This website is dedicated to Service Members, Service Members’ families, and healthcare providers wanting information about transitioning home from a war.

The vast majority of Service Members who have participated in a war or armed conflict return to daily life free of health care complaints, and ready to resume their former activities in work, family life, or education. We recognize that many Service Members who have participated in the nation’s armed forces will not require any assistance in this readjustment process. We do, however, provide information on what we have learned from the first Gulf War as well as information of relevance to the families of individuals who have been deployed.

Information provided on this web site is not a substitution for medical care or treatment by your health care provider.

The Headlines

U.S. troops, along with an allied coalition, helped rid the world of one of the most horrific regimes in history and in so doing, freed the Iraqi people and saved them from continued suffering.

The American public learned that the modern solider can be both an accomplished warrior and a compassionate humanitarian.

The Untold Story

In Iraqi Freedom, Service Members have been exposed to many of the traditionally troubling aspects of war. It is likely that Service Members witnessed first hand a death, a real threat to their lives, or the realization of their own capacity to harm another human being.

Now that they have returned home, these experiences remain a part of them. They have likely been changed by what they experienced.

Perhaps these experiences have helped them to grow as individuals, to more fully understand who they are, their purpose in life, or to more fully appreciate life and those around them.

On the other hand, returning Service Members may find it difficult to reconcile their war experiences with the life they now experience upon returning. They may feel like they don’t fit in with family and friends, or feel like their health isn’t as good as it used to be.

Each of the above observations is common to individuals returning home from war. This website provides information about how Service Members, family members, and health care specialists can learn more about how other Service Members have successfully transitioned home, how transitioning home can be made smoother, and resources for helping in the transition.

What we know from the first Gulf War:

• In 1990 and 1991, over 700,000 U.S. troops were deployed to the Persian Gulf.
  
  
• Although there were few combat casualties, within months from returning from the war, many Service Members were complaining of symptoms and illnesses.
  
  
• The primary symptoms seen were joint and muscle pain, headaches, fatigue, difficulties with memory, rash, and gastrointestinal (stomach) disturbances. This constellation of symptoms has been termed Gulf War Illness.
  
  
• There have been numerous research studies done on Gulf War Illness. (See www.gulflink.osd.mil/medical and go to Gulf War Illnesses-related Medical Research and Publications.)
  
  
• These symptoms were indeed more common in Gulf War veterans, but have been seen in every war in which the United States has participated.
  
  
• No specific exposures that were known (or thought) to occur during the first Gulf War (for example, nerve gas, biological weapons, depleted uranium, pyridostigmine) have been shown to lead to or cause these symptoms. (The exception is a single study implicating vaccines.)
  

What is the precise cause of these symptoms?

There are 2 scientific thoughts:

1. The majority of symptoms seen after the first Gulf War were due to a specific exposure that has yet to be discovered (e.g., an undiagnosed infection, low levels of nerve gas).
   
2. The majority of symptoms seen by veterans of the first Gulf War have occurred for the same reasons they
   
   • have after other wars
     
   • do in the general population
     

This second scientific thought has been incorrectly called the "stress theory" and has implied that there is nothing wrong with Gulf War veterans and that their symptoms are "all in their heads."

Our independent team of clinicians and researchers (and many other Gulf War researchers) believe that Gulf War veterans are suffering from real symptoms and that this is a real illness that causes significant disability. This is NOT a psychiatric condition and it is NOT "all in their heads."

Returning Iraqi War veterans have been exposed to a war with greater numbers of combat and civilian casualties, longer periods of intense fighting and bombings, fear of surprise attacks and ambushes, lack of sleep, harsh weather conditions, and knowledge of the lack of international support and frequent war protests. This war has been an extremely stressful and difficult event for our Iraqi War veterans.

To learn more about how the body responds to extreme stress, issues of post-deployment health, issues for family members, and information for health care providers, see the links below.