All Veteran EB owners

[bronco italiano]

Knowing that many Veterans own broncos I thought I would post here in regards to the recent Congressional Legislation (end of 2022) regarding the PACT Act (Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins).

-Due to this new legislation VA's all over the country are mandated to screen veterans for possible toxic/environmental hazard exposures.
-These are mandated screenings for all VA primary care providers.

They are 6 registries currently:
1-Burn Pits & Airborne Hazards
2-Gulf War
3-Depleted Uranium
4-Toxic Embedded Fragments
5-Agent Orange
6- Ionizing Radiation

A veteran can also go to the online burn pit registry (or any of the others should be available too), create an account, and then fill out the questionnaire and request a free exam.
I am one of a few Environmental Medicine examiners (I am a nurse practitioner not a physician) that conducts these exams at Palo Alto.
The main purpose is to:
1- Get more Veteran's in the registries to see if more presumptive illnesses/diseases exist. Lord only knows what you all were exposed to and what may lie ahead in life from these exposures during your military service.
2- Provide extensive education in regards to your specific exposure and recommend regular VA follow-up visits or advise your private MD how you are at a much higher risk of disease at an earlier age than most of the civilian population.
3-The exam does become a part of your permanent VA medical record and is sent to national VA for the analysts to look for more presumptive diseases to add to the current list.

You can find lots of information at https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/index.asp
-I am as passionate about this as I am building broncos.
-Finally our veterans get the opportunity to not have to "prove" their condition was from military service as our beloved Vietnam vets were so terrible denied.
-Please tell all your veteran friends, the more that get screened/examined the better off you all are for future care by the VA.
Respectfully, Donald Vieira Jr. FNP-C





Respectfully,
Donald Vieira

 

[ared77]

God Bless our veterans!

 

[Scoop]

Thanks for posting this. I'm a veteran but I was never exposed to any potential health issues during my 10 years of combined active and reserve service. Many Veterans were exposed to things unknowingly because they volunteered out of a sense of duty and patriotism. They deserve to be taken care of.

 

[nvrstuk]

For sure! Glad you posted this up. Two good wheeling buddies are both severly disabled after being subjected to the toxins in the burn pits in Iraq. I love my county but I hate the arrogance of some of our military leaders and what they unecessarily subject our service men & women to.

Thanks for posting this up and thank you to all Vet's who have served.

 

[sprdv1]

Thanks for sharing.. glad to have not been exposed like that, same as Gary stated...

Great info for other fellow vets to know that from some of our other guys/gals

 

[sprdv1]

Thanks for posting this. I'm a veteran but I was never exposed to any potential health issues during my 10 years of combined active and reserve service. Many Veterans were exposed to things unknowingly because they volunteered out of a sense of duty and patriotism. They deserve to be taken care of.

Amen!! Thank you for your service and all our other fellow veterans

 

[distended]

So I'm a Gulf War Veteran. What were we exposed to? The burning oil fields?

We had to take what they told us were anthrax vaccine shots, we got three. We were also ordered to take two different pills everyday but I don't remember what they were supposed to be for.

 

[bronco italiano]

So I'm a Gulf War Veteran. What were we exposed to? The burning oil fields?

We had to take what they told us were anthrax vaccine shots, we got three. We were also ordered to take two different pills everyday but I don't remember what they were supposed to be for.

Vaccines, airborne hazards such as the sand, which has silica in it and poop!!! The oil fields burning create lung/upper airway problems. The burn pits, both poop and large pots fueled.with JP8 are very hazardous to your health. Also, in the damaged buildings, they used asbestos for the walls, so that is another risk. Hope this helps, Don

 

[duffymahoney]

Thank you all for your service!

If you haven't watched John Stewarts videos in front of senators you should. It's amazing that he took this mission on and pushed and pushed till it got passed.

 

[1strodeo]

So I'm a Gulf War Veteran. What were we exposed to? The burning oil fields?

We had to take what they told us were anthrax vaccine shots, we got three. We were also ordered to take two different pills everyday but I don't remember what they were supposed to be for.

I wonder if those weren't pills for malaria Tom?...and I've often wondered if all the vaccines they gave me like Yellow Fever and Anthrax (as I recall I had to do 2 sets of 3 for some reason) are a contributing factor into why I feel like a broken down old man at age 51. My wife is in maybe worse shape than me at age 44. Her 46 year old sister has MS and has no use of her right arm, can barely walk etc, and their father was heavily exposed to agent orange in Vietnam, but for the longest time they were only testing females that were there. I think that has changed just recently. Thanks for posting Don!

 

[bronco italiano]

Thank you all for your service!

If you haven't watched John Stewarts videos in front of senators you should. It's amazing that he took this mission on and pushed and pushed till it got passed.

John Stewart is amazing. It is a terrible mark on politicians that need such pressure to do what is right for our Veterans. Had their kids been deployed to war and suffered exposures, you know it would have been immediately addressed.

