Legislative Update: Current Status of DoD Gulf War Illness Research Funding Remains Volatile

 

Written by Anthony Hardie, 91outcomes.com

(91outcomes.com) – Just like last year, monitoring Congressional appropriations actions for the FY11 peer reviewed Gulf War Illness (GWI) research program administered under the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) and efforts to ensure the program’s funding success remain highly challenging.

As of today, it appears that both House and Senate actions suggest final GWI CDMRP funding for FY11 might be at $8 million, the same level as FY10. However, it should be noted that the situation continues to change rapidly. As always there are no guarantees until the entire Congress sends a final bill to the President.

Continued careful monitoring, combined with veterans advocates and organizations at the ready to contact key members of Congress, will be required.

House

On Wednesday, December 8, 2010, the House narrowly passed by a vote of 212-206 a Continuing Resolution (CR) that provides -- with various unrelated exceptions -- continued FY11 appropriations at FY10 levels, through September 30, 2011.

Under the CR, funding for the GWI program administered by the CDMRP reportedly would be retained at the FY10 funding level of $8 million.

Thirty-five House Democrats sided with 171 House Republicans in voting against the CR, while Eight Democrats and eight Republicans did not vote. This deep division suggests that future prospects for a final omnibus appropriations bill after Senate and conference action may also be challenging.

Senate

The Senate appropriations committee’s FY11 Defense appropriations act report language, which provides detailed funding by line item, directs $8 million for the Peer Reviewed Gulf War Illness Research Program.

The funding was requested in a letter by Senators Sanders, Bond, Feingold, Kerry, Tester, Schumer, Leahy, Durbin, Burris, Brown, Boxer, Snowe, and Kohl.

The Senate bill passed out of committee on September 16, 2010 by an 18-12 vote. Like all the other FY11 appropriations bills, the defense appropriations bill was not considered by the full Senate. However, it may very well remain a guide for future Senate action as discussed below.

Under the report accompanying the Senate bill, total appropriations for the military medical research programs currently operated by the CDMRP would be $358 million. In addition to the GWI appropriation, $150 million would be designated for peer reviewed research on breast cancer, $10 million for ovarian cancer, $80 million for prostate cancer, $60 million for psychological health and traumatic brain injury (TBI), and $50 million for the multifaceted peer reviewed medical research program (PRMRP).

FUTURE PROSPECTS

It is currently expected that the Senate will combine the House’s CR into a Senate omnibus appropriations bill. Any action must be completed by the end of the current Congress on January 3, 2011.

Additionally, the FY11 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) remains an unknown variable in the legislative equation. It remains unclear whether or not the NDAA will pass before the current Congress ends and what impact, if any, an enacted NDAA might have on the CDMRP’s GWI research program.

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Looking Back at Last Year: Who to Call

Last year, retaining funding for the Gulf War Illness research program was, as usual, extremely challenging for the handful of veterans advocates and organizations involved.

Initially, the Senate version of the FY10 Defense Appropriations Act lumped Gulf War Illness under the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP), a catch-all that included more than two dozen conditions including GWI and funded at just $50 million. While the PRMRP restricts research to the listed conditions, there is no guarantee that research will be funded for any particular condition from among those listed.

Initially, the House failed to include funding for the GWI program at all.

However, as the bill went back and forth between the House and Senate, advocacy efforts resulted in amendments to the final bills in both chambers and final FY10 GWI funding at $8 million.

A last minute save on October 1, 2009 by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and four of his colleagues amended (SA 2559) the Senate’s bill to include an amendment that would have appropriated $12 million for the GWI program. Those Senators included Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Oh.).

And, a December 11, 2009 letter by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh.) and 25 other Members of Congress called for the conference committee to fund the CDMRP’s GWI research program at the Senate’s $12 million level.

Ultimately, the conference committee set final funding for the FY10 GWI program at the original, lower House level of $8 million. Both the House and Senate agreed and the final Defense funding bill was enacted by the President.

GWI research supporters Sanders, Durbin, and Brown remain in the Senate.

However, Byrd died on June 28, 2010 and is being succeeded by former West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Feingold was defeated in the November 2010 election and is being succeeded by Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a Tea Party favorite.

GWI research funding supporters who signed onto the December 2010 Kucinich letter included the following. Of the 21 who remain in Congress, only four are Republicans, who will hold the majority in the House beginning January 3, 2011.  

• Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.)
• Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.)
• Rep. John Boccieri
• Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.)
• Rep. Henry Brown, Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee Ranking Member
• Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.)
• Rep. Steve Buyer, House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member
• Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.)
• Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chair
• Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-Tex.)
• Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.)
• Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.)
• Rep. John Hall
• Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.)
• Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh.)
• Rep. Steve LaTourette (D-Oh.)
• Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.)
• Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.)
• Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine), Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee Chair
• Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.)
• Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.)
• Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.)
• Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.)
• Rep. Patrick Tiberi (R-Oh.)
• Rep. Timothy Walz (D-Minn.)
• Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska)

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FY11 PRMPR

PRMPR research areas in the Senate bill would include the 32 conditions listed below. Four that are particularly relevant to Gulf War veterans are highlighted. The House CR would retain the list the same as in FY10. It should be noted that the final outcome remains indeterminate.

1. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),
2. autism,
3. blood cancer,
4. chronic fatigue syndrome,
5. chronic migraine and post-traumatic headache,
6. dental research,
7. drug abuse,
8. epidermolysis bullosa,
9. epilepsy,
10. fragile x syndrome,
11. inflammatory bowel disease,
12. interstitial cystitis,
13. kidney cancer,
14. lupus,
15. melanoma,
16. mesothelioma,
17. multiple sclerosis (MS),
18. neuroblastoma,
19. neurofibromatosis,
20. osteoporosis and related bone disease,
21. Paget's disease,
22. pancreatitis,
23. Parkinson's,
24. pediatric cancer,
25. pheochromocytoma,
26. polycystic kidney disease,
27. post-traumatic osteoarthritis,
28. scleroderma,
29. social work research,
30. tinnitus,
31. tuberous sclerosis complex, and
32. vision research.

