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WIDOW WINS VA BENEFITS BUT STILL WANTS
ANSWERS
ON HUSBAND'S DEATH -- Was it toxins from the burn
pits
in Iraq that caused the brain tumor that killed
Kevin Wilkins?
For background on the Kevin Wilkins story, with
video, click here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf0
8/nfdec08/nf121308-3.htm
Story here...
http://www.orlandose
ntinel.com/news/local/lake/orl-lwilki
ns1709feb17,0,2911364.story
Story below:
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-------------------------
Benefit victory not end for vet's widow in Eustis
Amy Rippel
Special To The Sentinel
EUSTIS - When Jill Wilkins filed a veteran's-death claim in December after
her husband -- an Air Force reservist who served in Iraq -- died from a
brain tumor, she assumed it would take months to process.
The Eustis woman was shocked when the claim was approved a mere 21 days
later, in early January.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs determined that Kevin Wilkins'
family is entitled to service-connected death benefits. But a bigger
question remains unanswered: Was Kevin Wilkins' brain tumor the result of
exposure to burn pits in Iraq?
That question may take months, if not years, to be answered, according to
Jill Wilkins and federal officials.
Still, Jill Wilkins said she is proud of the work her husband did and
grateful to get some financial and education assistance as a result of his
service.
"If he had died two days later, it would have been a whole different ball
game," she said. "As fortunate as I am in my situation, what about the
others? Because we know they're out there and they're sick."
Locally, Kevin Wilkins worked as a nurse at Florida Hospital Waterman in
the ambulatory surgical unit and the emergency room. Before that he worked
in the emergency room at Ormond Beach Memorial Hospital.
He 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 3, 2007.
He was hospitalized on March 26 with blinding headaches and vomiting, and
diagnosed with a brain tumor. He died six days later, on April 1, at age
51.
While hospitalized, he told doctors that his headaches started in early
2007. In the hospital, a doctor asked Kevin whether he had been in contact
with chemicals in Iraq. He explained that the burn pits were used to burn
trash, including medical waste, plastics and chemicals, Jill Wilkins said.
Jill Wilkins started questioning the safety of the burn pits after
reviewing a December 2006 report completed by the U.S. Air Force that
called the burn pits in Balad an "operational health risk."
However, a 2007 Air Force report contradicts the earlier report by saying
testing has shown the pits at Balad pose no significant health risk.
At the urging of friends, Wilkins filed the death-benefits claim with the
Department of Veterans Affairs on Dec. 17.
Collette Burgess, a Veterans Affairs assistant veterans services center
manager, said approving benefits for Wilkins had nothing to do with
possible exposure to burn pits.
She said that the brain tumor was a "presumptive disability." Because a
tumor is typically slow progressing, it was assumed that Wilkins had it
when he was on active duty. And because he died within one year of
service, his family was entitled to service-connected death benefits.
"Presumably, the brain tumor was there while he was on active duty,"
Burgess said.
As part of the death benefits, Wilkins and her two teenage children will
get educational assistance, among other things. Jill Wilkins said even
though her struggle for benefits has ended, she will continue to help
others who face similar problems.
"I'm so excited and I feel blessed that it happened in such a short time
that I almost feel it's my responsibility to try to find others who are
struggling with the system," she said. "I'm trying to figure out how to do
that."
Kerry Baker of Disabled American Veterans said he has heard from hundreds
of Iraq war veterans who said they have disabilities caused from burn-pit
exposure. But the issue is just now reaching the radar screens of public
officials and legislators.
"It's a brand-new subject even though it's been going on for a long time,"
said Baker, the DAV's associate national legislative director in
Washington, D.C.
He said it's going to take people like Wilkins to come forward and tell
their stories for more attention to be paid.
"We don't want this to take another 20 years, like Vietnam and the Gulf
War," he said of helping troops exposed to toxins released from the burn
pits. "We know what they've been exposed to."
-------------------------
posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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