In Eustis, wife seeks answers about Iraq
veteran's deadly tumor
Amy C. Rippel
Special to the Sentinel
EUSTIS - When Kevin Wilkins died suddenly in April from a brain tumor,
there was nothing his wife, Jill, could do.
Within days of being diagnosed, he was dead. There was no time to react.
No time to help. No time to say goodbye.
But
now Jill Wilkins is questioning whether his tumor might have been because
of exposure to chemical clouds when he served in Iraq, and she has taken
matters into her own hands. Time is on her side now. And she wants
answers.
She has launched a one-woman campaign to find out whether her husband's
contact with the smoke from burn pits was the reason for his brain tumor.
In Iraq, where Kevin Wilkins served two tours, trash is burned in pits.
Everything from chemicals to plastics is burned, releasing toxins into the
air, according to one report.
The U.S. Air Force recently said that the burn pits pose no long-term
health risks. However, an earlier Air Force report said the pits were a
"health concern."
The Eustis woman said if her husband's death is related to his military
service, she and her children -- a 17-year-old son and a 16-year-old
daughter -- don't stand to gain a lot financially. Mostly, she's pursuing
it so she could possibly help other families, she said.
"Really, the average person is not aware of what happens over there -- not
aware at all," she said.
Kevin
Wilkins, an Air Force reservist, was a member of the 920th Aeromedical
Staging Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, where he served as a Critical
Care Air Transport Teams nurse. He was deployed twice -- to Balad from May
to August 2006 and then to Qatar from January to April 2007.
Less than a year after returning from his second tour, he was hospitalized
March 26 with blinding headaches and vomiting and diagnosed with a brain
tumor. He died six days later at age 51. While hospitalized, he told
doctors his headaches started in early 2007.
Jill Wilkins said her husband, who had no history of illness, hardly spoke
about his service in Iraq. In the hospital, a doctor asked Kevin whether
he came in contact with chemicals in Iraq. He said the pits in Balad were
full of medical waste, among other things, Jill Wilkins said. "He said,
'We had to walk through the smoke every day,' " she said.
Dave Autry, a Disabled American Veterans spokesman, said the
Washington-based group has been concerned about the toxins released from
the Balad pits. He said Pentagon officials must determine how many people
have been exposed to the pits and how far-reaching exposure has been. But,
he said, little has been done.
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posted by Larry Scott Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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