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SOURCES:

§ FY11 House Continuing Resolution (CR) for combined FY11 appropriations: H.R. 3082 [Would fund GWIRP at $8 million]

§ Senate FY11 Defense Appropriations Act, S. 3800 [Would fund GWIRP at $8 million]

§ Senate FY11 Defense Appropriations Act Committee Report, S. Rpt 111-295 [Would fund GWIRP at $8 million]

§ FY10 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), PL 111-84 [Authorized GWIRP at $12 million]

§ FY10 Defense Appropriations Act Explanatory Statement (essentially the conference report), p. 367 [Funded GWIRP at $8 million]

Canadian Gulf War Veteran Expresses Concern on behalf of Fellow Canadian Gulf War Veterans 'Who Are Also Ill'

Written by Anthony Hardie, 91outcomes

(Washington, DC - November 2, 2009) - Traveling on her own to speak before a federal U.S. committee hearing of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (RAC) in Washington, DC, Louise Richard, a Canadian Gulf War veteran from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, expressed concern for her fellow Gulf War veterans.

"We're ill too, and we deserve answers, too, but for some reason the Canadian Government has utterly failed us."

Richard stated that she was informed by Canada's Surgeon General that, "there are too few of you to worry about."

Richard expressed gratitude for the RAC's work, and work be U.S. veterans advocates, including Denise Nichols of Denver, Colo.

Study Finds Subtle Declines in Motor Speed, Sustained Attention in Gulf War Veterans

Written by Anthony Hardie, 91outcomes

(Washington, DC - November 2, 2009) - In a public presentation today before the federal Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses by Dr. Rosemary Toomey, science has found that Gulf War deployment is associated with subtle declines of motor speed and sustained attention.  The evidence further suggested that the toxicant exposures influence these functions, and that symptoms of depression also influence attention.

Shortly after the end of the 1991 Gulf War, many U.S. Gulf War veterans reported cognitive issues that they believed to be related to their Gulf War service.  The cognitive issues could not be related to physical brain injury or known disease processes.

The study found scientific evidence that 1991 Gulf War toxicant exposures led to impaired motor speed and deficits in sustained attention.

The presentation, entitled, "Neuropsychological functioning in the VA National Health Survey of Gulf War Veterans," included the results of the National Health Survey of Gulf War veterans and their families, which was coordinated through Chicago's Hines VA Medical Center. 

Khamisiyah exposure was also found to be related to decreased motor speed.

It was noted that self-reported exposure variables did not explain the symptoms. 

Toomey is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Harvard Medical School Department Psychiatry, and an active researcher with the Psychology Department at Boston University, the Harvard Institute of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Genetics, and the Boston VA Medical Center Research Service. 

UK MP testifies on 'genocide', use of chemical warfare agents against Marsh Arabs following 1991 Gulf War

Iraqi use of chemical warfare agents in southern Iraq came while U.S., Coalition troops still nearby

Written by Aubrey Belford, AFP

(BAGHDAD - August 7, 2009) — A member of the British House of Lords has described witnessing "genocide" by executed dictator Saddam Hussein's regime against Iraq's Marsh Arabs in the early 1990s.

Baroness Emma Nicholson was this week the first foreigner to testify in the Baghdad trial of 42 Iraqis, including Saddam's hatchet-man "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid, over the brutal crackdown that followed a Shiite uprising after the 1991 Gulf War.

The mass expulsion of locals and the draining of around 90 percent of the marshes in the country's south, which sent around 50,000 refugees into Iran, is considered by the United Nations to be one of the worst environmental disasters in history.

Nicholson told AFP late Thursday after testifying in the tightly guarded trial in the Iraqi capital that she saw first-hand the destruction of the region, including through the alleged use of chemical weapons, on a series of around 75 visits to Iraq and neighbouring Iran during the 1990s.

"The people were farmers and fishermen whose farms and fishing grounds were being destroyed," said Nicholson, head of the AMAR charity which provides assistance to Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people, including the Marsh Arabs.

"Their villages, their towns, their cities were being bombed, being shelled, being burnt, and over the next few years the Marsh Arabs were forcibly displaced," she said.

"After 1995 there was no point going in to the marshes because they were completely drained.

"I'd certainly use the word genocide (in describing the campaign) against the Marsh Arab people."

The trial, which began in June and is expected to reach a verdict by the end of the year, is the latest in a string of cases to come to trial in Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam in a 2003 US-led invasion.

Also in the dock are Saddam half-brothers former interior minister Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan and security service chief Sabawi Ibrahim.

The draining of the marshes, considered by some to be the location of the Biblical Garden of Eden, was carried out by Saddam in a bid to flush out Shiite rebels hiding out in the sprawling network of waterways.

Footage of the trial on state-run television showed Nicholson speaking through a translator and displaying pictures of the victims of the crackdown, as "Chemical Ali" Majid and others sat in the dock.

Nicholson told AFP she witnessed the result of apparent chemical weapons use by Iraqi forces, with medical workers under her direction treating "people coughing their insides out."

"Some of the chemical weapons turned people blue and they'd blown up and died.

"Others were clearly mustard gas because (the victims) talked about yellow bombs coming from the sky and no one could breathe, they were burning all over."

Nicholson however said she had no evidence of individual complicity by any member of Saddam's regime on trial before the tribunal.

"Indeed I would have wanted at the time to find people who were responsible but it was not within my capacity to do so. I would have very much wanted indeed to face them," she said.

The trial is not the first time senior Iraqi officials have been accused of using chemical weapons to crush resistance.

Majid was first sentenced to death in June 2007 for ordering the gassing of tens of thousands of Kurds in the 1998 Anfal campaign, which earned him his grim moniker.

He has received two other death sentences for crimes including war crimes and crimes against humanity during the brutal 1991 crackdown on the Shiite uprising.

Iraq's southern marshes had been home to a unique culture for centuries before Saddam's crackdown turned much of it to desert. Programmes to reflood the marshlands since the dictator's fall have seen some limited success in restoring lost habitats.

