She and their two young children also got sick shortly after he returned home, although her husband was hardest hit. We've had all the symptoms. She also is certain that her family has spread the illness to some friends and relatives. But she has tired of trying to tell them so and being ridiculed. People don't want to understand it.
Ignorance is bliss.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 35 symptoms associated with Gulf War illness. In a survey of 3,700 Air Force veterans published last fall, the CDC found that 45 percent of those who had been deployed in the gulf met that definition, as did 15 percent who had not been to the gulf. One San Diego couple, Sean and Leslee Dudley, say they had all those symptoms and more. As many Gulf War veterans have anecdotally reported, they complained of vision problems and extreme sun sensitivity, as well as mental incapacity. It was terrifying, to be that mentally helpless.