Glen Bootay- A Soldier’s Story of poison in Iraq

Rosie — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:44:06 +0000

I read a newspaper article today about Glen Bootay, veteran soldier, who served in Iraq at Quarmat Ali in 2003. He and his squad came into contact with an orange powder at a vandalized plant. He stated the soldiers sat on bags of this powder, slept on it, and breathed it into their lungs. They walked through the powder, getting it all over their uniforms.

The powder was sodium dichromate, a deadly poison. This can lead to serious long term health problems, which Glen now has. He has headaches, nasal congestion, severe nosebleeds, constant chest pain with skipped heartbeats, shortness of breath since the lower part of his lungs collapsed, extreme fatigue, skin rashes, vomiting without nausea, loss of feeling on his left side and torso, high blood sugar, kidney stones, blacking out and memory loss. He has to undergo chemotherapy and takes over 35 medications a day. He’s just 30 years old. His parents are his caregivers now.

Why am I posting this about Glen? Because I got angry when I read the rest of the story. It seems he has tried to contact Pa. Senator Arlen Spector, but has gotten no calls returned. He is trying to get VA help, but they are dragging their feet. The staff for Senator Bob Casey has been trying to get help for him through the VA, but they have not heard anything. Why is this young man being forced to wait for help? Why are his parents the ones who are paying the bills? Bootay enlisted the day after 9 11. This is how he gets treated by the government after serving in the Iraq war? I wonder how many other young soldiers are out there suffering like Glen, wondering if they will get help for their illness gotten in Iraq. We need to write, email, or call our state representatives about this. They all need to be more aware of what is going on. It doens’t matter than Glen lives in Pennsylvania as I am sure there are soldiers in every state undergoing the same problems Glen is. Take action. Help our veterans, no matter what their age.

Information about Glen Bootay was gathered from an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer written by Kevin Ferris.

Troop support for McCain

Rosie — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:29:27 +0000

There are a few servicemen and women going around supporting McCain. Why? Because they know he will support them. Bill Wade likes McCain because McCain was the guy who said, “Look, this is broke and we need to fix it.” At the time McCain was talking about the war in Iraq. He also likes McCain because “He stood up to the Bush White House and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and I saw that as a true act of courage on his part”. As a soldier, Wade has seen action more than he wanted. Wade feels the leadership and courage McCain, a former POW, has shown both in the military and while serving in Congress makes him the ideal candidate for President. Wade also stated that he liked the way McCain stood up to the Bush administration regarding detainee torture, Guantanamo Bay, stood up against his own party and was berated, and the way McCain took a stand. McCain’s life is an open book. There is no secrecy as there is with Obama. You know where McCain comes from, where he’s going and where he stands. Obama is a good speaker, but does he really speak with conviction? Is he telling the truth? McCain won’t let the American people down. Will Obama?

Some of the information reported here came from an article by Kevin Ferris for the Philadelphia Inquirer. The article was printed for the November 2nd Sunday paper.

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Glen Bootay- A Soldier’s Story of poison in Iraq

Troop support for McCain