Ill Calif. Gulf War Veteran Among Entrepreneurship Boot Camp Participants

Written by Jane Wells, Correspondent / Funny Business with Jane Wells - CNBC

(CNBC - August 7, 2009) In a classroom at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, a professor is running through the calculations needed to figure out "the IRR". That's the internal rate of return. A group of 20 men and women take notes. "The cash flow I get in year one needs to be brought back by some rate of return," he tells them, scribbling on a whiteboard.

The students listening intently are not aspiring Wall Street titans. They are disabled veterans who have either started small businesses, or hope to.

They're here for a 9-day "Entrepreneurship Boot Camp", and UCLA isn't charging them a dime.

"I was injured in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan," says Army combat veteran Edward Ruvalcaba. He joined the military right out of high school and says he's witnessed "the History Channel" up close: Panama when Noriega lost power, Berlin when the wall came down, Gulf War I and II. Somewhere in the first Gulf War he contracted serious respiratory and skin problems (remember the oil field fires?) which require him to be on several medications. "I'm working through it," he says, without an ounce of self-pity.

Last year Ruvalcaba started a janitorial company called Guaranteed Cleaning Services, in Brea, California. "I've been somewhat successful," he says, adding, "this boot camp here has really shed a lot of light on some of the errors I've made." He's learned that his pricing isn't competitive. He isn't charging too much, but too little. "That's in my nature of serving my country and believing that I'm just being humble, and I'm learning here that if you're not profitable, then you shouldn't be in that type of business."

The "boot camp" for disabled vets started at Syracuse University, and has since spread to four other universities: UCLA, Purdue, Texas A&M, and Florida State. If you had to pay for this education, it would probably cost $10,000. But donations cover all expenses.

AP

"It's a battlefield out there, you need to be a good strategist," says Anderson's Al Osborne, who says at least 45,000 disabled vets have returned from war, with injuries that are not always visible.

Osborne says veterans, by experience, "understand what needs to be done now, what needs to be done later, how I can delegate, they understand how to work and build teams." Those are important tools for entrepreneurs.

They are traits which have served Amy Sufak well as she transitioned into civilian life. The 11-year Air Force veteran hurt her back traveling the world as a public affairs officer. Now she's started Red Energy PR in Colorado Springs. "I was very fortunate to start this business during a down economy," she says. Companies are letting go their in-house PR and marketing staff and contracting out to firms like her's. One downside? Some clients don't know what to make of her. "There's a whole generation behind me that has not been touched by the military at all, so that's difficult because they don't see the value in that." Still, at the boot camp, she's learning important tips, like how to increase staffing without increasing costs-bill clients for extra personnel. "It's helped us critique our business plans."

But why start a small business now? In this economy? "I'll tell you one thing, it's been my family," Edward Ruvalcaba says, suddenly choking up with emotion. "Being away from them..." As demanding as it is to run a small business, it provides more time at home than being half a world away in a foxhole.

"You and I maybe don't have the luxury of understanding of what it is to be in an arena where somebody is shooting at you," Al Osborne says, explaining one reason these vets may excel. "That gets you focused, I think, on things you need to survive. Business today is not unlike war."

Questions? Comments? Funny Stories? Email funnybusiness@cnbc.com

Study: In 1991, tobacco companies saw war as a marketing opportunity

By Travis J. Tritten, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition

(Sunday, August 9, 2009) -- A study published in July in the American Journal of Public Health looked at internal tobacco company documents to determine if marketing efforts were aimed at servicemembers during the Gulf War.

Researchers found tobacco companies saw the conflict as a commercial opportunity and targeted servicemembers with free cigarettes, direct advertising, phone cards and homecoming parties.

The military, which often viewed the tobacco companies as benefactors, restricted the activity at times but frequently allowed it, according to “Everywhere the Soldier will Be: Wartime Tobacco Promotion in the U.S.”

Tobacco companies began producing and shipping free cigarettes within the first month of the war.

One company sent 10,000 cartons via the Department of Defense and others were on deck with 42,000 before the DOD acknowledged the free cigarettes were against policy and blocked further shipments, according to the study’s two researchers, Elizabith Smith and Ruth Malone, who are on staff at the University of California’s Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, San Francisco.

Barred from providing free cigarettes, tobacco companies turned to branded merchandise such as baseball caps and playing cards.

“RJ Reynolds noted that ‘troops in Saudi Arabia definitely know that Camel Joe is behind them’ as they had received ‘over 5,000 packs of Camel playing cards … [and] a variety of premium items including sunglasses, audio cassettes and cup cozies,’” the study said.

During Desert Storm, the DOD bent the rules and allowed RJ Reynolds to advertise its logo on the cover of magazines donated to servicemembers despite rules against direct advertising, Smith and Malone found.

In another marketing campaign, Philip Morris distributed “Marlboro Holiday Voice Cards,” voice recordings sent to servicemembers downrange from families and loved ones. The company said its goals were positive publicity for Marlboro, brand recognition among young adult smokers and influence of a “broad base of opinion leaders,” according to the study.

The voice cards triggered a mild rebuke from the DOD, which reminded the company that ads directly identifying a tobacco product were not allowed. Meanwhile, the cards got Philip Morris about 94 million “media impressions”, television coverage around the world and a stream of goodwill letters from the public, the researchers said.

One military wife wrote a letter to Philip Morris saying she had asked her husband to quit smoking but changed her mind after using the voice card.

“If we ever get to see him again, I don’t believe I will ever fuss about it again,” the study quoted the woman.

Cigarette companies also saw an opportunity in the end of the war. Philip Morris executives said they were “keenly interested in capitalizing on the successful military operation” and “continuing the association we started last year with the troops.”

“Over forty locations now have welcome home signs in place featuring Marlboro brand identification,” a military sales manager said in June 1991, according to the study. The company also produced the largest homecoming event for Desert Storm at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and similar events in Germany featured “extensive signage for Marlboro,” the study said.

