Army and Wars Related Directory

Before the Gulf War, it was known that Iraq possessed both chemical and biological weapons, but DoD and the British Ministry of Defense have reported that Iraqi forces against coalition forces intentionally used neither chemical nor biological weapons during the Gulf War. The DoD has reported that one U.S. soldier may have received a burn in his arm from mustard agent, caused by accidental exposure while exploring a captured bunker in southern Iraq.

Just after the cease-fire was declared in Iraq, some Gulf War veterans may have been exposed to low or trace levels of chemical warfare agents. In March 1991, after the end of the Gulf War, U.S. service members used explosives to destroy a large ammunition depot at Khamisiyah in southern Iraq. It was later discovered that this site contained the nerve agents sarin and cyclosarin. During the demolition some of these agents were released into the atmosphere. Based upon the research carried out by the CIA, in 1997 DoD notified nearly 100,000 Gulf War veterans who had been in the vicinity of Khamisiyah at the time of the demolition that they could have been exposed to low-levels of these chemical agents.

The DoD has stated that no cases of acute (that is, obvious poisoning effects that occur within minutes after exposure) poisoning symptoms, which would have resulted from high-level exposure to nerve agents, were reported during the Gulf War. Nevertheless, some U.S. service members may have experienced low-level exposures from inhalation of airborne nerve agents in the Gulf War region following the 1991 cease-fire.
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The American Gulf War Veterans Association (AGWVA) was established with one goal in mind: To obtain treatment for those service members and their families who experience symptoms collectively known as the “Gulf War Illness”. However, there is more to this issue than meets the eye. As this investigation into causation has now progressed into the arena of possible exposure to chemical and/or biological agents, radiation poisoning due to the use of depleted uranium and most disturbingly, the use of our fighting men and women as “Guinea Pigs” in medical experimentation, the AGWVA has now added a second goal: To obtain justice and compensation for all those affected by these illnesses.

Our troops returned home after serving their country with an illness that appears to be spreading into the general population, treatment is being denied and to date there are no safeguards of our blood supply. Those responsible have passed the burden of proof onto those that are suffering and least able to fight the enormous bureaucracy of governmental agencies that are more concerned with avoiding admission.

For over three years the AGWVA has been embarking on this search for the truth and the documentation that we have compiled is voluminous. The Pentagon, DOD, Veterans Administration, Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Congressional Investigation into Gulf War Illness, the Presidential Advisory Committee and the Government Accounting Office have collectively spent over $100,000,000 “researching” the Gulf War Illness.

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The War Veterans Allowance program provides monthly income support to veterans, including members of the Merchant Navy, who served during the First World War, the Second World War or the Korean War, to help them meet their basic needs.

Delivered by: Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC)

Eligibility Information

Eligibility for the Allowance and the amount of support provided are based on the following factors:

• war service
• income
• age or health
• residence in Canada
• other criteria may apply

Contact Information

• General Inquiries: 1 866 522-2122

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The goal of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs is to provide excellence in patient care, veterans’ benefits and customer satisfaction. We have reformed our department internally and are striving for high quality, prompt and seamless service to veterans. Our department’s employees continue to offer their dedication and commitment to help veterans get the services they have earned. Our nation’s veterans deserve no less.

Of the 25 million veterans currently alive, nearly three of every four served during a war or an official period of hostility. About a quarter of the nation’s population — approximately 70 million people — are potentially eligible for VA benefits and services because they are veterans, family members or survivors of veterans.

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Public Information Sheets

Canadians contributed in many ways to our country’s great efforts in the Second World War.

Second World War Historica Minutes

The Historica Minutes are one-minute movies that portray exciting and important stories from Canada’s past.

Canada and the Second World War

The Second World War lasted six terrible years and left a legacy of death and destruction. It was truly a world war encircling the globe from the Atlantic to the pacific and touching the far reaches of the Arctic.

The Battle of the Atlantic

What a miserable, rotten hopeless life . . . an Atlantic so rough it seems impossible that we can continue to take this unending pounding and still remain in one piece.

The British Commonwealth Air Training plan

In 1939, prime Minister Mackenzie King had a dream which he believed was a sign of “the power of the airplane in determining ultimate victory” for the war effort.

The Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence

The Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which saw German U-boats penetrate the Cabot Strait and the Strait of Belle Isle to sink 23 ships between 1942 and 1944, marked the only time since the War of 1812 that enemy warships inflicted death within Canada’s territorial waters.

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