Published by the Church of Scientology International

Ill WIND: Desert Storm Blows Back with a Fury “Thank you for your interest in a story which breaks my heart to again visit. I do not understand how the senior leadership of DOD [Department of Defense] can close eyes all around to the symptomology you chillingly detail.” — David Irvine

I have just received and read with interest the “Ill Wind” story. Thank you for your interest in a story which breaks my heart to again visit. I do not understand how the senior leadership of DOD [Department of Defense] can close eyes all around to the symptomology you chillingly detail. I do not understand how three presidencies can pretend that the symptomology is all in the Vets’ heads. The universal unwillingness to investigate and provide adequate care is just criminal.

I very much fear for the men and women who again are deployed to the Gulf: not only are they likely to bring back these tragic kinds of disability, but there is no reason to believe that DOD will take the new wave of symptomology any more seriously than it did the last. The “Deadlier than Vietnam” sidebar is shocking.

Thank you for your effort, and I wish the story might finally prod someone to start asking questions without a scripted answer.

— David Irvine
Bountiful, Utah

We Infected Our Loved Ones

I read the full stories and found that you covered virtually all aspects of what contributed to our illnesses. It is of utmost importance to make the public aware that not only did we come home ill, but we also infected our loved ones.

I thank you and your staff for running with this story and telling the truths that the ordinary citizen would otherwise never hear or see.

— Bob Jones
Fayetteville, North Carolina

I Pray It Will Be Different

We were very happy with your work. You can only imagine how many more veterans and their families have already been destroyed by illness, losing their jobs, healthcare, homes, even their faith in this country, and didn’t even really have a clue to what was happening, let alone how to survive.

I pray that it will be different this time around.

— Janyce Brown
Swartz Creek, Michigan

You Are to Be Saluted

I am very impressed with your research. I feel you have done more than any other mainstream publication to call attention to the real issues.

Thanks for your dedication and time spent to get to the bottom of this story. It will be more relevant than ever as we now have more people getting sick by the day in Iraq.

You are to be saluted by all vets. It is my sincere opinion that Freedom magazine has shown more truth about Gulf War Illness than the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs combined.

— Joyce Riley
American Gulf War Veterans Association,
Versailles, Missouri

WHY HAVE OUR PRISONS ENTERED A DEADLY SPIRAL?

Thought-Provoking

I have been receiving your magazine Freedom a number of years and though I don’t always agree with the contents, I certainly find it well written and thought-provoking.

Your article in Volume 33, Issue 1 (“Why have our prisons entered a deadly spiral?”) has caused me to begin making inquiries with our corrections officials to see to what extent we have this problem in Tennessee.

Keep up the good work.

— Al Schmutzer, Jr.
District Attorney General, Fourth Judicial District,
Sevierville, Tennessee

“The Thorazine Shuffle”

The Freedom issue on prison drugs was a big hit. At Groveland*, there are so many people walking around blasted on Thorazine it is called “the Thorazine shuffle” because those who are on it drag their feet as they walk. Those on heavy doses are known as “astronauts” because when they walk they lean forward so much they seem to defy gravity.

— David Todeschini
Alden, New York

*Groveland Correctional Facility, located in Sonyea, NY

GOLD! THE MYSTERY OF THE $30 BILLION TREASURE

There was an update about the Victorio Peak treasure story recently on KOAT-TV in Albuquerque. Long ago I read your two articles of 1986 and still have my copies. I’ve searched around on the Web and find that people are still interested in this story.

Do you have any more recent material along the lines of your two articles?

— Patricia F. Heydt
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Editors’ Note: Freedom’s reports on a mysterious multibillion-dollar gold hoard on what is now White Sands Missile Range linked the disappearance of that treasure to a combination of strange bedfellows, including former President Lyndon Johnson. The two-part series mentioned has been resurrected from the archives and is now viewable here.

Readers with relevant information may report it at: investigations.freedommag.org