Now, I have whezzinness in my lungs, using two types of inhalers, going through the VA crap and now, today, I just got a letter stating they want evidence!!

How could you get evidence on air quality? As for living conditions, they will never admit to bad living conditions… NOOOO We are soliders, we should not complain…

But our health is on the line.. and I’m so pissed that now I have to prove my claim.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
This is through the VA? This is a known problem. There is a registry. https://sites.google.com/site/burnpits/Home It the Burn Pits Action Center. Contact them for assistance.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
Thanks for that link. I will blog it!

Mrs. Gonzales, from what I understand the military took over this area years ago it was Saddam’s airfield base. Now with that said of course on the base you can see the orginial buildings that was built by Saddams soldiers and naturally our military built up this base too. We get stationed at Balad due to this place meeting the military needs. When the government invests in something they are going to use it. Every Forward Operating Base is a dangerous place to be. But Balad seems more prevelent in receiving alot of indirect fire.

JBB is called Morta-rita-ville and for good reason. Indirect fire comes in all the time. I was sleeping one morning and a Rocket attack happened just 35 feet from where I lived. Needless to say I was shaken to the core for days over this. You can only pray and pray some more. We cannot control what will happen on this base. I can tell you that I joined the military due to my beliefs that I would serve my God and Country. Not everyone is able to handle going through the service. And you just know that if it is your time it will happen. And your daughter has taken this into consideration long before she took the oath, naturally you want her to come home one day as I did. But you must have faith and DO NOT let this eat at you. She will be fine. She knows what to do and will do if things go wrong. Not that I am trying to scare you but it takes a very strong person to do what she is doing and she will know how to react.

You can’t start a movement to get our troops out of a danger zone. This is the tough realities of war. You are sent where you are needed. No other soldier in wars past had a say so in where they were sent you just make the best of it. Be on your toes and be very aware of your environment at all times.

As you are worried about your daughter please know I was very worried about my 22 year old son. He was stationed at Q-West in Northern Iraq about 175 miles away from me. We were the only mother and son that ever deployed at the same time in the same war in the same Brigade from our state. So naturally they split us up. Every day I read the Stars and Stripes to see what was going on in Northern Iraq and I was always so scared for his safety. My thoughts were I’ve got a wonderful husband raised two children and if anything happened to either one of us I pray it is me. No my life isn’t as important when you have your own child serving in a war zone. Each waking moment I thought of him. And I prayed all the time if anything should happen let it be with me not him. It turns out his area was much safer than ours and that gave me comfort. I left a husband who has had two prior heart attacks and 4 stents in his heart and he is a worrier so he had double jeparody worrying over the two of us. But we prayed and then prayed some more.

I’ve come home with some issues too on concerns with my health. Please tell your daughter to start documenting her issues while still serving it may seem small now but will be her greatest asset one day down the road. I didn’t know to do this. Tell her she needs to write down dates of dust or sand storms and have her notice all the local nationals they wear covering over their nose and mouth when it gets bad. We soldiers didn’t have anything issued to us when the air quality got so bad and we just stuck it out and breathed the air. Then you breath the burning pit smoke too. All a factor.

Please try to calm down and try to breath. Write lots of letters to keep her in your thoughts. Just keep sending the letters don’t wait until she replies just keep them coming this will give her great comfort. And I am going to pray for you, I know how you feel I am a mother of a soldier and a soldier as well. God Bless your family and Everything will be ok. Trust in your God.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
Thank you for your insights!! I will make sure Mrs. Gonzales gets this.

What I do not understand, is why if this location is so dangerous, and it is a known fact that it is a dangerous locationo. Why are our troop’s stationed there. My daughter left her two children and husband to serve her country, but not to be stationed in a location that will eventually cause her possible death…..

Please advise what a concerned parent can do to get our government to move our troops from Balad or this particular location.

It is my hope that our new president will remove our troops from Iraq. The sooner the better.

Respectfully,

Luis Gonzalez

Ms Sparky’s Response:
I don’t have any answers for that. I don’t know what her job is, but I would wear at least a paper mask at all times. Contact your Congressman and Senators. ABC and I think CNN has done a report on the Balad Burn pits. All I can say is make as much noise as possible. Tell your daughter…we thank her for serving. She also needs to take note whether she has come in contact with any exploded depleted uranium weapons, old tanks, working on tanks etc.

Ms Sparky’s Response:
I know!! If you really want to be outraged. Read the “KBR Knowingly Exposes Employees and Troops”. Contact your politicians. I am going to pressure CID anyway I can to open a Criminal Investigation on this!!

Ms Sparky’s Response:
I couldn’t agree more. I understand threre will be times when you have to just “Get er done!” But in long standing established bases like Balad…there is no reason to have incinerators that don’t function. The camps and bases should be the safest places for the soldiers and their not!