About 697,000 men and wornen of the U.S. military served in the Persian Gulf War during 1990 and 1991. Some returned home with various illnesses such as rash, asthma, short-term memory loss, fatigue, muscle aches arid pains, and weakness. This grouping of diverse symptoms affecting returning veterans became known as the Gulf War syndrome. In spite of receiving medical discharges, some veterans were denied full disability pay. The military and the Veterans Affairs Department initially dismissed the, complaints as not being related to service in the Persian Gulf.

Spouses of some veterans came down with some of the symptoms as well, and some of the pregnancies following service in the Gulf resulted in premature births nd an elevated incidence of birth defects and neonatal ill nesses. The potential causes of the syndrome are as varied as its symptoms. Soldiers breathed smoke from burning waste dumps...