Kucinich Secures $8 Million For Gulf War Veterans Illness Research

Money Will Expand On Studies For Treatment, Bringing Us Closer To Identifying A Cure

Written by Nathan White, Office of Congressman Dennis Kucinich

(WASHINGTON - July 31, 2009) - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) secured a major victory for veterans of the first Gulf War by garnering $8 million for Gulf War Illness (GWI) research in the Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriations bill that passed the House yesterday.

“This research will build on previous studies on Gulf War Illness.” Kucinich said. “This funding will take giant steps forward in identifying a treatment or a cure for Gulf War Veteran’s illness.”

In its landmark 454-page report delivered in November, the Congressionally-mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses at the Department of Veterans Affairs (RAC) reported that “Gulf War illness is real, that it is the result of neurotoxin exposures during Gulf War deployment and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved with time.”

For the first time, the report identified several suspected causes and two known causes: exposure to pesticides and a drug given to troops to protect them from nerve gas.

“There are currently no effective treatments for these conditions. With research, we learn the true causes of GWI and the possibilities open up. We must continue to attack GWI and fund the research with an amount commensurate with the scope of the problem,” said Kucinich.

Kucinich’s request for funding received bipartisan support from U.S. Representatives Henry Brown (R-S.C.), Rush Holt (D-N.J.), Bob Filner (D-Calif.), Michael Michaud (D-Maine), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Corinne Brown (D-Fla.), John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Chet Edwards (D-Tex.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), John Hall (D-N.Y.), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Jim McDermott, Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Mike Ross (D-Ark.), Joe Sestak (D-Penn.), Pete Stark (D-Calif.), and John Yarmuth (D-Ken.).

Remains Found in Iraq are of Capt. Scott Speicher, First Gulf War Casualty

By Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – The remains of the first American lost in the Gulf War have been found in Iraq, the military said Sunday, a sorrowful resolution of a nearly two-decade old question about the fate of Navy pilot Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher.

The Pentagon said the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology on Saturday positively identified the remains, buried in the desert and located after officials received new information from an Iraqi citizen about a crash.

Speicher's disappearance has bedeviled investigators since his fighter was shot down over the Iraq desert on the first night of the 1991 war.

The top Navy officer said the discovery is evidence of the military's commitment to bring its troops home. "Our Navy will never give up looking for a shipmate, regardless of how long or how difficult that search may be," said Adm. Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations.

Over the years, critics contended the Navy had not done enough, particularly right after the crash, to search for the 33-year-old Speicher. A lieutenant commander when he went missing, Speicher later reached the rank of captain because he kept receiving promotions while his status was unknown.

The Pentagon initially declared Speicher killed. But uncertainty — and the lack of remains — led officials over the years to change his status a number of times to "missing in action" and later "missing-captured." The family Speicher left behind, from outside Jacksonville, Fla., continued to press for the military to do more to resolve the case.

Speicher's story has never waned in that city. A large banner flying outside a firefighters' credit union has a photo of him with the words: "Free Scott Speicher." At his church, a memorial was put up in his honor and the swimming complex at his alma mater, Florida State University, was named for the pilot.

Family spokeswoman Cindy Laquidara said relatives learned on Saturday that Speicher's remains had been found.

"The family's proud of the way the Defense Department continued on with our request" to not abandon the search, she said. "We will be bringing him home."

Laquidara said the family would have another statement after being briefed by the defense officials; she did not know when that would be.

More than a decade after he was shot down in a combat mission, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 finally gave investigators the chance to search inside Iraq. That led to a number of new leads, including the discovery of what some believed were the initials "MSS" scratched into the wall of an Iraqi prison.

The search also led investigators to excavate a potential grave site in Baghdad in 2005, track down Iraqis said to have information about Speicher and make numerous other inquiries in what officials say was an exhaustive search.

Officials said Sunday that they got new information last month from an Iraqi citizen, prompting Marines stationed in the western province of Anbar to visit a location in the desert which was believed to be the crash site of Speicher's FA-18 Hornet.

The Iraqi said he knew of two other Iraqis who recalled an American jet crashing and the remains of the pilot being buried in the desert, the Pentagon said.

"One of these Iraqi citizens stated that they were present when Captain Speicher was found dead at the crash site by Bedouins and his remains buried," the Defense Department said in a statement.

The military recovered bones and multiple skeletal fragments and Speicher was positively identified by matching a jawbone and dental records, said Rear Adm. Frank Thorp.

He said the Iraqis told investigators that the Bedouins had buried Speicher. It was unclear whether the military had information on how soon Speicher died after the crash.

Some had said they believed Speicher ejected from the plane and was captured by Iraqi forces, and the initials were seen as a potential clue he might have survived. There also were reports of sightings.

While dental records have confirmed the remains to be those of Speicher, the pathology institute in Rockville, Md., is running DNA tests on the remains recovered and comparing them with DNA reference samples previously provided by family members.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Captain Speicher's family for the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country," Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in the Pentagon statement. "I am also extremely grateful to all those who have worked so tirelessly over the last 18 years to bring Captain Speicher home."

Speicher was shot down over west-central Iraq on Jan. 17, 1991.

Hours after his plane went down, the Pentagon publicly declared him killed. Then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney went on television and announced the U.S. had suffered its first casualty of the war. But 10 years later, the Navy changed his status to missing in action, citing an absence of evidence that Speicher had died. In October 2002, the Navy switched his status to "missing/captured," although it has never said what evidence it had that he ever was in captivity.

A review in 2005 was conducted with information gleaned after Baghdad fell. The review board recommended then that the Pentagon work with the State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the Iraqi government to "increase the level of attention and effort inside Iraq" to resolve the question of Speicher's fate.

Last year, then Navy Secretary Donald Winter ordered yet another review of the case after receiving a report from the Defense Intelligence Agency, which tracks prisoners of war and service members missing in action.

