Marcy Gansler

Every veteran sacrifices for their service. Some lose their lives. All lose something. My husband Tim is an Air Force veteran who served during the Gulf War. During his service, he was exposed to toxic burn pits and oil well fires. Both of these burned 24/7 and everyone there breathed in the toxic fumes. After years of illnesses and deaths from rare cancers, unknown lung diseases, and more, it is now clear that these illnesses and deaths are a direct result of our veterans being exposed to these toxins. Tim says that everything was disposed of in the burn pits, it was where all trash went: tires, paint, chemicals, plastic, body parts, human waste, and more. There were no garbage dumps. Everything went into the burn pit, was doused with jet fuel, and set on fire. The burn pits were often acres in size, burning constantly, and every veteran there breathed in the toxic smoke that was in the air.

Tim, who was a runner, started having issues breathing not long after he returned to the US about 30 years ago. He has several illnesses now that are linked to toxic exposure. The most serious of these is constrictive bronchiolitis. This disease continues to progress and is fatal. Tim’s lungs are progressively dying. He is now only able to work part time, is on oxygen and many other meds, has medical appointments every week, and has been hospitalized more times than I can count. There is no cure. His only hope is a lung transplant. His doctors say it’s time. The VA does not agree and will not approve activating him on the transplant list.

Many veterans have fatal diseases from burn pit exposure. Many veterans have already died from these diseases. For 20 years, Tim worked to get his claim approved by the VA. He was always told that he needed to prove that his illnesses were directly linked to his service. Finally, last year, his claim was approved. He is one of the lucky ones. Many veterans have gone bankrupt trying to get diagnosed and treated. Many, many veterans are still being denied. That is why Tim and I are working so hard to get the word out about burn pits and asking everyone to support legislation that will give presumptive benefits to veterans who served where there were burn pits. This would mean they do not have to “prove” that there is a connection between their service and their illnesses. They wouldn’t have to fight for 20 years like Tim did. These benefits would cover Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan vets, and any who served where burn pits were present.

Last week, what is being called the Warfighters Bill was presented to Congress. Tim was asked to submit his story for the presentation, but there wasn’t time to include his story. The stories they did share were harrowing. We watched it on C-Span and later Tim called in to a show on C-Span in support of the Bill. Today, we are expecting that interviews about burn pits that include Tim will be aired on WKYC Channel 3 news. Please consider calling your Congress people and demanding that they support our veterans and vote to pass this important bill. This is a non-partisan bill, yet some Congress people, who frequently run on platforms of supporting veterans, are refusing to support it. We must tell them that we, regardless of political party, want to see this passed. Let’s put that support into action.

For more about burn pits, this is the organization Tim works with:
https://burnpits360.org/

For more about the Bill, go to:
https://ruiz.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-raul-ruiz-introduces-comprehensive-bipartisan-burn-pits-bill?fbclid=IwAR1cDR3aPa-A9afmxXjFTZWoDRrIaNIOh96hHe4oUoYptyj5fUS-ovRezbg

SO much gratitude to my colleagues @Brande Midgett-Crosby and @Beka Choate! The content we've been able to create and cultivate this last year to keep the UCC connected to the global church has been outstanding and it continues! Brande and Beka also help us work in collaboration across ministries. This work wouldn't be possible without their skills, energy, and dedication!

Hi Friends!
Many of you know that I got married on Sept. 19. We had a perfect day! I'm so grateful for all of your kind thoughts and wishes!

Here are some photos of our day!

This is the Flower Girl bouquet (I did the flowers myself)

My fancy hair and headpiece. I made the headpiece out of brooches that belonged to my 2 grandmothers and other relatives, and some that were my own.     

My son and I getting ready to leave for the ceremony. My son was the best man and he walked me down the aisle.

Walking down the aisle (or park path, as it were)

We wrote our own vows and we wrote vows that we promised to my son, Z. This was our family vow part. And my dad's bald head.

We have a lot of photos with folks in masks, including us!

One of the formal shots

Cutting the cake at our backyard reception.

I'm engaged!!!!!!!

Over the weekend, I worked on cleaning out my basement. When my grandma moved into assisted living, I got a slew of old books that I never even looked at. She has since died, so now I can't really ask her about them, but I found this among them! It was with a booklet that was my great-grandmother's (or great-great, I need to check). It looks to be an article from "The Congregationalist" that was published as a little booklet. Anyway, I squeeeeed when I saw, "The Pilgrim Press" at the bottom of the cover! The year on the inside cover says 1884 and the other books that were with it were from about that same time.