Story Number: NSHF111213-1
Release Date: 12/13/2011 01:14:00 AM
Alexandria, VA. – In November of 1991, President George H.W. Bush reminded our nation during his Veterans Day speech that, "The United States will always be a force for peace in the world. But the peace we seek is a real peace. The triumph of freedom, and prosperity, not merely the absence of war. We can never know which war will be the last. But we take as our hope the prophecy of Isaiah, that “nations shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." And yes, we hope, we pray, that as the years progress, the face of war will recede into our distant memory. But the memory of our veterans and their sacrifice will never fade.”
It now becomes the duty of the United States of America to continue to provide a real peace to the men and women that have served with unselfish honor, decisive valor, and loyal courage in the liberation of Iraq.
The words of President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt in 1910 ring true over one hundred years later, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
The Navy Safe Harbor Foundation would like to welcome home war veterans returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. NSHF has called upon all Americans to remind our Sailors, Coast Guardsmen and war veterans that your duty has ensured the success of liberty. Your service and sacrifice in combat has brought liberation to millions who lived in tyranny.
Guiding America’s mightiest is not only the duty of the Department of Defense and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs; it rests as the standard bearer of our nation.
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Additional Resources:
For VA benefit purposes, Gulf War Veterans are defined as those who served on active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations any time during the first Gulf War starting August 2, 1990 through the Iraq War and subsequent reduced operations in Iraq. Military operations include Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn. Gulf War service is active military duty in any of the following areas in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations any time during the first Gulf War starting August 2, 1990 through the current conflict in Iraq. This includes Veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2010) and Operation New Dawn (2010 and continuing).
- Iraq
- Kuwait
- Saudi Arabia
- The neutral zone between Iraq and Saudi Arabia
- Bahrain
- Qatar
- The United Arab Emirates
- Oman
- Gulf of Aden
- Gulf of Oman
- Waters of the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, and the Red Sea
- The airspace above these locations
Gulf War: Aug. 2, 1990, through a date to be set by law or Presidential Proclamation. Important Documents Needed to Expedite
Gulf War Veterans with Chronic Disabilities may receive disability compensation for chronic disabilities resulting from undiagnosed illnesses and/or medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illnesses defined by a cluster of signs or symptoms. A disability is considered chronic if it has existed for at least six months.
The undiagnosed illnesses must have appeared either during active service in the Southwest Asia Theater of Operations during the Gulf War period of Aug. 2, 1990, to July 31, 1991, or to a degree of at least 10 percent at any time since then through Dec. 31, 2011.
Examples of symptoms of an undiagnosed illness and medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illness defined by a cluster of signs and symptoms include: chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, fatigue, signs or symptoms involving the skin, skin disorders, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, neurological signs or symptoms, neuropsychological signs or symptoms, signs or symptoms involving the respiratory system (upper or lower), sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal signs or symptoms, cardiovascular signs or symptoms, abnormal weight loss, and menstrual disorders.
http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/gulfwar/