Many in the military believed for years that Speicher had not survived the crash or for long after. Intelligence had never found evidence he was alive, and some officials felt last year that all leads had been exhausted and Speicher would finally be declared killed.

But after the latest review, Winter said Speicher would remain classified as missing, despite Winter's strong reservations about the pilot's status and cited "compelling" evidence that he was dead.

Announcing his decision, Winter criticized the board's recommendation to leave Speicher's status unchanged, saying the review board based its conclusions on the belief that Speicher was alive after ejecting from his plane. The board "chose to ignore" the lack of any parachute sighting, emergency beacon signal or radio communication, Winter said.

Speicher's family — including two college-age children who were toddlers when Speicher disappeared — believed more evidence would surface as Iraq becomes more stable.

One of Speicher's high school classmates who helped form the group "Friends Working to Free Scott Speicher" said Sunday his biggest fear was that Speicher had been taken alive and tortured.

"This whole thing has been so surreal for all of the people who have known Scott," said Nels Jensen, 52, who now lives in Arkansas.

Jensen said the group was frustrated the military didn't initially send a search and rescue team after the crash, and then grew more perplexed as reports of his possible capture emerged. "Never again will our military likely not send out a search and rescue party for a downed serviceman," Jensen said.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., had pressed several years ago to get the military to renew a search for Speicher and he once visited the Baghdad prison cell where it was thought Speicher may have carved his initials in the wall.

"We all clung to the slim hope that Scott was still alive and would one day come home to his family," Nelson said Sunday.

The new informant told officials in Iraq of another possible location of Speicher's grave a site very near where his shattered airplane was found in 1993, Nelson said in a statement.

___

Associated Press writers Ron Word in Jacksonville, Fla., and Jacob Jordan in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Lessons Learned from Gulf War Syndrome: The Millenium Cohort Study

Courtesy DoD Millenium Cohort website.

The Millennium Cohort Study is the largest prospective health project in military history. It is designed to evaluate the long-term health effects of military service, including deployments. The Department of Defense recognized after the 1991 Gulf War that there was a need to collect more information about the long-term health of service members. The Millennium Cohort Study was designed to address that critical need, and the study was launched by 2001.

Funded by the Department of Defense, and supported by military, Department of Veterans Affairs, and civilian researchers, almost 150,000 people are already participating in this groundbreaking study. As force health protection continues to be a priority for the future of the United States military, the Millennium Cohort Study will be providing critical information towards enhancing the long-term health of future generations of military members.

TREATMENT TRIAL of Low-Dose Naltrexone: Northern California Gulf War Veterans Needed

Written by Anthony Hardie, 91outcomes

(91outcomes.blogspot.com) -- Veterans of the 1991 Gulf War in northern California suffering from Gulf War Syndrome and Fibromyalgia are needed for a clinical trial of a new drug that may help alleviate their symptoms, including pain, unrefreshing sleep, and debilitating chronic fatigue.

The study is a collaboration between Stanford University School of Medicine and the American Fibromyalgia Syndrome Association, and focuses on a treatment trial of Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN), which may have a role in regulating natural pain-reducing systems.

The study is currently recruiting Gulf War veteran volunteers. Participation will cover 22 weeks, with 12 laboratory visits and a daily log to measure symptoms.

Study participants must be suffering from moderate to severe fibromyalgia -- one of three conditions for which U.S. veterans of the 1991 Gulf War can receive presumptive service-connection -- or the chronic multi-symptom illness commonly known as Gulf War Syndrome.

Study participants must be no older than age 65, can be male or female, must not be currently taking any opioid analgesic (pain medication), must not be pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant, and must not have an allergy to naltrexone.

The study is a a placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over drug trial. It was funded through the peer- and Gulf War veteran-reviewed Gulf War Illness Research Program (GWIRP) of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.

In order to participate, Gulf War veterans near Stanford, California should contact the LDN study coordinator, Jarred Younger, at mailto:LDN_Younger%40stanford.edu?subject=NCT00568555,%20SU-10232007-756,%20Effects%20of%20Low%20Dose%20Naltrexone%20in%20Fibromyalgia.

MAY 19TH CONGRESSIONAL HEARING -- Little Change Yet for Ill Gulf War Veterans, Federal Officials

Written by Anthony Hardie, 91outcomes

(91outcomes.blogspot.com) -- Army veteran Paul Sullivan of San Antonio, Texas gave perhaps the clearest answer to the question posed by Tuesday’s Congressional hearing, Gulf War Illness Research: Is Enough Being Done?

“As an ill Gulf War veteran who has worked on this issue for 17 years both inside and outside government, the answer is no,” testified Sullivan, Executive Director of Veterans for Common Sense, former Executive Director and co-founder of the National Gulf War Resource Center, and a former VA employee in VA's Data Management Office.

“In the past, we have seen service-related illnesses ignored, misunderstood, or swept under the rug,” said Subcommittee Chairman Harry Mitchell (D-Ariz.) in his opening statement.

Rick Weidman, a Vietnam veteran and Government Relations Director for Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), added: “In regard to Gulf War Illness, VA has known the basic outline as to what was wrong with up to 200, 000 of those who served in the Gulf for a decade. Yet they continue to drag their feet in addressing the justifiable compensation requests of these veterans, and to give them the runaround on medical care.”

Weidman, a longstanding veterans’ advocate, continued in his testimony, “One has to ask, what is wrong with this institution (VA) that it would treat the men and women who are literally its very reason for existing in such a high-handed and disrespectful manner, even in the face of consistent scientific advice and good judgment?”

Dr. Roberta White, Ph.D., who has been researching Gulf War veterans’ illnesses since 1993, stated for the record that her team found not only low rates of PTSD among ill veterans, but also “systematic relationships,” between, “self-reported exposures to pesticides and to nerve gas agents and health complaints in specific body systems.” This early research was later validated by other research efforts.

White’s team also found decreased white matter in the brains of ill Gulf War veterans, cognitive and neuropsychological deficits not explained by psychiatric diagnoses, and that ill Gulf War veterans’ health complaints remained stable and without improvement over time – no surprise to ill Gulf War veterans. White is the current scientific director of the Congressionally chartered Federal Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses.

