
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 24, 1994                   TAG: 9406290046
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

`GULF SYNDROME' BAFFLES PENTAGON

Scientists commissioned by the Pentagon concluded Thursday that they, like others before them, could not find any single cause for illnesses that have debilitated thousands of Persian Gulf War veterans.

But Deputy Defense Secretary John Deutch pledged that the search would go on because the Pentagon ``firmly believes that there are servicemen and women who are ill as a result of this Gulf experience.''

He announced the declassification of thousands of pages of documents relating to the 1991 war and urged sick veterans to call a toll-free number - (800) 796-9699 - to arrange for examinations.

The study, by the Defense Science Board Task Force on Persian Gulf War Health Effects, concluded that there was insufficient evidence of a single ``syndrome'' that has resulted in muscle pain, memory loss, fatigue, heart and respiratory diseases, skin rashes and tumors in thousands of veterans and their family members.

It also said there was no evidence the Iraqis used chemical or biological weapons during the war. Veterans' groups and members of Congress have suggested that those agents, as well as oil fumes, environmental pollutants or medication to protect service members against biological weapons, might be responsible for the illnesses.

Studies by the National Institutes of Health and others have reached similar conclusions, frustrating veterans who say they are deprived of treatment because there is no proof their illnesses are service-connected.

``It's important to remember there's a long history of well-founded skepticism about similar Pentagon reports,'' said American Legion spokesman Phil Budahn, recalling the many years veterans fought before the Pentagon confirmed the health effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam War veterans.

But he said veterans will be ``encouraged that the administration acknowledged that veterans are sick for reasons we don't yet understand.''

The administration said this month it supports legislation requiring the military and Veterans Affairs hospitals to treat veterans even when their illnesses cannot be linked positively to their experience in the Persian Gulf.

by CNB