October 5, 1972 - September 24, 1999
U.S. Army, 82nd Airborne, Combat Engineer,
Demolitions,
C Company
Desert Shield/ Desert Storm
January 1990 - March 1990
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Jason was just 18 when he went to war. Military friends tried to reassure us that he would probably be;pulling guard duty in Saudi;. His comment when anyone asked what happened was we engaged the enemy;. One doctor, in the presence of Jason's wife and myself, continued to question and dig at him until he very angrily answered, we had to shoot the enemy..
His squad was dug in at the Saudi Arabia/Iraq border, and crossed over before the ground war began. Their assignment was to blow up the munitions bunkers at Kamasiyah. He told us of taking the;P.B.; pills every three hours. The correct dosage was three every 24 hours. Jason received multiply shots including the infamous anthrax shot. A scud was shot down near his location, and he talked of the awful winds from the oil well fires.
Jason was medically discharged April 1992, and the VA wouldn't take his many illnesses serious. In our fight for Jason's treatments, we realized many hundreds of other Vets were suffering and being treated the same. That is when we co-founded, along with Chris Kornkven, the Desert Storm Justice Foundation (DSJF), a 501(c)3 charitable foundation. We later came to know that the number was over 100,000 and climbing.
Jason's southern drawl and manners, and anyone being able to clearly see how sick he was sitting in his wheelchair, made him the; Poster Child; of the so-called Gulf War Illnesses. He never liked that and didn't want to be treated any different that his brothers-in-arms. He was asked to do dozens of interviews on television, radio, newspapers, and was featured in two foreign documentaries (Japan and Germany). One answer never changed: ;would you serve again?; With no hesitation, Jason always answered a definite yes.
Jason had the dubious distinction of being involved in all of the early research programs and testing. Out of the three special Persian Gulf hospital units to perform the protocol of specific tests, Jason spent five weeks in Houston, and ten days in Los Angeles, the third hospital being Walter Reed.
When I testified at the inaugural meeting of the President Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses, the panel could hardly believe me when I spoke of his 138 I.Q. in high school that had dropped first to 112 after he returned, then to 98 at the last testing.
The last verse of Jason's Storm, says; there'll be no PhD, no daughter to walk down the isle on wedding day, no son to teach to pray; - how we prayed that would never come true, but it did.
Gina Whitcomb, Executive Director, DSJF, and proud mother of Jason Edward Whitcomb
Jim and Gina we thank you for allowing us to tell your son's story as our first step towards our goal.
Though taps has played. He is accounted for at Roll Call.
