Posted on 10/16/2003 9:58:17 AM PDT by archy
Military Vaccine Woes Mount
HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 10, 2003
(Photo: CBS/AP)
"It's harder to live with these illnesses than if I was shot in combat."
Former Navy Nurse Julia Dyckman
Dr. Nass' letter to JAMA criticizing military study
JAMA's rejection letter to Dr. Nass">
Army immunologist letter admitting problems in care for a soldier
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More Smallpox Vaccine Concerns
Questions Mount Over Anthrax Shots
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Links
National Gulf War Resource Center
(CBS) Dennis Drew was prepared to fight the enemy in Iraq, but never got the chance. After his military vaccinations, his immune system completely unraveled.
"Severe pneumonia and myocarditis, I think almost killed me," said Drew, a U.S. Army chemical weapons specialist.
Now living in constant pain, daily life is almost unbearable. His illnesses are nearly identical to those suffered by Rachel Lacy before she died last spring. The coroner said her military shots were likely to blame.
It's estimated thousands of soldiers claim serious illnesses from military vaccines. But to them, the most maddening thing is they don't exist -- at least in the eyes of top military brass -- who insist there is, quote, "no evidence, none whatsoever" that inoculations cause any long-term problems, reports CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.
That includes blood clots.
The military denied any possible link to vaccines when NBC War Correspondent David Bloom died at age 39 of an apparent blood clot after his military shots.
Yet a CBS News investigation has uncovered more than a dozen cases of the vaccines being linked to blood clot problems. It's suspected in Drew's illness, confirmed by the military's own records in former Army Captain Jason Nietupski who developed blood clots in his legs, and documented in former navy nurse Julia Dyckman.
Dyckman's immune system fell apart after her shots for the first Gulf War. Now she has debilitating problems from brain lesions to dissolving neck bones.
"It's harder to live with these illnesses than if I was shot in combat," said the retired U.S. Navy captain.
She watched the latest deployment with a mix of interest and dread.
"I was worried. And I also had another reason to be worried because I also have three sons in the military right now," she said.
Sons who may be ordered to get the shots themselves -- those who refuse are court-martialed or kicked out of the service.
Their lives forever changed, the victims old and new desperately want to find out why the vaccines are making some soldiers so sick, but say they can't fight the enemy if the Pentagon denies the enemy exists.
©MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
I don't know why, but I couldn't get the pic of Dennis Drew to work. If you care to see what the poor guy looks like, go to the CBS source article.
-archy-/-
-archy-/-
Having had direct experience with this issue, I can testify that this is one area where all of our military services definitely have their collective heads in the rectal defilade position.
And there were other guys pulled out of vehicle convoys in the desert, lined up in formation, and given mass multiple innoculations with no questioning about possible preexisting individual conditions that could be contraindicated, and of which no records were kept.
In at least one case, troops were told that anyone refusing the shots could *be shot for cowardice.*
-archy-/-
One combination of seri was known as "the water cooler."
The corpsmen would state that, when given the shot, you would not make it to the water cooler.
We all laughed.
They asked for volunteers.
Me; I volunteered, because I did not want to have to look at all the other faces ... and THEN get mine.
So, I went first.
The "shot" was not bad.
I got to the water cooler, where, it felt like somebody hit my right shoulder with a two by four!
I made it to the end of the line, where I sat down promptly and started laughing because the pain was bone crushing, and I knew what was to come, of the remaining 99 souls.
You should have seen their faces, as they sought to make my reaction to be, "He's got to be faking it?!"
Well, the next guy got his shot, and he did the same thing that I did. We were both crying and laughing, I'll never forget it.
Finally, the last few guys got theirs.
After a half hour more of moaning and groaning, they marched us out onto the road; it was July, 1971, and 90+ degrees and 90+ humidity in Cape May, NJ. They ordered us to do "jumping jacks" and "push ups." They were trying to get our circulation going.
Well, that was it for the remainder of the day.
Back to the barracks where we were told to take a holiday.
I went to the enlisted men's club and wolfed down a large cheeseburger and vanilla malt.
Tetanus, Typhoid, Diptheria, and I can't remember the other two "also rans."
Such a deal.
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