THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 24, 1996 TAG: 9606240064
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: 51 lines
The Pentagon's announcement that a Fort Bragg unit may have blown up chemical weapons while destroying a cache of Iraqi ammunition confirms the authenticity of Gulf War syndrome, say veterans.
U.S. troops could have been exposed to mustard gas and the deadly nerve agent sarin when the Army's 37th Engineer Battalion carried out its mission in March 1991, military officials said Friday.
``I feel totally justified,'' said Brian Martin, 33, a former member of the 37th and now out of the Army.
Martin, who has been trying to heighten awareness about Gulf war-related illnesses, said he always suspected there were chemical weapons in the ammunition depot, but could never prove it.
As many as 400 members of the 37th Engineering Battalion were involved in the demolition of the weapons in southern Iraq days after the Persian Gulf War cease-fire, the Pentagon said.
The soldiers did not believe at the time that the bunkers they were destroying contained chemical weapons. Detection equipment showed no indication of chemical agents before or after the demolition, officials said.
But Martin claimed that Army personnel never tested for chemical agents.
``The Pentagon . . . said our chemical detectors didn't pick up anything,'' Martin said Saturday from his home in Michigan. ``They weren't deployed. They were packed in the back of our trucks.''
Other Gulf veterans not involved in the demolition said the announcement backs up the claim that chemical agents have caused them medical and psychological ailments. More than 9,000 war veterans have filed disability claims with the government they believe are related to the conflict.
``It's the right step in the right direction,'' said John Chavez of Rock Hill, S.C., who says he's suffered headaches, memory loss and other ailments since returning in 1991. ``Hopefully, they'll admit other details.''
Veteran Larry Perry of Richfield said he hopes the announcement will help veterans get full disability benefits.
But Tracy Gordon of Newton said the announcement doesn't help her. Her son, Dylan, now 3, was born with tumors in his lungs and spine and is paralyzed from the chest down. Gordon blames her exposure to chemicals.
``I don't have a whole lot of faith in the system,'' she said. ``I have a son that's dying because of Desert Storm.''
Robert Holcombe, the battalion's commander who is retired and lives in Charlotte, did not know there were chemical weapons in the ammunition depot, Martin said.
Holcombe is in South America on business and could not be reached for comment on Sunday, said his wife, Geralyn.
KEYWORDS: GULF WAR SYNDROME GULF WAR ILLNESS by CNB