“Nearly All” VA Claims for Gulf War Illness “Improperly Denied”
May 20, 2021|<a href="
https://thewarhorse.org/author/david-goldstein/" title="Posts by David Goldstein" class="author url fn" rel="author">David Goldstein[/url]
When John Saul’s Marine air-ground task force landed in the Persian Gulf in 1991, the oil fields in Kuwait were ablaze. Heavy, dark smoke colored the sky.
“It was black at midday,” he told The War Horse. “Solid black.”
The fumes hung onto every breath the 24-year-old helicopter mechanic took.
“You could smell it and taste it,” Saul said. “There was no way to get away from it.”
He never really did. His symptoms began not long after he left the Marines in 1993: He developed a burning and recurring skin rash. It appeared first on his forearms. Over time, it spread to 50% of his body—his hands, arms, legs, torso, and the tops of his feet.