 

[distended]

I wonder if those weren't pills for malaria Tom?...and I've often wondered if all the vaccines they gave me like Yellow Fever and Anthrax (as I recall I had to do 2 sets of 3 for some reason) are a contributing factor into why I feel like a broken down old man at age 51. My wife is in maybe worse shape than me at age 44. Her 46 year old sister has MS and has no use of her right arm, can barely walk etc, and their father was heavily exposed to agent orange in Vietnam, but for the longest time they were only testing females that were there. I think that has changed just recently. Thanks for posting Don!

Maybe they were for Ma1laria, I don't recall. I just remember that there were two different pills.

As far as the shots go, much like today a lot of us didn't want to take the shots because they weren't telling us what they were and everyone knows that the military hasn't ever been experimented on. The CO issued a direct order that made them mandatory and said they were anthrax vaccinations.

 

[1strodeo]

As far as the shots go, much like today a lot of us didn't want to take the shots because they weren't telling us what they were and everyone knows that the military hasn't ever been experimented on. The CO issued a direct order that made them mandatory and said they were anthrax vaccinations.

yeah that sounds real familiar, I'm a gov employee and was handed a letter not too long ago that said I would lose my job if I didn't get a shot

 

[dmoses42]

I'm not sure about the other registries, but I think its important to note that members still serving can sign up for the burn pit registry if they were exposed, they just won't get the screening until they are discharged or retire. I did two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan that had active burn pits and I signed up on the burn pit registry right after it came online. Like 1strodeo I too feel broken down at 52. Bone and joint pain all the time unless I take something for it, respiratory issues, memory issues, had parathyroid disease while on active duty, high blood pressure, and a whole host of other things. I retired 2 years ago and the VA thankfully has been very helpful, but its still hard to get unexplained issues resolved.

 

[bronco italiano]

I'm not sure about the other registries, but I think its important to note that members still serving can sign up for the burn pit registry if they were exposed, they just won't get the screening until they are discharged or retire. I did two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan that had active burn pits and I signed up on the burn pit registry right after it came online. Like 1strodeo I too feel broken down at 52. Bone and joint pain all the time unless I take something for it, respiratory issues, memory issues, had parathyroid disease while on active duty, high blood pressure, and a whole host of other things. I retired 2 years ago and the VA thankfully has been very helpful, but its still hard to get unexplained issues resolved.

Very important to sign up for the registries and request the exam. I do exam a couple active duty that are sent to one of the 5 VA poly-trauma units in the country. Talk about a heartbreaking exam. The amount of deployments that are asked of these service members is devastating to their health now and long-term.

 

[crawln68]

Hi Don,

Thank you so much for posting this. I'm wondering about my Dad who was in the Air Force in the late 50's. He was a B-50 bomber mechanic and they told him to use Carbon Tetrachloride to wash his hands and face to remove the grease. He used this to clean up every day for 3 years and now later in life, he is pretty sure that this is the cause of a lot his health issues now. Anyway, this doesn't look like it falls under any of the categories that you posted?

 

[sprdv1]

So I'm a Gulf War Veteran. What were we exposed to? The burning oil fields?

We had to take what they told us were anthrax vaccine shots, we got three. We were also ordered to take two different pills everyday but I don't remember what they were supposed to be for.

I have yet to try and get signed up for some Vet insurance, to get that going towards when I retire..

I remember shots too like you got no choice lol (not gulf)

 

[dmoses42]

I have yet to try and get signed up for some Vet insurance, to get that going towards when I retire..

I remember shots too like you got no choice lol (not gulf)

VA Disability is totally different and independent from any insurance. If you don't mind watching Youtube videos, check out the ones by a guy called Combat Craig. He goes into pretty good detail about the process to start a claim and what you can get rated for, especially for someone who has been out for a while. Your local VFW should have a rep for the VA who can help, Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is another very helpful organization. I think any veteran who is suffering from an injury or illness they were treated for in the military should be getting compensated for it. Don't wait until closer to retirement, the sooner you get the process started, the sooner you can start getting compensated. And any VA Disability compensation is non-taxed.

 

[bronco italiano]

Hi Don,

Thank you so much for posting this. I'm wondering about my Dad who was in the Air Force in the late 50's. He was a B-50 bomber mechanic and they told him to use Carbon Tetrachloride to wash his hands and face to remove the grease. He used this to clean up every day for 3 years and now later in life, he is pretty sure that this is the cause of a lot his health issues now. Anyway, this doesn't look like it falls under any of the categories that you posted?

Yes Crawlin 68. The tetrachlorides are very dangerous. Shoot me a text and I can send you the education paper VA uses for that exposure.

 

[bronco italiano]

The PACT Act does mandated exams for "other" to cover any veteran exposed to a toxin not covered in the registry.