Army veteran Jim Bunker of Topeka, Kan., courageously told the Congressional investigators in his halting voice of his current Gulf War illness symptoms, which are typical for literally tens of thousands Gulf War veterans:

• Numbness, weakness, and/or tingling in arms and legs
  
  
• Headaches
  
  
• Cognitive dysfunction
  
  
• Gastric reflux disease
  
  
• Fibromyalgia
  
  
• Mouth sores and skin peeling from roof of mouth
  
  
• Skin rashes
  
  
• Sinusitis
  
  

Later in the hearing, when federal agency officials implied there was nothing wrong with Gulf War veterans, one Congressman pointedly asked, “What about Bunker?” Bunker had become a visible symbol of what has been and continues to be wrong with between 175,000 and 210,000 veterans from among the 696,842 who served in the 1991 Gulf War.

Meanwhile, a CIA official testified regarding the 1991 Gulf War theater of operations chemical agent releases known to the agency. He failed to mention incidents known to the Pentagon or described by veterans to Congress in Congressional hearings over the past two decades, relying purely on what CIA “knew”. He showed little knowledge of ground conditions, during which chemical alarms – when used – continuously went off.

 

He failed to mention chemical agent releases and exposures known to veterans and some within the Pentagon at the time that occurred in al Jubayl and Ra’s al-Mishab, chemical minefields in southeastern Kuwait, blister agent releases that caused the rapid Iraqi evacuation of a unit’s bunker complex in north-eastern Kuwait, and countless others like the incident Bunker described that personally affected him.

VA, predictably, recycled old testimony from a previous Congressional hearing, suggesting that VA has done everything possible to help Gulf War veterans, who do not suffer from a “unique illness.” Predictably, Dr. Lawrence Deyton stated that VA would wait until 2010 for an Institute of Medicine (IOM) review of the November 2008 report of the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses.

The RAC’s findings were covered in detail by Dr. Lea Steele, Ph.D., of the University of Kansas, who passionately and compassionately presented the report’s findings during the Hearing.

Steele echoed the report’s findings in her prepared testimony:

Oddly, in his testimony the Department of Defense official claimed credit for funding recent research years focused on treatments for ill Gulf War veterans – an irony given DoD’s enduring opposition to the funding as DoD officials have reportedly made clear to House Defense Appropriations staffers.

Due to powerful support from Gulf War veterans' advocates, Congress has provided annual funding to DoD anyway, and it falls under the well-run Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) based at Ft. Detrick, Maryland. The Congressional funding has been provided with clear instructions to DoD on its possible uses, with requirements to focus on treatments and prohibitions against more unneeded DoD research on stress and psychological causes for ill Gulf War veterans’ all too real array of symptom clusters.

In short, veterans and science are in full agreement that the Gulf War’s veritable toxic soup made between 175,000 and 210,000 Gulf War veterans ill with chronic, multi-symptom illness, that their illnesses have not improved over time, and that effective treatments still do not exist – in large part due to long-term failures by the federal agencies charged with caring for ensuring the well-being of these veterans.

And the federal response? CIA officials are still blindly and wrongly claiming there were few or no chemical releases that reached Gulf War troops, DoD officials are overly proud of the “lessons learned” from the Gulf War while Gulf War veterans continue to suffer, and the same low-level VA officials providing the same recycled testimony are still implying or outright stating that everything that could be done for Gulf War veterans was and is being done.

Tell that to Jim Bunker as he, like tens of thousands of other ill Gulf War veterans, struggles with walking, sleeping, and communicating.

All might be well safe with the Beltway in the Land of Washington. But all is certainly not well for the 175,000 to 210,000 Gulf War veterans who still continue to suffer the lingering, untreated outcomes of their Gulf War service.

Change is needed – desperately.

[Watch the Hearing via Multimedia Link now]

“A renewed federal research commitment is needed to identify effective treatments for Gulf War illness, improve understanding of this condition, and address other priority Gulf War health issues. Adequate funding and appropriate program management is required to achieve the critical objectives of improving the health of Gulf War veterans and preventing similar problems in future deployments. As noted by the Committee this is a national obligation, made especially urgent by the many years that Gulf War veterans have waited for answers and assistance.”

Mich. Gulf War Veteran Wins VA Claim After 15 Years

Written by Anthony Hardie, 91outcomes

(91outcomes.blogspot.com) -- Journalist Ted Roelofs had an excellent article in today's Grand Rapids Press about Michigan's state budget cuts to funding for claims service officers. Tucked down at the bottom was a reference to western Michigan Gulf War veteran Don Harp, for whom it took 15 years to "win" his disability claim from the VA.

According to the article, the Army veteran's claim was for "combat injuries, a closed-head injury, and Gulf War Syndrome."

For countless Gulf War veterans of the 1991 Gulf War and the service officers who have sought to assist them, VA's repeated denials of Gulf War veterans' claims has all too often been the norm rather than an exception.

The most current VA report on Gulf War veterans (Aug. 2007, pp. 7-8) shows that out of 696,842 veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, an astronomical 40 percent (278,149) filed claims for VA service-connected disability -- highlighting just how many Gulf War veterans have been significantly affected by their military service.

Veterans claims service officers have long known that filing for undiagnosed illnesses for Gulf War veterans is next to impossible to have approved. Even still, VA shows 12,788 claims filed by 1991 Gulf War veterans for undiagnosed illnesses, with only 26 percent (3,280) of those approved -- meaning 74 percent were denied!

The Grand Rapids article noted that Harp was among the veterans planning to protest the State's budget cuts that included a $1 million cut to funding for the state's 11 veterans service organizations that provide assistance to Michigan's veterans filing disability claims with the VA.

While Michigan's cuts are deeply disappointing and politically questionable, some underlying questions remain for the federal government, including Congress and the new Obama Administration.

First, for veterans like Harp, where is the outreach been that VA repeatedly told Congress it has been conducting?

