in my unit were told to remove our chemical protective overgarments.

I questioned this order, as I’m sure many other leaders did, as we had been wearing chemical protective gear for some days prior to the beginning of the ground war. The response I received was that intelligence reports indicated that there was no evidence of exposure to or use of chemical weapons in our area of operations.

Those reports were obviously wrong. I hope this wasn’t part of an “experiment” to see if the pills we were taking would work.

JEFF MOORE

Hawthorne