Stricken general wins battle in war against ALS
Two years of hard work came to fruition today in a move that could benefit thousands of veterans who suffer from Lou Gehrig's disease.
Veterans Affairs will grant a service-connected disability, the highest category disability, to all veterans with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative disease that affects veterans at a rate of 1.6 times the general population.
The news came during a conference call among Dr. James Peake, secretary of Veterans Affairs, Sen. Lindsey Graham and retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Tom Mikolajcik, who suffers from ALS and spoke from his Mount Pleasant home.
Mikolajcik cried when he heard the news. He deflected credit for the policy change and praised Peake and South Carolina legislators, including Graham, Rep. Henry Brown and Sen. Jim DeMint.
"This will impact thousands of veterans," Mikolajcik said. "This is a reason to have hope — hope meaning helping other people endure."
Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.
E-mail this story 
Printer-friendly version
Notice about comments:
The Post and Courier is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. The Post and Courier does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not postandcourier.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "suggest removal" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our Web site.
Full terms and conditions can be read here.
Comments
This article has 2 comment(s)
Posted by lowcountrydawg on July 14, 2008 at 8:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I applaud the General's fight and Sen. Graham's backing to getting the VA to help the fight against ALS. But, I'd like to see more attention be paid to the troops coming back now from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD.
We're still not doing enough for them...
Posted by TacrolimusAddict on July 14, 2008 at 11:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Brig. Gen. Tom Mikolajcik has fought a courageous battle that will not only benefit thousands of our veterans but will perhaps encourage the VA the look at other war related illnesses and injuries that our warriors are coming home with.
"Bravo Zulu" to Brig. Gen. Tom Mikolajcik.