Greg
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Greg served in the Air Force for 20 years. During Desert Storm, he worked swing shifts repairing planes that flew combat air patrols over Iraq. Based in Dhahran where nearby oil fields were burning, he didn’t see the sun or stars for 90 days. In addition to the oil, Greg said the food was toxic: “I ate an outrageous amounts of candy bars and stuff that tasted a lot like laundry detergent.” Five years after Desert Storm, he returned to Dhahran Air Base as an independent defense contractor for McDonnell Douglas.
Greg has developed various health issues since his time in the Gulf, including tinnitus, which he said is the most bothersome: “It’s with you night and day. It hounds you...it’s screaming.” He also has degenerative arthritis of the spine and has increasingly been experiencing chronic fatigue and pain: “I hurt constantly.” Greg considers himself “a very moody person nowadays” and has struggled transitioning into retirement, creating strain on his marriage.
Alternative therapies help Greg cope with his tinnitus because he can take his mind off it: “I don’t focus on it.” He sees a VA psychologist monthly to help with his moods and “shed some light on things.” He’s been happy overall with VA care he’s received but felt only getting 10% service connection for tinnitus was “a slap in the face.”
Greg finds camaraderie with other Veterans at the Elks Lodge, where he is very involved as an advocate connecting Veterans through assistance programs. He thinks his time in the military gave him discipline and the ability to “work with everybody without prejudice,” and prides himself not letting politics interfere in his relationships. He recommends other Veterans get in touch with the VA, “if you think you even have some conditions which may be related to your time in the Gulf or time in the military.”
Greg remarks that he doesn’t know if his experience is normal for a 63-year-old.
Greg remarks that he doesn’t know if his experience is normal for a 63-year-old.
One of the things that's happened to me is I’m getting old. And so it's hard for me to tell you or to tell anybody how much of what I’m feeling now is possibly a result of the Gulf War or it's just a matter that I’m getting old. I don’t know. But I do know that I suffer from extreme lack of energy. I have no energy. I get out of the bed in the morning after a good night's sleep, and my first thought is laying back down and taking a nap. And once again I have no idea whether that's the typical way that a 63-year-old man feels or whether this is symptoms of something else. I did 90 days in Dhahran, and during those 90 days, I never saw the sun. I never saw the stars. It was right after the Gulf War ended. I mean immediately after. We were still flying combat air patrols over Iraq, and it's when he had set all the oil fields on fire. And our planes used come back from there, because we flew combat air patrol missions for the U-2s. They would take pictures, and at that time, I was out of Holloman Air Force Base, and we'd fly combat support for them, and the planes would come back just coated with oil. Just grungy, grungy, grungy stuff. And that's the stuff that we'd breathe night and day for 90 days, you know? So I'm curious. I don't know. I'm not sitting here telling anybody I have a Gulf War-related incident because I don't know whether I do or not. I have no idea. I've never been 63 before. I don't know what it feels like to be 63.
Greg didn’t see the sun or stars for 90 days in Dhahran.
Greg didn’t see the sun or stars for 90 days in Dhahran.
And that makes me curious because I have aches and pains all over the place, I hurt constantly. And I did 90 days in Dhahran, and during those 90 days, I never saw the sun. I never saw the stars. It was right after the Gulf War ended. I mean immediately after. We were still flying combat air patrols over Iraq, and it's when he had set all the oil fields on fire. And our planes used come back from there, because we flew combat air patrol missions for the U-2s. They would take pictures, and at that time, I was out of Holloman Air Force Base, and we'd fly combat support for them, and the planes would come back just coated with oil. Just grungy, grungy, grungy stuff. And that's the stuff that we'd breathe night and day for 90 days.
Greg describes a steroid injection that helped with pain.
Greg describes a steroid injection that helped with pain.
If you take enough naproxen it helps. It helps with the aches and pains. Nothing is as good as the oxycodone. I mean that flat gets it done, but I understand why they're trying to wean people off it. It's a huge problem in this country. Massive problem. It was steroid shot. In fact, it was so uncomfortable, I've never gotten another one. I just deal with the pain. I don’t know whether you know the procedure, but you literally hold massive weights in your hand to dislocate your shoulder, and then they go in with a needle about this long and try to find the spot that hurts the most, so there's a little bit of probing. And then when they find that spot that really hurts the most, they let it go. And it works. By God, it works. It's very effective. But I just remember the doctor saying that you want to sit down. And I said, no, no, no. Billy badass Greg, he don’t want to sit down. He's going to stand up and take this shot. And I wish I would have sat down.