No longer could I continue my career. Being a Professional Driver, having a seizure disorder ruined my career. The career that I had loved for so many years was gone in a flash. Having two young children and a wife at home my heart was crushed. I knew I had to start another career, after a few months I was returned to the work force. Working for a home improvement store now became my profession. Though not the first choice for a truck driver, being in retail started to give me a sense of well being, with a chance to move up into management in a short period of time. After two years one career destroyed, and a year to rule out any genetic link, my world once again has crumbled at my feet. Now facing financial ruin, and a potential loss of my home, I am disappointed in the people of the United States.

The Va. has diagnosed me with seizure disorder, possible ms, and cardiac murmur, all of which I self diagnose as Gulf War illness. I say Gulf War Illness because I spent a year ruling out any genetic link, and have found that far to many other gulf era vets have very similar problems. After two years of research myself, I believe my problems originated from the multiple vaccinations. Many Government experts believe this is not the case, I believe it is. The toll this has taken on me is very great, I struggle each day to try and remember yesterday, or the day before that, or the day before that. I watch, as my young son looks at me and says, dad, you didn’t remember we were going to do this, or that. The emotional
struggle from day to day, as to whether or not I will remember the past, as so I won’t make the same mistakes in the future. Being in retail as a customer asks a question, I can’t remember so I ask what was asked, the reaction of anger towards me. As things in this life are always changing, so has this illness changed me.  I used to be a quiet, simple man, now I have become a man driven, driven by the desire for my Government to answer my questions and tell me why and how come. A man at 34 yrs old who has made his peace with his maker, yet a wife a two children that do not understand his anger.

I served my country proud, I would serve my country again, and I am discouraged as to why my country will not answer my call. I have written our leaders numerous times, only to have my pleas, fall on deaf ears. To have other Veteran groups look down upon you, simply because our soldiers came home with yellow ribbons, and a parade. The battle for this group of veterans is not over, the mission a failure. The media tells all of no casualties, there are over one hundred thousand, and we are still falling daily on the average we lose two gulf era veterans. Folks, there are fifty thousand names on the wall, one hundred thousand gulf era veterans do not have a wall in which to have their names placed, only tombstones. The gulf veterans are not only who is affected by the war, our children are sacrificing for their country to, though they never signed their name. Many of our veterans’ children are born with birth defects. Not only our children, but also the children in Iraq are also suffering. Because of our nations agenda to apply sanctions, many children are suffering there as well. These diseases slowly wear at ones body, and eventually take ones mind. I believe we all have an obligation to make a stand.  The very freedoms we all fought for, in any war are threatened. New laws are being passed everyday, slowly taking away the very rights that our constitution was founded on. Freedom of speech, freedom of statement, our kids can no longer pray in our schools, how can we expect our God to answer our calls. I ask each of you who may read this to take a step back. Take a good long look, and ask yourself, what has happened, why have I allowed this to happen. All wars were lost, as the very principals we fought for have become tarnished. America has become so relaxed that we have allowed domestic enemies to infiltrate into our governing bodies. Take a look and ask, is this
what I sacrificed so much for?  Is this what I am going to allow to continue?  I pray for our service men and women today, as they to will return, to have America turn her back on them. As George Washington once said, "The willingness of our young people to serve in any war, no matter how justified, is how they perceive the way those that went before them were treated. Will we allow America to continue to lose her honor? Anyone with any questions of this Veteran is welcome to contact me to validate the words I have written. Thank you and may your god bless you.
Sincerely,
                               Paul F. Yelton Jr.
                               Yeltonp@aol.com
                               A once proud Veteran
                               A very disappointed citizen

Freda and Lyle

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