The U.S. Senate perenially introduces legislation (S. 315 in the current Congress) that would define outreach for the VA and require VA to fiscally account for what it spends on outreach as a line item -- only to have VA officials protest that such legislation is unneccesary, and that VA is already conducting it. Certainly that's not true for Mr. Harp and the other 74 percent of Gulf War veterans claiming undiagnosed illnesses following their Gulf War service.

Second, where is the claims assistance that VA supposedly provides, as required by law under the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000? Why did it take 15 years for this veteran to get his claim approved?

Third, what is VA doing to alleviate the fiscal burden on States and Counties that cause nearly every State and the Counties in about half the states to have to provide service officers to assist their veterans? Most veterans likely have no idea that with the exception of State Veterans Homes and Cemeteries, the benefits, programs, and services provided to them by their States, Counties, and veterans service organizations -- including assistance with VA claims -- is done without a dime of federal support.

Only the federal government creates veterans. So, why is it then left to the States, Counties, and innumerable Veterans Service Organizations to help veterans fight VA to get their claims approved (like the unnamed Catholic War Veterans service officer hometown hero who helped Harp)?

This valiant Vietnam and Gulf War veteran was given the final word in the Grand Rapids article: "Without these people, guys like me would have been shafted. If we have to hire attorneys, we are going to get shafted big time," Harp said.

Finally, the real story is that Gulf War veterans like Harp are still unable to receive effective treatments for Gulf War Syndrome. A November 2008 federal government report finally recognized that, "Gulf War illness is real, that it is the result of neurotoxic exposures during Gulf War deployment, and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved with time." (p.17) Yet, despite years of effort by the Gulf War veteran community seeking effective treatment from VA, the report also noted:
who, the article noted, had to wait

"Substantial federal Gulf War research funding has been used for studies that have little or no relevance to the health of Gulf War veterans, and for research on stress and psychiatric illness....[and] overall federal funding for Gulf War research has declined dramatically since 2001....

"A renewed federal research commitment is needed to identify effective treatments for Gulf War illness and address other priority Gulf War health issues. Adequate funding is required to achieve the critical objectives of improving the health of Gulf War veterans and preventing similar problems in future deployments. This is a national obligation, made especially urgent by the many years that Gulf War veterans have waited for answers and assistance." (p.2)

Change is needed for our nation's Gulf War veterans -- desperately.

TODAY'S CONGRESSIONAL HEARING Opening Statement of Hon. Harry Mitchell, Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Thank you to everyone for attending today’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing entitled, Gulf War Illness Research: Is Enough Being Done?

We meet today to shed light on a topic that is critically important to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs: The health and care of our Gulf War veterans.

This hearing is not the first to address Gulf War Illness, and it certainly will not be the last. Today’s is the first in a series of Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearings examining the impact of toxin exposures during the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War and the subsequent research and response by government agencies including the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

It has been almost 19 years since the United States deployed some 700,000 service members to the Gulf in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. When these troops returned home, some reported symptoms that were believed to be related to their service. Still today, these same veterans are looking for answers about proper medical treatment and the benefits that they bravely earned. While we hear about numerous studies and millions of dollars spent on Gulf War Illness research, many questions remain unanswered. In the end, we still don’t know how to respond to Gulf War veterans who asks: “Why am I sick or will I get sick?”

Today, we will attempt to establish an understanding of the research that has been conducted – and the actions that have been taken – in relation to Gulf War Illness. To better assess Gulf War Illness and its impact on veterans, we will look at another at-risk population, veterans who were exposed to the harmful toxins Agent Orange in Vietnam. In the past, we have seen service-related illnesses ignored, misunderstood, or swept under the rug. We must learn from those mistakes and ensure that our research and conclusions are accurate so that Gulf War Veterans are assured of the right diagnosis and the care and benefits they richly deserve.

Subsequent hearings on this issue will take a multi-level view of the methodology and conclusions of Gulf War Illness research and how the review of information was compiled and why certain methods were employed.

With a growing chorus of concern over the accuracy of existing research, and with a new administration leading the VA, it is time for us to make a fresh and comprehensive assessment of this issue and the body of research surrounding it.

We will hear testimony today from a Gulf War veteran, Veterans Service Organizations, two distinguished researchers from the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illnesses, as well as government officials. I would like to thank all of our witnesses for appearing here today. I’d also like to extend my thanks to Jim Binns, who chaired the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses, for his contributions to this hearing and this issue.

I trust this hearing will provide useful insights to begin our evaluation of the existing research on toxic exposure and the work being done to care for Gulf War veterans and protect future generations of war fighters.

Tragedy of Another Gulf War Veteran

Written by Anthony Hardie, 91outcomes

(91outcomes.blogspot.com) - The case of a Gulf War veteran's parents suing the city of Washington, DC after the police shot and killed the 38-year-old mentally ill veteran is truly a tragedy.

According to a local DC ABC 7 news story, the family was concerned about him and called neighbors to check on him, who in turn called police when they found the Gulf War veteran's condo door ajar. Despite reportedly being known by police to have mental health problems, the Gulf War veteran was shot and killed by police in a tragic incident.

David Kerstetter was healthy enough to pass the military's rigorous entrance exams two decades ago, but didn't survive for Kuwait's 20th anniversary of the liberation that he helped achieve.

How much must Gulf War veterans and their families suffer before Congress, VA, and DOD act to provide effective treatments for Gulf War veterans' illnesses?

Perhaps with effective treatment nearly two decades ago, Kerstetter would still be not only alive, but healthy, his family would not be grieving, and the DC police would not be being sued.

There were only 697,000 troops who served in the 1991 Gulf War. Tragically, we have lost yet another.

ALS Claims Yet Another Gulf War Veteran -- Still no Effective Treatments

Written by Anthony Hardie, 91outcomes

(91outcomes.blogspot.com) -- Published today in select news outlets in the U.S. and the Arabian Gulf States, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Harold Jackson writes a powerful commentary and eulogy of Homer Pledger, Jr. -- a former Army Staff Sergeant and yet another veteran of the 1991 Gulf War to die from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).

