Enter Honor The Names
We're Four Years Old
Four years have passed since we started Honorthenmaes.com to honor those veterans who gave
their lives not in combat but years later of unknown illness that have plagued the
Desert Shield/Desert Storm veterans and though our mission has expanded including our current wars
we will never forget - what started us on our journey.
Jason's parents bared their souls to us in telling their story about their son(July 2006). Jason Edward Whitcomb
was the first veteran we honored who died of Gulf War Illness an sadly our list of veterans continues today.
We promise his parents we would never
forget and we honor that promise now by once again telling Jason's story.
He and so many others have died and continue to die for reasons we are still trying to comprehend.
God Bless his family and the families of so many others.
Jason Edward Whitcomb
October 5, 1972 - September 24, 1999
 U.S. Army, 82nd Airborne, Combat Engineer,
Demolitions,
C Company
Desert Shield/ Desert Storm
January 1990 - March 1990
Click Here to View Video
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.
signed....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.
_______________________________________________
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Office Of Inspector General
A copy of all the Reports issued by Office of the Inspector General for Fiscal
years 2009 & 2010.
You may
read or download these reports on pdf format.
________________________________________________
Mesothelioma & Veterans
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are currently 25 million living
individuals who have served in the United States' armed forces. Hundreds of thousands, if not
millions of these living veterans were exposed to toxic asbestos-containing materials during
military service. According to a revealing statistic, more than 30 percent of Americans beset
with mesothelioma, (a rapacious cancer that attacks the internal lining of the lungs, abdomen,
and heart) were exposed to asbestos during military service.
Information on Mesothelioma
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Below are links to videos we have assembled to help explain the following subjects:
Gulf War Illness
Depleted Uranium
Military Suicides
Post Tramatic Stress Disorder(PTSD)
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Fallen U.S. Soldiers OEF/OIF on Myspace.com
We at honorthenames are profoundly moved by the love that has been put into this site
- and we stand tall and salute the soldier who made it - we thank him not only
for his military service but his heart to bring the stories of our fallen troops alive.
Honoring those U.S. service members who fought and died in Operations Iraqi Freedom and
Enduring Freedom is the reason he built this site.
Please pass this link and honor our fallen.
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Enter Honor The Names
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