USDANEWS
"Thanks of a Grateful Nation" is the name of a three-hour movie that aired on cable TV's Showtime channel on May 31. But there are some Gulf War veterans around the country who might want to subtitle the flick "Thanks to Tim from Some Grateful Vets." Here's what they'd mean.
Tim McNeilly is the public affairs specialist and acting management control director for the Rural Development mission area in Michigan, based in East Lansing. But in 1993 he was director of the Lansing, Mich., field office of [then] U.S. Sen. Don Riegle (D-Mich.), where his duties included handling concerns of military veterans in Michigan. "I noticed that we were receiving a number of letters and phone calls from Michigan veterans returning from the Persian Gulf War," he recounted. "Virtually all of the contacts were complaining about health problems and about what the vets described as inadequate treatment being provided by medical staff in military and veterans' hospitals."
"I became intrigued," he said. "So I gathered information on the physical ill effects the Gulf War appeared to have on those returning veterans." His efforts included interviewing veterans, studying copies of medical reports of entire units from Michigan which had deployed to the Gulf, and conferring with directors of veterans hospitals in Michigan about symptoms being described by returning veterans--and how they were being treated at those hospitals.
McNeilly said that he subsequently passed on his concerns about this issue to Riegle's staff in Washington, DC. As a result, Riegle concluded that the Senate Banking Committee, which he chaired, would investigate this issue. In turn, Riegle assigned committee staffer Jim Tuite the responsibility for further investigative work. Those subsequent efforts initiated by Tuite--who was played by actor Ted Danson in the Showtime movie--was the basis for the movie.
"Keep in mind that in 1993 there was no such term as 'Gulf War Illness Syndrome'," McNeilly noted. "Returning veterans were generally being told by doctors that illnesses they were describing were psychological, psychosomatic--or even malingering."
Subsequent investigations--combined with Committee hearings in both the Senate and House--revealed that the illnesses were possibly caused by exposure to chemical and/or biological agents, thought to be caused by the allied bombing, during the War, of Iraqi chemical and biological arsenals.
"In retrospect," McNeilly affirmed, "I'm proud of the fact that I took the veterans seriously on this issue, when others didn't."
Five days prior to the May 31 national airing of "Thanks of a Grateful Nation," McNeilly attended an advance premier showing in Detroit. "During the reception prior to its beginning," he said, "I was singled out by Senator Riegle and Jim Tuite as the one responsible for pushing them for the investigation."
McNeilly noted that he isn't portrayed in the movie per se, but rather is part of a "composite character," a fictional Senate staffer named George, played by actor Jonathan Higgins.
"I was sitting in the audience with other former members of the Senator's staff, and they'd nudge me and say 'That's you!' whenever George came on the screen."
"And I was impressed," he added, "with how well the actors brought to life the very feelings I know I had, including anger and frustration, as we fought to bring this issue to the forefront of America's consciousness."
So, did he wish they had done anything differently in the movie--especially in his 'composite character'?
"I wish," he laughed, "that they would have made the character as tough as Arnold S. and as suave as James B." ¤
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