As Jackson notes, ALS is an incredibly cruel neuro-degenerative disease, with its ever-encroaching paralysis that leaves its victims to finally suffocate in a few short years, in full awareness of what is happening to them.

Testifying before Congress in July 2007, retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Thomas "Mick" Micolajcik told an enrapt audience in the U.S. House Committee on Veterans' Affairs hearing room of his personal experiences suffering from ALS, and calling for treatments.

General Mick's poignant testimony included the following:

"Military veterans, like me, face a higher risk of this relentless killer [ALS].

"50 percent die in one to three years, another 20 percent die within five years and only 10 percent may live to 10 years.

"It was learned in 2001 that Gulf War veterans have two times the incident rate of the general population..."

General Mick then went on to pointedly address the stunning facts that federal agencies only "dabble" in ALS research, there is no one entity in charge of ALS research, there is no existing strategic plan for ALS research, and there has been only one drug developed in the last 70 years and it is of questionable value.

None of us who met him could ever forget General Mick and his valiant efforts on behalf of his fellow veterans -- but I am afraid that Congress has already forgotten him, and the rest of us Gulf War veterans.

It is true that in November 2008, the federal VA finally granted "presumptive service-connection" for U.S. military veterans with ALS, just a week after being informed of research regarding ALS in Gulf War veterans that was presented to the Congressionally-mandated Federal Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses.

However, like the rest of Gulf War veterans suffering from Gulf War illness, no new treatments have been developed to help ALS victims, no new strategies have been implemented, and funding for new Congressionally Directed Medical Research focused on treatments for ALS and Gulf War Illness continues to be at the bottom of Congress' spending pile.

How much must our veterans and their families suffer before Congress moves to implement the recommendations made to its members on July 26, 2007?

Philadelphia Inquirer Photos: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/gallery/20090419_A_soldier_s_last__valiant_fight.html

Extreme Home Makeover Provides Home for Gulf War Veterans with Gulf War Illness, MS

By Rebecca Bunch
The Chowan Herald

Sunday, May 10, 2009
Jamesville, Virginia —

Cooking and cleaning may not be most men’s idea of a good time, but they fill Jeff Cooper’s heart with joy.

Cooper, whose family is settling into their ‘Extreme Makeover’ house completed just weeks ago, said he loves spending time in the kitchen, now that he can.

He explained that he used to get a lot of pleasure from cooking and helping with the housework, especially baking cakes for his wife, Clara. But that’s difficult to do when you’ve ended up in a wheelchair in a kitchen that’s not handicapped accessible.

“The first night we were here, after the house was finished, Clara woke up and found me in the kitchen just checking everything out,” Cooper said. “I guess it was about 3:30 in the morning. I was just so excited about getting back in there again that I couldn’t sleep.”

Comfortable surroundings

Clara said amenities like a double-dishwasher have enabled Jeff to start cooking and cleaning up the kitchen again, “and I’m happy about that.”

She said that once her husband, a Desert Storm veteran who suffers from Gulf War Syndrome and multiple sclerosis, was in a wheelchair, using the kitchen became very difficult.

“Jeff doesn’t have very good trunk balance,” she said, “and he could easily have fallen trying to put dishes in a single, big dishwasher but two smaller ones are perfect for him.”

In fact, the whole house is designed to make life easier for Jeff. One of Jeff’s other favorite things about the house are the stable-style interior doors that slide rather than having to be pushed open and shut, “because he can handle them by himself,” Clara said.

And the bathroom, too, is handicapped accessible making it easier for Jeff to enjoy soaking in the tub.

For a man who readily admits that in their old home, he often felt like a burden to his wife, life is good.

Best bedroom

Clara said that her favorite rooms are the master bedroom and adjoining bathroom.

“I could live in these two rooms and never come out,” she said with a big smile as she showed one of a steady stream of visitors around during an open house the family held this week. And that’s just what Jeff was hoping for after his family was selected from among five in the area to receive a new home.

“The one room in the house I asked for was for my wife,” he said, tearing up. “She’s the first one up every morning, and the last to bed every night. She takes care of my children, and she takes care of me.”

“I told Ty Pennington, ‘if you can give my wife a nice place to rest, a tub to soak in, something like a 5-star hotel room to rest in, that’s all I want.’ And he met that challenge.”

Meeting Powell

Once they knew they had been selected, the Cooper family, accompanied by Jeff’s devoted dog, Gabby — a 4-year-old Jack Russell terrier/Chihuahua mix who is specially trained to detect seizures and muscle spasms in humans — headed off for a visit arranged by the ‘Makeover’ show to Washington, D.C., a fitting trip for a man who had been honored as North Carolina Veteran of the Year in 2003.

And while they were there, Cooper said, he didn’t worry about what was happening back at home.

He said from watching the show in the past, he had faith that everything would turn out all right.

While there, Cooper had the chance to meet one of his personal heroes, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Colin Powell.

“If I hadn’t gotten to do one other thing besides meet him,” Jeff said, “that would have enough for me.”

More surprises

But a bigger surprise lay ahead.

As they neared their driveway on the trip home, he said, that was “a very special moment” for his family.

They could see down the road, see all the people outside who had worked so hard to make their new home possible, along with others who had come to offer their congratulations and good wishes to the family.

“In spite of the fact that it had rained all day, they stood out there, waiting for me and my family, to show us how much they cared,” Jeff said.

When asked how she felt as she saw all the people waiting, Clara said, “Speechless.” It felt, she said, like a dream come true.

And that’s exactly how Jeff described the moment when everybody yelled, “Move that bus” and he saw the family’s new log cabin home for the first time.

A log cabin-style house, he said, had been a long cherished dream, but one he had thought was not going to happen for him, his wife, Clara, and their children, Windy and Aaron.

“It still hasn’t sunk in,” he said. “I’m amazed! I still can’t believe it’s ours.”